Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

If there’s one thing Luz Noceda is good at, it's helping people.

Luz has always found her place being a helper; she loves it. Even when she was little, she’d help. She’d beg her mama to take her to the grocery store to help pick out the best fruits. She’d watch with wide eyes as her mom stroked a terrified little pet, soothing them before wrapping up whatever injury was causing them pain and handing them back to their grateful owners. 

When she was 8, Luz started dragging her mama to their local pet shelter every Saturday to volunteer. She’d spend hours and hours just playing with the animals, going on and on about her favorite stories, even reading to them sometimes. Ms. Kelchie, the shelter’s operator, would sit and listen to little Luz excitedly explain the entire plot of the Good Witch Azura, never interrupting the child or shutting her down. She loved it. Every second she spent making those animal’s days a little better filled her heart with purpose. Looking forward to those Saturdays is what made the hours at school bearable.

Needless to say, Luz has always loved helping. But even more than that, it’s a really good distraction to keep from helping herself. Example: Today.

Luz is sitting on the couch at the Owl House, although ‘sitting’ is a generous term. Rather, she’s sprawled out on the cushions, her head dangling off the edge as she attempts to balance a pencil between her upper lip and nose. Her girlfriend, Amity, is kneeling on the floor beside her, chewing an eraser as she stares at a piece of paper. Today, Luz is helping Amity with her homework, or at least, trying. Amity’s work is a lot more advanced than what Luz is used to, and she’s spent most of the time distracting her cotton candy haired girlfriend from actually doing her work. 

  Luz dramatically flops down beside Amity, leaning on her shoulder. Amity bristles for a moment, but relaxes as she realizes it’s Luz, letting a smile tug at the corners of her lips.

“Luz, I’m trying to focus.” Amity says, rolling her eyes with mock annoyance as she half-heartedly shoves Luz off of her. 

“Homework is dumb. What are you doing, anyway?” Luz peers over her girlfriend’s shoulder, squinting at the worksheet. “What?! This is extra credit! You don’t have to do that!”

Amity sighs, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ve been falling behind a little, Luz. If I don’t get this done I’m going to wind up with a B+, maybe even a  B.”

Luz once again drapes herself over Amity’s shoulders, squishing their faces together in a way that makes Amity’s heat up.

“And why is a B+ bad..?”

“Because-” Amity huffs, crossing her arms and looking away from Luz, pretending her face isn’t rapidly turning red. “Because it just is!”

Luz frowns. She’s been doing her best to help Amity out with this whole ‘straight A’s or death’ mindset. Luz likes to consider herself pretty smart, but her ADHD combined with less than ideal school environment meant she got Bs and Cs pretty consistently. And while Amity’s been feeling a lot better in other areas of her life, Odalia Blight and the Emperors Coven’s ‘succeed or die’ mindset must be pretty hard to shake. 

“Amity, tell me: What’s the worst thing that could happen if you got a B?”

“My mother could disown me.”

Luz raises an eyebrow. “And that’s bad because…?” Amity snorts, a little smile creeping onto her otherwise grim face.

“Okay, okay, you got me there. But even if I don’t want to join the Emperor’s Coven anymore, I still want to be successful, Luz.” 

“And you will be! You’re amazing!” Luz starts beaming, and both girls' cheeks grow a shade darker. “You can do AWESOME magic, you’re super smart, really charismatic-”

Amity giggles in a way that makes Luz’s bleeding heart soar. “You give me too much credit, Luz.”

“Oh really? ‘Cause I’ve got a whole list of positive attributes to start spouting off and I’m not afraid to use them!” Luz points a finger in Amity’s face, leveling a fake glare at the young witch. They both start laughing. 

“You’re too good for me, Luz.” Amity leans her head over, planting a little kiss on Luz’s cheek, making her beam. Luz thought Amity’s habit of turning into a tomato would kick the curb after they became official, but clearly not, seeing as Amity has now pulled away and is fidgeting with the hem of her dress, face bright red.

“Yeah, yeah.” Luz ruffles Amity’s lilac hair. It’s ridiculously soft; seriously, what is it with witches and their hair? It feels like little clouds. “Now c’mon! I just dug out my old download of that terrible Good Witch Azura live action movie, and I need to share my rage with someone.” Luz jumps up, snatching Amity’s extra credit assignment and stuffing it in her bag. 

Luz starts hopping around as Amity zips up her bag, standing up at an excruciatingly slow pace. 

“This is the one where the writers ruined Hecate’s characterization, right?”

“Ugh, YES! It’s so bad. There’s no consistency! I mean, it’s supposed to take place after book 5, but she keeps switching back to hating Azura! And the actor that plays her is like 25 and just- ugh! You have to see it for yourself.” Luz feels the urge to apologize for ranting, an old habit she got from countless peers back in the human realm who were utterly disinterested in her rambles. However, Amity just stands there patiently, eyes wide as she clings onto every word. Amity, Willow, and Gus - they’re the first people who’ve really been interested in what Luz has to say. The Azura book club she formed with Amity is probably the most fun thing she’s ever come up with, like, ever. (Although they haven’t had an official meeting in a while, seeing as Amity spends most of her free time at the Owl House anyway.)

“Obviously, we don’t have to watch it if you don’t want to-” Luz begins, unable to fully kick the feeling that she’s pressuring Amity into something she doesn’t like. Amity shakes her head, smiling.

“Of course I want to, Luz. Hecate’s my favorite,” She narrows her eyes in a slightly terrifying way. “I need to see how they butchered her.”

Luz tentatively takes Amity’s hand, starting to pull her upstairs to grab her miraculously still functioning phone. “It’s funny you like her. You’re totally a Hecate kinnie.”

“A kin- what?”

“It’s human talk. Basically a character you’re really similar to.” Luz stops as they reach the top of the stairs, striking a proud pose. “I’m a lot like Azura! At least, I think I am.” 

“I can see that- kind, considerate,” Amity playfully baps Luz on the nose. “-and a bit reckless at times.”

Luz gasps, clutching her chest. “Amity Blight, your comments wound me!” She dramatically points a finger at Amity as the girl snickers. “I bet you had an emo phase like Hecate, too!” 

Amity smirks, pushing Luz’s hand away in an equally dramatic fashion. “I will neither confirm nor deny that statement, Luzura. ” Luz’s face turns pink, and she groans.

“You still remember that, huh?”

“How could I forget almost being killed by Otabin?” The girls giggle their way to Luz’s closet-room, Luz pretending not to see Hooty’s smug face in the window. He still thinks his ‘tunnel of love’ thing worked. In fairness, he is sort of the reason she and Amity are together. But he’s also still banned from helping people. Unlike Luz, the house demon is not nearly as adept at it. 

“You know, if I’m Hecate, that would make Edric… Jumble.”

“Jumble?! But he’s SO annoying!”
“My point exactly.”

Luz leans down to grab her phone, smile fading slightly as she stares at herself in the black cracked screen. She sighs. 

“Belos is probably the Dark Lord.” Luz says with a grumble, tucking her cell in the pocket of her jean shorts. Amity’s smile fades a little too, the humorous atmosphere dampening. Luz tries not to bring up Emperor Belos too much; he makes her sad, and, well, angry. Still, as she grows closer to Amity, she finds her minimal word filters working less and less, and sometimes things that probably should’ve gone unsaid slip out. 

Amity rubs the back of her neck, glancing at the door. “I don’t know; people actually like Belos,” Her next words are so quiet Luz can barely hear them. “I did.” 

A small knot grows in Luz’s stomach. She invited Amity over to not address all of the things that have been happening lately. 

So, Luz smiles, playfully pushing Amity’s shoulder. “The Dark Lord’s mind slaves liked him quite a bit.”

Amity snorts. “That’s because they were mind slaves, Luz.”

“Who knows: Maybe Belos has mind slaves, too!” She waggles her fingers intimidatingly. “Maybe you’re one right now.”

The pair begin to exit. “Luz, mind slaves aren’t real. You can’t do that with magic.”

Luz shrugs. “Hey, you guys have flesh eating pixies. I’m not about to count anything out of the question.” 

Luz props her phone up on the coffee table, using a little glass screen to project the screen to something more laptop size. Luz really regrets not packing her laptop to camp. She brought a charger, at least. Her downloaded memes have been the only thing keeping her sane sometimes. Although she’s missed at least a month of internet culture. She shudders. That’ll be hell to catch up on.

If she can catch up on it at all.

Luz can feel her muscles tense slightly at the thought, leaning into the owl house’s couch as the movie begins. Eda and King are napping upstairs, so Luz was going to enjoy some quality time with her girlfriend. But now, her mind has started racing. 

The whole point of helping Amity out today was to not have to think about the human realm and her latest… half visit. She bites her lip. She’s been keeping herself adequately busy in the week following the failed portal attempt, with school and adventures and helping out Eda and King. While Luz likes to think of herself as pretty well-adjusted, she has a habit of helping out others' problems to ignore her own. She knows she probably shouldn’t, but hey: it doesn’t hurt anybody but her! And besides, it’s fun. She has been having fun this last week.

But there’s also a gnawing sense of dread. The uncertainty of her return to the human realm and… well even if she wants to go back at all. She thought she just wanted her mama to know she’s okay, but now Camilla does know. And the uncertainty is still there. 

Luz doesn’t want to even begin to think about the promise she made.

Amity seems to sense something is wrong, giving Luz a gentle arm squeeze. “Luz? You alright?”

Luz snaps out of it, laughing nervously as she waves Amity off. “Oh, yeah yeah yeah. I’m fine. It’s just… this movie fills me with so much rage, y’know? Heheh.” Luz says. Amity raises an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced. She doesn’t push Luz though, just gives her an adorable little smile. 

“Alright. You can talk to me though, Luz.” 

Luz nods a bit more vigorously than necessary. “Of course, of course. Thanks, Ams.” She gives her best smile, and Amity turns back to the movie, leaving Luz with a vague guilt. She will tell Amity eventually. Just… not today. 

Luz is able to let her thoughts of her mom slip away as the movie picks up, growing more and more outraged with each poorly executed scene. Even Amity’s starting to get involved, glaring at the screen like it has deeply offended her. 

“Are you kidding me! Huckles does not look like that!”
“I know, right!”

“Why are they DANCING NOW??”

One in-depth rant about the slanderization of Hecate’s character later, Amity and Luz are curled up on the couch, groaning. 

Amity lets out a long sigh. “Worst. Movie. Ever.”

Luz slaps a hand to her face. “Right?! King could write something better.”

“Luz, I’m pretty sure Boscha could write something better. And she failed literature class.”

Despite their absolute frustration at the Human Realm’s lackluster excuse for a movie adaptation, they both start grinning. 

“Now do you feel properly educated on the great human tradition of terrible movie night?” Luz says, shooting Amity a cheeky grin. Amity rolls her eyes, but still blushes. 

“Luz, some of your human things confuse me. A lot.” She side-eyes the floor, a small smile growing on her face. “But yeah, that was pretty fun.” She starts playing with the edge of her sleeves, and a somewhat awkward silence falls over the room. Eventually, Amity stands up, coughing lightly. 

“Well, Luz, I should, uhm, probably go home.” Amity says with a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. Luz can’t help but frown. She can tell Amity doesn’t want to go home, but unfortunately, she doesn’t have much of a choice. 

“Are you gonna be okay? You can stay here if you need.” 

“No, no- I’ll be fine.” Amity glares at the ground bitterly. “Just hope mom isn’t too upset with my report card next week.”

Luz is about to offer to help with the extra credit after all. She wants Amity to understand she’s loved without her grades, of course. But she doesn’t want Odalia to get mad about it either. Suddenly, loud footsteps begin from the stairs. Both Amity and Luz look over.

Eda stands proudly at the bottom of the stairs, still looking a little tired but functioning. She has a paper grasped in her claws, and King nestled on her shoulder, still asleep. 

“That won’t be a problem, boots!” She announces, striding over to Amity and Luz. Amity’s face scrunches up a little.

“My name’s not boots-”

“Yeah yeah.” Eda waves off Amity’s concerns, yawning a little. It gives a clear view of her golden fang, which Luz would be lying if she wasn’t a bit jealous of. It makes Eda look so awesome! And despite her... shortcomings, Luz wouldn’t mind growing up to be as cool as Eda the Owl Lady. 

Eda bends down, presenting the paper to Amity. Luz wraps around to the side, eager to see what exactly it is.

“I made up a fake school award for ya: ‘Excellence in behavior and academic perseverance.’” Eda says with a grin. “Pretty convincing, right?” Luz shakes her hands, letting out a little squeak. This is great! Now Amity won’t get in trouble. Amity doesn’t look thrilled though. Instead, the young girl just sighs. 

“Thank you for the gesture Eda, but, my mother’s not going to fall for that.” Luz’s shoulders fall a little. Eda, however, is unphased.

“She wouldn’t normally. However, THIS fake award happens to have Principal Bump’s fully legitimate signature .” Eda brushes a nail over a line on the card, which, indeed, has Bump’s signature. Amity’s eyes widen. Bump’s signature is pretty much impossible to recreate; he uses Frewin to draw it, so kids won’t be able to make fakes. Eda’s never been known for her forgery either. Petty theft, sure. But not forgery.

Amity takes the piece of paper, a small smile growing on her face. “You did… she’s gonna love this!” Amity grins. But it fades after a moment as she stares at Bump’s swirly handwriting. “I feel a little bad, though…”
“Ah, don’t.” Eda says, slapping Amity on the back with a little too much oomf. “It’s not your fault your mother’s a stuck up little hypocrite. Back in the day, she got solid Bs, even a couple of Cs here and there. You’re just playing her game, kid.”

Amity tucks the paper away, light blush creeping onto her ears. “Thanks, Miss Eda.” 

“Ah, no problem, boots.” Eda goes to stand behind Luz, ruffling her hazelnut hair. Luz giggles. Eda’s been doing that a lot more often now, and Luz doesn’t complain. “Luz here can’t score a date if her girlfriend’s grounded, hm?” Eda waggles her eyebrows, and Luz groans, burying her head in the older woman’s side. 

“Edaaaaa!” She yells, muffled by Eda’s dress. Eda just cackles. She’s been having way too much fun teasing Luz about all this girlfriend stuff. Still, the elder witch has been very supportive of Luz: keeping her grounded a few times when she was panicking about a hang-out or date. 

Luz pulls away from Eda, tilting her head to the side. “How’d you get Bump to sign that thing, anyway?”

“Oh, y’know,” Eda carefully picks up King from her shoulder, placing the little guy on an armchair. He remains undisturbed. Eda flicks her massive hair, grinning. “A charming woman like me has her ways.”

“You bribed him, didn’t you?”

“Yeah I bribed him.”

Amity looks down at the floor, foot starting to tap the way it does whenever she’s anxious. “Oh-”

“I just used the leftover selkie domus gris we had: so no worrying, okay, Amity?” Amity’s ears perk up at the sound of Eda using her actual name, and she nods. 

“Right, right. Well, goodbye Luz! I’ll see you at school tomorrow!” She heads for the door, waving. Luz waves right back.

“Bye!” Luz lets out a content sigh as Amity shuts the door behind her, basking in the flickering candle light of the Owl House living room. It’s a place that seems musty and dirty at first, but it’s really quite cozy once you get to know it. Luz wouldn’t have picked anywhere else to stay on the isles.

Eda bends down a little to be closer to Luz’s ear. “I don’t know why you keep picking the sad ones to be your friends, Luz.” Luz slightly punches Eda’s side, sending her a snarky glare.

“Are you insulting my girlfriend, Eda?” Luz asks jokingly. Eda snorts, and scruffles up her kiddo’s hair yet again.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, kid. Now get to bed! You’ve got school tomorrow.” 

Luz smiles, giving Eda a salute. “Yes ma’am!”

“And take King with you.” Eda scoops him up in her arms. “He smells.”

Luz is now sitting on the mattress pad in her room, King in her lap. She toys with his fur a little, listening to him gently snore as he sleeps. She looks out of her window into the starry night sky, gentle smile fading. 

She looks down to the portrait of her and her mom that still stands by her makeshift bed, sighing. 

“Hey mama. I hope you and Vee are doing alright over there. I… I don’t know what I’m going to do when I see you next.” She picks up the photo, holding it into her hands. It’s become a habit to tell the photo about her day when she can, but now, a bitter feeling sinks into Luz’s stomach. She takes a deep breath. “Eda and Amity and everyone else are so nice to me, but…” She runs a finger over the glass. “I promise I haven’t replaced you.”

She sets the photo down, laying onto her side. “When I get a portal, we can figure it out, okay mama? I know we will.” She kisses two of her fingers, pressing them to the glass. “Dulces sueños. Te quiero.”

The human girl then closes her eyes, sinking into her pillow, trying to sleep. But there’s a bitter feeling in her chest, keeping her awake and tense.

Luz tries not to hate people. She dislikes them and is annoyed by them, sure. But hate is such a strong feeling, and it inspires so much rage and sadness in the world. Luz’s mama always taught her it's okay to feel, but that she must try and understand other people. Hatred doesn’t do any good. For a long time, Luz didn’t let herself feel badly towards people at all. But that didn’t do much good, either. So she doesn’t hate. Instead, she lets herself feel angry, and sad, and all those other things that come when someone does something wrong. She can dislike them and avoid them. But she doesn’t hate them.

Still, there is someone Luz can’t help but hate. Someone who she knows doesn’t deserve that grace her mom taught her: Emperor Belos.

She hates Emperor Belos. He fills her with a sickly rage she has only felt one other time in her life, when facing down Lilith during the petrification ceremony. Being that angry at Lilith it… scared Luz, frankly. She terrified herself. And she regrets feeling that way, seeing as Lilith was never truly evil. She made a lot of bad mistakes.

But she’s making up for them now.

Luz isn’t sure any amount of justification could get rid of her hatred for Belos, though. On the Boiling Isles, Luz faces deadly threats every day. But with Belos, things are different. He isn’t like the silly monsters Luz and Eda hurl potions at when searching for a bounty. He can ruin things for Luz the way nobody else in her life can. 

Luz sighs, rolling over onto her back as she stares at the ceiling. She doesn’t want to think about Belos; he haunts her nightmares enough. But her resentment towards him keeps building, and she doesn’t know how much longer she can-

Luz suddenly hears a crash from directly behind her, jumping up in shock. She snatches a pile of glyphs by her bed, slapping a light one. King jumps up too, giving a little shout as he dashes behind Luz’s legs. She whips around.

“Who’s there!” She shouts. “Wha-” She cuts off her words as her eyes trail down. Beneath her window, lying flat on his face, is a very familiar masked form. He groans.

“Hey human.”

Chapter Text

Hunter was surprised with how easy palisman magic came to him. Despite a lifetime of using his artificial staff, perfecting the techniques Belos taught him, in the heat of battle he finds the magic still flows freely. It feels distinctly different than his assigned staff. Not bad, just different. Still, bursts of magic and light are still easy to create.

Considering this, Hunter was not expecting palisman FLYING to be so difficult.

Which is why, rather than gracefully and discreetly landing beside the Owl House, Hunter is falling through an upper floor window, his face uncomfortably squished in his metal mask. He groans, pulling his bottom half through the now open window and falling to the ground, staring up at the human he was hoping not to awake. 

She squints down at him, on edge but not in a defensive position. One of those strange light balls floats in her hand.

“Wha- Hunter? What are you doing breaking into my house it’s 11 P.M-”

Hunter raises a finger. “Technically, it's not your house. It’s the Owl Lady’s.” He pulls himself off of the floor with a grunt, dusting off the shoulder of his cape. His cardinal palisman changes himself back from staff form, perching on Hunter’s shoulder. “And I’m not breaking in. You invited me, remember?” He pulls out the letter she and the Blight girl sent, waving it for emphasis. The Golden Guard brought it because he wouldn’t put it past the human to forget something so crucial. 

Luz pinches her temples. “Yeah well I meant through the front door at a reasonable hour, not my WINDOW!” She gestures to the window he crashed in, which now has a hinge loose. Hunter scoffs, crossing his arms. Please. This whole house is falling apart anyway, what’s another loose screw?

“You invited HIM over?!” Hunter jumps a little as the Owl Lady’s pet-creature struts out from behind Luz, hands on his hips. Hunter squints at him. He still cannot for the life of him figure out what it is. He even looked through some of the demon encyclopedias at the castle, and turned up nothing. He’ll just stick with rat for now.

Luz looks at her rat sheepishly. “Well… yeah?” She raises her hands up defensively. “I was just offering some help!” Luz’s eyes suddenly widen, as she seems to remember what her letter actually entailed. Hunter resists the urge to facepalm. Belos must be hiring some really incompetent lackeys if they haven’t been able to capture this household yet. The human takes a few steps closer and Hunter packs away, fully prepared to fight if she makes a move. She doesn’t look angry, though; her eyes are big and full of pity. “Is that why you’re here? You actually want my help?!” 

Hunter quickly shuts down the smile that was starting to stretch across her face, pushing her away so that she isn’t so uncomfortably close to him. “Ugh, no. I don’t need help.” Hunter clears his throat, correcting his posture a little. He’s taking a huge risk being out right now; Uncle Belos thinks he’s still at home asleep. The least he can do is be professional and act like he isn’t actively disobeying orders right now. “I am here to retrieve information on your glyph magic: practicing unmonitored forms of magic is forbidden, but sharing this valuable knowledge with Emperor Belos may pardon you of your crime.” Hunter says smoothly. His voice is crisp and clear, a practiced tone for a practiced phrase. He’s had to recite speeches like that dozens of times to dozens of different witches. It’s all just formal, coven official-y speak for ‘you screwed up, but if you give me something to return with, I won’t have to tell Belos about you.’ 

He thinks there is a chance the human will actually listen to logic for once, but it's small. And looking at Luz’s expression, she isn't going to. Instead, she levels an unimpressed stare at Hunter, hands on her hips. 

“Uh-huh. You just wanna learn glyph magic, don’t you?” 

Hunter’s face explodes into red under his mask. He didn’t think he was being that obvious. He huffs, looking away from Luz but not trying to leave. His smooth lying must still be a little thrown off from the… incident a few days ago. He shudders. He’s not going to think about that. It was a one time thing, he’s sure. Still, it’s hard to forget.

It’s been weird not hearing a word about Kikimora.

Hunter looks back over at Luz, forcing himself to focus on the task at hand. He hates to admit it, but he’s glad she sent the letter. He’s been trying to recreate those symbols she made at Latissa, but none of them seem to work properly. The fact he has to burn every single one so nobody finds out about them doesn’t help, either. The wild magic texts he has access to are limited, and none of them have anything about some sort of glyph magic. Honestly, the curiosity has been eating away at him for weeks.

Tonight, that curiosity finally outweighed his caution.

Luz looks him up and down, taking him in a way that makes him squirm. If she’s sizing him up for a fight, she’s got another thing coming; he doesn’t hold back when he’s attacked first.

Instead she just narrows her eyes. “Uhm… are you just gonna stand there like that?” She asks. Hunter glances at himself, confused.

“Like what?”

“Like that,” She gestures to him vaguely, and Hunter can already feel himself start to get frustrated. “Like I’m about to toss you out the window.”

The teen shrugs. “You could.”

“Dude, if I wanted you out I could just call Hooty. In fact, the only reason you made it in here is because I told him it’s okay if you come by.” Normally Hunter wouldn’t believe that, but he has heard tales from guards of the fearsome house demon that guards the Owl House. Terrifying tales. He glances out of the window nervously, suddenly worried the bird tube thing he saw nestled in the door will barge in and swallow him or something. (Because apparently it can swallow people. As he said, terrifying.) 

Luz raises up her hands, trying her best to look unintimidating. “That’s not a threat! I promise.” Hunter doubts it, but tries his best to relax his muscles anyway. She’s clearly aware he’s on edge.

There’s a moment of silence, only broken when the demon rat thing coughs. 

“Sooo… what’s blondie doing here?”

Hunter growls. “That’s not my name.”

Luz quickly steps between them, crouching down to be eye level with the demon, who Hunter believes is named ‘King’, somehow. “Okay buddy, why don’t you go sleep downstairs tonight?”

The King creature grumbles, pouting like a toddler. “But Luz, what if he attacks you!” 

Luz laughs softly, petting his head. “He’s not gonna attack me. Besides, I can handle it.”

Hunter glares at them. “I’m literally right here.” They ignore him.

“I’ll come get you when I’m going to sleep, King, don’t worry.” The demon giggles, his squeaky laughs oddly endearing. She boops him on the nose and he starts towards the door, a bunny plushie dangling from his little arms. 

“Okie Luz!” He says cheerfully. He stops before he exits, turning to Hunter with what’s probably supposed to be an intimidating glare. “I’ve got my eye on you, golden boy.” He says. The door shuts.

“Does nobody here use names, or...?” Hunter is again ignored. Luz sighs, her hand slipping off of the doorknob. She turns around, smiling somewhat awkwardly as she looks away, swinging her arms. She pops her lips, making a vaguely annoying sound.

“You don’t think you could’ve, y’know… given me some warning? Before you showed up?” She gestures to herself, wearing the same pajamas she did that night at Latissa. 

“I responded to your letter.” Hunter says flatly. He doesn’t really see what the problem is here. She looks very awkward. Is she planning something?

Luz sighs yet again, plopping down on her makeshift floor bed. “You took two days to send a slip of paper saying ‘your message has been received.’” She raises an eyebrow, and Hunter avoids looking at her behind his mask. 

The truth is, he had drafted about 20 different versions of a letter to send back, but none of them felt right. Too harsh or too unprofessional. He was pretty close to just giving up when Rascal convinced him to send at least something. Hunter would never tell the human this, obviously, so instead he just scoffs, crossing his arms.

“I get busy. Despite what you may think, I actually don’t spend all of my time thinking about your problem-causing.” He says snidely. 

Luz grumbles, again eyeing Hunter. “Can you take your mask off now, please?”

“No.”

She inhales a deep breath through her nose, calmly gesturing to Hunter. “Alright. It is no longer a request. You’re on my turf now, and if you want to learn glyphs, the least you can do is cooperate.” Much to Hunter’s dismay, she’s right. “Mask?”

He sighs, pulling off his owl mask and tucking it underneath his cape. Rascal gives a satisfied chirp, and Hunter glares, switching his gaze between his little bird and the human.

“Oh shush, Rascal.” Rascal just shrugs his feathers. 

I didn’t say anything. Hunter decides to ignore his palisman’s little comments, grumbling.

“There, Luz. Happy?” He says through gritted teeth. Luz, unfortunately, does look very happy, proudly grinning.

“See! Wasn’t even that hard.” There’s another moment of awkward silence as the teens stand, Hunter tense. His plan was to slip in, grab some of the human’s glyphs to copy, and slip out. Not have a little illegal meet and greet with her. 

She pats on the blankets next to her. “Welp, you gonna sit down? It’ll be a little hard to write glyphs from up there.” Hunter’s glare fades into mild shock.

“You’re… actually going to show me?” The harsh, authoritative tone he works so hard to maintain has slipped out already, that gnawing curiosity rising to the surface. His eyes can’t help but light up. Luz laughs a little, and it’s surprisingly soft. 

“That’s what you need help with, right? I’m the one who offered; and I don’t break my promises.” Hunter is… honestly surprised. He fully expected her to toss him out as soon as he revealed his intentions. He can’t tell if she’s kind, or just plain stupid. Maybe a little bit of both. 

He cautiously sits down on the other edge of her floor mattress, perching on his knees. He sets Rascal down gently beside him, letting the bird flap around the ground. 

Luz’s expression then grows more serious. “However, you have to promise me that if I teach you, you won’t use them against me, or Eda, or Amity, or anyone else. Okay?” Hunter stares down at the ground. Can he really make that promise? 

He starts fidgeting with the fingers of his gloves. It’s not like he could actually use glyphs out in the field; he’s only supposed to use his staff. He just wants to learn for… research purposes. Information, to bring back to Emperor Belos. Right. 

He nods. “Yeah. Alright.” It’s not the most convincing agreement, especially from someone like him, but Luz bursts into a grin, clapping her hands together.

“Great!” She exclaims a little louder than what makes Hunter comfortable. He glances around nervously. He doesn’t want her to wake up the Owl Lady. Suddenly, her eyes light up, and Hunter practically groans pre-emptively. “Oooh! I’m gonna go grab us some hot cocoa! Wait, do you know what that is? Do they have hot cocoa on the isles?” Luz jumps up. “Doesn’t matter! Every good glyph-making night needs a hot beverage.” 

“Human- Luz- I don’t have time for this!” Hunter can feel his exasperation mix with a little bit of panic starting to settle in his chest. She frowns at him. 

“Hey, my turf, my rules. And my rules say we need some hot chocolate.” Hunter bites his lip, clutching his hands together.

“I’m being serious I- I’m not supposed to be here, okay?” Hunter mentally chastises himself for letting her in on more sensitive information about his life. But he really, really wants to see more of those glyphs in action. Luz’s peppy demeanor fades a little as she looks at him. “I doubt anyone will check my room, but I need to get home in two hours, max.” Belos is in a bad mood because of all the Kikimora problems that have been arising, and Hunter’s already working overtime to keep himself afloat. If he’s being honest, it’s part of the reason he’s here right now. Being in the palace can be suffocating in moments like these, and there was no way he was getting any sleep in his room tonight, not with the knowledge of an angry Belos being only a few stairwells away. 

Hunter expects Luz to be angry with that, or at least annoyed, but she just looks confused, tilting her head to the side. “Belos doesn’t let you visit people?”

Hunter snorts. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I don’t really have people to visit.” Rascal gives Hunter a sympathetic tweet, rubbing his feathery head into the witch's side. Hunter rolls his eyes, but still gives Rascal a pat. “Oh come on bird. You’re being overdramatic.” 

Luz sighs sadly, wandering over to a pile of papers stacked on some precarious looking boxes. She stomps over pillows and blankets to get there, carelessly scattering some other slips of paper on the ground. Hunter grimaces. If she’s this clumsy it’s honestly impressive she can hold her own so well in a fight. 

Luz sits back down, closer to Hunter than he likes, but still at an acceptable distance. She gives him a stack of papers with a half chewed pencil that he examines cautiously. Rascal hops over to Luz as she sits down, causing her to giggle. She pets him.

“You’re just a friendly little guy, aren’t you, li’l Rascal?” 

“Sometimes a little too friendly,” Hunter narrows his eyes. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten about the racoon incident, bird. I still have a mark.”

You’ll survive.

Hunter grumbles again, but it’s pretty disingenuous. Rascal was just trying to get Hunter an apple, after all. According to the palisman he has a bad habit of ‘forgetting to take care of himself.’ Bullshit. He takes care of himself just fine. 

Still, the gesture didn’t go unappreciated.

Rascal curls up on Luz’s knee. She grabs a pencil of her own, whipping out a little slip of paper.

“Alright. We’ll need some light, first.” Hunter watches intently as the human girl draws a circle, pencil moving surprisingly fast as she draws an odd symbol on the paper. It looks different from the one’s she used in Latissa, and the Golden Guard is captivated. She gently taps it, and he watches as the paper curls in on itself, transforming into a small ball of warm, glowing light. Luz uses her hands to push it up, letting it fly to rest between them in the air. Luz notices Hunter’s awe-struck look, smirking.

“Pretty cool, huh?” She asks, smug. Hunter snaps out of his daze, cheeks turning red as he crosses his arms. 

“I-It’s fine, I guess. A basic light spell. A child could do it.” 

“I guess you don’t want to know how its done then-”

“No!” Hunter bites his tongue at his overly involved tone. He does his best to look pompous and uninterested. “I mean, it’s still valuable information for the Emperor’s Coven. So, I do want to know how. To do it.” Luz sends him a challenging look, and Hunter groans. He decidedly does not like being on her turf. “Please.”

She quickly traces the symbol again, sliding it over to Hunter. “There ya go! One light glyph.” Hunter snatches it up, afraid that it’ll disappear if he lets it out of his sight. He grabs a piece of his own paper, slowly sketching it out himself. He bites his lip in concentration, before picking up the piece and cautiously showing it to Luz. 

“Did I, uh, do it right?” He asks tentatively. Luz squints at the paper. 

“Almost; just flip the two little dash marks the other way.” Luz says, flicking her hand. “You’ve gotta be precise or it won’t work.”

“Right. Got it.” Hunter erases the mistake with a little more aggression than necessary. He decides not to think about how embarrassing it is to mess up such a simple task in front of the human, especially after she’s gone out of her way to teach him. The teen hopes she’ll still show him the rest. 

He scribbles out the rest of the glyph, laying the slip of paper down in front of him. He holds his hand over it, a sudden hesitation filling his stomach. Should he really be doing this? Sneaking out to learn wild magic- that’s not something the Golden Guard should be doing. He can feel the guilt start to rise in his stomach. Has he gotten too cocky about what he can get away with since his uncle forgave him for the Kikimora situation? He knows Belos doesn’t hand out second chances often. It’s just, the glyph is right there in front of him, daring him to test out its power. 

But what if it doesn’t work for him? He’s powerless; magic has never liked him. The only reason he can do anything at all is because of what Belos gave him, what if he-

“Hunter? You good?” Luz asks. Hunter’s stomach drops a little further as Luz uses his name. That name is something only Belos uses, something private to the two of them. But he can’t say he regrets telling the human. It made her trust him a little more, even if that trust has all but disintegrated in light of recent events. There must be something left, though, if she’s showing him this. 

A look of determination grows in Hunter’s eyes. She showed him this power, so he’s going to use it. He lowers his hand to the paper, giving it a gentle tap. At first, nothing happens. Then it starts to rise. Hunter’s eyes go wide as the paper lifts off the ground, glowing as it curls in on itself, transforming into a small ball of magical light resting above Hunter’s cupped hand. He’s transfixed.

It feels nothing like the magic he’s cast before. His normal staff’s magic hovers around him, like a film on his skin. It makes his hairs stand on edge, and it retreats into the metal of his staff whenever he stops using it. Rascal’s magic fills him up from the inside, fading away into the air when it's no longer being used. But this magic is wholly different. The glyph buzzes in the air, filling the room with its magical energy. He can feel the magic not inside him or crawling on him, but around him. For a moment, when he tapped the paper, he could feel every speck of magic in the air. Now, he holds the ball of light in his hands, a smile starting to grow across his face. 

“I did it.” He says quietly, the words just slipping out. He cast a spell without a staff for the very first time. 

“Awesome, right?” Luz asks, smiling as well. Hunter can feel his suspicion and harsh façade slip away, smile spreading into a grin. He lets his hands drop away, leaving the ball to float in the air and illuminate his face. Rascal chirps happily from Luz’s knee.

“How did you figure that out?” Hunter whips his head over to Luz, enthusiasm very poorly veiled. Luz shifts onto her knees, causing Rascal to hop over to Hunter as the human leans forward. 

“So you know how witches cast magic using spell circles? Apparently, the glyph patterns are inside the circles! I figured out that one first when I filmed Eda casting a light spell.” Luz is starting to bounce around, her hands moving wildly. “And the others all come from nature; like I found the ice glyph in a snowflake!”

Hunter leans forward as well, looking at one of the other symbols on Luz’s paper stack. “Fascinating. I knew there were other ways to cast magic centuries ago, but the running theories were all on more complex spell circles or incantations, not drawn symbols.” Hunter raises a finger to his chin, starting to lose himself in thought. The part of his brain yelling at him to shut up and stop talking about classified magical information has long been silenced. “I wonder how you could cast more complex spells…”

“Oo! We figured that out!” Luz says, catching Hunter’s attention yet again. “Apparently you can combine glyphs to create more spells! And combining those can make a chain of commands. Lately, I’ve been testing out combining glyphs with potions-”

“That’s brilliant! Potions are some of the oldest forms of magic on the isles, so combined with savage age techniques they could yield-”

“Super powerful glyph potions!” 

“I wonder if you could take certain ingredients and-” Hunter stops, suddenly becoming very aware of his gradually increasing volume and interruptions. He shrinks back in on himself, smile fading. “Nevermind- I probably shouldn’t have brought anything up.”

“What? Why!” Luz slams her hands on the ground, causing both Rascal and Hunter to jump a little. “You know way more about magic than I do- we could make so much cool stuff!”

Hunter can feel a little stinging sensation in his chest, a part of him wishing he could just stay and experiment with this new, wild magic. But that’s the problem; it’s wild magic. He glances over at his little light ball, sighing. 

“I… appreciate you showing me the glyph pattern, Luz.” Hunter says as he slowly stands up, Rascal flying to perch dutifully on his shoulder. “I shouldn’t even be here in the first place, I just… needed to see one. I needed to know how you figured out magic like that.” 

“Do you… not want to see anymore?” For some reason Hunter can’t understand, he can hear a little hurt in Luz’s voice. He lets out a deep sigh, pulling out his mask and sliding it onto his face. 

“I can figure out the other basics on my own, if I want. I got all I needed.” Hunter takes Rascal into his hand, watching as the cardinal transforms into a staff. “I appreciated the lesson, Human.” He spares one last look at his magical light balls as it begins to fade away, blinking into the darkness. “I mean it.”

He’s about to go, but stops as he feels a hand grasp his wrist.

“Wait.” Luz is standing behind him, determination painted across her face. 

Hunter pulls his hand away from her, staring blankly. “What?”

“Hunter… you don’t seem like a bad guy. We even like a lot of the same things.” Hunter grimaces slightly, bracing himself for the ‘but.’ “But… why did you do that? At Eclipse Lake?” Luz squeezes her eyes shut, fists clenched. “It really, really hurt Amity.”

Hunter can feel the rock in his stomach. What is he supposed to tell her? That he needed that key? That he would’ve done anything for that Titan’s blood? He sighs.

“Listen, Luz- you seem nice. Probably a little too nice. But my loyalty’s lie with the Emperor before anything else.” He turns away from her. “I won’t tell him about the glyphs. But I can’t promise anything else.” He can practically feel Luz’s disappointment, and despite the fact it shouldn’t affect him at all, the guilt in Hunter’s stomach keeps growing. He isn’t going to lie to her face, though. He knows what he is; a soldier, first and foremost. Anything else is secondary. Tonight, he let himself be a magic nerd, at least for a little while. But tomorrow, it’s back to the Golden Guard. “Goodnight.” He says. Then he hops onto his staff and flies out of Luz’s attic window.

Luz stares down at the pile of glyphs and blank papers on the floor next to her. Maybe she expected a little too much from the Golden Guard. She rolls onto her other side, reaching out to grab her letter. He forgot to take it back with him. She rubs her finger over the paper, sighing. 

He came. That means something. And Luz is not one to give up on people easily. She stares up at the ceiling, scrunching her face in concentration. Everyone has a story; Amity has her terrible mother. Lilith had her trust betrayed.

Luz is going to help that boy, godamnit, whether he wants it or not. 

Chapter Text

Amity has never been a big fan of school.

That would be a shock to most people who’ve heard about her: after all, she gets straight A’s, used to be captain of the Grudgby team, and generally spends a good chunk of her free time studying. Any outsider would think she has an obsessive love for school.

The truth is, unfortunately, much more grim. Amity’s life has always revolved around school, and her school ‘friends’ like Boscha. School has never been a place of learning or friendship for her, but rather, an opportunity. A center of moldable minds to rise to the top around, and a series of leaderboards to climb and metals to win. 

As Amity’s life shifts away from what it once was, she finds herself caring less and less about school. Sure, she still keeps her grades up; she has too, since her relationship with her mother is already on thin ice. But school is no longer the center of stress and popularity contests it was. Instead, it's a series of classes to slog through to get to Luz, Willow, and Gus, and eventually, whatever grand adventure Luz has planned for the afternoon. 

Luz’s carefree, ‘grades don’t matter’ attitude is infectious, and the nagging voice of her mother has begun to dislodge itself from Amity’s head, even if Luz is in a very different situation, with a real home to return to. (Amity tries not to think too much about that, though; she wants to appreciate the time she has with the human girl now.) 

All of this has led to Amity standing in front of a cave with Luz instead of being at home studying like she would have a mere few weeks ago. Her hand is gripped around her staff as she stares down at a piece of paper in her other palm, squinting. She’s lucky Luz’s latest adventure hasn’t taken them to the knee: she still hasn’t gotten her gloves replaced, avoiding every conversation with her parents she can.

“And we need this rare, oddly specific magical mineral rock because…?” Amity asks, looking over to Luz with skepticism. She loves Luz to death, but sometimes she wonders if the energetic human just comes up with magical artifacts to chase for the sake of chasing something. Despite the child’s knack for getting into trouble with every witch or demon she meets, even the Owl Lady and her apprentice get down time.

Luz just stares into the mouth of the cave, bursting with enthusiasm and determination. “BECAUSE, Amity, we only have a few more tries to get the portal right! Philip said it wasn’t necessary, but longenium can apparently lengthen spells and enchantments, including the portal’s stability. We need all the help we can get.” Amity shrugs. She can’t argue with that. Then Luz turns to face her, a grin plastered on her squishy little face. “Besides, why would I pass up an adventure with my amazing girlfriend!”

The lilac haired girl blushes, waving a hand in the air. “I hate to break it to you, Luz, but venturing into a damp cave isn’t exactly a typical date activity.”

“And yet, here you are.”

The girls both laugh, entwining their hands as they begin their journey into the rock. They may poke fun at each other, but they both know it doesn’t really matter how they spend their time, as long as they're together. Amity would much prefer Luz have a non-king partner on her adventures, anyway. It’s not that Amity doesn’t trust her girlfriend, it’s just that Luz can be a bit… oblivious, at times. And may accidentally wander into a pit. 

Luz lights up a glyph as the darkness of the cave creeps around them, holding the soft ball of light in one of her hands. The other stays connected to Amity, a familiar and comforting weight to the young witch. Despite her hesitation and awkwardness, having Luz’s hand in hers makes Amity feel a lot more secure. With Luz by her side, she can momentarily forget about uncertainty for the future, or how much her mother would disapprove of her current situation.

Amity instinctively reaches a hand up around her neck, grasping for a necklace that’s no longer there. She feels a small amount of relief settle in her stomach as she remembers her mother’s voice won’t interject. 

It’s an irrational fear: even if the necklace were still there, Odalia had to be within range to send some sort of comment to Amity. But the girl can’t shake the feeling of her mother leaning over her shoulder, staring down every little thing she does with intense scrutiny. Amity’s throat chokes up a little as her hand remains on her chest, the memory of an argument a few days ago resurfacing.

“No.”

Amity’s voice had been firm and steady, despite the tremors already starting to form in her hands. She was standing in the dining room, her mother perched on an end chair while her father wandered behind, staring aimlessly at various things around the room. Amity could still feel the cold fear wrap around her at Odalia’s fierce stare, the immediate urge to apologize and agree to whatever terms the old witch set swelling inside her. But she swallowed hard, planting her feet and standing her grounds. Odalia’s threats didn’t scare her anymore, at least not in the way they used to.

“Amity, this is not an argument.” Odalia said, leaning forward and resting her chin on the back of her manicured hands. Odalia had not evolved into her full blown yelling yet, her energy still cold and calculated as she glared her daughter down. “Since you broke your last necklace, I am making you a new one.”

“I said no!” Amity’s voice was louder that time, and she couldn’t keep the fear out of it. She could already feel panic bubbling in her chest. 

Odalia simply scoffed. “Mittens, why is this such a big deal to you? You wore it your whole life with no issue,” Odalia rolled her eyes, leaning back and sending Amity a condescending stare. “I thought we were better than teenage rebellious streaks.”

Amity clenched her fists at her side, determined not to give in to her mother’s manipulation yet again. On the surface it seemed stupid. She had lived her whole life with that mother-daughter connection, and it often had gone unused and ignored.

But still, there were times when Amity’s mothers voice would ring in her ears, shouting things unheard by those around her. It made Amity anxious, worried that Odalia would say something horrible and her daughter would have no proof. Her threats went unchecked. Her power went unquestioned.

Even though Amity only shattered it a few weeks ago, the freedom had been liberating. That, combined with her new hair and increased visitation to the Owl House, the idea of restoring that connection with her mother terrified Amity. 

Amity took a deep breath and steeled herself, mentally repeating the things Luz had told her. Odalia is in the wrong. Her mother can threaten her or ground her, but at the end of the day, she’s only a mother. In a dire scenario, Amity has other places to go, and other people to turn to. And for once, she’s willing to do so.

“I am not putting another one of those things on again, mom,” Amity said again, this time with more force and conviction. Odalia’s face dropped. “Listen: I’ll keep up my grades, okay? I’ll go to your showcases, and visit with investors. I'll go to the Emperor’s Castle for Titan’s sake, but I will not put another oracle necklace around my neck.”

Odalia looked baffled, stuttering for a moment before slamming a hand down on the table, causing Amity to flinch. Amity braced herself for the shouting.

“Are you talking back to me, young lady? In my house?!” Amity could feel her mother’s anger start to rise, but didn’t back down.

“I’m explaining my boundaries. I don’t know why you have such a problem with it!”

“My problem is that you don’t have respect for my rules! You BROKE that necklace, Amity! Do you know how difficult it was to make?!” Their voices were rapidly rising, and a former Amity would’ve backed down now, muttering apologies. The Amity at that moment was not going to. She was filled with anger. 

“Oh wow, I feel so bad for all the work you lost in the collar you put on your child. ” Amity hadn’t meant for her words to come out so harsh and bitter, but they did. Alador stopped his pacing, looking down at the two. Amity swallowed hard. She had to stand her ground, now or never. “I’m doing what you want; so what’s your issue?!”

By this point, Odalia’s face had begun to turn red. “MY issue?!? Amity Blight I am this close to-”

“Don’t talk back to your mother, Amity.” Amity shrunk as Alador finally spoke, his head snapping to the pair. His face was as dull and emotionless as always, and Amity bit her tongue. Her dad doesn’t interject much, but when he does, everyone listens. Even her mother. 

Alador sighed, running a hand down his face. “The necklace is unnecessary. It was a precaution made for your young age, and it was taken too far.” Amity knew that was a lie, but she held her tongue anyway. Her father was always far more intimidating than Odalia, despite his general apathy towards, well, everything. “Keep up your grades and stay on good behavior, and it won’t be necessary. Understood?” His words were clear and sharp, cutting through the tense air of the Blight household. 

Amity clenched her teeth, staring down at the ground. She didn’t want to agree, knowing that in the Blight household ‘good behavior’ means agreeing with everything to come out of her parents' mouths. But, as usual, her father was offering the more reasonable course of action, and she had to take it. She nodded, eyes trailing to the ground.

“Understood.”

Alador clasped his hands together, satisfied with his addition to the conversation. He then shot a look at Amity, not quite a glare, but something that made her feel uneasy.

“Now, go to your room for the rest of tonight, young lady.”

“Yes father.”

Amity lets out a long sigh, letting her arms drop to her sides. She’s very grateful for the distraction Luz offers her from everything else going on in her life. She’s got a dinner party with Boscha’s parents coming up soon, and Alador’s been on her case about their visit to the castle, and, well, Amity’s just about had it with her family. Any distracting adventure is a welcome one, no matter how unnecessary it may be. 

The girls look down as they hear an ominous squish, cautiously peering at the ground. Luz has stepped in… something. It's a green, vaguely smelly substance, and Luz jumps back, shaking her foot with a hand still entwined with Amity’s. 

“Why do magical ingredients have to pick so many caves to live in! Boiling Isles caves are GROSS!” Luz shouts, furiously rubbing her sneakers against the dirt of the cave. Amity giggles.

“And human caves aren’t?” Amity asks, teasing. Luz lowers her eyebrows, looking unimpressed.

“In the human realm, the grossest thing you might step on in a cave is some poop, or like, a dead bird. Not a flesh golem.”

Amity starts to pull Luz ahead, rolling her eyes “Flesh golems are very uncommon, Luz, and I doubt one would let you step on it.”

“I just made up the flesh golems! Those are real?!” Luz throws her hands up in exasperation. “Is there any horrifying monstrosity you DON’T have?!”
Amity places a finger to her chin, mostly ignoring the stone around her as the pair descend further and further into the cave. “Well, we don’t have whatever those ‘politicians’ are, the ones that you were complaining about earlier.” Amity says.

“Can’t believe I’m saying this, but honestly, you guys could use some politicians.”

Suddenly, Amity flings out her staff, the white wood catching in front of Luz and causing her to stumble back a little in surprise. 

“Wha-” Luz is cut off as she stumbles back forward, peering down at what’s in front of them; there’s a large drop into what looks like more cave. Upon closing inspection however, Amity can see the walls of the tunnel vaguely moving, pulsing ever so slightly. Her expression darkens.

“Cave worm.” She says, glaring at the hole as she takes a few steps back. Luz’s mouth is agape.

“Cave what now?”

Amity doesn’t have time to respond, eyes widening as she watches the hole contract at a quickening pace. Its realized they’re there. She grabs Luz’s hand, quickly dragging her behind a small rock outcropping. She drops her staff into Luz’s arms, moving her hands to pull abomination goo out of the container dangling by her side. She flings up her arms just in time, creating a shifting, purple shield over her and Luz’s heads. Luz stares up as a long, slimy green tongue outstretches from the hole, dragging itself across the shield. A few chunks of mystery goop fling by, landing a few feet front the pair and causing the ground to steam. Luz gags. 

The cave worms tendril slams into Amity’s abomination shield again, and she winces, flicking her finger in a spell circle to reinforce it. 

“Luz!” She shouts as the tongue’ jagged edges continue to dig into their cover. “Can you cover up that thing's mouth?!”
Luz gives a quick nod, sifting through her pockets to pull out a glyph. Amity’s guard drops slightly as she watches Luz fly over the rock. The human girl lands on the ground, dashing forward and slamming a plant glyph on the dirt. The tongue turns around, but before it has a chance to make a move, jagged vines begin to cross across the mouth of the cave worm. Luz dashes around to the other side, giving a quick roll before slamming down another plant glyph, this time with jagged spikes that slice the tongue in half. 

Amity watches with vague horror as the demon's internal limb is separated from its host, flailing about and spewing a steaming substance as it tumbles away from the worm's mouth. A bit of that green gunk lodges itself onto Amity’s abomination spell, and she lets it melt to the ground, mixing the green chunks with her purple magic. She scrunches her face at it in disgust.

Luz stands across from her, staring with wide eyes as the cave worm does it’s best to close its mouth, pulling the plates Luz laid on top of it close and creating a pile of slightly burnt vines. Amity takes her place by Luz, looking at the cave’s chamber.

“Cave worms. That’s… a new one.” Luz says after a few moments of silence. Amity nods.

“Unfortunately, a lot of things on the Isles just love the taste of witch flesh.” Cave worms are gross, sure, but Luz’s disgusted look is far more extreme. Despite the time they’ve spent together, Amity still finds it hard to gauge what things Luz will find particularly strange. Luz has tried to explain the human realm to Amity multiple times, but the details still elude her. It’s such a confusing and complicated place; Amity doesn’t know how Luz manages to live there and keep her sanity intact.

Amity reaches out to ruffle Luz’s fluffy brown hair, grabbing her hand and starting to pull her along. “Come on; it’ll grow a new tongue soon.”

“It’ll wHA- of course it will.”

Amity squints down at a map in her hands, letting out a frustrated huff. Luz has two light glyphs floating around them, and they sit, backs against a miraculously clean stone wall. Luz has been poking at stalactites for the past few minutes as Amity pulls a light glyph closer to her, staring at the frustratingly vague old parchment. 

Amity throws her hands in the air, catching Luz’s attention. “According to the map, we should be surrounded by ore veins right now- what gives?!” Luz flinches a little in response, and Amity feels a surge of protectiveness and guilt wash over her. Her frustrated expression softens, and she sends a soft smile towards her girlfriend. “Sorry, Luz; I’m not mad at you.” Her kindness fades around the edges. “Just these stupid old maps.” 

Luz grins back, energy started to lift Amity out of her grouchy mood. Luz kneels down beside Amity as she stares down at the paper, her tongue sticking out in concentration. Amity doesn’t dare interrupt; it’s adorable.

Ever since the tunnel of love incident, (which EVERYONE involved has decided to collectively not address,) Amity’s been much more cautious with letting her frustration slip around Luz. Luz, despite her tendency to think the best of people, also often assumes their anger is directed at her. Amity hasn’t pushed Luz for details of the bullying she experienced in the human realm, but it doesn’t stop Amity from wanting to punch whatever human children convinced Luz she’s constantly being made fun of.

Luz takes the paper from Amity, haphazardly folding it and shoving it into the pockets of her jean shorts with a shrug. “Welp, this thing’s not helping; we’ll just have to figure it out on our own!” Luz pumps her fist in the air. Amity sighs, but can’t keep a smile from growing on her face at Luz’s enthusiasm. She pulls herself off of the ground, brushing the dirt from her sweater. 

“I think I saw a path over there-” Amity’s cut off as they hear a shout. Both Amity and Luz’s heads snap to where the noise came from, somewhere on the right. There’s only one path leading that way, and Amity looks at Luz, confused. “Are there mines down here?” 

Luz shakes her head. “Nope. Cave’s too small.” The pair continue to stare down the tunnel as they hear a boom and grunt. Amity resists groaning as she catches a glimpse of Luz’s concerned expression.

“Luz, do not-”

“What if someone’s in trouble?” If it were up to Amity, they would keep moving; going into a dangerous cave has its risks. Besides, there’s probably not even a witch or demon. She’s not about to get involved in an altercation between a cave worm and a horde of blood bats. 

But then Luz looks at Amity with her big, pleading eyes, begging the lilac haired witch to air on the side of caution and compassion. Amity’s words of logic die in her mouth, and she sighs.

“Okay, fine, we’ll go see if anyone needs help.”

“Come on!” Luz doesn’t need to be told twice; she’s halfway down the path in a blink of an eye, leaving Amity to run after her. 

Amity dashes down the cave’s corridor, rounding a sharp corner that opens into a large chamber. Glowing mushrooms illuminate the space, and huge stalactites hang from the high ceilings. It would probably be beautiful, if not for the giant, mushroom beast demon standing in its center, pawing at the ground. 

Amity isn’t sure how to describe it: it’s a mass of dirt and roots, with rock outcroppings and a huge jaw full of crystalline teeth. But what’s most notable about it are the massive, glowing mushrooms jutting out of every part of its body, bathing it in an unnatural teal glow. Amity watches it roar, its creaky stone mouth tearing open, its cry shaking the ground around them. It launches at the furthest wall, presumably at an enemy. Amity can hear a grunt and sees a flash of magic, a little guilt seeping into her stomach. So there is a witch.

That’s why she’s surprised to come up right beside Luz, who is standing at the opening to the cave, her hand full of glyphs. 

“Luz! What should we-” Amity’s word are abruptly cut off as she witnesses a red flash, a form appearing right behind the monster in mid-air. Her face goes from worry, to shock, and then… annoyance.

Frustration.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

The Golden fucking Guard lands on his feet, cape billowing out behind him. Amity is tempted to throw herself against a wall.

He doesn’t seem to have noticed them yet, as he launches a magic bolt at the creature. It rears up on its hind legs, wailing as it tries to turn back around to face its attacker. The masked boy hops onto his staff, gliding around the room and placing small, blinking disks on the floor. 

He hops off of his staff, shooting another blast of energy at the beast. It’s managed to right itself, lashing out its limbs as it charges forward, a back limb about to hit the teen square in the back. Luz steps out of the archway.

“Hunter! Watch out!” She shouts. The boy whips his head around, and even with his mask on, Amity can feel his shock. Unfortunately (fortunately?), Luz's warning had the opposite effect intended, causing Hunter to freeze as the monster slams into him, sending him flying across the cave and onto the floor. Luz is about to dash ahead, glyphs in hand, when the monster steps past one of those disks. They all beep at once, launching out red, glowing threads of magic that crisscross into a net, securing the mushroom demon and flattening it against the floor. It howls and scratches at the ground with its rocky claws. Amity can see it struggle against the net, straining the magic. She rushes forward, moving her staff in a large circle. It glows yellow, before launching forward at the beast, surrounding it in a golden glow.

Its struggling gradually stops as it sinks into the dirt, succumbing to Amity’s sleep spell. She can’t help but feel a bit of pride at her work; she’s been trying to perfect that spell ever since she saw Eda use it on a slither beast at the knee. 

Amity is snapped out of her pride by a groan from the other side of the room. She brandishes her staff out, narrowing her eyes, as Hunter pulls himself up, stiffly brushing off his armor.

The slits of his mask meet her eyes, and he grumbles. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Chapter Text

If Hunter didn’t know any better, he’d say the human and her Blight were following him.

He’s standing in a dingy cave, brushing dirt off of his freshly washed cloak with a grumble. Really, those two have no respect for personal property. His first proper mission after the Kikimora incident, and he just HAPPENS to run into these two. He narrows his eyes at Luz, who is standing sheepishly beside Amity. Oh she definitely planned this. 

Amity takes a few steps forward, her staff brandished out in front of her. Although she can’t see it, Hunter is very unimpressed under his mask. She glares at him.

“What are you doing here?” She asks, venom in her voice. Hunter yawns, throwing his hands up in a lazy surrender. 

“My job, if you couldn’t tell.” Amity is unamused, continuing to inch forward with a really unnecessary amount of caution. Luz comes up beside the purple haired witch, placing one hand on her shoulder. The human nervously laughs, somewhat easing Amity’s tense posture. 

“Okay, let’s just calm down…” Luz says. Amity flicks her eyes back and forth between Luz and Hunter, eventually sighing and lowering her staff. Hunter lowers his hands, reaching down to pick up his staff. His artificial one, of course. He can feel a little guilt rise at the fact he even has to specify. He does have Rascal with him, of course; the cardinal is tucked in his pocket, frozen as wood. He wouldn’t dare leave the palisman home alone, especially with the state Uncle Belos is in. 

Hunter starts to stride away, earning a scoff from Luz.

“What, not even a thank you?” The human girl says, voice lilted. Hunter turns to her, hoping his frustration is palpable through his mask.

“I had it handled.”

Amity rolls her eyes. “Sure you did, blondie.” Hunter can feel his cheeks heat up a little at the nickname. The audacity of that Blight to be disrespectful to him on the job!

Amity flings her staff into an offensive position once again, and Hunter stops. “Hold up, Golden boy. I still want to know why you’re here.”

He sighs, straightening out his armor. “Knowing my luck, probably the same thing you’re here for: Longenium.” Longenium’s not that rare; this was just supposed to be an in and out mission. Apparently the Titan has other plans for Hunter.

Hunter’s somewhat surprised when Amity immediately tenses up, shoving Luz behind her and shooting Hunter a nasty glare. 

“It’s two on one, Golden Guard.” She says through gritted teeth. Hunter throws his hands up again, this time with a little more energy.

“In case you weren’t aware, Blight, longenium comes from ore veins. There’ll be plenty.” He cocks his head to the side. “Were you not taught to share?” 

He holds in a snicker as Amity grumbles, putting down her staff. Luz suddenly steps between them, a hesitant smile on her face.

“WELL now that that’s out the way… looks like we’re headed to the same place!” Luz claps her hands together once, taking Amity’s arm. This relaxes Amity considerably. “Path’s this way!” Before Luz can start off, Hunter shakes his head.

“Oh no no no no… you two are going to find a DIFFERENT longenium cave, and I’m going to complete my mission quickly and alone .” He emphasizes the last word with a swirl of his hand. 

Unsurprisingly, Luz decides not to cooperate. “Didn’t you just say something about sharing?”

Hunter grumbles, slapping a hand up to his face. This was supposed to be a fast mission. He doesn’t have time to explain his… complicated feelings about working with them. Instead he lets out a loud groan to express his frustration, crossing his arms.

“Okay. Fine. Let's go. Just keep up the pace: I’m not gonna wait for you.” He says, briskly walking across the distance of the cave and shoving past the pair, earning a glare from Amity. 

Hunter pretends he can’t hear Amity and Luz’s hushed talking as they begin to power through the cave’s tunnels, Hunter pulling out a map. In the past, he probably would’ve tried to throw them off, keep them from getting the longenium. Currently, Hunter could care less. He doesn’t have the time, energy, or desire to start a fight with the girls behind him. He just wants to find this stupid mineral and go home, so he can start working his way up to actual missions again. He can feel the bitter guilt gnawing away at his stomach, along with residue anger at Amity for getting him into this situation in the first place. However, his frustration is fleeting. He knows it was his fault. Eclipse Lake, Kikimora, the potions - it was all his fault.

He just has to make up for it now.

He stares down at the paper, not really reading it as his ears perk up to the conversation behind him. 

“You knew he was going to be at this cave?!” He can hear Amity hiss a few feet behind him. Luz quickly shushes her, looking up at Hunter, who pretends to be absorbed in his map. He knew it.

He hears Luz sigh. “So I MAY have overheard a few coven scouts talking about it; we still need the longenium! Amity, what’s the harm in a little adventure down here?” Luz’s whispers are surprisingly loud, and Hunter resists the urge to tell her to quiet down. 

Amity shakes her head slightly. “Luz, listen, I know you just want to help, and I appreciate that about you but- it’s a little more complicated with Hunter, y’know?” 

“It’s not like he’s going to attack us.”

“I know, I just-” 

Hunter clears his throat, catching their attention. The both look up abruptly, taking a step apart to look at Hunter, alert. He turns around as he folds his map back into his cloak. He decides not to address why the idea of Amity thinking he’s going hurt her is so distressing to him, convincing himself he just wants them to shut up.

“We’re coming up on a darker tunnel. Do you have any of those light glyphs, Luz?” Hunter asks. Luz nods, starting to pull a pile of papers out of her pocket. Amity, however, stares at Hunter suspiciously. 

“Can’t you just use your staff?” She questions. Hunter shrugs, doing his best to come off as casual.

“Yeah, but she might as well use a few of them. Not much use light has in a fight.” Hunter says as sarcastically as he can. Really he just wants to see one again, and make sure he has the pattern down in his mind. 

“Actually, you’d be surprised! A lot of demons are vulnerable to light.” Luz chimes in, completely disregarding the tension between Amity and Hunter.

“Right - but in caves like this most of them don’t have eyes.” Hunter can feel his face start to light up at the chance to share some of his knowledge again. “The running theories have something to do with the caves' closeness to the veins that sprouted their demon ancestors.”

Luz starts to smile, approaching Hunter. “Right, demons came from the Titan! But how?”

“Well, nobody’s really sure- I read this one book that theorized…” Hunter’s words trail off, looking between Luz and Amity. Amity looks bored, sure, but she hasn’t interrupted yet. Hunter glances back at Luz, who seems… interested. His grip around his staff tightens a little. He probably shouldn’t be sharing knowledge but, the book wasn’t banned or anything. Luz could access it at any time.

It wouldn’t hurt for him to talk for a little while, right?

So he does. Hunter picks up again, telling Luz all about the book on demon origins. And then another one. She tells him about one of her own, and eventually, even Amity chimes in. Hunter loses himself in their words, as the conversation somehow morphs into a discussion on a fictional series from the human realm the girls have both read. 

“But THEN, Hecate- oops, spoilers!” Luz covers her mouth with a hand, starting to laugh. Amity joins her, giggling a little, her cheeks lighting up with a rosy pink. 

Amity raises an eyebrow towards Hunter. “I don’t think you have to worry too much, Luz. I doubt Mr. Emperor’s Coven over here does things like read for fun.”

Hunter rolls his eyes under his mask. “Oh har har- I do too have fun.” 

“Really? And what exactly do you do?”

“Well- I-” Hunter can hear Amity start to giggle and he whips around, pointing a finger in her face. “You put me on the spot!” Her laughs fade, leaving her with a small smile on her face. Amity entwines her hand with Luz’s, and Hunter can’t help but feel a pang of something like jealousy in his stomach at the way they just so casually touch each other. He turns back around with a huff, increasing his pace ever so slightly. 

After a few moments of silence, Luz speaks. “Are you gonna take your mask off?” The little sparks of fluff and comfort in Hunter’s stomach dissipate, replaced with annoyance. 

“Why are you two so obsessed with getting this thing off?” He asks incredulously. Luz starts to fidget with her hands. 

“I don’t know- it’s pretty hard to read you with it on.”

“That’s the point.” Hunter says dryly. He turns around, starting to walk backwards. He knocks his fist on his head. It makes a hollow, echoing sound. “Besides, this one’s a helmet: provides protection.” 

He expects Luz or Amity to make another snide comment, but instead Luz’s eyes go wide.

“Hunter-!” She shouts abruptly. He glances over his shoulder, only to see a gaping hole behind him. One he’s about to walk right into.

He can feel his momentum start to betray him, pulling his back further into the pit, when a hand suddenly grasps his wrist, pulling him forward. He can feel a sharp pain in his wrist as he’s thrown forward, tumbling onto his knees from the momentum. He reaches a hand to feel his heart, which is pounding out of his chest.

Luz falls to her knees beside him, breathing heavy. Amity quickly comes up beside her. “Luz! You alright?” Luz nods, giving Amity a breathless smile. Amity smiles back. “Great save!” The young witch then looks up at Hunter, with a surprising amount of concern laced on her brow. “Hunter? You?” 

Hunter gives a small nod, holding his wrist in one hand, staring off into space. His adrenaline is already coming down, but he still feels numb. He glances back over at that hole. He could’ve died . He nearly died on one of the simplest missions he’s been on- since when has he gotten so careless? He bites his cheek, curling his hands up as his body instinctively makes itself small. He can’t imagine what it’d be like for Belos to learn his top soldier, his Golden Guard died in a cave hold due to a stupid mistep. He forces down the tremors starting in his body, squeezing his eyes shut. He’d forgotten what's at stake. What’s always at stake.

Luz stands, peering at Hunter with confusion. “Hunter? Are you sure you’re alright…” Luz’s words fade from Hunter’s ears as he spots something out of the corner of his eye. He moves immediately, the hand on his staff flinging out. A bolt of red energy zaps out, slicing a slimy, green appendage just before it was about to grab Luz. He looks at her, breathless. 

“Now we’re even.”

All three teens then turn towards the hole. 

“Cave worm!” Amity shouts. Hunter, frankly thankful for the distraction, jumps into action. He teleports over to the other side of the hole, a blur of red energy. He can see Amity summon her abomination goo as she fights off the worm's tongue. The mouth of the hole has started oscillating, about to spew venom. Hunter flings his staff forward, a red forcefield covering the mouth of the worm, venom splattering on the interior. Out of the corner of his eye Hunter can see Luz gag. The human slaps down a few glyphs, thorned vines shooting out to cover the top in a criss cross pattern. Amity has sliced the tongue, and for a moment they all stand, thinking the battle has been won. 

Then the cave starts to rumble. It shakes, growing stronger and stronger until Hunter is knocked to the floor, on his hands and knees. A hand reaches for Rascal, to feel his palisman is still there, tucked away in his tunic. Hunter manages to grip his staff, teleporting over to Amity and Luz. They barely register his appearance as the shaking continues to intensify, the hole on the floor now twisting violently, causing rocks to go flying from the ground. Those idiots- they must have covered up its other mouth! 

He attempts to stand, but the shaking forces him down again. 

“Luz! We have to-” Hunter stops as a pebble bangs onto his helmet. He looks up, eyes widening in fear. “AMITY! FORCEFIELD! NOW! ”

Hunter slams his staff on the ground, a massive bubble of red surrounding the trio. Amity quickly spins her staff, and an aura of purple bolsters his spell as the rocks from the ceiling come crashing down.

Amity coughs. It’s pitch black: she can’t see anything except for a tiny speck of teal a few feet away. She feels dust and grime float into her lungs as she hacks and sputters, hand still outstretched. She can feel her magical forcefield still up, but it's wavering. Finally, her throat clears, and she can hear a few more coughs around her. She blinks, desperately trying to see something.

“Luz??” She asks, a little panic creeping into her voice. Her fears subside as she hears a little cough.

“I’m okay!” Luz says, miraculously enthusiastic. 

“Hunter?”

“Alive- ow.” She hears a soft grunt of pain to the left of her. 

Amity squints as a paper crumples in on itself, turning into a glowing ball that rises up about four feet, hitting a rock ceiling. It continues to grow, eventually covering everything in a soft, yellow glow. Amity blinks a few times, eyes adjusting to the sudden light.

They’ve been caved in: Rocks and boulders form a circle around them, about four feet tall and a few feet in radius. The speck of light beside her is a small opening, a glimmer of the glowing cavern outside. To her left Hunter lays sprawled out, staff still gripped in his hand. Luz is on her right, kneeling on the ground with a few glyphs spread out in front of her. She rubs her eyes with the back of her hand, face lighting up as she sees Amity. 

Luz rushes over, wrapping Amity in a tight hug. It startles the girl, and she can feel her magic fizzle, rocks creaking overhead.

“Don’t! Amity, keep that forcefield up.” Hunter cries out, desperation laced in his voice. Amity bristles, flicking her finger around to bolster her forcefield. Luz lets go as Amity lets out a shaky breath.

“Amity…? Are you okay?” Luz questions as she scooches back. 

“Yeah.” Amity huffs. “Blondie over here better have a plan: I can’t keep this up forever.” 

Hunter responds by ripping off his helmet, revealing his sweat drenched face. He grabs his staff with his other hand, slamming the end down into the ground. He squeezes his eyes shut, and Amity and Luz watch as a few thin pillars of stone emerge from the ground, the rocks rustling. He finishes with a sigh, setting his staff down and squishing his face into the dirt. Amity hesitantly lets her spell fade, ready to send it back up if necessary. To her delight, the rocks do not move. 

“Thanks, Hunter.” Amity says as she peers at one of his pillars. It's shoddy construction magic, but it works. She looks down at him, as he still hasn’t gotten up. “You alright?”

Hunter huffs, trying to push himself up, before falling back into the dirt. “Yeah, i-t’s just- augh- my foot. It’s stuck.” 

Amity’s eyes widen. “Here let me-”

“No.” He holds a hand up, looking her in the eyes with a dead seriousness. “I’m not skilled in construction magic. You need to bolster my spell so we all don’t get crushed.” Amity nods curtly, kneeling by one of his pillars. She puts a hand on it. She’s only dabbled in construction magic, but the roots of his spell are there. She just needs to clean it up. She shifts her magic around, fixing the rough edges of his hastily prepared structures. She can feel the residue of his magic as she does so, and it sends a chill down her spine. It’s strange, not like the other magic she’s worked with: cold and electric.

Hunter continues to speak as Luz rushes to his aide, carefully lifting the rocks from around his foot. 

“The cave is unstable. I felt around, and there should be an opening nearby - ough - if we can just-” Amity finishes her spell, glancing to the side as Hunter pulls himself into a seated position with a grimace. “- blast through-”

“No.” Amity’s words come out far more authoritative than she intended, catching the attention of both Hunter and Luz. “That’s too dangerous.” She looks over her shoulder at the small opening in the rocks. 

Luz crawls up beside her, inquisitive light in her massive brown eyes. “Could Ghost fit?” Luz asks. Amity glances down at her staff, gently tapping her palisman’s head to awaken Ghost from their wooden state. Her staff retracts as Ghost yawns, stretching as they curl beside Amity’s leg, nuzzling her. Ghost purrs softly, bringing a little smile to Amity’s face. Ghost must sense her current anxiety. Amity looks back to the crack, sighing and shaking her head as she strokes Ghost’s smooth back. 

“No… dammit.” She glances over her shoulder at Hunter, who is rubbing his ankle. He notices her stare and bristles, crossing his arms over his chest. Amity can feel her prickling desire to blame this situation on him, or even Luz, but she forces that feeling down, letting it die in her chest. Nobody could’ve predicted a cave worm; she should just be thankful Luz is alright.

Hunter’s cloak starts to shift, and something darts out of it. 

“Hey!” He shouts, raising his arm. A little red blur flaps around, landing on the ground next to Luz’s knee. She bursts into a grin, scooping the bird up in her arms. 

“Li’l Rascal!” Luz exclaims, bringing the cardinal up to her cheek and nuzzling his head. “I was wondering where you went!” 

A spark of hope lights up in Amity’s chest. “Wait-” She turns around, prying her fingers into the hole. She adjusts a few rocks, until the opening is about the size of her fist. “Could Rascal fit through here?” Rascal flaps away from Luz to land on Amity’s shoulder, giving a tweet of approval.

“No way!” Hunter’s words cut through the small place, short and panicked. “Are you crazy? He’d get crushed!” He sounds angry, but concern creeps through his voice. 

The cardinal stares at Hunter, letting out a small chirp. Amity and Luz watch as Hunter’s face falls from it’s frenzied glare, and he sighs deeply. 

“Are you sure?” Hunter asks, his eyes locked with Rascal’s. Hunter looks between Luz and Amity, eyes weary. “He says he’ll be fine. Just tell him where to go.”

Luz leans into Rascal’s beak. “You know where the Owl House is, right? Go get Eda for us. Tell Owlbert what’s going on- he’ll be able to translate.” Rascal shoots Luz a surprisingly determined look, turning on Amity’s shoulder. The cardinal takes to the air, darting into the rocky hole. Everyone in the chamber holds their breath for a moment, then another…

Tweet tweet!

Amity sighs in relief as she hears an echoed chirp of success. She smiles, putting her face next to the opening. “Good job, Rascal!” She shouts. She doesn’t hear a response, but assumes he has already started to fly away to get help. 

Amity turns back around, adjusting herself so her back is against the wall of the cave in, Luz beside her. Luz is on her knees, flipping through glyphs in her hands. 

“Let’s see, it’s about an hour to home, and then it’ll take Eda some time to get back, so I’d say we have… a little less than two hours to kill!” Luz says, shooting Amity a cheerful smile. Amity smiles back. She knows Luz must be shaken, but she appreciates her girlfriends unending optimism and energy. It helps settle the rock of doubt and panic in Amity’s own stomach. 

Hunter, however, is clearly not affected by Luz’s enthusiasm. “Will the rocks hold that long?” He asks, wrapping his gloved fingers around his staff. Amity gives him her best calming smile.

“I fixed up the construction, don’t worry; it could last a few days, at least.” Amity turns to Luz, shooting her a little glare. “And this is why we don’t go on spontaneous cave missions.”

Luz laughs sheepishly, shrugging. “Sorryyy…but hey, we’re fine, right! Next time, just make sure to warn me about the cave worms.”

Amity giggles. “I guess you handled them pretty well,” Amity leans in towards Luz, trying her best to give a teasing smirk without erupting into blush. “For a human.”

Luz is about to respond when they’re interrupted by a cough. The both stumble back, staring awkwardly across the space as Hunter stays at them, eyebrow raised.

“So this is what being a third wheel feels like.” Amity glares at him, unimpressed. If he’s going to be a wet towel, the least he could do is shut up. 

The area descends into awkward silence, the teens all sitting with their backs to the rocky wall. Amity stares up at the ball of light illuminating the space. Her foot starts to tap subconsciously, and out of the corner of her eye she can see Hunter and Luz start to fidget with their hands.

A few more moments of silence pass. Amity’s about to say something to Luz, but her girlfriend speaks before her, bouncing up as best she can with her limited room to move. 

“I know! Since we’ve got an hour or so to spare… let’s play truth or dare!”

Amity and Hunter each shoot Luz equally confused stares. 

Hunter shakes his head. “Play what now?”

Chapter Text

Luz watched a lot of teen movies as a child. She frequented the clearance DVD bin at her neighborhood’s local goodwill, and acquired an extensive knowledge of only the worst teen movie tropes.

In the human realm, she never really had a friend group to make friendship bracelets with or stay up late gossiping to. She was all too eager to test out the infamous “truth or dare” with Willow and Gus at their moonlight conjuring.

It could’ve gone better. Willow was really bad at coming up with dares, and kept just daring Luz to give her a hug. Gus, on the other hand, begged his friends to dare him to lift up increasingly heavy objects, stopping only when he nearly crushed King with a coffee table. But nevertheless, Luz had fun that night.

Sitting in a collapsed cave with her girlfriend and… frenemy? Luz is aware that playing a drama-inducing human teenage party game seems like a terrible idea. It probably IS a terrible idea.

But by God if they aren’t going to have fun doing it.

She just finished a very in depth description of the hard rules of truth or dare, and both Amity and Hunter are staring at her with equally confused and disturbed expressions. 

“Luz… how would we even do dares?” Amity says, gesturing around to their relatively small space.

“You just have to be creative!”

Hunter crosses his arms, making a point to be as far away from Amity and Luz as he can. “Yeah not happening.”

Luz scoffs. “Well, do either of you have a better idea?”

“Yes, in fact, I do.” Hunter begins, waving his hand sarcastically. “You two sit over there and talk about… I don’t know, school or committing high treason, and I sit over here and wallow in my own miserable circumstances.” 

There’s a moment of silence. Out of the corner of her eye, Luz sees Amity raise an eyebrow. “Alright looks like we’re going with the strange human game.”

“Yes!” Luz throws her hands up in victory. “It’s two to one, Goldie; you’re outvoted!”

“Is being crushed by rocks really such a bad way to go-”

“Oh shut up and get over here.” Hunter grumbles at Luz’s request, begrudgingly scooching over a few paces so he isn’t on the complete opposite side of Luz and Amity. Luz claps her hands together a few times in anticipation. She was worried for a second there she’d have to deal with Hunter brooding in the corner for two hours.

“Okay okay, I’ll go first.” Luz beams over at Amity, who gives back a hesitant smile that melts Luz’s heart. She realizes how awkward this must be for Amity, and decides to let her girlfriend off easy this first round. “Truth or dare?”

“Uhm... I just pick one, right?” Luz nods. “Okay… truth?”

“Hmmmm… favorite sibling!”

Amity’s demeanor immediately fades from tentative enthusiasm to annoyance. “Ugh, neither. What kind of question is that? Can I pick the abomination butler?”

“Come on Amity, they aren’t THAT bad.”

Amity snorts a little, sending Luz a challenging look. Luz frowns, and Amity laughs, waving her hand. “Alright, uhm.... Emira, probably. It’s close. They’re both annoying.” 

Luz leans onto Amity’s shoulder, poking one of her squishy cheeks with a smirk. “But you loOoOoove them anyway.” Amity’s cheeks grow pink as she playfully shoves her girlfriend off of her.

“Okay, fine. I love them too I guess.” There’s an awkward pause before Luz clears her throat.

“Alright! You answered, so it’s your turn now!” Luz says, elbowing Amity in the side. 

Hunter rolls his eyes. “Couldn’t we just not answer? It’s not like there are any stakes in this game of yours.”

“There are too stakes! If you refuse to participate, then you’re lame .”

“Oh no, what a terrible fate, being perceived as lame by a human and a fourteen year old.” He shakes his hands unenthusiastically. “I’m shaking in my boots.”

Amity glares at him. “You’re like, a year older than me!”

Luz resists the urge to laugh as Hunter’s face starts to turn red, creeping onto the tips of his pointing ears. 

“I’ll have you know I am sixteen!” He huffs, far more defensive than necessary. Luz manages to hold back most of her laughter, only a snort slipping out from her clasped mouth. Luz can hear him vaguely muttering as he turns away from them as best he can while sitting. “I’m a coven head, what’s she talking about ‘year older than me’ that human mffhfhf…”

Amity finally turns to Luz, her cheeks rosy with laughter. “Alright, Luz. Truth or dare?”

“Dare! Dare!” Luz responds, clambering onto her knees. Amity starts fidgeting with her fingers. 

“Okay, uhm…” she glances around their small space, eyes locking on the light ball hovering near the ‘ceiling’. “I guess… I dare you to touch the light glyph?” Amity looks to Luz. “Was that alright? Is that how you do it?” 

It’s a pretty lame dare, and Amity should know Luz has already experienced grabbing a magic ball of light, considering her general lack of thinking things through. She doesn’t mention it, instead smiling and giving Amity an affirmative nod. 

“Yeah, we’re getting there!” Luz leans forward, reaching out her arm to let her finger touch it’s side. The edges feel warm and fuzzy, light and magic dancing over her chewed nails. Both Amity and Hunter watch as Luz gently pulls her hand away, magic still buzzing around her fingertips. She giggles. “You can’t hold it there for too long, or it’ll burn your hand. Me and Eda learned THAT one the hard way.” 

“Have I ever mentioned how amazing it is you came up with those?” Amity says, eyes wide as she takes Luz’s hand in hers. 

Luz grins back, blushing. “You could stand to mention it more.” They both stare for a moment, Luz looking into Amity’s golden eyes. She always thinks about how amazing the hair and eye colors are for witches, how Amity’s eyes shimmer like gold in the sunlight, or glow like honey under the light of magic.

The pair realize how long they’ve been staring, both turning away quickly. Luz brushes the hair out of her face frantically, willing her blush to fade away. 

“OKAY, my turn!” Amity nods in agreement, straightening out her dress. Luz’s eyes fall on Hunter sitting grumpily across from her, and a grin starts to stretch across her face. She can see momentary panic flash in the teen boy's eyes. “Alright Hunter, your turn: Truth or dare!”

“I am not going to…” His words trail off as his eyes meet Amity, who is currently sending him a very unpleasant stare. He squirms a little in his seat, eventually letting out a sigh of defeat. “Okay, fine!” He rolls his eyes. “Dare.”

“Hmmm…” Luz taps a finger to her chin, pretending as if she doesn’t know exactly what she’s about to demand of him. “I dare you, Golden Guard, to give one real, genuine compliment to Amity.” Silence. Hunter takes a moment to just blink, staring at Luz.

“Are you… that is. The stupidest dare.” Hunter flicks his eyes to Amity, searching for some sort of support. Amity is barely holding back laughter, hand covering her mouth. She takes a deep breath, shrugging. 

“You heard Luz.” She says, with a barely composed smirk. Hunter, on the other hand, looks like he’s about to throw himself into the wall. He looks over at Amity once again, as if searching her features for some sort of redeeming quality.

A few moments pass before he crosses his arms and looks away, staring at the rock walls as a light pink creeps onto his face yet again.

“I… well I guess your combat abilities are… more than competent. For someone. Your age.” He looks to Luz and Amity, expecting them to react somehow. When they don’t, he whips his head back around again, awkwardly grimacing. “So yeah. You’re a great fighter. Could probably be a coven head in the future if that was, y’know. What you wanted.”

Hunter dares another glance at the pair, his shyness melting away into a frustrated glare. “Why are you looking at me like that?!”

“I’m not doing anything.” Luz responds, a hand on her chest. “He really did it. He gave you a compliment.”

“IT’S NOT A BIG DEAL!” Hunter shouts, although it isn’t intimidating. Luz just smiles to herself, glancing to see a smile on Amity’s face, too. His energy is gradually increasing as he points a finger at Luz, childishly glaring. “Alright, now I’m going. Truth or dare, human.”

Luz is all too happy to oblige. Her plan is working. The power of truth or dare trumps all boundaries. “Hmmm… I’ll let you get away with a truth, just this once.”

A smug smile crosses Hunter’s face as he leans back, past anger forgotten. “I heard from Lilith back when we were… acquainted, that humans typically practice kissing in the mirror. Is that true?” 

Luz feels immediate regret flood her body as her face turns beet red. She slaps her hands over her ears in some sort of futile attempt at maintaining dignity. She practically flops a few paces forward, jabbing a finger at Hunter’s chest. 

“N-No! That’s not a thing!” She feels the strong urge to slap Hunter as he starts to laugh, raising his eyebrows. 

“Really? Then why did she say she saw you doing so in the Bonesborough market bathrooms once-”

“HOW DID SHE SEE THAT!” Luz can hear her heart pounding out of her chest. It was Grom night, alright! Eda was in town selling her wares, and she didn’t have time! It’s not her fault she doesn’t have fancy shmancy illusion magic - she had to be prepared for all outcomes!

Luz suddenly whips her head back to see Amity, shooting her a look of pity with those big golden eyes. Luz wants to melt into a puddle of nothingness right then and there. She scooches back to her spot, falling over into Amity’s lap and burying her face in her girlfriend's side with a groan. 

“Hmmmf… make me invisible…” Luz’s words are muffled by Amity’s clothes as the purple haired witch gently pats Luz’s head. 

“I-It’s fine Luz, I don’t care.” Amity’s words are filled with a mixture of pity and laughter as she pats her girlfriend sympathetically. Luz whips her head up as Hunter starts to cackle, glaring with her nostrils flared.

“Ha ha ha ha-! Oh you were right, Luz, this game IS fun.” Hunter clutches his stomach, and Luz can feel her petty frustration fading around the edges looking at his genuine, beaming smile. 

Amity, on the other hand, is glaring daggers. “Clearly she did something right, seeing as she has a girlfriend and you’re still single.” Amity’s glare fades into a smirk.

“I’m too busy for a relationship anyway.” Hunter says with a shrug, surprisingly unaffected by Amity’s remark. Luz flops back into Amity’s lap dramatically.

“I think I’m dead, Ams.”

“You’re fine.” 

She (also rather dramatically) rolls off of Amity’s knees onto her stomach, elbows planting into the dirt. She can feel the petty rage of truth or dare fill her heart as she glares up at Hunter’s smug little face. Those eyebags are about to get RECKED.

“Hey Hunter, truth or dare, jerkface!”

He smiles in response, cocking an eyebrow. “Truth.”

“How many hours of sleep do you get per night?”

Hunter’s smile falls. He glances between Amity and Luz, feet starting to tap. 

“...that’s a dumb question-”

“ANSWER IT!” 

“Like… four? Hours? Probably?” Luz’s jaw drops, her pettiness forgotten. She hops onto her knees, crouch-running over to Hunter and shaking his shoulders with way more energy than needed. 

“Four hours! Dude! How are you even FUNCTIONING! GO TO BED!!” 

“You’re the one who asked-” Hunter shoves Luz off, dusting his shoulder as he regains stability. “-I’m fine!”

Luz glances back at Amity, searching her girlfriends eyes for some sort of support. Amity just gives her half-hearted shrug.

“I mean, that’s not bad. I’ve pulled a few all nighters studying before-”

“This is no longer truth or dare time, this is nap time. Both of you. Sleep.” Luz’s mama always taught her about the importance of a consistent sleep schedule and a good night's rest. Even through the chaos of the Boiling Isles, Luz has maintained a bedtime of 10:30 max. When she looks at Hunter, it’s full of horror and pity. 

Hunter shrugs, gesturing a hand to Amity. “Purple hair over here gets it. I find my motivation peaks around 2 AM.”

Amity nods. “I know, right?”

“No! Sleep! It’s necessary!” 

Hunter looks to the side. “Is it really though-”

“I will slap you.”

Hunter raises his hands up. “Okay, okay!” He puts one to his cheek, face scrunching up. “Your slaps hurt.” Despite his perceived grumpiness, a small smile has slowly been creeping its way onto the teen boy's face. Amity’s cheeks are flush from laughter, and Luz grins as she leans back, now sitting between Hunter and her girlfriend. 

Hunter’s eyes flick to Amity as he uncrosses his arms, settling into a much more relaxed pose than he had before. “My turn, right? Truth or dare, Blight.”

Amity narrows her eyes, a familiar intense competitiveness crossing her face. Luz has seen Amity’s determination many times before; when she’s dedicated to something, she’s unstoppable. 

“Oh you’re on. Give me a dare, Goldie.”

Hunter takes a moment to dramatically clear his throat, smirking. He presses a gloved hand to his chest. “I, the Golden Guard, dare you to give me one genuine compliment.” 

Amity’s glare shifts to Luz. “Why did you put that idea in his head?”

Luz shrinks back sheepishly, shrugging. “I didn’t make the truth or dare rules…”

Amity lets out a long groan, letting her head fall into her hands. “Do I have to…”

Hunter chuckles, his annoyingly smug smirk only growing bigger with each passing moment. “Come on, Blight. Didn’t your parents teach you any manners?”

Amity grits her teeth, sighing. “Fine.” She looks to the side, gesturing broadly at Hunter. “I guess Goldielocks over here can be pretty smart when he tries. Which is not often, at least from what I’ve seen.” She narrows her eyes at him, face scrunching in a grimace when she sees his cheeky grin. “You’re clever. There. Happy?”

Hunter crosses his arms with a satisfied smile. “That was sufficient.” 

“I swear to the titan I’m gonna wipe that little grin off your-”

“OKAY no more threatening to slap anybody!” Luz says, popping up from her spot. 

“Yeah, listen to the human, Blight.”

“Why did I agree to this?” Amity mutters under her breath. Luz shakes her head softly; despite Amity’s sullen attitude, she can see a glimmer of a smile under the purple haired witches' often hard shell. She’s having fun. They’re having fun.

Luz claps her hands together once. “Well, lucky for you, it's your turn again, Ams!” 

This causes Amity’s posture to straighten a little, spark returning to those golden eyes. “Alright, blondie: Truth or dare?”

“You know, you’re allowed to ask me too-”

“I doubt you can find a question that’ll phase me, but go ahead and try, Blight. Truth.” Luz reconciles herself to being thoroughly ignored as Hunter and Amity stare each other down. The teen movies warned her of the power of a truth or dare grudge. 

Luz sits on the edge of her seat as Amity’s eyes light up and her mouth opens, no doubt about to ask some embarrassing question or shoot Hunter a personal taunt. But her face falls, drifting into something far more… serious. She settles back, leaning against the rock as she stares at the floor, a solemness falling over her. 

“Hunter I… need to ask you something.”

Amity can feel a rock begin to settle in her stomach as the atmosphere of their little chamber shifts. She knows this could be a mistake; they still have a lot of time stuck together, and she doesn’t want to disappoint Luz or set Hunter off. But there’s a question burning in the back of her mind, something that’s been bugging her ever since their encounter at the castle. She just… hasn’t known when to bring it up.

But Luz said this ‘truth or dare’ game is for the hard questions, right?

Amity takes a deep breath, solidifying her resolve. She avoids eye contact with both Luz and Hunter, staring down at her fingers as she plays with the hem of her sleeve. 

“Obviously we’ve been avoiding the whole - ahem - palace incident .” Amity begins. She glances at Hunter out of the corner of her eye. He shrinks somewhat, also casting his eyes downward. “I just… Kikimora said something.”

“Kikimora said a lot of things.” Hunter mutters, his tone quiet and dark. 

“She said you protected me. Protected Eda.” Silence. Luz has shrunk back into the wall, making herself as little of an obstacle as she can to the exchange going on in front of her. Amity lets out a long, deep sigh, forcing herself to level her eyes at Hunter. She has to find something in him. For Luz’s sake.

And for his.

Hunter stares down at the floor, expression devoid of its previous playfulness. “Kikimora was on the end of her string; she was delusional. I though you’d have the observation skills to pick it up.” Hunter’s attempt at returning to their playful jabs falls on two pairs of deaf ears. “I don’t know what she was talking about.”

“Why are you lying?” Amity asks. The lack of anger in her tone surprises everyone, including herself. She can feel that pang of pity and sympathy return to her chest, emotion she’s worked so hard to regain after having them squashed out of her for so many years. “Why are you so desperate to cover up the one good thing you might have done?”

The silence continues to stretch on, and Amity can feel her anxiety bubbling up. Did she push it too far? She’s just so… confused. She’s never like being confused, or having to deal with others emotions and relationships. People are just so complicated. So she devotes herself to figuring them out, the best way she can.And right now, she’s sitting in a room with two of the only people on the isles she can’t fully understand.

After half a minute of quiet has passed, Amity doesn’t expect Hunter to respond. But then he clears his throat, leaning his full weight onto the stone walls, and curling in on himself, making himself seem small. 

 “Because… because it wasn’t a good thing, alright!” His words come out fast and sputtered. Amity and Luz can only watch as he runs his hand through his blond hair, still staring anywhere but them. “I threatened Kikimora! I lied to Belos, and why? Because I felt bad? ” Hunter laughs, and Amity’s body coils in response. It reminds her too much of his laugh at Eclipse Lake, digging into the dirt. Collapsing. His laughter fades as he grimaces staring at the ground. “It was stupid. And now it’s led me here.”

A puzzle piece clicks in Amity’s head. No wonder Kikimora was so angry at him, so convinced they were in cohorts; the Emperor’s coven isn’t about selflessness. Kikimora must not have known how to interpret doing something that isn’t directly for personal gain. 

Amity waits a moment, before a word slips out of her mouth. 

“Thanks.”

There’s no response.

She tries her best to lean back, body still on edge. She risks a glance at Luz, hoping her girlfriend isn’t too upset at her for ruining their game with such a heavy question. Luz just looks bewildered, her head swiveling between Hunter and Amity, brown eyes wide. 

Eventually, Luz leans forward, facing Hunter. “What, uhm… what happened to Kikimora?” 

Hunter raises his head, glaring at Luz. “That’s coven information, why would I-” a strange look crosses Hunter’s face, and Amity braces herself. For what, she’s not sure. She instinctively scooches closer to Luz, tension running high. 

Hunter’s glare fades into confusion, anger, and then, a defeated grin. He raises a hand to his head, pinching his temple. “This whole game was just a ploy to get information, wasn’t it?” He laughs, smile snapping into a grimace as he mumbles. “Of course it was, I’m so stupid- ”

“What? No no no!” Luz reaches her hands out, frantically shaking her head. “I wouldn’t-”

“Luz wouldn’t do something like that.” Amity chimes in, face set. She can’t find it in herself to be angry at Hunter; his assumption would probably be correct if they were talking about anyone other than Luz. “She doesn’t manipulate people to get what she wants - even you should be able to tell that.” When Luz needs something, she always starts by politely asking, a level of patience Amity strives to achieve someday. Surprisingly enough, it often works.

She watches a moment as Hunter seems to mentally grapple with something, eventually sighing and sinking into his seat, defeated. 

“I… okay. You’re right I- that was stupid.” His next word is barely audible. “Sorry.”

Luz, clearly unsure how to reponds, starts tapping her hand anxiously on her leg. Amity puts her hand on Luz’s, giving her a small, reassuring smile that she hopes lets Luz know she hasn’t done or said anything wrong. 

Hunter lets his eyes drift to the ceiling. “Honestly- I don’t know.” He says, and Amity can immediately feel he’s telling the truth. “I haven’t seen her since that day… no one has. Belos hasn’t brought her up. Nobody’s been talking about her.” Amity watches Hunter curl further in on himself, looking like a scared child. His voice is soft and quiet. “I-I think Belos had her… taken care of.” Amity can feel her stomach drop, a sudden nausea settling on her.

Kikimora is, or… was a horrible person. But Amity is stricken with horror at the idea the Emperor would have her killed. Just like that. It hits Amity how little she knows about him, or really, about anyone that high up in the coven system. She knows what she was taught in school- Emperor Belos brought order to the Boiling Isles, establishing a government and system of magic to keep everyone safe. Even if everyone doesn’t always agree with his policies, he enacts the will of the Titan. He keeps the isles safe. The Emperor’s Coven is a great place.

Lately, Amity’s whole idea of the Emperor and his coven have been challenged. The image of him and her future don’t line up with what Luz has told her. And despite her many crimes, Amity knows Eda doesn’t deserve to be petrified. Certainly not for refusing to join a coven. The Emperor hurt Luz personally- in more ways than one. If Amity’s being honest, she has no idea how she feels about the Coven, or her future. But she knows one thing: if it's a choice between the Emperor or Luz, her answer is easy. 

“That’s awful.” Amity says, her voice steady and filled with vitriol. 

Hunter just gives her a weak shrug. “She knew the consequences. That’s just how things work. She’ll be replaced soon enough.” Hunter’s words are dry and resigned. 

“Belos shouldn’t- shouldn’t do that to his own people!” Luz shouts, a bit louder than necessary for their small space. “Kikimora was dedicated. If anything, a little TOO dedicated.” Luz clenches and unclenches her fists, trying to find some sort of outlet for her growing frustration. “He just… ugh!”

“Don’t judge the Emperor too harshly, human. He’s… a good man-”

“How can you say that?!” Amity flinches at Luz’s tone. She’s never heard Luz that angry, even if it's not directed at anyone in the room. Even Hunter jumps a little in surprise, his eyes widening.

Hunter’s posture tightens. “Listen, I know you hate Emperor Belos- but you don’t know him like I do.” Hunter says, his volume increasing. “He does what’s best for the isles.”

“He hurts people!” Luz says it like it's the most obvious thing in the world, which to her, it probably is.

“He doesn’t want to hurt people! He just- he just does what’s necessary! Of course you wouldn’t get it, you live with a criminal for Titan’s sake.”

Amity takes note of the way Hunter’s hand subconsciously drifts to the scar on his cheek.

“A criminal he tried to petrify! Hunter, I-” Luz face falls, and Amity’s heart creaks as Luz’s eyes start to glisten with held back tears. “Do you really think Eda deserved that?”

Amity inhales a sharp breath, chest tightening as she whips her head in Hunter’s direction. He sits, blankly staring at the two. 

“I…” He looks at his feet. “That’s not for me to decide. I don’t- I don’t know about stuff like that.” 

His words are so eerily familiar to Amity. She can feel her gut swirl as she puts a hand on Luz’s leg, staring at her. Luz is about to retort, but her frustration fades as she looks at Amity’s concerned face.

“Amity…?”

Amity leans back, her filter fading away as memories overtake her, ones she buried.

“Because you aren’t mature enough.” Hunter looks at her, puzzled by the lack of conviction in Amity’s seemingly insulting comment. “That’s what he says, right?” Amity wraps a hand around Luz’s, words starting to fall out of her. “That’s what… my mom used to say. She wouldn’t let me plan hangouts with my friends, or pick who to play with, because I wasn’t good at it. That wasn’t for me. She’d handle my social calendar - she’d tell where to sit and what to say at important meetings with investors or high up families. Because I would’ve just messed it up.” Amity can feel tears starting to reach the surface of her eyes, and she blinks them away with a sniff. She laughs sadly. “And I- I fucking believed her. I let her take care of everything because I was just too stupid to do it on my own, so why would I even try? Easier to just do what you’re told.” Her sniffling increases as she leans her head on Luz’s shoulder. “I-I… she just… Titan it was awful.” Normally, Amity would be embarrassed to have revealed something so personal, especially in front of someone other than Luz. But right now, she doesn’t care. Odalia just has always made her feel so powerless. Like she can never do anything right. She lets quiet tears run down her face, shaking slightly as Luz wraps an arm around her.

“Amity… I’m so sorry.” Luz says, her grip around Amity tightening. Amity isn’t crying too hard, but she lets herself sink into the embrace, squeezing her eyes shut. 

The teens let Amity cry quietly for a moment, as she brushes her tears away, taking a deep breath. She straightens her posture a little, looking at Hunter. He’s awkwardly staring at the ground, wringing his grip around his staff. He notices Amity looking at him, and he shifts uncomfortably, unsure what to say. 

“Well… she was obviously wrong, seeing as you’ve got all… this.” He gestures vaguely at Luz and Amity, coughing as he futility attempts to smooth his hair and appear professional. 

“Well, maybe Belos is wrong about you, too.” Luz says. Hunter stiffens at her words, shaking his head.

“The Emperor… he isn’t my dad or anything it’s… it’s different.” He lets out a sigh. “Our relationship is different.”

Luz raises her hands in defense. “I wasn’t accusing him of anything, I just… well have you ever considered that maybe he’s wrong? About some things?”

“Of course you would think he’s wrong, he’s your enemy. ”

“True, true.” Luz’s expression fades into something far more serious, a look of determination Amity has only witnessed a few times. “But my point still stands; he can’t be perfect. Maybe he has a few… misconceptions about things.” Luz gestures to the little hole in their cave. “Like palismen.”

Hunter opens his mouth to say something but stops, a confusion dawning on his face. “I…” He shakes his head, hunching his shoulders. “Can we just move on, please?” He lets his  hand drop into his lap as a heavy silence falls over the trio. 

Amity wipes away the last of her tears with a final sniffle, sitting back upright. It’s quiet, tense, and awkward. Amity focuses on breathing, banishing lingering thoughts of Odalia and Alador as the quiet stretches on for another minute or so. 

Just as Amity expected, eventually, Luz can’t stand it anymore.

“Hey Hunter,” Amity notices the shift in Luz’s tone, all her former seriousness dropped. Hunter looks up warily, expecting another difficult request. Instead, Luz smiles, pointing at the ground next to him. “I dare you to lick that rock.”

“WhAT! NO I’M NOT LICKING A ROCK.” Amity giggles as the tense atmosphere washes away with Hunter’s outraged shout. He gestures violently to the rock, appalled. “You have no idea where that’s been!!”

“Oh c’mon, it’s a rock! It’s not that big of a deal. I ate dirt all the time as a kid.” Luz says smugly. 

“Did you have no supervision!?” Hunter exclaims.

“So are you gonna lick the rock or-”

“NO!”

“But it’s a dareee-”

“You didn’t even ask truth or dare first!”

Luz grumbles. “Fine. Truth or dare, Hunter.”

“TRUTH!”

“Dangit.”

Chapter Text

Hunter has a wonderful strategy for dealing with unwanted feelings: ignoring them.

He’s always been remarkably good at bottling up his pesky emotions, leaving them to simmer Titan knows where. When he doesn’t want to confront something, he simply doesn’t.

His age-old ignoring strategy has, unfortunately, not been working for the past hour or so. He’s leaning against a caved in wall, head tilted so he’s staring at the ceiling. Two fourteen year old girls sit across from him, quietly chattering to each other as they have for the past few minutes. He takes a deep breath, trying to push all the feelings that emerged during that stupid human game as far down as he can. It’s only somewhat effective. 

Truth or dare was abandoned about ten minutes ago, with Hunter going quiet. Now, it seems Luz is attempting (and failing) to braid Amity’s hair. Hunter ignores them, continuing to stare up at the wall. He hasn’t felt this vulnerable around someone other than Belos since… well he honestly can’t think of a time. Lingering thoughts of what he disclosed to them brings hot embarrassment to his cheeks, and he closes his eyes, willing those emotions down into the pit as well. Above all, he just wants to get out of here and go home, hopefully with longenuim in tow. Damn. He forgot about that. He’s going to have to take some extra time to grab it. He sighs. He can only hope his uncle won’t be too pissed. 

He looks down as Luz laughs, giggling after yet another failed attempt at styling Amity’s hair. Amity blushes and waves her hand, muttering something about how close Luz was that time. Hunter can’t help but roll his eyes. He suddenly understands why Matthias at the front gates complains about third wheeling with his sister’s boyfriend all the time. 

Luz seems to notice Hunter looking at them and glances towards him, a soft smile on her face. Amity looks up too, although her smile is more mischievous.

“What? Want her to try braiding your hair, too?” Amity asks, unable to keep a laugh out of her voice. Hunter upturns his nose at them, pretending he didn’t find her comment funny.

Luz gently swats Amity on the head. “Amity!” Luz scolds, with obviously disingenuous anger.

Hunter is about to say something back, when there’s a shake. His annoyance fades, settling into seriousness. He reaches over for his staff, gripping it tightly. Luz and Amity perk up as well, Amity’s cat palisman transforming itself into a staff for her to grab. 

“What was that?” Luz asks, as the ground shakes again. The trio look up as the rocks shift, a few pebbles falling to the ground. 

“The cave worm shouldn’t- ack!” Amity rolls to the side as a larger rock tumbles over, falling right where she sat. Hunter dashes over to them, his helmet tucked under his arm. Luz pulls out a few of her glyphs, holding them at the ready.

Hunter looks over at Amity, and she nods, holding her staff out in front of her. He watches as she summons a large pile of abomination goop, holding it above them in a protective umbrella. Luz throws up a few light glyphs. The shaking picks up as Hunter spins his staff, a red glow enveloping the space. He squeezes his eyes shut as the rocks fall around them, praying their combined shield will be enough. 

The shaking of the ground slows, and the sound of rocks fade as light floods into their vision, leaving Hunter blinking madly. Slowly, his eyes adjust, a mixture of gold and teal light surrounding him. He cautiously lets his forcefield drop as Amity’s magic recedes. 

“Is everyone-” Hunter cuts himself off abruptly at the sound of voices nearby. He whips his body around, watching as a group of figures dash around the corner. 

Amity stands, staring sternly down the tunnel as they continue to rush into view. Hunter can count about six adults, a mixture of demons and witches. One has a deactivated explosive in their hand; they must have used it to bust through the rock blockade. They do not look like they’re in a good mood. He’s about to pull Amity aside when she opens her mouth.

“Hey! There are people in here you could’ve crushed!” She shouts, looking frustrated when she really should be terrified. Hunter knows better than to trust a bunch of tough looking adults who just blew up a cave with zero prior investigation. 

“Amity, I don’t think they-” Hunter leaps back as something launches at Amity, knocking her to the floor. A magical net. He has enough time to grab Luz’s hand and pull her behind a rock as another net launches. He shoots a blast of electric magic at them before crouching with Luz behind their cover. Hopefully that will slow them down. 

“Amity-” Luz tries to get up, but Hunter shoves her back down with a hiss. He notices Amity’s staff on the ground, picking it up and shoving it into Luz’s arms. 

“Luz, get the hell out of here and get the Owl Lady.” He growls. 

“But-”

“Go!” The urgency in his voice must’ve been enough, because Luz nods, face fading into determination. He can hear the footsteps getting closer and closer, and he watches anxiously as Luz pulls out a piece of paper and slaps it onto her chest with an inhale. Hunter’s jaw drops as he watches the human disappear before his eyes, a gust of wind telling him she’s flown away.

His shock cost him precious time; he can hear rapid footsteps approaching. Dammit- he doesn’t have enough time. While relying on the Owl Lady is the last thing Hunter wants to do right now, he doesn’t have much of a choice. The witches look like bandits, and nasty ones at that. He hopes that if he stays close enough to Amity the Owl Lady will be forced to help him out, too. 

He has barely enough time to shove his unfortunately recognizable staff and helmet under a rock outcropping before a tall, lanky witch appears behind him, staff raised. 

Hunter grabs his attackers staff as she swings it at him, using the distraction to kick her legs out from underneath her. She falls to the ground with an oomf, and Hunter bites back his pain, air hissing out from between his teeth. He forgot about his ankle. Out of the corner of his eye he can see Amity has broken out of her restraints, and is flinging fire around her attackers. Hunter grins. These bandits have no idea who they just messed with. 

Hunter takes the witch bandits' staff, hoping he has a few more seconds before the palisman realizes what's going on and transforms. He launches himself over the recovering witch, coming face to face, or rather, face to chest, with a large, deep blue skinned demon. He grins at Hunter with his massive tusks, raising his hand. Hunter uses the stolen staff to hold back the demon’s arms. He’s about to slide between the man's legs when a hand grabs his bad ankle, yanking it back. Hunter lets out a yelp as he falls, the demon grabbing his shirt in a fistful. He pulls the boy up, whipping him around so he’s pressed to his chest with one arm. Hunter has a well aimed kick planned when a blade presses against his neck. He freezes. 

“Drop it, kid.” Hunter tilts his head to the side the best he can, seeing the lanky woman he downed come up behind him, a single silver tooth glinting in the cave’s light. His eyes flick over to Amity, who is breathing heavily, surrounded by her summoned creations. She looks at Hunter, and panic grips the teens heart.

She’s gonna make a break for it. Why wouldn’t she?

Hunter slowly shifts as best he can; if he can position this right, he can keep the knife from hitting any major arteries, and then if he can just get to his staff he can-

Hunter’s racing thoughts stop as Amity raises her hands slowly, letting her abomination goo fall to the floor in a useless pile. One of the bandits surrounding her rushes forward, grabbing her arms and pinning them behind her back. 

Huh. He was not expecting that. 

Hunter can feel his breath resume as the demon loosens his grip, pulling the knife away from Hunter’s neck. He feels his feet leave the floor, and all the bandits make their way to the center of the hall, some glaring daggers at Hunter and Amity while rubbing various parts of their body. He can get a proper head count of them now - there’s seven.

A palisman lands on the lanky female witches shoulder and she scoffs, staring at one particular bandit in the center. 

“You said there wouldn’t be anybody down here, boss.” She says. Hunter and Amity both look at the witch she was addressing. He’s a taller man, with tan skin and red hair pulled back into a bun. He drags out a long sigh. Out of all the bandits, he by far looks the most well put together. He glances between the captive kids, hazel eyes filled with boredom. 

“So what? There’s a couple of kids.” He waves his hands. “Get rid of them.” Amity’s eyes widen as a sickening grin spreads across the face of the witch behind her. Hunter can feel the grip around him tighten...

“I wouldn’t recommend doing that.” Hunter says, keeping his voice miraculously clear and steady. 

The leader tilts his head to the side, taking a step towards Hunter as mild amusement creeps onto his oddly symmetrical face. He must have had it altered with magic. Insecure much.

“And why is that?”

“Surprised you didn’t notice already,” Hunter lets a smug smirk settle on his face as he cocks his head towards Amity. “She’s a Blight.” 

The other bandits look confused, but Hunter can see recognition flash in the leader’s eyes. He whips his head around to look at Amity, taking in her appearance. Hunter and Amity make eye contact, Hunter giving Amity the subtlest nod he can. She nods back. They’ve got an angle now.

“Well, that she is.” The leader looks to address the witch holding Amity. “Davis! Lay off; she’s a Blight.”

“A what?”

“A Blight! Y’know, Blight industries?? Titan, did you even GO to school!” 

The witch, apparently named Davis, sniffles, eyes watering. “I thought we’ve been over this, Jax, my orphanage didn’t let us go to school.” He wipes a tear from his face. “You’re so insensitive.” The leader, Jax, just groans, slapping a hand to his face.

“If you start crying, I’m going to throw you off the knee.” Davis wipes off the rest of their tears pretty quickly. Jax turns to Hunter, narrowing his eyes. “If she’s the youngest Blight, what are you?”

“He’s-”

“I’m her bodyguard, obviously.” Hunter says, snorting. “What, you really think Mr. and Mrs. Blight would let their daughter run around without protection?”

Jax smirks, sending a spike of visceral rage down Hunter’s spine. He hates condescending looks like that. “Hm. A pretty shoddy bodyguard, huh?”

Hunter narrows his eyes. “I’m having an off day.”

Hunter’s retort is ignored, Jax standing up straight. “Davis, Pip, secure the kids. The rest of us are gonna have a meeting.”

Hunter can hear the witch holding him sigh, muttering grumpily as he marches Hunter over to Davis. “I never get to be a part of the group meetings…”

Hunter inhales a deep breath as Pip finally releases his ironclad grip, giving Hunter’s poor already-binded lungs some space to breathe. The relief is short lived, as a thick rope is wrapped around his torso, pinning his arms to the side. He’s unceremoniously shoved down, back hitting the rock wall. Amity is (far more gently) placed beside him by Davis. 

Hunter and Amity both glare at the bandits as moments of silence pass, the other members of the gang convening near the collapsed rocks. A few minutes roll by, until Davis pulls out a scroll, tapping on it mindlessly. 

“Dav, we’re supposed to be paying attention-”

“Pip, they’re like, twelve. We’re fine.” Hunter bites back a retort, forcing himself to stay quiet. Pip stares down at them again, and then sighs, pulling a string out of his pocket to fiddle with. He steps forward a few paces, leaving both of their backs turned to the teens. Hunter sighs, leaning against the stone, letting Amity settle her head next to him.

“You alright?” She asks, voice barely above a whisper.

“Good as I can be.” Hunter responds with a tch. “Got any bright ideas, Blight?”

“Luz and Eda’ll be here soon- we just have to wait it out.” 

Hunter rolls his eyes. “Oh great, just what I want - the Owl Lady to bust in here and try to kill me too.” He’s only being half sarcastic.

Amity sighs. “Hunter, Eda’s not gonna do that. I know you think she’s some mastermind criminal, but she’s really just a slightly unhinged old lady - she’s not going to attack you unless she has too.” Hunter wants to reject this notion immediately, but he finds himself thinking back to what he said earlier, about Belos. Amity does know the Owl Lady better than he does - he can try to give her the grace he asked them to give the Emperor. 

“But if you’re really worried, you can grab Rascal and fly out of here the second we’re free, okay? Nobody’ll stop you.” 

Hunter nods. A few more moments pass, and Hunter curls his legs up to his chest with a long sigh. How did things turn out like this?

“Do you know what the chances of ransom holding bandits finding us were?”

“I’m guessing not high?”

“Abysmal.” Hunter shakes his head with a little laugh. “It’s like that human attracts trouble.”

“Please, you don’t even know the half of it.” Amity laughs as well, her mouth curling into a smile. 

“I think I do- do you know how many complaints the Bonesborough Emperor’s Coven branch gets from Hexide parents about her? If Warden Wrath weren’t such a narcissist, she’d have a file at the conformatorium by now.”

“It’s not USUALLY her fault! She’s just a… magnet for problems.”

“The Hexide principal sent us so many letters for funding to fix detention, Amity.”

“In Luz’s defense, that one was mostly Mattholomule’s fault.”

“Oh shut up, you two!” Davis suddenly snaps, turning his head back to glare at the pair. He gestures to the scroll floating above one of his bony fingers. “I’m TRYING to focus!”

Hunter gives Davis a very unimpressed stare, rolling his eyes in a very overexaggerated way. “Oh wow, I’m so sorry we distracted you from your grandma game.”

Davis’ face turns bright red. “Why you little-! It is NOT!”

“Really? What is that you’re playing, anyway? Sugar Smash?” Hunter laughs. “Even Emperor Belos isn’t old enough for THAT game.”

“I’M GONNA-”

“Davis! What did Jax say about interacting with hostages!” Pip whips his head around as well, although his glare is directed at Davis. Davis makes a pathetic sound of protest.

“But he-!”

“Do you want to get the boss angry?!”

Davis grumbles in defeat, shooting one last angry look at Hunter before turning around and going back to tapping on his scroll, this time more vehemently. 

Amity nudges Hunter’s shoulder with her own. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Hunter can hear a smile in her voice. 

“You have to admit, that was a good one.”

“Don’t give yourself so much credit. It was only a little funny.”

Chapter Text

Being held for ransom with the Golden Guard was not what Amity had planned to happen to her today.

But lo and behold, here she is, lying with her back against a cave wall, arms pinned to her side with uncomfortably itchy ropes. When she was younger, she expected that if a situation like this ever occurred, she’d be terrified. Currently she’s mostly bored. She yawns, shooting a dead eyed expression at the group of bandits who have been arguing in the corner for the past five or so minutes now. Occasionally one of them will yell or throw their hands in frustration, causing both Amity and Hunter to roll their eyes. Every minute those bozos spend fighting over how much money they can extort from Amity’s parents, the closer Luz and Eda get. 

Hunter is sitting next to her, equally unimpressed with their captors. His eyes drift to the large demon that’s supposed to be guarding them, and Amity shoves him with her shoulder the best she can.

“Don’t you dare start egging him on.”

Hunter pouts, sticking his tongue out at Amity. “Well, you’re no fun.”

“I’d like to live, thank you.” 

“Boring.

Amity sighs again, blowing a gust of air to gut a piece of her lavender hair out of her face. Out of all the people and monster’s she’s fought, (which is a surprising amount), these guys don’t even make the top ten. The childhood storybook figure brought to life she and Luz fought in a library was far more interesting, and she kind of wishes she were there instead, something she never thought she’d long for. 

A few moments pass where neither teen says anything, just taking in their surroundings for the tenth time or so. Suddenly, Amity feels Hunter shift, his shoulders slumping. She leans her head over to look at him as best she can, but he’s making a point to look away from her. She cocks her head to the side.

“Thanks, by the way.”

“Huh?” Amity can’t help but feel confused. Goldie over here doesn’t have a reputation for handing out gratitude. 

“For what you did back there. When he… y’know.” Oh. When he was threatened. Hunter’s momentary vulnerability fades as quickly as it set in, and he delivers a more typical sly remark. “Being stabbed would’ve really put a damper on my day.”

“Oh. You’re welcome, I guess?” Amity responds tentatively, not sure what to say. She hadn’t really thought about it; she wasn’t about to let him just get shanked. Besides, help is on the way - their situation really isn’t as drastic as the bandits seem to think it is. Surrendering was really the only option - but it wasn’t, was it? Amity turns her head back, staring down at her boots. She could’ve just… left. A sudden rock forms in her stomach. Is that what he would have done, were the roles reversed?

Amity’s still trying to master the whole ‘being the bigger person’ stuff; for so long she associated it with home. In the Blight household, ‘being better’ means just accepting whatever Odalia threw at her, not retaliating in any way lest her mother flip the issue on her, and make it her fault. But this time, it felt different, like it has recently. Strangely enough, Amity feels… good. She knows she did the right thing. And even if it wasn’t what he would have done, Luz would be proud of her. She’s proud of herself.

Amity can vaguely feel Hunter’s muscles tense up, clearly uncomfortable with his moment of brief honesty. She decides to distract him, by asking a question she’s been turning over in her head the past few minutes.

“Why don’t you just tell them you’re the… ” Amity leans her head over so her next words can be whispered at an even more undetectable volume. “...Golden Guard?”

Hunter quietly snorts, looking at Amity. “Did you see how those guys reacted when they found out you were a Blight? Imagine what they’d think if they knew who I am.” He shakes his head slightly. “No- we’re in a decent enough position right now. Better not to risk it.” 

“Wouldn’t they be intimidated?”

“Nah, they’d probably just toss you out and try to ransom me instead.” He snorts again, but this time it’s far more bitter and pained. His next words are muttered so quietly Amity has to strain her ears to hear. “They don’t realize how poorly that’d work.”

In her uncertainty, Amity decides not to respond. While she’d like to think Belos would be willing to fork over some cash for his top general, she doesn’t find it unrealistic he wouldn’t. She isn’t even sure if her own parents would pay, were this to go to the bandits plans-

Yikes. She does not want to dwell on that thought process any longer. 

She flicks her eyes over to the still arguing bandits, trying to come up with some sort of conversation topic to distract herself. 

“Are they seriously still talking over there?” She asks incredulously. 

Hunter grumbles, agreeing with Amity’s frustration. “Frankly, I’m ashamed I got caught by them. I heard one of them recommend 5000 snails.”

“What?! I’m worth WAY more than that.”

“It’s a pitiful ransom, really - how stupid are they.” Hunter sighs, exasperated. “I’m increasingly regretting not just fighting them off.”

Amity raises an eyebrow, smirking. “What, not looking forward to being rescued by the Owl Lady?” Hunter lets out a loud groan as Amity laughs softly, one of their guards glancing over his shoulder to look at them curiously.

“It is not a rescue! I wouldn’t even be in this situation if it weren’t for you two!”

“Fine, I’ll just have Eda leave you here then.”

“Oh, you couldn’t do that - wouldn’t you miss my charming personality?”

“Hate to break it to you blondie, but being annoying is not a personality trait.”

“I beg to differ.” 

Amity tilts her head to the side, painting the most overexaggerated look of consideration she can on her face. “How did you become so adept at being infuriating, anyway?”

“Years of practice, Blight.” His face lights up a little as he seems to remember something, a rare smile filling his eyes. “If you think I’m bad, you should spend some time around coven officials; Warden Wrath is unbearable.”

“Luz has told me about him! Apparently he tried to ask Eda out.”

“He tried to WHAT.” Hunter’s jaw drops, and Amity can’t help but snicker. This is apparently news to him. Hunter narrows his eyes. “We are going to have a long conversation later.”

“He also arrested her for stepping on grass.”

“That’s not even a crime-”

Davis suddenly looks over their shoulder, shooting Hunter and Amity some pitiful excuse for a glare. They just look like a grumpy old man, if the teens are being honest. 

“Oh my Titan- JAX! ARE YOU DONE OVER THERE?!” Davis shouts, words echoing through the cave.

Jax turns pivots to look at Davis, hands on his hips. He’s glaring.

“Davis, you aren’t supposed to-”

“Can you hurry, these two will not shut UP!”

“WELL THEN WHY’D YOU PUT THEM NEXT TO EACH OTHER?!!” Jax takes a deep breath, collecting himself as he strides over. Hunter looks up at the bandit leader, smirking with an honestly disturbing amount of confidence and self-assurance. And Amity thought Luz has no self-preservation. 

“Separating your prisoners is pretty basic stuff, really. ‘Preventing escape’ ringing a bell?” Jax strides over, anger starting to flare in his eyes. He’s able to maintain his composure, turning to address his peons. 

“No harm in taking our conversation outside, I suppose.” He glares down at his hostages, Hunter in particular. “Get up.” Hunter and Amity exchange a nervous look. This was not part of the plan. Amity bites the inside of her cheek, weighing how much time they have. Eda probably wasn’t in too much of a rush before; with Luz there to warn her, the Owl Lady has probably gone into Harpy form, or at the very least boosted her speed. Amity guesses they only need a few more minutes-

Her racing mind is interrupted as Hunter’s momentarily panicked expression fades, replaced by placid boredness. Amity tries not to let any emotion surface to her face, eyeing him carefully out of the corner of her eye. 

Beside her, Hunter falls to the side dramatically, landing on his side with an emphasized ‘oomph’. He grins up at Jax. 

“Oh I would but- it looks like I’ve fallen down.” Amity suppresses a laugh. 

Jax growls, raising his foot and aiming for Hunter’s abdomen. Amity’s amusement fades as she winces in anticipation. However, contact is never made; Hunter rolls to the side, using his feet to push himself off of the wall. 

“Whoops! Rolled.” He says. Amity can see frustration build behind Jax’s eyes, but the bandit centers himself, giving Hunter an icy glare. Amity really doesn’t know what Hunter’s plan is here, or if he’s just taking that whole ‘being annoying as a personality trait’ thing too far. 

Jax snaps at one of his subordinates, pointing to Hunter. “Pick him up - and I don’t want to hear anymore sass.” The last part is a bit more directed at Hunter himself, who just smiles with a cheeky grin. 

“Can’t bare to get your hands dirty, huh, Jax. ” Hunter draws out the word, fully aware using the bandits name in a scenario like this is completely inappropriate. This causes some of Jax’s composure to snap. He aims another kick at Hunter, and, unfortunately, this time doesn’t miss. Amity flinches as she hears his boot hit Hunter’s stomach, making a sickening thump upon impact. Hunter’s body instinctively curls in on itself as Jax pulls his shoe away, the boy not making a sound. The edge of one of Jax’s lips curls up, and Amity glares at him. 

“Don’t hurt him for saying the truth, asshole. By this point, shouldn’t your ego be a little more shielded?” Amity can’t help the venomous words from slipping out of her mouth, accompanied by an equally pointed glare. 

Amity expects the man to level a glare at her, but instead he just looks down, a small smile gracing his lips. He could really use some chapstick. He crouches down in front of Amity so they’re face to face, the way a parent might with their child. His smile is horribly condescending, and Amity finds herself gritting her teeth.

“My, you must think you can get away with anything, huh?” He says, attempting to lift Amity’s chin with one of his fingers. She, of course, is not having any of that, mustering her nerve to spit directly in the witches face. He stumbles back, frantically wiping at his now damp cheek with an agitated grunt. Amity smirks, a bit of pride swelling in her chest as she hears Hunter snicker. The next look Jax sends Amity is far angrier, a fire lit in his bright green eyes. She just tilts her head to the side.

“Seems to me I can.” 

Their captor just grunts in frustration, jabbing a finger at Amity’s chest. “Listen here you brat. We might need you intact, but your friend over there? Not so much.” A manic grin splits the older man's face, and a chill rushes down Amity’s spine. “In fact, I don’t think we need him at all.”

At that, Hunter just lightly coughs, raising an eyebrow from his place on the ground. “Actually, you probably do. Considering you know nothing about Blight security procedures.”

The stout gang member standing by Hunter stares down at him in confusion. “Huh?” 

“What, you really think a family that important wouldn’t have a contingency plan?” Hunter laughs, rolling onto his back. “You really are stupider than I thought.”

Said stout witch hisses, taking a step towards the teen. Jax, however, raises a hand, stopping the witch in their tracks. 

“A… contingency plan?”

“Please.” Amity speaks, directing all the bandits' attention to her. “Once I’m back home, my parents will have your head on a pike .” She says as smug and cocky as she can. She can only hope her infuriating tone is enough to throw them off how both Hunter and Amity are lying through their asses.

It seems to work, as Jax stalks over to Hunter, grabbing the ropes binding his chest. He forces Hunter to his feet, not that the teen guard struggles much, still grinning Jax down. The bandit pulls Hunter’s face closer with a menacing snarl.

“Well then; explain these ‘security measures’ to us, boy.”

Hunter takes a moment to consider in a very overexaggerated fashion. “Hmmm… you know, I don’t think I will.”

Amity wants to commend her fellow kidnapee's snark, but instead finds herself cringing as Hunter is slammed into the cave wall. Jax’s grip is still tight on Hunter’s binds, and he’s getting progressively more agitated.

“That wasn’t a request," He growls. “Tell me or else .” Amity glances at Hunter, shaking her head in as small of increments as she can. What is he doing?! If he doesn’t make up something to tell them soon, he’s screwed. Hunter manages to flick his eyes down at the young witch. But, to Amity’s surprise, he doesn’t look scared, or even smug. For a split second, his eyes bore into her. Then he looks beyond, at the wall behind her, before turning his attention back to the bandit holding him against the stone. Amity is confused for a moment, before she feels her neck catch on something.

And then it hits her.

Every eye is on Hunter and Jax, a solid 5 feet away from Amity. He’s distracting them. Amity finds herself almost laughing aloud; only the godamn Golden Guard himself would be both stupid, clever, and cocky enough to enact a plan without telling her about it. 

“Oh wow, how scary. I’m shaking in my boots.” Hunter is doing his best to keep up the act, but Amity can hear the slight edge of pain to his words. She focuses on slowly rising, using her legs to subtly push herself up against the cavern's walls. “A real intimidating crew you got here. Like Pip over there.” He gestures to the large demon with his head, the only one really close enough to Amity to notice what she’s doing. Luckily, Hunter picked up on that, as Pip’s attention is drawn away. “What, is that short for pipsqueak?”

That seems to have struck a nerve. Pip charges at Hunter with wail, and three other bandits have to step in to hold the massive demon back. Jax loosens his grip a little, letting Hunter sag as he laughs. It’s the distraction Amity needs. She continues to rise, inching up even faster, as her ropes snag on the rock jutting out of the wall. Perfect. She grits her teeth as the ropes start peel away, sliced on the stone's jagged surface. It’s far too loud for Amity’s liking, but the shouting of those criminals is enough to cover it up. 

As soon as Pip is somewhat under control, Jax turns his face back to Hunter, even angrier than before. “You little brat .” He raises his arm, hand clenched into a fist, ready to strike. Hunter braces himself…

But the impact never comes. 

Instead, Jax howls as his fist hits a solid abomination shield, Amity having appeared between the two. She grins at Jax, unphased by the fury contorting his features. “Next time you capture an abomination witch,” Amity raises her arms, all the goop from their previous fight rising beside her. “Make sure you have them dispel their creations”

Amity twists her arms around, all the goop surrounding her and Hunter in a solid ball of purple and black. Amity holds out her arms as the bandits start to bang on the shield, desperate to get in. She looks back at Hunter.

“Gonna need some help here, blondie.”

“I’m going I’m going!” He says, biting his tongue. Amity rolls her eyes, taking her hand away for a precious second to send a slash through the teen boys' binds. The ropes fall to the ground, Hunter bouncing up. 

“Give me a weapon.”

“What?” Amity’s breathing starts to get heavier as she maintains the abomination shield for longer. She holds strong, though. Keeping abominations in specific shapes like this is a lot more difficult than just creating soldiers, but she’s working with what she has. 

“Can’t do magic without my staff, remember?” He rolls his shoulders, giving a small wince. “I can still sword fight, though.” Amity gives him a curt nod, using one of her hands to extract a medium sized blade from the abomination goo swirling around them. It’s not the most complex blade, but it's sharp, and Hunter can hold it. As soon as it's settled in his hand, she drops the shield, stepping back as a few of the bandits tumble forward from momentum. 

Hunter’s presence disappears from behind her, and Amity decides to focus on the three witches in front of her. She flicks her hands in circles, creating two plumes of magenta colored fire around her hands. One of the bandits lunges at her, and she dodges to the side, socking them with one of her fists. Her punches aren’t the finest, but with the fire it doesn’t really matter. The witch howls in pain, dropping to roll in the dirt as their shirt bursts with flames. 

The other two bandits circle around Amity, and unfortunately, one of them has a staff. Amity gulps, solidifying her stance and standing her ground. The staffless witch twists their arm, sending vines up from the ground to wrap around Amity’s ankles. She responds immediately, summoning a simple abomination knife to slice the plants. It’s very effective, and she springs up, sending the blade flying at the bandit. It catches their cloak, throwing them off their balance and sending them tumbling to the ground. She forgot about the other, however, and a staff sweeps her off her feet, landing her belly first on the ground with an oomf. She can hear magic sizzle, and she catches a glimpse of a spell circle above her. She’s ready to roll to the side when a voice rings out through the cavern.

“Alright; party’s over.”

A grin splits her face as she looks up, Eda and Luz standing in the center of the room, weapons brandished.

Right on time.

Chapter Text

The first time Luz flew on a staff, she thought it was the most exhilarating and terrifying thing in the world, and she felt like she was going to fall off even at its meager speed.

Now, she just wishes the staves would go faster.

She’s clutching Amity’s staff, tearing through the last corridor of the cave. She’s sure Amity will be fine; the girls have faced far worse. But guilt still worms its way into Luz’s stomach. She was just so desperate for an adventure, something fun and reminiscent of her times in the isles before all of this portal chaos. She bites the inside of her cheek as she emerges from the cavern, wind whipping across her face as she refuses to slow down. Instead of letting her thoughts descend further into the portal situation and Emperor Belos, the source of it all, Luz pours her energy into pushing the staff forward, nimbly moving through the forest. She trusts Amity to take care of herself, but she would rather return sooner than later. Besides, rescuing your girlfriend from bandits is a pretty cool, courageous thing to do. 

Not that Luz is thinking about showing off for Amity at a time like this. Of course not.

After another minute of zipping through the trees, Luz lets Ghost slow, a long sigh escaping her lips. She grips the front of the staff, pulling it upward and clinging to the wood as Amity’s staff launches up, flattening out only after emerging from the treeline. The human scans her eyes around, searching the treetops for any sign of Eda. After another moment or so, she gets one; she can hear a branch snap into place and sees leaves rustle up, shifted from the movement of a staff, a mere 10 yards or so away. She quickly dives into the forest yet again, sending Ghost after the blur of movement. Luz can feel the staff slow as she shouts, leaves flying up into her face. One unfortunately lands in her mouth, and she spits it out, wiping off her tongue frantically.

“EDAAA!!” She calls out, face finally free of debris. The blur of motion in front of her slows almost immediately, lowering to the ground. Luz follows. 

“Kiddo?” Luz can hear Eda’s voice, and she drops to the ground, drawing Eda’s eyes over to her. The older witch's face lights up, a grins stretching across her inhumanely pale skin. “There you are, Luz!” Eda strides up to Luz, picking up the child and hugging her with her iron grip. Luz would like to convey the urgency of this situation to her mentor, but is a bit too busy gasping for air to form the words. Eda pulls away, putting her hands on her hips. Her look changes from excited relief to confusion. “Aren’t you sposed to be stuck in a cave, kid?”

“Well yeah we were but then- Eda we gotta hurry!” Luz shakes her head, taking Eda’s hand and pulling her forward. She can save the long story for later- she’s got an Amity to rescue!

Oh and also Hunter, she supposes. And some bandits to stop from… bandit-ing.

“Woah, woah- calm down.” Eda pulls her hand away from Luz, raising her yellow-nailed fingers to her lips. She blows, emitting a high whistle. A red cardinal flaps over from Owlbert, worry laced in his beady little eyes. Rascal lands in Eda’s outstretched hand as she absentmindedly scratches his head. “Your little palisman friend told me all about the situation - is Amity okay?” Eda procures a couple of glyphs from her sleeves, her brow crunched in concentration. A bystander probably wouldn’t be able to tell, but Luz has become very adept at noticing the shimmers of concern in her heterochromatic eyes. “Bird said someone was hurt, but didn’t say who, so I brought extras.” 

“What? We aren’t hurt- ohhhh.” The panic momentarily blinks away from Luz’s face, and she glares at the cardinal. “You and I are going to have a conversation on transparency in emergency situations later, Rascal.” 

“Huh-” Before Eda can ask, Luz has grabbed her arm, pulling the older woman over to Owlbert. 

“Well, the situation has escalated - now there’s bandits and they’ve got Amity, so hurry up!” Luz doesn’t give Eda any time to process before taking off, whipping yet again through the trees. 

Eda facepalms. “By the time she gets home that kid’s gonna have fought every ne'er do well on this titan-forsaken island.” 

When Eda flies up next to Luz, she’s in her harpy form, wings folded around her as she perches on her staff. Luz can’t help but stare - she’s seen Eda like this a few times now, but it’s still so cool .

“How many voles this time?” Luz shouts over the roaring wind. Eda lets out a long groan.

“Six, plus a badger.”

“Gross.”

Eda simply shrugs. “Could be worse.” 

It isn’t long before the pair reach the opening of the cave, slowly down slightly as they dive in. Luz is glad they didn’t get too far into the cave- before long she and Eda have reached the tunnel that leads to the chamber they were attacked in. She and Eda slow to a stop as they reach the mouth, the sounds of fighting ringing from inside. With little more than a nod to her mentor, they plunge in.

Luz’s eyes are, of course, immediately drawn to the right, where she can see a blur of lavender colored hair engaged in battle. She reaches a hand as Amity falls to the ground, Eda’s voice ringing out and echoing against the cave walls. 

“All right; party’s over.” Her voice is even louder and more intimidating in her harpy form. 

All seven of the bandits in the room snap their heads towards Eda, a mixture of looks crossing their faces including anger, surprise, and sheer terror. Amity’s attacker drops their finger, eyes going wide as they see Eda. The immediately turn around and start dashing away.

“LIA! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU GOING?!” A witch with red hair tied in a bun shouts from the center of the room. Lia doesn’t slow. 

“Do you SEE that thing!! HELL no! I’m outta here!”

“Lia I swear to the Titan if you bail on us-”

“I’M BAILING!”

Apparently she isn’t the only one, as another witch glances around wildly, deciding to join Lia in dashing away. The center bandit slaps his hand to his face with a loud groan, turning to Eda. Eda cracks her knuckles, a grin gracing her fanged face. 

“Oh, it’s been too long since I’ve had a good fight.” Eda’s smirk widens. She glances at Luz. “Go take care of boots, kid; I’ve got this bozo.”

Luz grins back. “Got it! Good luck, Eda!” 

Eda simply responds with curt nod to her apprentice, before darting off with a powerful flap of her wings. Luz ignores the shouts coming from where Eda is presumably starting to wreak havoc, focusing on running over to Amity. The young witch is picking herself off of the floor. 

“Amity!” Luz exclaims, helping Amity up. Worry fills her large almond eyes, Amity giving a small smile in return. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah- I’m fine, Luz.” Amity brushes off her tunic, wincing a little. She’ll probably have a few bruises, but it doesn’t seem drastic. They’ve both suffered worse. Luz lets out a sigh of relief, still not detaching her arm from her girlfriends. Amity lets out a light laugh. “You guys have impeccable timing.” Luz can feel the staff gripped in her right arm disintegrate as Ghost materializes, immediately crawling to Amity and curling on the young witches shoulder, purring deeply. Amity giggles, scratching her palisman under their chin. “Ghost! Don’t worry, kitty, I’m alright!”

“Oh, yeah! Sorry I had to take them - fastest way to get to Eda.”

“Don’t worry, I don’t think they minded.” Amity’s eyes flick to her companion, her tone slipping into a baby voice used to address pets and King. “Isn’t that right, Ghost?” Ghost purrs softly in response, glancing at Luz with a slight tilt in their chin. Amity takes Ghost off her shoulders, wrapping them in her arms as she goes back on guard, glancing around the room.

“Wait, where’s Hunter?” 

Luz looks around, and she can see a witch fly back into the wall, presumably thrown by Eda. “I’m sure he’s fine-”

“He doesn’t have his staff.” Luz’s stomach drops. She whips around again, spotting the top of his dirty blonde hair on the far side of the room. She pulls out a glyph, ready to dart forward, when suddenly he loops into her line of sight, grinning. Luz lets out a sigh of relief, a little smile gracing her face as well.

“Looks like Rascal found him.” Hunter has his two staffs gripped in his hands, and the witch he’s facing off against looks less than thrilled to be fighting a dual wielding, majorly pissed off teen. Amity snorts as the attacker is promptly wacked in the head by Hunter’s artificial staff. Out of the corner of her eye, Luz can see someone approaching them from behind. “Amity-”

The warning is not necessary. Amity twirls her finger above her head, an abomination swiftly rising from behind the bandit and scooping them up. They struggle, but it’s pretty fruitless. Amity and Luz turn around, Amity shaking her head.

“You’re outmatched now; might as well surrender.”

“I mean, do you really want to fight THAT?” Luz jerks her thumb back at Eda as the harpy woman adds a third bandit to the pile of unconscious attackers that’s begun to form at the base of the wall. The one in Amity’s captivity glances over, and promptly stops struggling.

“Abomination, punch.” Bonk! The witch slumps to the floor, down for the count. It doesn’t take long for Amity and Luz to drag their attacker over to Eda, who is staring proudly down at the three bandits before her, all in varying states of unconsciousness. 

“Sheesh - you’re getting really good at this whole ‘harpy woman’ thing, huh, Eda?” Luz asks, peering up at her mentor (who is significantly taller in this beastly form). Eda responds with a cheeky nod and a grin. 

“Damn right I am! Feels good to be the most powerful witch on the boiling isles again.” There’s a snort from her left, and her grin falls. Hunter is dragging a shorter bandit over to pile, expression annoyed. 

“You never were.”

“Oh, goodie, look who’s arrived.” Eda raises an eyebrow at him with a stretch, watching as he drags the bandit to the wall, dusting off his hands. “Could I at least get a ‘thank you’ for saving your butt?”

Hunter’s expression contorts. “We were fine-”

“THANK you, Eda.” Amity interrupts, stepping between Eda and the boy. She shoots him a glare. “We appreciate the help.”

“Sure, whatever.” Hunter says with a scoff. He twirls his staff, creating a rope that binds the pile of witches now laying on the floor, either dizzy or unconscious. “Now, I-” Hunter attempts to take a step forward, but his foot gives out beneath him, and he falls to the ground. A hiss of pain escapes from between his teeth, his leg recoiling.

“Woah! Are you alright-”

“I-I’m fine!” Luz flinches back, her hands instinctively raising to her sides. She tried to reach out to Hunter, but he responded by pulling away, artificial staff clutched in front of him. Now, his wide eyes flicker between the trio, Rascal chirping anxiously on the dirt. 

Amity and Luz both take a step back, but Eda is unphased, eyeing the teen with a scrutinizing glance. “Ah, so he’s the one who got injured; no wonder his bird didn’t tell me.” Eda snorts, pulling out the healing glyphs from her ginormous hair. She places them in front of Hunter, being careful not to approach too close. He eyes her suspiciously, carefully picking up one of the glyph sheets and inspecting it. After a moment he seems to find it satisfactory, slapping it onto his ankle. He immediately lets out a sigh of relief. The moment of vulnerability is short-lived, however, as he scoops up the rest of the papers and uses his staff to help him stand up, resuming his suspicious glare at Eda.

“...thanks.” He mutters, lifting his shirt slightly to apply another to his abdomen. Luz winces - how much more injured did this kid manage to get in the seven or so minutes she’s been gone? Really, he’s worse than her.

The air is stiff, nothing but the sounds of a distant cave creek and the occasional groan of pain from the bandits to fill the void of silence. Eventually, Hunter clears his throat, addressing Eda.

“Well, it seems you weren’t lying about the ‘harpy’ thing.” He says, turning on his heel to stride away. Edalyn just chuckles, swishing her hair. He walks over to a rock, pulling a golden helmet up from the outcropping. He’s about to put in on, but stops, shooting a glance over at Luz and Amity. He sighs, walking closer. Luz watches as he takes his place a few paces in front of them, posture now oddly stiff. 

“I’ll call in backup to take care of these guys in a few minutes. You should get out of here before they arrive.”

Luz tilts her head to the side, letting a dangerous spark of hope flicker in her chest. “You aren’t gonna try to arrest us this time?”

Hunter stares to the side, grip on his helmet tightening. “Consider it repayment for your… assistance.” He says, notably dodging the word ‘rescue’. A small smirk then appears on his face as he tucks his helmet under his arm. “I would offer you a payment from the Emperor, but I doubt you’d want it.”

Eda pretends to gag, sticking out her tongue. “Ew, gross. The only good Emperor money is stolen Emperor money.”

To Luz’s surprise, instead of glaring or threatening to arrest Eda on the spot, Hunter laughs lightly. He pulls out a small compact that Luz recognizes from Lilith as a communication form. 

“Wait - you still haven’t found the longenium yet, right?" She says. Hunter freezes, eyes meeting hers. After a moment of blank staring, he lets out a groan of frustration, snapping the compact shut.

“Dammit. I still have to grab that.” He grumbles, aggressively shoving the compact into his pocket. He marches past Luz, Amity, and Eda, Rascal perching on his shoulder. 

“Wooo! Mining time!” Luz shouts, starting off behind him. 

“Luz, there are other caves-” Amity stops as Eda places a clawed hand on her shoulder, the witch shaking her head slowly. She gestures to Luz, who is powering away with sheer enthusiasm and determination.

Eda sighs. “At this point, don’t fight it, boots.” The harpy woman then picks up her staff, heading towards Luz with determinedly less enthusiasm. Amity can only sigh and smile as she walks ahead, completing their odd parade. 

“...was that the Golden Guard?”

“Shut up Davis- wait.” A pause. “Shit.”

Hunter’s grand plans of an “in and out” mission is a faded dream at this point. He’s been listening to the human’s dramatic retelling of their adventure thus far to her mentor for the past minute. Who is the Owl Lady. It wasn’t on purpose, but Hunter has found himself drifting to the front of their little marching order, as far away from the beastly woman as he can possibly be without seeming nervous. At Eclipse Lake she seemed far less competent than her numerous infamous rumors would suggest. But he isn’t about to take any chances. Sure, she hasn’t actually tried anything yet, and for reasons Hunter will never understand she gave him healing glyphs, but that doesn’t mean he’s about to let his guard down. 

He glances over his shoulder at her again, wringing his hands around his staff. The Blight is not too far behind him, scratching the top of her palisman’s head, who is curled around her shoulders. Hunter’s eye’s drift to his own shoulder, where Rascal sits, alert. Hunter gives him a small pat as well. It’s only fair.

“And then-”

Hunter coughs, deciding to cut Luz off before she can delve into any details of that idiotic human game he somehow let himself get dragged into. He shoots a bored glance at the Owl Lady, slowing his pace so they aren’t quite so far apart. 

“So, Owl Lady, do you have a way to turn off the harpy mode?” He asks, broadly gesturing to her still monstrous form. He tries to sound sarcastic, but a little anxiety creeps into the cracks in his voice. It doesn’t seem like the beast has control over her in this form, but Hunter has experience with curses and conditions. He doesn’t want to be around anyone with curse in control.

She just rolls her dilated yellow eyes, giving her feathery wings a small flap. “First off, call me Eda. Second, I DO, but I didn’t expect to be transforming so I left my elixir at home.” She finishes off the sentence by plucking a worm from the dirt wall and shoving it in her mouth, swallowing it whole. Hunter shudders. 

“The owl beast is… disgusting.” He mutters to Amity, making sure the owl lady- Eda- can’t hear. 

“Nah, that’s just Eda.” Amity whispers back. Hunter resists the urge to gag. 

“Oh boo hoo. You kids haven’t seen nothing - Lilith ate a ground squirrel once.”

Hunter’s jaw drops. “There’s no way we’re thinking of the same Lilith. No way.”

“Believe it, kid.” Eda says with a snort. She looks off to the side wistfully. “Oh, she got into a lot more trouble than she lets on… she’d do anything if there was enough spite to fuel her.”
Hunter’s shock fades. “Yeah, that… actually checks out.”

Unfortunately for Hunter, his casual remarks about the former coven head pique Luz’s interest, jogging up beside him. He resists the urge to pre-emptively roll his eyes at whatever ridiculous question she’ll inevitably ask.

“What was Lilith like in the coven, anyway?” That was fast. Hunter sighs, running his hand through his hair.

“I didn’t know her well- bossy, mostly. Put together sometimes, and other times… less so.” He shrugs. “Not much different from every other coven recruit.”

Luz nods thoughtfully, before a grin lights up her face. She jumps forward, big brown eyes meeting Hunter’s.

“You actually told us something without complaining! Or telling us it’s ‘coven only’ knowledge!”

Hunter groans, trying his best to power-walk ahead and outrun Luz. He should’ve known better; she has a seemingly endless amount of energy and matches his pace easily.

“Titan, he really did. What an incredible feat.” Amity decides to contribute (unhelpfully) from behind them. Hunter just throws his head into his hands, poorly describing the small smile growing on his face. He’s not sure why it’s there; by all logic he should be miserable right now. 

“I am regretting every decision that has led me here.” He mutters. Luz flicks her hand dismissively, wrapping her arm around his shoulder with zero consideration for his clear disinterest in her affection. 

“Oh, you love us.”

“I most certainly do not.”

“Can’t lie to me, golden boy.” Mercifully, Luz detaches herself from Hunter, noticing some sort of plant on the wall she rushes to inspect. Amity just shakes her head as she takes her place beside Hunter, smiling.

“Don’t fight it, trust me.”

Eda takes to his other side, suddenly making Hunter feel very trapped. He stiffens, but the Owl Lady doesn’t make a move, just grins with Amity. “Once she gets an idea in her head, there’s no stopping her.”

Hunter crumples over his shoulder with yet another low grumble, his cries of protest completely ignored. This is going to be a long walk.

Hunter glances down at his map. They’re almost to the old mine, and his mission is finally about to be resumed. He has mercifully been relatively left alone, Luz and Amity content to only bother each other, the Owl Lady watching fondly and only interrupting one or twice. Despite his relief at being left alone, he feels a pang of sadness, back to being isolated and un-included in their little group now that the Owl Lady is present. He bites down on his tongue, ignoring the sense of loneliness creeping into his chest. This is what happens when he lets himself indulge in things- he forgets who he is. They were nice to him, sure, but they don’t need him. They have plenty of other, better witches their age to be around, witches that go to school and that do normal things, not who fight them or cause cave ins. Belos is the only one who really needs him around.

He glances to his shoulder, where a little bird rests, eyes drifting open and closed as he struggles to stay away. A bittersweet smile graces Hunter’s lips. Belos and Rascal, he supposes. 

He rounds a corner, tucking his map away as his eyes fall on a glittering, ore filled boulder. He bows, gesturing dramatically to the metal as Amity, Luz, and Eda all enter the space.

“I present… longenium,” He looks up to Amity mid-bow, smirking. “And plenty to share, just like I said.”

Amity rolls her eyes in response. She wanders over to the boulder, scrutinizing it.

“Looks like it’ll be pretty tough to get out-”

Amity barely gets the words out before Eda marches over, ripping out two huge chunks of the ore with her bare talons. She grins, baring her massive fangs at Amity, who is looking up at her with a mixture of awe and annoyance.

“You were saying…?” Eda tosses one of the rocks to Hunter, who nearly falls over from the added weight. He stabilizes himself pretty quickly, Rascal flapping around his head for a frantic moment before landing in his already frazzled blonde hair. 

He glances from the hunk of ore in his gloves and back to the Owl Lady, more confused than anything else.

“Uhm… thanks?” He eeks out. Eda doesn’t even respond, just clicking her tongue and dismissing him with a wave of her talons.

“Now, come along kids. We don’t want those bandits slipping out of their restraints and trying to enact ‘revenge’ or whatever.”

“Actually, I don’t think they’ll-” Hunter is ignored.

“Right! Let’s go, Ams.”

“Oh I’d like to see them try now.” She cracks her knuckles threateningly, an absolutely terrifying look on her face. Hunter is suddenly glad she doesn’t hate him quite as much anymore.

Hunter decides to take the back of their parade as they walk back, staring blankly at the floor as he strolls along, still using his artificial staff to help him take every other step. He’s still sort of… processing the conflicting feelings Amity Blight’s words forced him to confront. Sensing Hunter’s emotional distress, Rascal flaps down, giving a comforting tweet, nuzzling into his scarred cheek. He wants to feel comforted, but the interaction only stirs more nausea in his stomach. He looks over at the Owl Lady, whose full name is apparently Edalyn, and at the owl palisman flapping beside her. He takes Rascal on his finger, giving his best attempt at a reassuring smile. 

“Why don’t you go say hi to that owl over there, hm?” He says softly, gesturing to the Owl Lady’s pet with his chin. Rascal tilts his head. “I know you don’t get to see other palisman very often. It might be nice.” Rascal, being deeply in tune with Hunter’s emotions, is 100% sure this is not the reason he’s being sent away. But he knows if his witch needs him he’ll be there in a flash, and if doing a little socializing will make said witch happy, then so be it. He takes off, flapping around Edalyn before landing in her gigantic gray mess of hair. 

Hunter lets out a long sigh of relief, glancing at Luz in front of him. He’s had this idea for a little bit, and while he doesn’t want to do it… he doesn’t have a choice at this point. Now is the best chance he’s going to get to try. 

He jogs up to Luz, lightly tapping her on the shoulder. He doesn’t bother to mask his voice in edge and sarcasm this time, letting Luz hear his tired, soft tone. 

“Hey, could we, uh, talk about something?” He bites his lip, waiting for a laugh or bad response. Instead, Luz just frowns, slowing down to put a bit of distance between them and Amity.

“Uhm, sure! What’s on your mind, goldio?”

If he didn’t have such a pressing issue to talk about, he would’ve blasted her right there and then for such an egregious nickname. Instead, he sighs deeply, wringing his hands over his staff rapidly and avoiding eye contact, staring at the ground as he takes each step forward, committing to a conversation he isn’t sure he wants to have in the first place.

“Luz you… you said you know what Belos does to palismen, right?” He can feel Luz stiffen beside him, and he grimaces, hoping he didn’t provoke her. It was a silly thing to worry about, even momentarily, as Luz shows no anger, only mild sadness as she glances away. 

“Yes… I do.” She breathes in, giving him a small smile. “I’m glad he’s let you keep Li’l Rascal, though.”

“That’s the thing; he-” Hunter takes a deep breath. No turning back now. “-he hasn’t.”

Luz’s face drops. “What?”

“H-He doesn’t know. And if he found out, I…” Hunter swallows hard, squeezing his eyes shut so they don’t even think about leaking tears. “What I’m trying to say is, it isn’t safe for Rascal at the palace. With me.” It hurts to have to admit out loud, but it's the truth. “I have a favor to ask of you, and I know you don’t have any reason to help me, but…” Hot embarrassment rises to Hunter’s cheeks at having to plead with Luz, but the truth potion incident reminded Hunter just how dangerous it is for Rascal to be around. He got too close to revealing his secret. “Please. Take him with you, back to the Owl House. He’ll be safe there, maybe even find a new witch.” Silence. Luz stares at him, a confusing mixture of emotions Hunter can’t begin to decipher dancing across her face. The silence stretches on too long for his comfort, and he bites down on his tongue, hard. Stupid. “I-I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-”

“No, no no no! Don’t apologize!” Luz butts in, eyes glossy. “It’s… sweet, you care about him so much. And I would take him, really, but well-'' She glances at Rascal, smiling. “I don’t think he’d go. You’re his witch , Hunter. He’s not gonna leave you.”

Hunter huffs, frustration mixing in with his guilt and worry. “That’s the problem! He doesn’t understand how dangerous it is-”

“I don’t want to be invasive but… why exactly is it so dangerous for Rascal?” Her tone grows more serious as she looks into Hunter’s eyes, brow furrowed slightly. “What would Belos do if he found out?”

Hunter can feel his stomach plummet. The exact question he’d been dreading. He avoids her gaze, gripping his arm. “I-I don’t know-”

“Hunter, if you didn’t know, you wouldn’t be so scared.”

“I’m not-” Hunter begins, but he cuts himself off. He’s self aware enough to know he isn’t masking his fear well enough to bluff right now. He won’t tell her the whole truth, but maybe a little would be enough to get her to take the cardinal away. “Well he’d probably… uhm… take Rascal away,” he begins. He can’t say kill, he won’t say kill. That makes it too real. “And then I’d be… punished. For disobeying orders and lying. Probably.” 

The concern on Luz’s face only grows with each detail he adds. “Punished? Like… you’d be grounded?”

“Y-yeah… grounded.” Hunter agrees, despite not actually knowing what ‘grounded’ means. If Luz found out the Golden Guard, the Emperor’s right hand man has to get beaten for any sort of lesson to sink in? Hunter shudders. Even she'd laugh and scoff. 

Luz gives a small nod, letting quiet hang for a moment as she collects her thoughts. “Emperor Belos thinks wild magic is ‘dangerous’, right?”

“Well, yeah.”

“But Rascal isn’t dangerous. In fact, he’s probably saved your life a few times by now.” Hunter tries to refute this, but nothing comes. It’s true; Rascal’s definitely done more good than harm. “Annnd I’ve seen plenty of other coven members with palismen- like Lilith.” She’s right. 

“Yes, but It’s different with me, I-”

Luz raises her hands in defense. “Listen, I’m not saying you should do or say anything, but, well… maybe palismen are one of those things Belos has misconceptions about?” The look Luz gives Hunter next is full of more raw and unfiltered sympathy than he’s ever received in his life. He looks down at his hands, then up to Rascal, saying nothing. 

Luz doesn’t know his uncle the way Hunter does. She doesn’t understand how strict in his convictions the man is, how harshly he upholds his rules. And yet…

Something in Hunter’s chest flickers with hope. Belos is a reasonable man. If he presents the right argument, catches him in a good mood, maybe there’s hope. Maybe there’s a way for Rascal to live safely at the castle.

Maybe his uncle would even be proud of him for doing magic on his own.

They’re silly, hopeful plans, trains of thought Hunter wouldn’t have latched onto in the past. But now…

“Maybe…” is all he mutters under his breath. “maybe.”

Chapter Text

Amity thought she would be relieved to be rid of the Golden Guard, delivering Luz to the Owl House’s doorstep safe and sound in what is now mid afternoon.

Instead, there’s a rock in her stomach.

There was a surprising lack of snark from him as they trudged back to the mouth of the cave, thoroughly exhausted. They made Eda with her harpy strength drag the mound of criminals back with them, plopping them outside as Hunter called in coven scouts to take them away.

As they gradually awoke from their unconsciousness, some of the bandits started to shout and struggle.

“You lying little bastards- I’ll kill you!” One of them shouted, earning an eye roll from Eda. She put her hands on her hips, glaring down at them tiredly.

“Oh really. And how will you do that?” The demon opened his mouth to respond, but quickly shut it, realizing he doesn’t actually have a way to act on that threat. 

Amity was very disinterested in their complaining until the leader, Jax, began to laugh, cold and steady. A chill ran down her spine. He narrowed his eyes at Hunter specifically, who was sliding his Golden Guard mask over his face.

“The great Golden Guard himself, needing to be rescued from lowly thieves- won’t that make a headline.” Jax snarked, grinning. His grin faded as Hunter didn’t respond, quietly stalking over to the group, carrying that eerie sense of authority he only has when accompanied by the mask and staff. 

“Actually, I handled you all easily, single handedly, on the way out from my successful mission.” He said matter-of-factly. Jax’s smirk faded, replaced with a snarl of frustration.

“Little brat! You can’t just lie! There’s witnesses everywhere!”

Hunter crouched over, tapping his staff on the floor. “And who is the guard going to believe; their superior officer, or a bunch of low life bandits?” Jax went quiet, his eyes flicking to Amity and Luz. Luz just shrugged.

“Hey, we weren’t even here.” 

“I’d recommend just cooperating - you might even get parole.” Hunter said, his tone finale and set. Jax shouted a few curses as an unflinching Hunter strode away, approaching the residents of the Owl House. He flicked out his golden compact, checking it before sighing and tucking it back into his cloak.

“They’ll be here soon. You should leave.”

Amity was about to take Luz’s hand in hers when her girlfriend stepped forward, brows furrowed. 

“You’re really going back to the palace?” She asked. Hunter just stared incredulously through the slits in his mask.

“Obviously - what else would I do?” 

Luz opened her mouth to speak, but stopped as Amity put a gentle hand on her shoulder, shaking her head slightly. Now was not the time for this. Amity knew Luz wanted to help - she always does. It’s one of the things she loves most about the human girl. But they were all exhausted, physically and emotionally, and they needed to go back home. 

Amity began to pull Luz away, but not before the girl could eek out a few more words to the boy.

“The invitation still stands, Hunter.” She said.

They walked away, Amity just barely picking up on his speech as he faded into the background of the forest.

“...thanks.” A smile tugged at the corner of Amity’s lips. Maybe Luz’s plan wasn’t a total loss after all.

Now, Amity stands in front of the Owl House, doing her best to avoid eye contact with Hooty. She is no longer hostile to the creature, but he scares her. He would scare anyone. Currently he seems to be in ‘door mode,’ staring blankly into the forest, which is honestly more disturbing than if he were talking about his usual topics like grass and eating worms. (Which… isn’t that technically cannibalism? Amity doesn’t want to think about it for too long). 

Eda’s inside chugging down elixir, and King is yelling at her for being left behind, so it’s currently just Luz and Amity on the porch, smiling softly at each other.

Luz laughs nervously, and it melts Amity’s cotton candy heart. “Amity… I’m sorry I dragged you into all this today.” She rubs the back of her neck with her hand, avoiding eye contact. “I didn’t expect it to go so poorly-”

“You don’t have to apologize, Luz.” Amity replies with a light laugh, blush creeping over both the girls' round faces. “I… had fun, weirdly enough. Although next time you plan on forcing the Emperor’s right hand man to play human children’s games, let me know ahead of time, okay?” She lightly punches Luz in the arm, Luz responding with an overexaggerated ‘owwwwww!’

“Okay, okay. To be fair, I didn’t plan the cave in part.”

“I wouldn’t put it past you.”

“HEY- okay yeah you’re right I would plan that.”

They laugh, soft and sweet, Amity looking into Luz’s beautiful brown eyes. Titan, she doesn’t know what she did to deserve her. She would give pretty much anything just to know Luz would be in her life forever, being the radiant beam of sunshine she always is. 

Luz’s bright smile suddenly fades, morphing into something bittersweet. “Amity… about all that stuff you said about your mom…” Amity’s stomach drops. Right… she forgot about that.

Luz takes her hands in Amity’s, staring down at them as she rubs a thumb over her black nails and pale skin. 

“I-I’m sorry you had to go through all that, Ams.” She says, genuine pain filling her voice. Amity feels the urge to take it all back, immediately regretting inflicting any sort of sadness on Luz. However, she forces herself to take a deep breath. Luz told her venting was okay - she has to trust Luz will let her know if it's ever too much. Girlfriends are there for each other, no matter what. That’s sort of the point. At least, Amity’s pretty sure it is.

She’s never had a girlfriend before Luz.
“Amity… if it’s too much to stay at your house, we can-”

“No, no. It’s alright Luz, really.” She shakes her head, putting up one of her hands while keeping the other entwined. She isn’t lying. “Honestly… I’m not as scared of home anymore. I think just knowing there’s a place for me to go… helps.” She looks up at Luz, eyes glossy. “Having the Owl House, it’s helped me so much Luz I- I don’t know if I’ve thanked you enough for that. For everything.” Her smile is small, but genuine. “I honestly don’t know where I’d be without you.”

Luz smiles back, a little bit of mischief flickering in her eyes. It’s a look Amity knows well from years of living with Ed and Em. “Probably still being a huge jerk.”

Amity laughs, despite the mention of her blemished past. “A lot sure has changed, huh?”

“I turned you all soft and mushy!” Luz shouts, reaching over to pinch at Amity’s cheeks. Amity bursts into giggles, frantically pushing the teen girl away.

“Oh what, you want the cool, snarky Blight back? She’s still in here.” Amity’s own mischievous grin is growing. 

“Nah, I think I have Hunter to fill the ‘vaguely rude sarcasm machine’ role now.”

Amity gasps. “Oh no, replaced by a man - my worst nightmare.”

The two devolve into giggles, Luz keeling over in her laughter. They only stop when Eda, now de-transformed, steps outside, smiling down at them fondly.

“Alright, alright, you two have caused enough trouble for one day. Me and Luz have some important witch-apprentice lessons to get to.”

Luz raises an eyebrow at Eda, and the older woman rolls her eyes, relenting with a grin.

“Okay fine, we have to bathe King. Which is an equally involved task!”
Amity looks to Luz, taking a moment to step forward and wrap her arms around the girl in a tight embrace. Luz is all too happy to oblige, squeezing Amity so hard she thinks her face might be turning red. 

“Well, I’ll get going. I’ll see you tomorrow at school, Luz!” Amity starts to tread away, waving back at the two. She can spot King running up, taking his place between Luz’s legs while waving his little clawed hands.

“Bye mittens!” He shouts, and Amity rolls her eyes. He unfortunately picked up her little nickname, but she doesn’t mind it as much coming from him. She waves back, not stopping until she’s rounded the corner out of their line of sight. 

She isn’t excited to go home, not by a long shot, but it doesn’t seem so bleak. Realizing Luz isn’t going to stand up and abandon her on a dime, it’s been a hard concept for Amity to wrap her head around. She struggles to comprehend how anyone could like her that much, to put so much on the line for her. But Luz has proved, again and again, that she’s here to stay. That she really, truly, loves Amity. It’s messy and complicated and neither of them have any clue what they’re doing, but they have each other. If it were Odalia’s choice, she’d only hang out with Boscha and Skara. If it were Alador’s choice, she’d spend every waking hour studying and working in the Blight Manor. But her life isn’t their decision anymore. She chooses to be with Luz. She chooses to talk to Willow. 

But most of all, she chooses herself.

Luz lays on her little bed roll, staring at the sheet of paper held in her hand, brows furrowed in concentration. It’s the response Hunter sent back those days ago, written on unnecessarily fancy parchment with handwriting so well practiced it makes her want to gag. 

Your message has been received.

Luz sighs, tossing the paper aside and shifting restlessly in her makeshift bed, grumbling to nobody in particular. King is asleep at her feet, and he is a notoriously heavy sleeper, so it’s not like he’ll hear. Hell, she could probably sing a whole musical number in here and he wouldn’t notice. 

Luz glances at her nails, shoving one into her mouth as she begins to chew on it lightly. She keeps running over conversations from the day in her head, over and over, trying to determine if anything she said was wrong. Unfortunately, with her anxiety-ridden mind, she thinks everything she said was wrong.

She’s especially concerned about the conversation she had with Hunter regarding Rascal. She didn’t want to push too far about Belos - he had shut down every time she tried. But she doesn’t trust the Emperor for one second. Rascal’s such a cute little bird, and SO PATIENT to have picked Hunter as his witch. She doesn’t want the little guy to get hurt…

It dawns on her she doesn’t want Hunter to get hurt, either. 

She doesn’t know where she stands with Hunter, but she sees him as a friend. A rude, sarcastic, extremely sad jerk of a friend, sure, but a friend nonetheless. Not knowing what they’re up to- it’s torture, honestly.

She rolls over to the side, hoping to find comfort in one of King’s plushies. Instead, she’s greeted with a portrait of herself and her mama, right at eye level. Luz groans even louder, pulling her pillow over her head to block out the whole world. Just more people to worry about. 

Eventually, she resigns herself to not getting any sleep, pulling herself up and out of bed, careful not to disturb King. She wanders out into the hall, considering making herself some tea or staying up late making glyphs, but neither activity sounds very appealing right now. Her eyes drift to the stairwell, thinking of Eda happily asleep in her nest. She doesn’t want to wake Eda so late, but her stomach is churning, and she just… needs her right now.

She marches up the stairs, hesitating slightly before knocking on the door, pushing it open ever so gently. The guilt of waking Eda swirls in, adding to her nausea, but she shoves it down. Even though Eda will be cranky, she knows deep down the witch won’t be mad.

She hears a groan and shift as Eda props herself up in her nest.

“Huh? Who’s there?” She calls out with a yawn. “If this is the IRS, I don’t care who you send, I am not paying my taxes-”

“I-It’s me Eda.” Luz says with a gulp. She can feel tears start to bristle in her eyes. She isn’t even sure what she’s upset about. A lot of things, she supposes. Stressful things that seem a lot worse, alone, at night.

Eda’s tone shifts abruptly, and she’s suddenly more alert. “Kid? It’s awfully late for you to be up. What’s wrong?” She asks. Luz doesn’t respond, just sniffles, clutching her stomach closer.

“I-I…” She can feel the tears start to roll down her cheeks, all her confusing feelings crashing down on her exhausted brain. Eda hops out of bed surprisingly quickly, moving towards Luz in the dark.

“Aw, c’mere kiddo.” She says, opening her arms slightly. Luz doesn’t have to be told twice. She launches herself into Eda, burying her face in the woman's side. Eda just pats her patiently, only yawning once or twice as Luz sobs softly, clinging to Eda like a lifeline.

“E-E-Eda, I-” 

“Shhh.” Eda reassures Luz. “C’mon, let’s go sit down.” 

Eda takes Luz by her shoulders, leading her down the stairs to the living room, currently bathed in low orange light from a desk lamp. Luz can vaguely pick up on Hooty snoring from beyond the door, the walls trembling ever so slightly with each breath the house demon takes in his sleep. Eda sits Luz down on the couch, waiting patiently as Luz just clings to her, wrapping her arm around the woman’s midsection.

Luz, despite her quiet sobs, feels comfortable, quietly wringing Eda’s pajama shirt with her hands as she shakes, body reacting to the confusing mess taking place in her mind. Eda’s always insistent she isn’t an affectionate or maternal person, but she doesn’t object to Luz’s tight grip. Instead, she places a hand in her brown hair, letting Luz cry it out without interruption. 

Luz’s tears slowly start to fade with Eda’s stability, and she lets her arms droop. She’s so much more tired than she realized, and she sniffles, slumping into Eda’s side. Eda carefully shifts Luz so she’s leaning against the cushion, watching as the witch-in-training wipes her face with her sleeve. She gives her best reassuring smile to the child, standing slowly. 

“I’m going to go make you some tea, okay kid?” She asks, keeping her voice low as to not startle the silence that descends upon the Owl House during the night. Luz sniffles again, nodding her head. Luz grabs a pillow as Eda disappears into the kitchen, pulling it close to her chest. Her cheeks are itchy and red, and she doesn’t want to start crying again. Still, she can feel more tears rise to her eyes, and she blinks them away, furiously shaking her head, gripping onto the fabric of the pillow in a soothing motion.

Luckily, Eda works fast, and she’s back out in a flash, two steaming mugs of herbal tea in hand. She sets one down on the coffee table in front of Luz, sending the girl a look of raw concern she only shares in late night moments like these.

“...something happen, kiddo?” She asks tentatively. Luz shakes her head, a small hiccup escaping her mouth. 

“I-I don’t know, I just… feel icky, I guess.” She mumbles, struggling to find the words.

Eda just hums thoughtfully, taking a sip of her tea and leaning back against the cushion. She lets the silence ruminate, trusting Luz will tell her what’s wrong sooner or later. Knowing Luz, it will be the sooner option.

Just as Eda predicted, Luz clears her throat with a sniffle mere moments later.

“I was just thinking…”

“Oh good. I’ve heard kids your age are supposed to be doing that.” Eda says with a wink, eliciting a small giggle from Luz despite her damp cheeks. Luz knows Eda’s comedy is just an attempt at lightening the mood, but she’s still welcome to share whatever’s on her mind. They’ve unfortunately had past experience with Luz’s breakdowns before.

It doesn’t happen too often, but sometimes, the stress just gets into Luz’s head. Sometimes it’s when something bad happens. Luz sobbed for hours once she got Eda back home after the petrification incident. Sometimes, it’s for seemingly no reason at all, just Luz’s racing man bringing tears to her eyes in the small hours of the morning. The first two times Eda really wasn’t sure what to do, but she realizes now she doesn’t need to do all that much. Just be there to listen.

That’s why she stays quiet as Luz gulps in a deep breath, staring down at her fidgeting hands, clasped around a ratty old throw pillow like her life depends on it. “Sometimes… I just get really worried, you know?” She looks up, wide eyes meeting Eda’s knowing, older gaze. “Wait, I-I didn’t phrase that right, I get worried a lot. No-not like all the time! I just mean, augh-” Luz takes another deep breath through her nostrils. “I want to help my friends but… what if it's not enough?” Luz curls her arms around her sides, a subconscious attempt to make herself small. “I-I really try to help, but sometimes I just don’t know what to say! And what-what if what I say makes it worse and-and-” Luz crumples as her tears overtake her again, letting herself fall back into Eda’s arms. Eda doesn’t say anything, just pats Luz on the back, tucking her head under her pointed chin. 

“I don’t know why I’m sad… they’re the ones with all the problems, not me.” 

Eda suddenly pulls Luz away from her, gripping her shoulders and staring her down. 

“Woah - I won’t be having any of that, alright Luz?” There’s a strange spark, a fire lit in Eda’s multi-colored eyes. “You’re a kid who’s going through a lot of shit you shouldn’t be.” She prodes Luz’s chest gently for emphasis, face set in determination. “You’re allowed to be sad sometimes, for Titan’s sake! There’s a lot going on!”

“I-I know, but-”

“No buts.” Eda’s stern look changes, melting into a soft smile. “I know you just want to help your friends Luz - but you’ve got to take care of yourself too. You’re… well you’re probably helping them a lot more than you realize.” She ruffles Luz’s hair, biting her own lip to hold back tears. “Myself included.” She finishes with a chuckle. 

The words were horribly sentimental and cheesy, greatly contrasting Eda’s outward demeanor during the day. A smile managed to force its way onto Luz’s face - she always feels so honored when Eda shares her more vulnerable moments with her, and her mentor has been doing it more and more often lately. She knows Eda is really trying to be there for her, especially since her return home is so uncertain. 

Eda leans down, putting a reassuring hand on Luz’s shoulder yet again, keeping her steady and grounded. “Some of this is about the Golden Guard kid, isn’t it?”

Luz freezes for a moment, but then nods slowly. Edalyn sighs.

“I know he isn’t my friend, but…” Luz bites her lip, staring to the side. “I’ve only met the Emperor once, and I already never want to see him again. I can’t imagine what living with him is like. I…” Her eyes fill with determination, conviction. “I want to help.”

“You can’t fix everything, kiddo.” Eda says with a sigh, her shoulders sagging. Still, hope flashes across her face. “You’ve outstretched a hand - that won’t go unnoticed. But he has to take the next step, and accept it.” Eda’s chuckles softly. “Titan, sometimes I wish you were a little more selfish, you know?”

Luz laughs too, wiping away the last of her tears. “Usually, mentors and parents say the opposite of that, Eda.”

“Well, I think we both know what kind of witch mentor I am, eh?” She winks. “If you get to turn me all mushy-gushy with your selflessness, I get to teach you some of that classic Clawthorne selfishness.” She spreads her arms wide, a joking grin on her face as she raises her voice. “Go on, Luz; Demand something of me!”

Luz giggles, letting her pillow plunk onto the floor as it falls from her grasp. “Okay, uhm… I demand you give me a hug!”

“Well, that shouldn’t really count, since I want to give you a hug anyway,” She wraps her arms around Luz, holding her close as they just appreciate the others presence. “But I’ll let it slide, just this once.” 

Luz emits another giggle as she buries her face in the crook of Eda’s neck, face still damp from her tears. They sit like that for a few moments, Luz’s mop of hair nestled beneath Eda’s chin. 

“I love you, Eda.” Luz eventually says, breaking the comfortable quiet. 

“...I love you too, kid.”

So Luz and Eda sit, Luz eventually letting her arms fall and her grip relax, drifting off to sleep before her caretaker scoops her up and sets her back in bed. The night air is cool and still, the stars blinking up above, Eda sitting on the floor and watching them as she waits, wanting to be sure her kid is properly asleep before she’s left alone. 

A little outside Bonesborough, Amity also lies in bed, staring up at her ceiling. It’s around midnight, and she knows she’ll fall asleep soon. Night’s after big events are hard. Her adrenaline is still racing, and her door with its broken lock could swing open at any moment. Still, she takes a deep breath, and settles into her bed, eyes fluttering shut. Things may not be perfect yet, but they’re getting better. She’s getting better.

For once, her sleep is deep and unplagued by nightmares, the same stars watching over her that blink above Luz’s closet window. The isle forests buzz with the sound of insects, and sleep descends over the witches, demons, and various creatures of all sorts the isles have to offer. It’s quiet.

Miles away, there’s a stony palace that never rests. It’s lights glow. It’s protectors refuse to cease their marching.

And from deep inside a chamber, the heart of the castle-

A boy screams.

Chapter Text

Hunter is absolutely not freaking out.

He is currently pacing the length of his room, armor shucked to the side. The sun is beginning to set beyond his window, and Belos STILL hasn’t asked to see him since he set out on his mission that morning. So, Hunter’s mind has been racing, festering with anxieties, conflicting feelings, and a strange amount of guilt all swirling around in his head. 

He arrived back at the palace not long after those thugs were dragged away by the half dozen or so guards who came to his call. The amount really wasn’t necessary, but apparently it was a slow day, and most wandering guards are pretty desperate for a chance to respond to the Golden Guards call. He expected Belos to summon him after arriving home, or at least schedule him for a progress report later that day. Instead, he just anxiously passed off the longenium he worked surprisingly hard for to a lower officer, and wandered to his room, left without instructions for the afternoon.

Needless to say, he did not relax.

Instead, he set Rascal down on the windowsill, and proceeded to talk through every single way his next meeting with Belos could go.

“Okay, okay. If we want to convince uncle to let you stay here, we need to come up with a plan.” He was aware of Rascal’s pronounced eyeroll, but disregarded it. He didn’t really care if the bird was listening; talking through his thoughts has always helped him process things. 

Safety? Rascal chirped, clearly inquiring about Hunter’s own state. Hunter scoffed. The bird should really be more worried about himself.

“It’s fine, it’s fine - I know how to do stuff like this.” That had been when Hunter began to pace, moving his arms around for emphasis. “First, we test the waters. Bring up some ideas when Belos is in a good mood, see how he responds.”

Unsafe. Rascal tweeted again, shaking his head. Hunter simply grunted in response.

“If he responds poorly, I won’t push it, and I can just keep hiding you; no harm done.”

Rascal was being annoyingly stubborn, beginning to flap around Hunter’s window. Not safe, not safe.

“I KNOW it’s not safe for you here! That’s why I’ve been trying to get you to leave!” He gestured wildly to the open window with both arms, a pointed, angry glare leveled at the bird. 

Fortunately, Hunter’s distress was enough to settle Rascal, the bird perching back onto the sill. You are upset - help?

With those words, Hunter’s face erupted into red. He let out an angry cry, throwing his back against the wall under his window, and sliding down so he was sitting with his knees pulled to his chest. He glared at Rascal as the cardinal fluttered down, peering at his witch from the wooden floor. 

“Yes, I am upset! And do you want to know why? Because YOU won’t LEAVE!” He could feel biting guilt rise from shouting at his palisman, but his sheer frustration at the situation trumped those feelings. He let his face sink into the crook of his arm, anger starting to fade into hopelessness. “Everything is so difficult now that you’re here - why can’t you just go?”

Not me - him.

“What?” Hunter said, tilting his head. Sometimes, the bird’s words make no sense. “I don’t understand what you mean.”

You are upset. Not me. Him. Rascal tweeted yet again, even more assuredly this time. He even hopped for emphasis, nearing Hunter. Not my fault. His.

“His…? What do you-” Hunter cut off his word, expression turning dark. “Oh. You mean me, don’t you.”

Rascal’s beady little eyes widened, chirps getting more frantic. No no no! Not you, not me, him! Uncle!

That just confused Hunter more. “Belos? How is this his fault?”

Makes you upset; scared. Him! I don’t like him. 

Hunter felt the urge to get angry at Rascal for the accusation, but instead sighed, letting his frustration slide away. Rascal’s dislike is understandable, after all; the man does want to eat him. Hunter outstretched his hand, letting Rascal nuzzle into his palm. 

“I know you don’t like him, buddy. But he isn’t bad. If he would just listen…” Hunter’s expression hardoned, eyebrows furrowing. “You shouldn’t have to be scared, Rascal. I’ll talk to him, I promise.” He stood, holding Rascal in his hands. “Luz was right - Lilith got to have a palisman. Why shouldn’t I?” His thoughts immediately ring out with, because you’re a powerless witch , but he shakes his head, tossing those doubts to the side. Belos is reasonable, if you catch him in the right mood. He just has to wait, and plan.

Which is what has led Hunter to his frantic pacing, waiting and waiting and planning, doubts flying through his head a million miles an hour. What if Luz is just trying to get him in trouble - no, she wouldn’t do that. What if Belos gets mad and - no, Hunter won’t let it get that far. He’ll be smart, and careful, and back off at the slightest indication of negativity. What if the truth potions - no, no no no. He’s not even going to think about those. Eventually, Hunter just sighs, giving up on all productive thought and sinking into his bed. 

“At least my mission went alright today, huh bird…” Hunter mutters out, only half expecting a response from Rascal, who is curled up on his bedside table. Rascal chirps, waddling over in a frankly adorable way to the edge of the wood, peering at Hunter.

Very good - I like Luz!

“Really should’ve picked her as your witch then, huh?”

No, no. Doesn’t need me. You do.

Something about that warms Hunter’s heart, and he sits up slightly, a small smile on his face. He reaches out, petting his cardinal’s chin. The bird is all too happy to oblige. 

“Of course you would like her. You both seem to make a hobby out of getting on my nerves.” Rascal lets out an indignant squawk, and Hunter laughs. “Thanks for helping with the cave in, buddy. Pretty brave of you.” Rasal puffs up his chest, emboldened by Hunter’s praise.

Have fun?

“Did I have fun in the cave?” Hunter asks, clarifying. His query earns a nod from Rascal, and he sighs, leaning his head against his pillow. “I don’t know, I…” a smile grows across his face. “I guess I did.”

This elicits happy chirping from Rascal, who begins to flap and hop around Hunter’s head enthusiastically. 

“S-Stop it!” Hunter says, laughing as he tries to shoo the bird away. The little game lasts a few moments longer, before a sharp knock on his door snaps Hunter’s posture straight. Rascal instinctively turns to wood, falling into Hunter’s hands. 

“Yes?” He shouts, double checking with his eyes his door is locked as he leaps out of bed, gathering his armor. 

“Emperor Belos requests your presence in one hour, Golden Guard.” Hunter’s stomach sinks. Oh Titan, it’s happening. He swallows hard, dropping the cloak in his arms as he responds.

“Thank you for the message. Inform him I will be there.” 

“Yes, sir.” 

Hunter listens as the footsteps outside his door disappear, and he sighs, going back to gathering his clothes. 

It’s go time.

Hunter stands in front of the throne room's massive doors, inhaling a deep breath. His mask is on, and he raps his knuckles on the grand entryway one. Rascal’s wooden form is tucked in his cloak, and while he would’ve preferred to leave the little guy in his room, he can’t risk it, since his door only locks from the inside.

The doors open slightly, and Hunter steps inside, unflinching as they slam shut behind him in the familiar way they always have. He turns his head to Belos, and gulps. 

His uncle is hunched on his throne, breathing heavy and erratic. The room is devoid of guards. Hunter resists the urge to reach for Rascal under his cloak, taking a deep breath and taking another step inside. Definitely not going to bring up the palisman issue today, that’s for sure. 

It takes Belos an uncharacteristically long time to notice Hunter standing there, but his neck snaps up when he does. He waves his hand, movements quick and jagged. 

“Mask off today, Hunter.” The emperor orders from his perch, taking in another long breath. Hunter doesn’t say anything, just curtly nods and wipes all emotion from his face as he slides his mask off, tucking it to the side. Belos hasn’t seemed this bad in… a couple of weeks at least. The knot in Hunter’s stomach tightens. He’s always a little more irrational like this. 

“I need… a palisman, Hunter.” He coughs, his hacking echoing across the stone in the room as he curls over, clutching his stomach. His eyes under his mask flick to meet his nephews. “ Now. ” 

Hunter bites his tongue, nodding a bit more aggressively this time. “O-On it, Emperor Belos.” He moves quickly, shuffling past the Emperor’s throne to a side door as another cough echoes across the room. He pushes through the door, taking shallow breaths as it shuts behind him.

He feels so stupid. How could he possibly think Belos would let him keep Rascal! Not only is he forbidden, wild magic, but his uncle EATS palismen! Literally consumes their magic to stay alive! All ideas of reasoning with Belos fly from his head. He resists the strong urge to slap himself in the head as hard as he can, forcing his feet to move towards the meager palisman reserves they have left. Rascal sits like a lump in his pocket, guiltily reminding Hunter of his hypocrisy. I don’t have a choice, he assures himself, steps becoming more and more forceful. He doesn’t just have himself to protect anymore; he has Rascal. He opens an unassuming wooden door, twisting his staff into where a keyhole should be. The door swings open, and Hunter snatches up one of the palismen within, refusing to even look at it. He holds it in his hands, trying desperately to silence the panic rising in his chest and growing on his face. This used to be so easy- why did it used to be so easy?

Anger starts to bubble within him, but he can’t pinpoint what it’s directed at. He’s just angry. Angry at his guilt, angry at his situation, angry at the lump of wood lying in his hands, at the magical animal whose life is about to be snuffed out. He can’t be angry at Belos… that’s impossible. Is he angry at Luz? She got his hopes up, made him falsely believe there was a chance for him and Rascal. But that doesn’t make sense - it isn’t her fault she doesn’t understand the complexities of his situation, or of Belos. He remembers her look of sympathy and clings to it.

Maybe he’s angry at Rascal for picking him, angry at the world for putting him in this situation, angry at Kikimora or-

Or maybe he’s just angry at himself for his inadequacy. That’s got to be it. He can’t feel like this towards Belos.

Right?

He shoves open the door with a little more force than intended, pushing down his rage to keep his face completely blank. He hurries up to Belos, handing him the palisman before he can have second thoughts. He busies himself turning away and walking back to his place on the floor as he listens to Belos snap the wood. Belos inhales deeply, letting out a sigh of relief, no doubt newly refreshed from the magic.

Hunter represses the urge to feel sick.

He turns back to the Emperor, making an effort to avoid staring at the deteriorating wood on the floor. His uncle is straighter in his chair now, flexing his fingers. His body is better, but the air in the room still feels sour and tense. 

“I heard the mission today was a success?” Belos says, his voice back to its smooth and collected tone. Hunter gets on one knee, looking down at the floor and maintaining his professionalism as best he can. He cannot slip up, not today.

“Yes, my lord. I passed off the longenium ore to be processed earlier this afternoon. It should be ready by tomorrow morning.”

“Good, good. I trust there weren’t any problems?”

“I ran into some bandits on my way out, but I handled it. They’re being processed at the Bonesborough conformatorium.”

“Good.” Belos inhales, clutching the arms of his throne with his gloves. “I received a tip on some hidden palistrom reserves outside of Latissa. You will go there to collect it immediately tomorrow morning.”

“Tomorrow?” The word slips out of Hunter’s mouth, and he immediately regrets it. 

“Yes.” Belos tilts his head, mask boring down on his nephew. “Is that a problem?”

“N-No sir. No problem at all.” Hunter was hoping to go to Luz’s house, pick up a few more glyphs and try to convince Rascal to stay there again. He supposes it’ll have to wait another time.

Normally, that would be the end of that conversation, and Hunter would be left to scurry back to his room, hoping for the curse to ease up tomorrow. But Belos, unfortunately, seems to pick up on Hunter’s tense state, standing from his place on the throne. Bile rises in Hunter’s throat as an overwhelming sense of foreboding overcomes the teen. 

“Hunter, I don’t know why you’ve been lying to me so much lately. I thought we would’ve learned our lesson by now.” The man takes another step forward. 

“I’m not lying-”

“I am not in the mood for this today.” Belos suddenly hisses, grabbing a fistful of Hunter’s hair and yanking him up. Hunter suppresses a yelp, hands flying to his head. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry-” His knees hit the ground, Belos taking a step back. Hunter gulps for air, every bone in his body screaming at him to shut up shut up shut up. He knows, logically, Belos isn’t going to kill him or anything. He’s fine. But in moments like these it feels like life or death, and he keeps his eyes focused on the floor, making as few sounds as possible as if it’ll make him invisible. 

“You haven’t gone on a single successful palisman hunting mission since your failed incident in Latissa, and I can’t help but notice you took an awfully long time selecting one from the reserves today.” The anger in Belos’ tone has all but vanished, replaced with his usually cool tone. But there’s still a level of rage beneath it, not soft like it is when he tells Hunter stories of magic or congratulates him on a successful mission.

Hunter inhales deeply, a shudder running down his spine. He’s fine, he’s fine. He just has to keep those moments in mind. His uncle’s words of encouragement, the stories, the way he read to him and held him as a small child-

“Don’t tell me you’re starting to feel bad for the creatures, are you?” The emperor asks, a lilt in his voice, almost like he’s laughing at the very idea. Hunter opens his mouth to speak, but quickly shuts it. Maybe if he just doesn’t talk…

That seemed to be the wrong move, as Belos takes a step forward. “I want an answer.”

“I-I-”

“Use your words, Hunter.” 

Hunter squeezes his eyes shut, taking a deep breath. “It-It’s just… different. When they’re active.” He looks to the side, voice lowering so it’s almost a whisper. “They’re like animals.”

“Oh, Hunter…” Belos clicks his tongue, leaning down to set his hand on the boy’s shoulder.  “I suppose I should have seen this coming, hm? They do act an awful lot like a pet.” Belos’ tone snaps into something dark yet again, and Hunter flinches. “But they aren’t pets. They’re dangerous creations of wild magic, and tools for witches like us to use. They aren’t alive .” 

Rascals wood form sits heavy in Hunter’s cloak, a creature who is very much alive. 

“B-But they seem-

“Hunter.” Belos squeezes his shoulder, and Hunter’s mouth snaps shut at the warning. 

Belos drags out a long, exaggerated sigh, taking his hand away from Hunter’s body as he stands, turning around. 

“You’ve been out of the field for too long. All that nasty business with Kikimora must be messing with your head - if you can’t handle missions right now, I might have to suspend you.”

Hunter’s stomach plummets. He flicks his head up, rising to his feet. “No! Uncle, I can handle it, I swear. I just…” Belos turns to face him, eyes barely visible through his mask.

“Hm?”

Hunter takes in a deep breath, clenching his fists at his sides. He doesn’t want to be taken off the field, to be rendered useless but… he can’t keep doing this. It isn’t fair. To the palisman. To Rascal.
“I’ve just been thinking over some things, and… what if there’s another way to keep your condition at bay?” He asks tentatively. He’s met with silence, his stomach doing somersaults. Oh this was a mistake, a bad, a horrible mistake-

“Even if there was, why would we pursue such a thing?” Hunter’s eyes light up at Belos’ question. He wasn’t shot down!

“Well, eventually, we’re going to run out of palistrom wood, and I don’t think there’s any in the human realm.” Hunter can feel his spirits start to rise. But one glance from Belos is enough to immediately crush that short-lived hope.

“You really don’t trust me to think through that contingency issue?” His voice is laced with frustration. “What’s the real reason you’re bringing this up with me, Hunter? You know it pains me to discuss my condition.” Hunter is pretty sure Belos is the one who brought it up, but he doesn’t argue. He lets his cloak fall around his shoulders, hiding his body in the cloth.

“...maybe you’re wrong about palismen.”

That was the wrong thing to say.

Belos’ head snaps down, eyes lit for a moment before fading out. “What.”

“I-I-I’m not saying you're lying! It’s just, well maybe things have changed, and-” Shit, shit. Hunter wants to shut up, but he can’t. The justifications keep tumbling out of his mouth, each digging his own grave deeper and deeper.

“Q u i e t.” 

The only thing that fills the room is Hunter’s ragged breathing. He shrinks in on himself, clutching his elbows to keep himself from shaking. Titan, what has he done?

Belos takes a step forward, and despite Hunter’s desperate attempts to keep himself planted, his flight instinct wins over, and he takes a hesitant step back. 

“I will not humor any ideas on wild magic. You are going to retrieve more palismen, and you are going to get over whatever these feelings are. The titan doesn’t have time for your tantrums, Hunter; the Day of Unity is rapidly approaching, and He needs you to be ready. I need you to be ready. Is that understood?” Belos’ words are even and spaced. It’s a cool, collected kind of anger that shakes Hunter to his very core. He doesn’t even care about the palismen at this point; he just wants to get out of here. He stops moving back, bowing his head.

“Yes sir.” 

Another step forward. Hunter freezes. 

“I don’t feel like it is.” No no no-

Hunter hears the buzz of magic, and braces himself for impact. But it never comes. He opens one eye carefully. Did Belos really…?

Hunter feels like his soul has left his body.

In front of him, a staff hovers, forming a shield around his body. Rascal as a staff. His world shatters, and he barely registers Rascal fall into his hands, staff lying in his open palms. Everything feels blurred, his senses swimming in and out of usage.

This… this can’t be happening. This has to be a nightmare. 

All semblance of professionalism is gone, Hunter’s mask slipping off to reveal wide eyes full of pure terror, flicking back between a shocked, stoic Belos and the wild magic staff in his hands. 

Everything feels numb as Belos rushes forward, snatches the staff out of Hunter’s hands…

And then it snaps back. Hunter keels over, the full force of reality hitting him like a ton of bricks, the sound of his shallow breathing and furious heartbeat pounding in his ears. 

“U-Uncle, I can explain-”

“Don’t bother.” Confusion mixes in with the sheer panic overwhelming Hunter’s system. The emperor laughs, and it's cold. “What, you really thought you could hide this thing from me? In my palace?” Hunter watches as Rascal’s staff detracts, transforming into his bird form. Rascal tweets and struggles, which only causes Belos to tighten his grip. The cardinal snaps into wood form, obviously trying to protect himself. With the hand not wrapped around Rascal, Belos slowly slides off his mask, his empty eyes meeting Hunter’s. The skin around his curse marks have tightened, and his eye bags have become pits as deep as hell. The stare he levels at his nephew is completely emotionless. 

“Words can’t even begin to describe how disappointed I am in you, Hunter.” 

At this point, Hunter falls apart. He crumples to the floor, both hands wrapped in front of him. He can feel the weight of gravity press in, threatening to crush him. He can’t stop the tears he didn’t even realize were there from pouring down his face.

“I’m sorry I’m sorry I’msosorry-” Hunter isn’t even sure if he is sorry, the words just tumble out instinctively, a desperate attempt at keeping himself alive. Belos’ expression offers no pity, just a dead-eyed frown.

“Hm. I see. Normally, with a betrayal like this I’d have you replaced,” Hunter’s breath hitches, and he starts to shake. “But for you, I can offer a second chance.”

Hunter barely registers the words, and his posture snaps up. He furiously wipes away the tears on his face, trying to slow his breathing enough so words can escape his clenched throat. Belos crouches down, placing Rascal’s wooden body in Hunter’s hands. Hunter doesn’t process why or how, relief immediately surging through him at just having his palisman back in his grasp. He wraps his hands gently around the bird, pulling him close to his chest. 

“Break it.”

Silence.

Hunter’s heart stops. 

It suddenly feels like his brain is marching through sludge, and he blinks, unable to comprehend what he thinks he just heard.

“Wh-What?”

“You heard what I said - break it.” Belos states it plainly, as if the task he’s asking of his guard is the simplest command in the world. He gestures his arm to the cardinal, raising his eyebrows. “If you break that thing, right here and now, you can prove to me you are still loyal to the cause. I’ll forget all of this ever happened - no strings attached. Everything can go back to normal.” An emotionless smile emerges onto his wrinkled face. “Doesn’t that sound nice?”

No, no no no no no- this can’t be happening. This cannot be real. He glances wildly up between Belos and Rascal, looking for some sort of sign this is just some sick joke. Instead, Belos’ smile fades, and he rolls his eyes.

“Tick tock, Hunter. We don’t have all night.”

Hunter looks down to the wood in his hands, a palisman. His palisman. He’s seen Belos consume countless of them before, watched as the creatures are snapped and discarded. He’s swept up the ashes. He’s picked out the victims. He’s collected and carved the wood. 

But this… this feels different. There’s no great morals at play, just Hunter and his overwhelming desire not to hurt Rascal. But he has to , doesn’t he? Or else he’ll be the one discarded and replaced. He’ll disappoint his uncle, he’ll be a failure. 

This is all his fault in the first place, isn’t it? If he had just gotten Rascal out, if he had just brought other palisman, if he had just turned the bird in in the first place-

A shiver suddenly washes through Hunter, clearing out his racing thoughts. He feels a distinct magical tingle coming from Rascal; but the bird isn’t awake. He just sits as Hunter wraps his hands around him, tighter and tighter. Even in what could be his final moments, even as his own witch considers snapping him in half, he is still trying to calm him down. 

Hunter looks up at Belos, tears no longer flowing. If he does this one thing, everything will go back to normal, the normal he’s worked his whole life clawing and fighting to maintain. By all logic, he should just do it.

But he doesn’t know if he could stand a normal without Rascal. A normal knowing what he has done. 

Which is why, despite every survival instinct and logical bone in his body screaming at Hunter to wring his hands and end it all, he loosens his grip and looks up at Belos.

“No.”

Hunter watches the sheer shock that descends on Belos’ face, starting to shake as the look is replaced with rage. A lot of rage. The older man's face contorts.

“What did you say.”

Hunter swallows, standing. He can feel his conviction shake, but he only tightens his grip on Rascal, hands wrapping around the staff handle that is beginning to form. 

“Uncle, I-I can’t hurt Rascal. I’m sorry. I need him.”

His uncle just snarls. “This is a betrayal, Hunter. You do not need him. You are being so incredibly foolish. What, you would rather me suffer than hand over this pet!?”

Hunter starts to back up as Belos strides forward, moving faster and faster with each step. “Th-That’s not what I-”

“SILENCE!” Hunter hasn’t heard true anger like that from Belos in years. He holds up his staff, Rascal flinging up a shield against a blast from Belos. Hunter lets out an oomph as he’s pushed back from the blast, the tears rising to his eyes again. Belos raises his hand for another attack, when Hunter does the unthinkable.

He moves out his staff.

A spike goes flying.

And hits the emperor in his hand.

That’s when Hunter knows it’s all gone. Any second chance he had, any argument he could make - it all goes down the drain as a single drop of blood falls from Belo’s glove onto the stone floor. He laughs, loud, cold, malicious laughter. Hunter thought he had seen it all from Belos, every angle the man had to offer, but he hadn’t. Belos looks down at the teen, eyes full of nothing but malice, furious grin on his face.

“Well then, if you’ve chosen your side…” Belos slowly leans down to pick up his mask, sliding it onto his face. “I won’t hold back.”

Belos shoots a spike out of the floor, and Hunter barely dodges, falling to the floor as he rolls to the side.

“RASCAL!” He shouts, summoning every ounce of energy, both physical and magical, that he has, and sending it shooting up through the staff. The bird is forced out of his staff like staff, fluttering just above Hunter’s head. “GO! NOW!” Hunter barely manages to choke the words out, hoping, praying that Rascal understands the gravity of the situation, how he’s the only one with any chance of escape. Rascal glances to Belos, then back to Hunter. He starts to flap, up and up, faster and faster. Belos whips his head around, shooting a net at the bird. Rascal is able to dodge, speeding up and shooting towards one of the windows near the ceiling of the throne room, from which moonlight is filtering in. Miraculously, the glass pane is unlocked, and Hunter barely register’s Belos shout ‘No!’ when Rascal squeezes through the opening, flying into the air. 

Relief overwhelms Hunter’s body, and he sags into the floor, lungs rising and falling with his rapidly beating heart. Hunter closes his eyes, letting the silence wash over him. Rascal is safe . It only hits Hunter a moment later, when a hand latches onto his arm, that he isn’t. 

He’s roughly pulled up from the ground, trying to balance on unsteady feet. His mind is a mess, and he just smiles as his eyes meet Belos’ mask, adrenaline and overwhelming exhaustion forming an unholy mixture in Hunter’s veins. 

“He got out…” He murmurs, words falling from his tongue. Belos sneers, grip around Hunter’s arm tightening so much the teen is sure it will bruise. 

“Insolent child, I GAVE you a chance-” He throws Hunter down on the ground, and the boy groans, stone colliding with his already bruised ribs. “-but you threw it away. For a bird .” Belos is gradually losing control, rage in his voice growing with each second that passes. 

Hunter’s hands find the ground, and he presses his palms to the concrete, about to push himself up. But he stops.

He always knew he was going to die young. It was just a fact of life he accepted a long time ago. With his work, his life - he was never destined to become an old man. He figured he’d reach 22, tops. That’s why, all those years ago, when the truth of his situation hit him, he made himself a promise; no matter where, how, or why, when he comes face to face with the end, he is going to fight. He swore he’d make his last moments alive hell for anyone and everyone around him, that he’d never stop throwing punches until his final breath.

He never could’ve predicted it’d end like this. 

He stops trying to get up, that fire and drive to fight until the end completely forgotten. He can’t bring himself to do it against Belos, the person he’s called his only family for 16 years. The person who taught him how to fight, who gave him his first staff, who read him books in the library and who hung his pictures on the staff kitchen wall. 

The person who’s given him nearly every scar that graces his body, who’s the reason he jolts awake from night terrors at least once a week, and the reason he’s never even had a real friend. 

He doesn’t fight back, just squeezes his eyes shut and braces himself for whatever is to come. He feels a presence hover over him… and a sharp object, a spike of magic, descends on his right abdomen.

He can’t help the scream that tears through his throat, turning into retching sobs as the object retracts away, his hands flying and pressing to the wound. His eyes are screwed shut, a searing, hot white pain pulsing through his veins from the center of the injury. A hand grabs his hair and he’s pulled to his knees, hands still clutching his side. 

“This is what happens to traitors.” He grimaces as best he can through his injuries, hands slick with what he’s sure is the blood he’s losing fast. He expects a final blow… but nothing comes. The hand lets go, and he tumbles over, cheek smashing against the concrete. He forces his eyes to open, blearily trying to make sense of his swimming vision. The pain is fading, although he doubts it’s because he’s getting better - there’s adrenaline coursing through his whole body, and he’s quickly slipping out of consciousness. He’s able to see Belos stride away, pulling out a compact and muttering something into it.

Moments later, the doors burst open, two guards appearing beside Hunter. They tear his arms away from his side, pulling him up and starting to drag him out the door. 

“Uncle…” Hunter manages to croak the word out, hoping it will elicit something, anything, out of the man he once knew. The emperor doesn’t even turn around, and the doors slam shut in front of Hunter’s face. His eyes flutter…

And everything turns black.

Chapter Text

-Monday-

Hunter’s awake. Or at least, he thinks he’s awake; he can’t tell if his eyes are open. Everything around him is dark and cold. He inhales a deep breath, immediately regretting it as his side cries out in pain. He hisses, pressing his hands against the place of injury, the memories of what caused it and the situation he’s in flooding back to him. He takes another deep breath, carefully monitoring the rising and falling of his chest, minimizing his pain while taking in as much oxygen as his lungs will allow. He expected to have a lot more… feelings about the fact his entire life just went down the drain and into a flaming pile of trash in less than an hour. Instead, he’s completely numb, his brain compartmentalizing every horrible thought away for a more appropriate time, if he’ll ever get to such a state.

He blinks a few times, eyes slowly adjusting to the dark. He pulls himself up, back pressed against a stone wall. He was lying on a few thin blankets that drape the cold stone floors. He peers ahead, his stomach dropping. Cell bars. Shit.

He takes another centering breath, reaching out his left hand to feel along the walls. His fingers brush an indent in the stone, and he grabs it, using it to pull himself up to a standing condition. He isn’t sure if he passed out due to blood loss or a blunt force to the head, but he’s really hoping it’s the former. He doesn’t know if he could deal with a concussion on top of everything else. He uses the wall to help him walk, inching his way towards the metal bars opposite his resting place. He grabs them, his vision finally clearing so the room and halls are draped in an unattractive but visible haze of darkness. He peers out, looking down a hall. There’s other cells, but they’re completely empty.

He twists his head to the other side. Same situation. His hands (now uncomfortably ungloved) grip tighter around the bars, palms growing clammier with every nerve wracking second Hunter spends surrounded by silence. He doesn’t recognize this area. Like, at all. He’s never frequented the dungeons, but he knows what they look like. Hell, he’s got the whole schematics for the castle memorized. This area, however, is completely foreign to him. Dim, magical light from an unseeable source makes the space visible once your eyes have adjusted, and the dark stony floors are covered with jagged scars. The walls are slick with moss, and Hunter seems to have been put in the cell in the best condition; from what he can see of the others, bars are rusted and rocks are actively falling out of place. He sighs, sinking back onto the floor as his legs give out beneath him. He pulls them close, wrapping his arms around his body.

He needs to be doing something, he knows that. Analyzing his surroundings. Looking for escape, a way to survive, hell just PROCESS what he’s been through. But he can’t bring himself to do anything. He just sinks his head between his arms, ignoring every throbbing pain, not even finding the energy to cry.

He doesn’t know how long he sits there, shivering and clutching at nothing, before thoughts and anxieties start to fill his brain. He hasn’t heard anyone - no prisoners, no guards, nothing. He lifts his head, daring a scan across his cell. Nothing. Just some blankets and loose bricks. No food or water in sight. Is he going to be left here to die? He winces as he moves his arm, looking down at his side, which is wrapped tight in a bandage. It’s surprisingly well dressed - it still hurts like hell, but the amount of blood leaking through the white gauze is minimal, and he can feel some sort of ointment on it under the wraps. They - no, not they. Some ambiguous, unknown entity isn’t the one who put Hunter down here. Belos must want him alive for something. Someone will come, they have to.

The question is, does Hunter want to face whoever it may be.

He bites his lip, pulling himself up again. It’s time to compartmentalize like all hell; if he wants to get out of this alive, there’s no time for emotions or processing or even acknowledging the mess of feelings buried in his mind. He focuses simply on analyzing. He scans the walls, mentally congratulating himself for ignoring his rapidly approaching, soul-crushing panic. His eyes hit a discrepancy in the stone, and he squints, inching closer to get a better look. His heart stops. Maybe his congratulations on holding it together came a little early.

On the wall are eight distinct, scratched tally marks, etched into the wall at about half Hunter’s height. He swallows, clutching his stomach to prevent himself from gagging. It could just be a coincidence, there are dozens of prisoners who could have cycled through this cell.

But the marks are fresh, uncorrupted, in a clearly forgotten cell. Something small had to have made them, with distinct claws. Who was… a traitor. A prisoner only a select few could know about.

Titan, this was Kikimora’s cell, wasn’t it?

Hunter keels over, his body starting to shake. Did they put him in here on purpose?! Some sort of sick, twisted way of physching him out? Eight marks - is that how long he has too?

He lays down on his side, grabbing one of the thin blankets so he has something to cling to. He wants Spriggy, or a mug of tea, or, Titan, he wants Rascal. Anything to make him feel less hopeless. 

He lays there, shaking like a leaf, side aching. He squeezes his eyes shut, hoping somehow, maybe, this is all just a bad dream…

At some point, Hunter drifts back into unconsciousness. It’s a dreamless sleep, and when he awakens again his joints feel sore and stiff. He opens an eye, noticing something new sitting in the center of his cell. It’s a metal tray, with a small amount of decent looking food, and a jug of water. He pulls it closer to his little corner, immediately chugging down the water. So somebody did come - but he missed them. He hisses between his teeth, staring down at the glass. He weighs it in his hand. He’s surprised he was given glass - he could easily shatter it against the wall. The thought immediately skirts from Hunter’s mind, of course. He’s staffless, magicless, and injured. He grimaces, feeling his side. That was definitely on purpose. 

Instead of forming some sort of plan or weapon, he just sets the jug down, starting to gnaw on a piece of bread. Maybe he’ll talk to whoever gave him the delivery next time. Maybe there won’t be a next time. Hunter’s grip tightens; he hates not having any clue what’s going to happen to him. He glances towards the bars on his cell. There’s a chance Belos will come down, but rather than filling Hunter with hope, the thought just leaves a bitter taste in his mouth. 

Even if he somehow managed to claw his way out of this situation, he’d never be allowed to leave the castle again. No Rascal, no missions… and, of course, the lingering threat he could be thrown into a literal prison at the slightest hint of disobedience. Even Hunter doesn’t think he could live like that. He leans his head against the wall, thoughts drifting to his little palisman. He thought he’d be happy the bird got out, but he just feels… bitter. It’s unfair and selfish, but he wants Rascal to be here. It took nearly getting killed, but the bird did finally leave. He had his limits. Hunter understands that.

But it still stings.

The boy pulls his puny blankets closer to his body, shivering intensely from the chills that seem to permeate the air of the dungeon. His head falls onto his shoulder, exhaustion settling in yet again. Maybe Rascal can find a real witch to be with this time. 

The little guy deserves it.

Hunter learns pretty quickly there isn’t much to do in a prison cell, especially when your body cries out in exhaustion and pain every time you try to move. He scooches over slightly, curling into the corner of the space and tucking his head down as best he can. He’s aware he must look pathetic, but he’s too damn exhausted to care. He just wants to sleep; on a real bed, but that isn’t much of a choice. So, he just pulls his body in as tight as he can, closing his eyes and hoping the exhaustion from his adrenaline high will lull him to sleep.

It’s a fitful sleep, with Hunter drifting in and out of unconsciousness, his bone-deep exhaustion in a constant battle with his frayed nerves. Every sound jolts him awake, before he sinks into the wall yet again, never quite sure if he’s fallen asleep and for how long. 

He believes he was out, when another noise causes his eyes to flutter open. This time, it wasn’t just the distant shifting of rocks. His eyes widen despite his exhaustion - it’s the telltale sound of boots hitting stone, echoing down the hall. His heart starts to race. He has a few options here; trying to talk, fight back… he feels his side. Okay, so fighting back and intimidation are unlikely. As the steps get closer, he realizes just how little he wants to interact with anyone in this state. So, he lowers himself to the ground, closing his eyes and pretending to be asleep. 

The two sets of footsteps grow louder, until they’re just outside his cell, stopping. Something magical wraps around him, probably restraints. He clenches his teeth. Fighting back is out of the question then. He can hear the metal door swing open, and he dares to open one of his eyes. 

There’s two guards, one of whom steps forward, placing a new tray of food on the floor, and replacing the nearly empty jug of water with a new one. Hunter has no idea how much time has passed since last time, but he guesses four hours at the least. He squeezes his eyes shut again, thinking through the few pieces of information he has as the door shuts again, guards leaving as quickly as they came. He pushes himself up, the restraints having melted away. He can assume he slept through the night after being knocked out, and there’s a few hours between deliveries. He guesses they’ll bring in food twice a day, and leave him alone during the night. 

He sighs, leaning his head against the cold wall. Tears start to well in his eyes, and he doesn’t have the energy to stop them. Is this how all those wild witches felt, leading up to the days of their executions? Is this how Kikimora felt? Hopeless and empty and cold, inside and out?

Some sick part of Hunter’s mind just keeps tugging, telling him he deserves this. That it was bound to happen. His eyes brush over the tally marks on the wall yet again. Eight days. A hacking cough escapes Hunter’s throat.

Will he even make it that long?

-Thursday Afternoon-

The school bell rings, and another day of molding young minds ends at Hexide school for Magic and Demonics. Luz takes a step out of the building, inhaling the slightly moldy air of the isles with a huge smile on her face. Luz is one of the very, VERY few students at Hexide that actually wants to be there. In some ways it’s like school back home, but it’s also so, so different. She can study the things she actually wants - she has real friends! 

Despite her enthusiasm for her education, Luz can’t help but be excited for the weekend. Tomorrow’s Friday, and the students around her are excitedly making weekend plans. For once, Luz isn’t excluded from their fun.

“Luz!” She turns around, hearing a shout from behind her. A scrawny boy runs up, waving his arms wildly. She beams.

“Gus!” He jumps up, giving her a high five with as much enthusiasm as the first time she taught him what they were. 

“Me and Willow are heading to the fearcade this weekend. You wanna come? It is very important.”

Willow steps up beside him, rolling her eyes good naturedly. “Someone beat his high score on the human ‘Dance Dance Revolution’ machine.”

“I must defend my honor.” Gus raises his fist to the sky dramatically, eliciting a laugh from Luz. 

“I’d love to come along. But I gotta warn you Gus; I’m kinda the DDR master.” She strikes a pose. “Gravesfield DDR machine’s number one score four years in a row, at your service!”

“Oh you’re ON!” Gus says, grinning. Willow just shakes her head, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Come on, Gus. We have to get to the library because someone procrastinated on his History of Potions essay.”

He grumbles, face falling. “But potions are so boringggg-”

“No buts.” Willow begins to walk away, pushing a dramatically groaning Gus along with her. She sends Luz one of her signature, soft smiles. “See you tomorrow, Luz! We can figure out times at lunch.”

“Bye! See you guys!” Luz stands on her toes as she waves, adjusting her backpack and beginning her own trek home. She skips along, humming a little pop song tune. Luz from a few years ago would be amazed at how cheerful she manages to be on a Thursday afternoon, especially considering her circumstances. And while everything with the portal may be crazy, things for her little friend group are looking up. Willow and Amity have been talking a lot more lately, and Amity actually held Luz’s hand in public today!

However, Luz’s cheerful song stops as she slows, eyes hitting a tree on her right. There’s a poster on it: Join the Emperor’s Coven Today! A familiar masked form glares down at her from the page, arms crossed. She sighs, resuming her journey with a little less pep in her step. 

Hunter hasn’t contacted her since the weekend, when they departed outside the cave. She knows it’s silly, but she can’t help but feel a little… disappointed? Betrayed? She doesn’t know if she expected too much of him - he works for Belos, after all. But just because he’s in the Emperor’s Coven doesn’t mean they HAVE to fight. Even Willow and Gus still have conflicted feelings about the Emperor after everything with the petrification went down, and Willow is the nicest person Luz knows. (Other than herself, Amity would argue.) 

It doesn’t take too long for Luz to get home, since the Owl House is only a 25 minute walk from Hexide. (A combination of magic, the forest, and Hooty is enough to keep unwanted visitors away from the home, despite its closeness to civilization.) 

“Heeeey Luz! How was your day of delicious knowledge?” Hooty asks, twisting around his head. To any spectator it would be disturbing, but Luz is desensitized to Hooty at this point. Except for cleaning him. She will NEVER be over cleaning him. 

“Pretty good, Hoots!” She responds, clasping her hand around the handle before he can jump into any long winded tale about a particularly large bug he ate that day. 

She opens the door wide, shouting to announce her presence.

“I’M HOOOOME!” No response from Eda, but that’s to be expected - the older woman said she would be busy collecting potion ingredients until dinner. King dashes up, flexing his little claws.

“Luz! You’re back!” He exclaims. Luz scoops him up, tickling his belly so he’s writhing around. 

“That’s right! How’s my favowite wittle tywant today?” He giggles madly, tail thrashing around.

“Stop, stop! I’ll kill you with my own two hands!” Luz is unphased by King’s laughter-filled threat, setting him down as he shakes himself off, fur sticking up.

“Alright, alright. I’m gonna go change buddy. Be right back down.” Luz hangs up her coat, heading up the stairs. “Oh, and start the hot water! Fall weather means hot cocoa! ”

“Yay! Sugar!” He dashes away, Luz watching his little scamper with a smile full of adoration. Who knew mysterious demons would be so cute? 

She opens the door to her little room, expecting to find it the way she always does. Instead, she sees the window slightly ajar. Her eyes drift down, and she notices something on the floor, bouncing around frantically.

“...Rascal?” She asks, kneeling down to scoop him up. A smile starts to make its way to her face. If Rascal’s here, that means Hunter is too! She looks around, but doesn’t see any other signs of disturbance. The cardinal bounces up into her extended hands, flapping around madly. He’s usually much more calm. “Hey buddy, where’s your witch?” Rascal stares up at her, beady eyes wide. That’s when she notices a small nick in his feathers, and the spark of excitement in her chest disappears. She tries to get him to calm down enough to inspect the injury, but he won’t; he just flaps around, tweeting and chirping frantically. “Woah, woah. Hey, li’l buddy, you’ve got to calm down, okay? I don’t understand what you’re trying to say.” Her reasoning gets through to Rascal, and he stops fluttering long enough for Luz to gently lift his wing, inspecting it.

There’s a little nick in his red feathers. It’s not enough to be a problem, and he seems to be flying just fine, but it's more the idea of his injury that gets to Luz. What happened?

“Okay… do you think you can tell me what happened, lil guy?” Luz asks tentatively. She bites the inside of her cheek, glancing over her shoulder. She wishes Eda and Owlbert were here. She can only hope whatever’s going on, it isn’t an emergency. 

Rascal flaps up, circling around Luz’s window while chirping sporadically. Luz approaches the window, squinting out. She shrugs at the bird. “What do you want me to- WHOA!” He tugs sharply on her hair with his beak, trying to pull her out of the window. She flails her arms, getting him to detach so he’s hovering outside the window. It seems like he wants her to go with him. 

“I can’t leave right now Rascal…” She says, looking back anxiously. Eda’s expecting her to be here, and frankly, she was hoping for a restful afternoon. Rascal soars back in, perching on the windowsill and staring up at Luz with big, pleading eyes. “Is... is Hunter in trouble?”

Rascal pauses a moment, staring at his clawed feet, and nods. Luz curses under her breath - if only she could understand palismen! She marches over to a shelf, pulling down a crystal ball and tapping on it a bit more harshly than necessary. Eda’s face appears in the glass at a very unflattering angle.

“NO, I am not interested in a - oh hi Luz!” She adjusts the camera, her smile fading as she takes in Luz’s worried face. “What’s up, kiddo?”

Rascal perches on Luz’s shoulder. “We might have a problem.”

-Tuesday-

Four times. That’s how many times the guards have visited by now. That means he’s spent two days, more or less, sitting down in this dingy place. He’s already starting to feel the effects.

His side isn’t healing as fast as it should. He feels permanently cold, and his cough has only gotten worse. He hacked up blood not too long ago, sending a chill down his spine. He feels so useless, but he doubts he could exercise or do anything of use in this state.

The past three times he’s been awake, but he pretended to sleep, out of a mixture of fear and sheer exhaustion. As he hears the telltale sound of boots down the hall yet again, he knows he can’t get away with it again. His throat is sore and scratchy, and he doesn’t know if he could survive getting sick down here. He sits up, back against the wall as straight as he can get it, narrowing a tired glare at the bars across from him. 

Eventually the guards wander into his view, both visibly flinching at seeing him awake and alert. They look at each other through their masks, then back to the teen, both unsure what to do. One raises their hand tentatively, spinning their finger in a red colored spell circle. Ropes materialize around Hunter, loosely wrapping around his body. It’s a very unnecessary measure, but some sick part of him is flattered he's considered such a threat. He continues his icy glare at the guards, the spellcaster pushing open the door with a twist of their key. They hold it open, the other stepping forward to place down their usual delivery of supplies. They turn around, eager to leave, when Hunter coughs, chest heaving. The guard outside completely ignores him, but the one holding the jug of water turns their head back around, looking at Hunter.

Hunter finishes his coughing fit, settling on another glare. 

“It’s freezing down here. I need another blanket.” He says, voice miraculously steady, if a little hoarse from lack of use. He flicks his eyes down to the food, then back up to the guard, who has started to fidget nervously. “Food and water, too.”

“I… uhm-” The one staring peering down at Hunter starts to speak, but the other person steps forward, the door slamming shut behind them. They interrupt their partner by grabbing her hand and pushing them back. 

“We aren’t allowed to speak to you.” They growl, turning around and dragging their partner with them.

Hunter’s heart sinks, before another cough hits him. It’s short, but deep, tearing through his throat. He expects them to keep walking away, but the female guard twists back, staring at Hunter, expression unfortunately unreadable through her standard coven mask. 

“If I get sick in here, I’ll die, and that’ll be your responsibility.” Hunter says, despite the ache in his throat. He stares bitterly to the side. “Unless that’s the point.”

The coven scout looks down, giving a small nod to Hunter while ignoring her partner, who is rapidly getting frustrated.

“We’ll… see what we can do.” She says.

“Come on.” The other mutters, jabbing her in the side with their elbow. The two set out, Hunter’s binds falling away as the door is locked shut and they disappear down the hall yet again.

Hunter’s flicking at the cap of the jar, lamenting the lack of water remaining when his ears perk up; footsteps. But they only came an hour or so ago - has something happened? Oh Titan, is Belos coming? 

Before Hunter’s brain can come up with any horrible scenarios for why somebody is coming at the wrong time, two guards step into view. One tall and broad, the other shorter - he recognizes them as the two from before. He blinks in confusion as the door is opened, a small bundle and two jars of water placed down by the shorter guard. 

She raises her hand, looking like she’s about to say something, when the other guard steps forward, placing their hand on her shoulder. 

“Don’t ask for anything else.” They say. Hunter doesn’t respond, just watches in shock as they leave again, the girl sending one last look before escaping his viewpoint. He waits a few moments, ensuring they’re gone before rising to his feet and scooping up the bundle. He unravels it; it’s a thick wool blanket, and no matter how pathetic it may be, Hunter can’t help but let out a loud sigh of relief. He’s stretching it out to its full length when he notices something slip from between the folds of the fabric. He kneels down.

Two slips of paper, unmistakably healing glyphs. They’re small, not particularly powerful, but Hunter snatches them up anyway. He’s aware he should properly apply them, maybe only use one on his side and the other on a smaller injury, but he isn’t thinking quite straight. He slaps them onto his bandages haphazardly, sinking down at the immediate release from discomfort. He wraps the thick blanket around him, completely draping himself in the fabric, only his face still exposed to the chill air. He doesn’t care how stupid he must look, how futile it might be - he just doesn’t care. 

It takes a little while, him just sitting in the corner with the fabric pulled taunt, but gradually the cold leaves him. He finds himself wishing, in some way, he could thank the guard, who no doubt slipped the glyphs in against her superiors wishes. He doesn’t know why, and in the grand scheme of things a little magic won’t make much of a difference. But it’s a shred of kindness, of comfort, and Hunter will cling to it with all he has. 

-Thursday Evening-

Luz sits on the edge of the couch, anxiously tapping her feet against the floor, her fingers drumming her knees in a silent song of worry. She’s on the edge of her seat, watching impatiently as Owlbert and Rascal sit on the coffee table, communicating with each other. Eda’s reclining in one of the armchairs, brows furrowed but body language relaxed. It’s been a few minutes of just sitting like this, only the chirps and hoots of the two palismen filling the room. Luz groans, throwing her hands up to her face.

“Eda, I thought you said Rascal could tell Owlbert what’s going on?” She looks over at Eda, who is still staring thoughtfully. Eda just sighs, swishing around her mug of apple blood. 

“Luz, palisman communication works differently. They don’t ‘talk’ the way we do. They share thoughts, feelings, emotions.” She explains, gesturing to the birds on the table. “Owlbert probably knows what’s going on, but he has to find a way to translate it to me. It’s going to take a few minutes; you’ve got to be patient.”

“But we don’t have time to be patient!” Luz shouts. Luckily, the birds don’t seem to care, deep in their ‘conversation’. Luz shrinks in, embarrassed at her outburst. “Eda, what if something’s really wrong?” Eda stands, setting down her mug. She puts her hands on Luz’s shoulders, smiling at the child. 

“It’ll be alright, Luz; the bird’s a little shaken, but unharmed. I’m sure Goldie’s fine too.” She pulls Luz into a quick, tight hug, trying to ease the girl’s tense posture. “You’ve done enough giving his palisman a place to come for help - I’m pretty sure the kid doesn’t have any friends.” 

Luz is about to respond when Owlbert hoots, immediately catching both witch’s attention. Luz kneels down, and Eda sits once again, Owlbert coming to perch on her arm.

  Luz watches, gritting her teeth as Owlbert and Eda exchange a variety of looks, gestures, and grunts, Eda’s face shifting from thoughtful, concerned, angry, and then…

Despite the witch’s near white complexion, her face pales. She looks down at her apprentice, and Luz gulps.

“Welp… I think I’ve got a pretty good grasp of what’s going on, but you aren’t gonna like it, kid.”

Luz pushes down the bile rising in her throat, giving Eda a stern, determined nod. Edalyn sighs.

“Apparently Hunter’s been arrested.”

“What?” Rascal nuzzles into Luz’s hand, confirming the statement. “That doesn’t make sense; we haven’t heard anything about it! And the Golden Guard recruitment posters are all still up!”

“That’s probably on purpose. Emperor’s coven’s been looking stupid enough lately, especially with Lilith’s departure.” Eda says those last words with a bit of pride. 

Luz’s breathing starts to get faster, and she grabs the fabric of her hoodie, wringing it to try and pour her nervous energy elsewhere. Oh, that’s not good - she looks down at Rascal, who has been unable to stop flapping and leaping around since his arrival. She wants to help but… this is bigger than just a little assistance. She glances at Eda. She couldn’t drag her mentor into something so risky, especially for someone the Owl Lady doesn’t particularly like. 

“Oh no, that’s… that’s really bad.” She looks up at her guardian, eyes wide and pleading. “Eda, what do we do?”

Eda sighs deeply, running a hand through her long hair. “I don’t know kid - internal coven stuff is kinda out of our jurisdiction.”

“Bu-But what about Hunter? Eda I KNOW you don’t like him very much, but he doesn’t deserve to die!”

“Woah! Calm down, Luz. Nobody’s gonna die.” Eda puts her hands on Luz’s arms, a physical way of grounding her. 

“Eda, you don’t understand, w-when…” Luz inhales, taking a deep breath and fighting back her panic. She looks Eda right in her eyes, seriousness replacing her fear. “When Kikimora was secretly arrested, Belos.... Belos killed her.” Eda tenses.

“...that unfortunately checks out with the Emperor’s philosophy.” Luz whines, Eda realizing that maybe wasn’t the most comforting thing to say. “Don’t worry! I’m sure he’s fine…” Eda trails off, staring to the side, an uncharacteristic look of thoughtfulness washing over her. She sets down Owlbert, standing up slowly. “...actually, I’m sure of it.”

“Eda? Is something going on?” Luz eyes Eda up and down, confused at her sudden certainty and seriousness. Luz’s suspicions are confirmed as Eda guilty shrinks under her pseudo-daughters gaze, laughing awkwardly. 

“I promise, I’ll explain the whole story later, but it is a long one.”

Luz rolls her eyes. “Eda, all your stories are long ones-”

“Well this one is particularly complicated. The gist of it is, I know from… reliable sources that whatever Emperor Belos has planned for the Day of Unity and the portal is big, a problem, and he needs every single coven head alive and well for it.” Her eyes light up, the way they always do when she knows she’s right. “And, if I’m not mistaken, your friend of questionable character quality is one of said coven heads.”

“You’re right! But wait, how do you-”

“Long story, Luz! Another time!”

Luz’s momentary relief is almost immediately replaced with more nausea inducing worry. “But Belos was able to replace Lilith…”

Eda sighs, running her hand down her face. “Ohhh, I’m going to have to explain the story, aren’t I.”

Luz knows Eda doesn’t like to talk about her personal life or feelings much, even if she has gotten much better at it in recent months. She sighs, fidgeting with her fingers and settling in against the couch. 

“You don’t have to, but if it’d help out Hunter…”

Eda joins Luz, bittersweet smile gracing her face. “No, no - I know I said no more secrets,” Her eyes drift to King, who is perched next to Luz. “Especially with you. I guess I just… wasn’t ready to tell you yet. Wasn’t necessary.”

Luz glances at her feet, lingering thoughts of her promise to Camilla and the lies she told of her time on the other side of the portal. She understands not being ready to talk about something. 

“So, do you remember, before the whole King legal name change shebang went down when I said I was busy…”

Eda sits down, explaining everything she can with minimal detail necessary for her kids to understand. A vague explanation of her history with Raine, the B.A.T.S; taking special care to let Luz everything she needs to know about Belos, the Day of Unity, and coven heads, although the information they have is unfortunately limited.  

Eda manages to get through the whole story without crying, only tearing up once or twice at particularly difficult mentions of Raine. Luz doesn’t really know how to comfort someone so much older than her, going through things she has no experience with. So, she just lets Eda explain, a quiet, attentive listener. 

Eda finishes with a long sigh, sinking into the couch, wiping the final droplets trying to leak from her eyes.

“...I hope they got away. I’d thought they would’ve contacted me by now if they did, but… ah who knows. Worrying about it’s not gonna help anyone, huh?” Eda says with a pained smile. Luz places a hand on her mentor’s arm, face full of unabashed sympathy. 

“I...I’m really excited to meet them when we find them again, Eda.” Luz says with a smile. She’s not sure if her words will do anything, but this is what her mama always did at the vet, when owners were worried about their pets. Don’t talk about hopes they’ll be okay - say it like it's true. Like everything will be okay, and it will make that reality seem a little bit closer.

It seems to work at least somewhat, Eda’s smile growing a little less forced. “Yeah, they - they’re gonna love you, Luz. They’re sappy as all hell, just like you.” Eda lightly punches Luz’s arm, and she laughs. Eda snorts. “They love convoluted fantasy nerd books like you, too.”

“I bet you secretly love the nerd books, Eda.”

Eda rolls her eyes exaggeratedly. “I most CERTAINLY do not.”

Both witches' eyes drift to the coffee table, where Owlbert appears to be keeping Rascal calm as best he can. Eda pops up, rolling back her sleeves.

“Alright - we’ve spent enough time lounging around. It's time to make a plan” Luz’s eyes widen.

“You mean… we’re going to do it? The rescue mission?”

Eda looks down at Luz, her playfulness gone. She puts her hands on Luz’s shoulders, boring into her eyes. “I’m going to try. Luz, I cannot ask you to be a part of this. Breaking into the Emperor’s castle - it’s incredibly dangerous. You know that firsthand. If you want to be a part of this I’ll let you, but…” She leans down even closer. “All of this portal and coven business- it’s not your responsibility. And you have to know that if I’m going to let you come. Okay?”

“I know. But I really want to help. Please?” Luz looks up, her eyes wide. 

“I said you can come - but you can’t blame yourself if anything goes wrong, okay?” Luz bites her tongue. She doesn’t know if she can promise that. She really wants to get Hunter out of there; and if there’s a possible Eda’s old friend can be saved too, they have to try. 

She smiles up at her caretaker. “I’ll try my best, Eda.” Eda pats Luz’s shoulder, straightening herself. 

“That’s all I can ask.” The tense, somber air fades, Eda planting a gold tooth grin on her face. “Now, come on; we’ve got a bratty, unappreciative guard to rescue, coven head to try and find, and some bitchy old evil Emperor’s plans to halt.” She snorts. “Really killing three birds with one stone over here.”

Rascal and Owlbert shudder, and Eda rolls her eyes.

“Oh calm down you two - it’s a figure of speech.”

The rest of the afternoon is spent planning and stocking up for their mission. Eda was very hesitant to jump in, wondering if they should wait for a better time; for whatever reason, Belos is clearly hesitant to replace Raine and Hunter, so they could assume both would be alive until the Day of Unity, at least. (Unfortunately, nobody quite knows when the Day of Unity’s going to be - or even what’s going to happen. Luz has Belos’ crypticness to thank for that.) 

But then, Rascal shared something very important with the makeshift rescue team: The area where Hunter, and Raine if they’re lucky, are being kept is an old complex buried deep beneath the palace. Rascal followed Hunter down into the dungeon, planning on letting the boy know he was going to get help. But Hunter just wouldn’t wake up, and eventually Rascal couldn’t wait any longer - he needed to get help asap. It took the little bird until that Thursday to reach the Owl House, but he was dedicated in his pursuit, now napping in the rafter’s for some well-deserved rest. He got out of the castle through an old forgotten tunnel that was haphazardly blocked off, leading to where Hunter’s being kept. They’ll have to use a little magic to blast the opening; it was only just big enough to fit Rascal, but it shouldn’t be a problem. 

Luz glances out the window - the sky is starting to darken, and they’re planning on leaving by Sundown. King’s insisted on coming along as well - this will be a group effort, as they usually are in the Owl House. No matter how hard you might try, you can’t get away with doing something solo in this household. There’s always a helping hand waiting.

Luz focuses back on shoving as many glyphs and glyph combos into her backpack as she can, Eda stocking up as much elixir she can possibly fit into her hair. 

She looks over at her kid. “It’s been awhile since we’ve been on a stupidly dangerous, poorly thought through plan with just the three of us.” Eda chuckles, putting another granola bar into her bag. “It almost feels nostalgic.”

Luz rolls her eyes, ready to retort, when the crystal ball on the coffee table begins to buzz. “I got it!” The teen calls, sliding over to tap on it’s smooth, crystalline surface. She breaks into a nervous smile as Amity’s face appears on screen. Not the greatest timing, if she’s being honest. 

“Oh, hey Luz. Listen, I know this is out-of-nowhere, I’m really sorry, but mom is in a mood day.” She glares to the side. “Do you think I could come stay over for tonight? Again, sorry this is so sudden.”

Luz chuckles, shooting a glance over at Eda, who is furiously shaking her head. “Uhm… don’t worry about it, I don’t mind at all. But uh… a little busy right now, so, so sorry.” 

Amity’s face falls a little, making Luz’s heart ache. “Oh, I get it. Yeah, I shouldn’t have sprung this out of nowhere. What are you and Eda doing? You know we’ve got school tomorrow.”

“We are… uhm…” Eda gestures wildly, and Luz just tilts her head. Her movements make zero sense to the girl, so Luz awkwardly grins again. “We are, uh, fixing...the...dishwasher?” Eda slaps her hand on her face, and Luz watches through the screen as Amity’s face melts into annoyance.

“What horribly dangerous thing are you two planning now?” Amity asks, and Luz sighs, hanging her head.

“Breaking into the Emperor’s Castle.”

“WHAT?!?”

Eda pops into frame, giving a sheepish thumbs up to confirm Luz’s statement. Amity’s jaw looks like it’s about to fall off.

“Give me ten minutes, I’m coming over there.”

“Amity no-” The crystal call clicks off, leaving the Owl House in silence. “So maybe it… won’t just be the three of us?”

-Thursday Night-

It’s on the fourth or fifth day, Hunter isn’t sure which, when the regret and longing start to set in. He’s continued to pretend to sleep when the guards visit, and his voice is starting to feel incredibly hoarse purely from disuse. 

He just wants to go home. The problem is, he doesn’t know what home is anymore. He stands up, starting to pace; he’s been trying to use his legs more since he’s felt good enough to walk, pulling the blanket around him. He’s starting to feel more and more like he should have just given in to what Belos wanted. This is his own fault, isn’t it? He knew Belos was in a bad mood - hell, he’s been betrayed by three separate coven officials in the past few months alone. 

Hunter’s self wallowing thoughts and anger are interrupted by a sudden stab of guilt through his chest; how terrible is he that he’s regretting not breaking Rascal? REGRETTING saving his own palisman?

Hunter lets out a groan, kicking the floor as hard as he can, wincing when he recoils back. He hisses. Idiot - now he’s got another bruise. He flounces back onto the floor, glaring at the nothingness around him. He’s spent all of his time down here feeling a mixture of numb and depressed. Now, anger floods into his chest, hot and white and directed at both nothing and everything. 

Despite everything he’s been through in the past week, he knows if Belos were to come down here and offer to take him back right now…

He would accept.

He takes a deep breath, trying to banish all of his confusing, regretful thoughts, and focus on something, anything positive. 

He fails to come up with anything.

So he lays down on his side, accepting that he’ll spend another night in the cold and dark, thinking about nothing and everything all at once.

He’s about to close his eyes when he hears something.

Footsteps.

He jolts up, panic gripping his whole body. They already came twice today there - there shouldn’t be anyone coming around for at least another five hours. He listens carefully, not moving, just breathing hard. There’s only one set of footsteps. He creeps forward, holding his breath as he peers down the hall. A soft, yellow light peaks out from beyond the corner. Shit. 

No no no, this can’t be right. He glances at the wall. He was supposed to have eight days - has it already been eight days? He doesn’t even know. 

It could be Belos. If it’s Belos…

Hunter shakes his head. He has to be prepared for the worst. He scrambles back over to the corner, shedding his blanket and snatching one of the empty water jugs, holding it above his head as the steps get closer and closer. His arm shakes. He doubts it’d do much, but having a weapon in his hand makes him feel better, like he has control over at least something. He can fight back. He will fight back. 

The light reaches his cell…

-Thursday Evening-

Amity came over a bit faster than ten minutes. She arrived at the doorstep, hair frazzled and expression a mixture of bewildered, panicked, and annoyed. One two minute lecture on how absolutely stupid and idiotic it is to try and break into the Emperor’s castle is, and another two minutes of Luz desperately explaining herself, all three witches plus one demon are all sitting around the living room table, pooling over their resources.

Luz glances over at her girlfriend, who is staring at one of Luz’s more complicated glyph combinations, completely engrossed and focused. 

“Amity, you know you can’t help with this, right? It’s going to be really dangerous, and if you get recognized…”

Amity sighs, setting down the glyph. She smiles at Luz, as reassuring as she can be. “Believe me, I know. I can’t just get in trouble the way you two can - I mean, how many times have you broken out of the conformatorium by now?”

“I think I’m at five.” Eda replies, climbing up on a precarious stack of books and stools to wake up Rascal.

Amity sighs. “Right. Well, I can’t just break out of jail. But that doesn’t mean I can’t help.” She pulls out her yellow Tomogachi, signaling for Luz to pull out her own. “I’ll hang back, and if you send me a code, I can send up a distraction to draw the attention away from some of the outer guards.”

Luz beams, yet again amazed by her girlfriend’s ingenuity and bravery. She puts her hands on Amity’s, hoping the sincerity in the gesture is picked up on. “Thank you, Ams - really. I know you still have conflicting feelings on the coven, but I really appreciate you risking yourself to help like this.” 

Amity’s eyes dark to the floor, a sudden tension coiling in her body. “Regardless of what my future plans used to be, the Emperor’s Coven has been doing some really messed up stuff lately. Secret prisons and arrests, stealing portals…” Luz gives Amity’ hands a gentle squeeze, letting the girl know she doesn’t have to say anymore if she doesn’t want to.

Eda marches in from the kitchen, Owlbert staff in hand and King now securely peeking out from her backpack. 

“Alright boots, we’ve got to get going. We’ve got one night to get this right, and we can’t afford to waste another second. Ready?” 

Luz nods, short and curt, taking Amity’s hand as she stands. 

“Still can’t believe you’re risking all this for Hunter, Luz.” Amity says. It’s teasing, but there’s a hint of bitterness and sadness in her voice. She shakes it away, however, looking at Luz with a genuine smile that reaches her eyes. “You really are too nice for your own good.”

Luz laughs, lightly jabbing Amity in the side with her elbow. “I’d argue you’re doing the same thing - maybe I’m not the only one who’s a little too nice.” Luz’s eyes drift to the ground as she and Amity walk outside, air falling still. Luz tries to shove her anxieties away, but clearly it’s noticeable, as Amity gives Luz’s hand a quick squeeze of comfort. 

“We’ll get him out Luz, I promise. Things can get better for him.” She runs her thumb over Luz’s knuckle. “I would know.” 

Luz smiles back, not afraid to let her worry show. But there’s also hope. She and Amity mount on Ghost, Rascal landing on the human’s shoulder. Despite their lack of palisman-witch communication, Luz knows exactly what the look in the cardinal’s eye means. Thank you. 

“No problem, li’l Rascal.” She murmurs, patting him on the head as they take off, flying towards the setting sun.

Chapter Text

Luz does not enjoy the Emperor’s palace for a variety of reasons.

Number 1: It just plain looks scary. Moat of jagged stones, tall, uninviting walls, nerve-wracking guard towers… it’s just about the opposite of a fairytale castle.

Number 2: Luz does not associate the best of memories with the place, that front bridge in particular. 

Number 3: The people inside all want to either arrest Eda, or flat out murder her.

All in all, the vibes are not it.

That’s why Luz’s gut swirls in anxiety as she, Eda, Amity, and King all land outside the Castle’s boundaries, looking down from a jagged rock cliff at the edge of the forest. She eyes a nearby guard tower nervously; she knows that being close to it is better, seeing as they are now in it’s blind spot, but the proximity still sets her on edge. Technically, they aren’t trespassing yet. But if all goes according to plan, they will be very soon. 

Eda hops off her staff, crouching low and peering at the castle over its open caverns. Amity steps onto the ground as well, pulling a small bag along with her. They’re all silent for a moment, Eda surveying their surroundings. She waves her hand and the whole group relaxes - they’re in the clear.

“Alright. Think you can set up your emergency distraction supplies here, kid?” Eda turns to Amity, who nods, setting down her pack.

“This’ll work great; if someone comes by, I’ll just tell them I’m lost.” Luz puts her hand on Amity’s arm, shoving down her anxiety with a nervous smile. 

“You really don’t have to do this, Amity - I know it’s really risky.”

Amity smiles back, moving Luz’s hand to entwine with hers. “I’m not letting you and Eda dive in there without some sort of backup. I can’t guarantee you it’ll work, but,” She holds up her yellow communication device. “If I receive the code, I’ll send up a distraction that’ll hopefully draw some of the exterior guard’s attention.” Her smile fades, concern leaking from her golden eyes. “Please, be careful Luz. If it gets bad, promise me you’ll bail, okay?”

Luz nods once. “Yeah, I - yeah. Okay.” The swirling nerves in her stomach only intensify. She does not want to have to bail. She looks over at Eda, who’s standing with Owlbert in one hand and King on her shoulder, looking out at the castle. It must be hard for her to be back here too. 

“Welp, last chance to back out, kiddo.” Eda, despite her inquiry, already knows what Luz’s answer will be. 

“No. Hunter’s in there - and if there’s even a chance Raine is too, we’ve got to try.” She pounds her fist on her hand for emphasis, and the decision is final. Because no matter how careless, goofy, or light-hearted Luz may be, when she puts her mind to something, it will happen. And Eda, King, and Amity will support her the whole way. 

Amity and Luz touch their foreheads together before they depart, (still not quite to the goodbye kisses phase yet), and the three Owl House denizens creep ahead, crawling over the rock outcropping to a flat slate below. They’re crouched low, Eda with her staff in hand. All three look at the cardinal perched on Luz’s shoulder. He tweets softly, flapping off and soaring down in the cavernous rocks surrounding the castle. They’re behind the structure, and they watch carefully as the bird descends, crossing to one specific part along the wall of the pseudo-moat. Luz can feel her heart jump as she loses sight of him, glancing at Eda frantically. Her caretaker, however, stares on intensely - she really does have the eyesight of an owl. 

A moment later she flicks her head to Luz, that uncharacteristic seriousness and determination returning to her eyes. If Luz is being honest, she kind of likes this new side to Eda. 

“Alright, Luz, I know where we’re heading.” She shakes her head. “That bird better be right about that tunnel - there’s no other way we’re getting in.”

Luz bites the inside of her cheek. “This feels too easy, Eda,” She pulls out two invisibility glyphs, handing one to Eda and King. “How do witches not slip in here with invisibility spells all the time?”

“You can’t see it, but there’s a shield around the palace that detects magic. If someone tries to blast the walls with a fireball or slip in with teleportation, every guard around’s gonna know.” 

King snatches the glyph from Eda’s hand, grinning in his own little king way as he flips it between his claws. “But we’ve got these!”

Eda smiles, gold fang glinting in the moonlight. “Yeap! Still, wouldn’t hurt to test it out. Send a light glyph out there, Luz, and see if it triggers anything.”

Luz nods, pulling one of her many light glyphs out of her backpack. She taps it, creating the smallest ball of light she can to not attract attention. She sends it out floating into the air, and the trio hold their breath as it floats farther and farther…

Nothing happens. It gets very close to the castle before it dissipates without a sound, triggering nothing. They all sigh. 

“Alright Luz; get on.” Eda quietly mounts Owlbert, patting in front of her for Luz. The child grips the wood tightly as they carefully descend into the darkness, holding their breath to keep the invisibility glyphs active. 

Luz hears soft tweeting as they get closer to wherever Eda is guiding them, thankful when her feet hit the rocky ground. They’re under a cliff, jagged spikes of stone and claw surrounding them. In front of them is a suspicious looking pile of rocks - it sort of resembles the cliff face, but the stones are round and discolored. There’s a hole in stone, just big enough to fit a Rascal-sized bird. Speaking of the palisman, he’s on the rocky floor, flapping his wings happily. 

Eda stares at the blocked tunnel, finger tapping her chin. 

“You gonna pull Harpy Eda out for this one?” King asks from her shoulder. Eda, however, quickly shakes her head.

“Unfortunately, no. Giant wings and talons aren’t exactly ‘stealthy.’” She grumbles. “Also, the owl beast says I’ve been using it too much, and the next time we make a deal I’ll have to sleep in a tree for a week.”

Luz raises an eyebrow. “Don’t you already sleep in a nest?”

“I sleep in a nest in my room , Luz. I have standards.”

“Here, let me try something.” Luz steps forward, shuffling through her bag. She triumphantly pulls out the glyph she was looking for, carefully placing it on the whole in the rocks. She taps it, and Eda steps back, expecting an explosion. Instead, vines creep out from the glowing paper, wrapping around the boulders and pulling them aside, each placed gently either inside the tunnel or out where the team is standing. The plants slump to the floor, alive and green but inactive as the spell completes, leaving the entrance to the tunnel wide open. Luz bows and gestures to it, grinning at Eda’s shocked look.

“After you.” Eda’s open-mouthed stare morphs into a grin, and she ruffles Luz’s hair excitedly.

“Nice one, kid!”

“You always give Luz the head pats.” Eda rolls her eyes, scruffing up King’s fuzzy neck. He sighs contently, and they turn to the cavern, ready to face whatever’s within.

Turns out, it’s a lot of cobwebs. 

Despite the light coming off Luz’s spell floating in her hand, she finds herself constantly running into cobwebs, spitting out the dust and spidery thread every few seconds.

They’ve been walking for a minute or so now, and the cavern is not unlike the one she and Amity ventured in not too long ago, minus the gorgeous, bioluminescent mushrooms. The air is damp and wet, jagged stones making up the walls and ceilings. It doesn’t smell great, either; it’s thick with the scent of mold, and not normal Boiling Isles level of mold-smell. (There aren’t many things Luz finds herself missing from the human world, but goddamn air freshener is one.)

Luz shivers, her hairs standing on end. King curls further into Eda’s hair, using her ridiculous thick fibers to keep himself warm. 

Rascal flies ahead, and Luz is starting to wonder if he got the wrong spot, and they’re just wandering into a cave. However, the floor begins to even out beneath her, and they all stop, coming upon a thick wooden door, metal bars covering a small window near the top. Eda grasps, trying to pull the door open. It doesn’t budge. She tries again and again, but that thing is practically one with the stone by now. 

“Stand back, Luz. I’m about to bust this bad boy open-”

“Uh, Eda?” King interrupts as Eda raises her high heeled foot, ready for some proper door kicking action. Her foot slams down on the ground, but she miraculously doesn’t fall over. He points his hand at the other side of the door. “I think you can just remove the hinges.” 

Luz walks over to inspect the metal, which has rusted to the point of near disintegration. Eda taps on one with her finger, and it falls off, clanging against the ground. The other one comes off in a similar fashion. This time, she pushes on the wood, and the door creaks, falling over. Luz doubts the thing had been open for decades, and now, it probably never will again. She steps over the wood as carefully as she can - she’s not about to risk getting tetanus in a mysterious fantasy realm. 

The hall their in now looks more like a dungeon: moss drenched stones cover the walls and floor, some falling out of place, others with cracks several feet long. There are torch braziers, but they’re empty, some rusty and practically falling off the walls. The trio begin cautiously walking again, Luz’s eyes flickering around the space as another shiver trails down her spine. She doesn’t like this place, not one bit.

“Do you think we should send Owlbert ahead to scout?” Luz asks, her anxiety getting the better of her. She doesn’t even want to think about what would happen if they got caught.

“Kid, I don’t think anyone’s doing regular patrols down here.” She grimaces, looking at a wall covered in a questionable goopy substance. “Doesn’t seem like anyone’s touched some of this stuff in decades.”

Luz pulls her arms close around her, moving a little closer to Eda. “Do you think Lilith knows about this place?”

“Probably not. If this is where Kikimora was being kept, and now Hunter…” Eda looks at the ground. “Place is probably reserved for people like her.”

Luz shudders. She really wants to get out of here - being in such a drab, empty place, it fills her mind with horrible thoughts about what could have been. Lilith, Hunter, Eda -

Eda slows to be next to Luz, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. They walk a little longer, only the sound of their marching feet and King’s occasionally shift to be in a more comfortable position around Eda’s neck filling the space. 

“I-I’m really sorry, Eda.” Luz eventually sputters out. Eda keeps moving, but her steps slow as she looks down at her child, concerned. 

“You’ve got nothing to be sorry for, kiddo. Something wrong?”

“I just- I mean- I’m sorry all that stuff happened with Raine.” Luz wraps her arms around herself tighter, feeling a little guilty for making this all about herself yet again. She shouldn’t feel sad- this is Eda’s pain, not hers. Still, her overactive empathy leaves a pit in her stomach. “They seem… really important to you.”

“Yeah, I… I guess they are.” Eda says with a sigh. A little smile creeps onto her face as she remembers something fondly. “They were my best friend.”

“Were they… you know…” Luz gestures her arm. “ More than a friend?” Luz’s jaw nearly falls to the floor as Eda stops abruptly, and does the unthinkable - blushes. A light pink creeps onto her cheeks, and she glances to the side, lightly coughing into her hand. 

“Geez, is it that obvious?” Eda says with a light laugh, resuming the walk with her hand on Luz’s back, pushing her forward. She stares off, a glossy look in her eyes. “Yeah, we were… involved in high school.” Her smile fades into something bittersweet. “It was love, y’know?”

Luz stares down at her fingers. She does know; Amity’s not far away, risking everything to help her on a stupid, dangerous mission. It’s silly to be thinking about her relationship at a time like this, and she’s endlessly thankful Amity agreed to be her girlfriend, but still…

“What happened?” Luz asks tentatively, hoping she won’t hurt Eda’s feelings too much. Eda just drags out a long sigh, smile wiped clean.

“Life happened, kid. With my curse, their future…” she runs a hand through her hair.  “We just fell apart.”

“Mm.” Is all Luz responds with, her hand fidgeting increasing in veracity. Eda pulls her closer, Luz looking up at her from the sudden movement. Eda stares on ahead, ready to dish out some of her Owl Lady wisdom

“Worried about you and Amity, huh?”

Luz nods. “I-I know, realistically, we won’t be together forever. I mean, we’re teenagers - it’s a high school relationship. They don’t last.” She bites her now quivering lip. “But still…”

“You want it to.” Eda interrupts, hand still firmly wrapped around Luz’s shoulder. “Listen, Luz, you can’t predict the future. Who knows what’ll happen to you two - you just have to appreciate her now.” Eda smiles, finally glancing down at Luz. “I see how happy you make her - and how happy she makes you.” Luz feels her cheeks heat up slightly as she looks down. “You know, even if me and Raine ended our relationship on a… less than ideal note, I don’t regret what we had. Not one second of it.” She gives Luz a final squeeze, letting her go. “I don’t think you will either.”

Luz finds herself smiling a little. She and Amity have no clue where their futures are going but… they’ve got each other. Eda’s right. Now is enough. 

“Thanks, Eda.” She says, before elbowing the woman in the side with a sly look. “You’re surprisingly good at this relationship stuff.”
Eda sticks out her tongue in mock disgust. “Ew, no, sentimentality.” She places the back of her hand on her forehead with a grin. “Your cheesiness wounds me, child.”

King pokes his head, poking Eda in the cheek with one of his claws. “You have a legal son now, remember? Me!” He squishes her cheek and she rolls her eyes, swatting away his paw good-naturedly. “All your mushy-gushy maternal instincts are leaking out.”

“Oooo, the Owl Lady, single mother of two! What a twist!”

“I’ll send you both back to the ‘mysterious magical children I didn’t want’ adoption agency.”

They all laugh a little, some of the dreary coldness of the hall fading away. Of course, their laughter stops as the walls end, and new things begin.

Cells. Old cells.

Luz goes quiet, all the anxiety Eda helped keep at bay rushing up to her in a nausea inducing wave. The bars are rusted, old, and as she reaches out to brush one with her fingers, icy cold. The amount of moss and dripping water is decreasing, but the air just keeps getting heavier.

“Eda… where are we?” Luz eventually chokes out, clutching her stomach. Is this where Hunter has been kept for the past week?

Is this what it was like when Eda was in jail?

Eda, while significantly less spooked then Luz, still seems disturbed. “Belos’ castle is relatively new; he built it after destroying the old one, which was over here. I’m guessing this was its dungeon.” She runs her hand along the stone walls, wiping some residue substance on her dress. “He probably built a tunnel to connect it to the new palace.”

King shivers, his fur standing on edge. “Should I ecolocate this place? I wanna get out as soon as I can. It’s… gross. Even for me.” Eda just shakes her head. 

“Won’t be necessary - look.” She points ahead. A few paces in front of them, a fork in the road. The tunnel splits, two new branches of cell blocks spreading in opposite directions. Eda curses under her breath.

“Looks like we’ll have to split up.” Eda removes King from her shoulders, plopping him onto the ground. He hisses, his feet making contact with the cold ground. He scurries over to Luz, taking his place beside her legs. Eda then puts Owlbert as a staff in her hands, Rascal stopping his flying ahead to land on her shoulder. Eda looks at the cardinal. “Which way’s the kid?” 

Rascal chirps, pointing down the tunnel on the right. “Alright: Luz, King, Rascal - you guys go get the Golden Guard kid. I’ll go the other way to see if Raine’s around. We meet back here in fifteen minutes, and if I don’t come, you leave. Got it?”

“What? Eda, you shouldn’t go all alone.” Luz’s eyes are wide with concern. “At least take Owlbert-”

“Luz.” Eda leans down, placing both hands on her shoulders. “I’ve got this, okay? It’s unlikely I won’t be back, but if I’m not, there’s a %99 chance I just ran into trouble and blasted my way out. I’ve got harpy mode at the ready, remember?”

Luz nods, but still bites her lip in worry. She doesn’t know if she could survive Eda getting captured by the Emperor again. The idea - it’s terrifying to Luz, and it brings back all those memories of petrification…

“...you’re sure, Eda?” Eda has promised to be honest. Luz has to trust her; she just needs a little reassurance.

Eda, of course, is happy to give it, smiling softly at Luz. “I’ll be fine, kiddo. These are very big ‘ifs’: If I’m not here, get Amity to set off the distraction too, okay?” She sees the worry on Luz’s face, standing up with her hands on her hips, somehow radiating all the confidence Luz lacks. “Not that you’ll need it. Fifteen minutes from now we’ll be back here, you with the sad jerk safe and sound.”

“And you’ll have Raine.” Luz replies, smiling.

“Yeah… I will.” They both know that’s not a guarantee - if Raine’s being kept anywhere, it’s here, but there's a chance they’re already gone. But Luz knows dwelling on that possibility won’t help: they don’t just need hope, they need assurance that this will go alright. That things will be okay. 

“Let’s go kidnap a coven head!” King announces, pointing his claw off to the right as he begins to march. Rascal flies ahead, leading them down the passageway. Eda disappears behind, and Luz swallows her fear, looking ahead and powering down the hall, staff in hand, cloak flowing behind her. 

She rolls her eyes. “It’s not a kidnapping, it’s a rescue.”

“Come on, Luz. Kidnapping is so much more exciting sounding!” Luz allows herself a little laugh at King’s antics, before settling into quiet determination. She lights up another glyph as their previous ball of light fades and blinks into nothingness. She holds it in her hand, scanning every cell for a sign of life. There’s nothing, at least not until she turns a corner…

CRASH!

Hunter immediately curses under his breath, reaching for the other jar. He threw too early - he’s just too on edge. The glass shattered against the bars, drawing a yelp out from whoever it was approaching. Probably in surprise more than anything else, seeing as his aim was very poor. He’s about to wrap his hand around the other glass when he hears a voice he never thought he’d hear again.

“Hunter! Wait, it’s me!” 

His fingers unlatch from around the top, panic replaced with an immediate wave of sheer confusion. He turns his head, blinking furiously, trying to determine if he’s actually seeing what he thinks he is.

Luz Noceda, the human herself, standing outside his cell with her arms raised in defense. 

“L-Luz?” He chokes out. Four days of speaking a total of two times combined with his sore throat makes his voice rough and scratchy, quieter than it usually is. His edge is completely gone as he sits in sheer disbelief. He puts his hand to his head. “Wh-Why are you… is this a dream?” His next words are muttered, and much quieter. “Have I officially lost it?” 

His question is answered as a small creature darts through the bars slamming into Hunter’s cheek. It's soft, warm, and definitely not a hallucination. Hunter pulls the form away from his face, his first smile in days stretching across his face. 

“Rascal!” The cardinal flutters in his hands, chirps ringing through the room. It honestly hurts Hunter’s ears a little after all the silence, but he doesn’t care. He pulls his palisman close, unable to stop a few tears from rolling down his face. “You came back for me…” He mumbles, unable to let the bird go for fear he’ll disappear the second he does. Luckily, Rascal does not seem to mind, eyes bright with excitement. He's too scattered to form any words Hunter can understand, but through all his chirps and tweeting Hunter can feel distinct emotions from the magical creature: Joy and relief. 

A few moments pass, Hunter just relishing in the fact his palisman is safe, alright, and in his hands yet again. His relief, unfortunately, is ebbed by a sudden wash of panic. He flicks his eyes up to Luz, jolting up. He stands a little too quickly, and has to steady himself on the wall, hissing through his teeth.

“Hunter!” Luz shouts, concerned. He puts his hand up. 

“I-I’m fine.” His words taste odd and bitter in his mouth. His voice doesn’t sound normal. He walks up to her, only metal bars between them, Rascal still happily jumping in his hands. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Luz reaches down for the lock, inspecting it. “Busting you out of here, obviously. Is there a key nearby?” 

Hunter’s stomach drops. Of course, why else would she be in the Emperor’s abandoned dungeons. Rascal brought her here - why would Rascal bring her here!? 

“No!” Luz snaps her head up, tilting her head in confusion. Hunter swallows his panic. “Luz, you’ve got to get out of here.” 

“Why?” Her ears perk up. “Are there guards coming?”

“No, no no no - they only come twice, during the day.” He shakes his head, hands clutching the metal bars for stability. “But if you got caught down here - you’ve got to go, before you get in huge trouble with Belos, or the Owl Lady.”

“Huh? Oh, don’t worry, Eda’s here with me.” She brushes off his comment with a wave of her hand, going back to inspecting the lock with a frown. 

“Wh- she… came?” For him? But that doesn’t make any sense - she hates him. 

Luz looks at Hunter, and then away, biting her lip. “God… I’m sorry it took us so long to get here. How hurt are you? I have most of the healing glyphs Eda packed…” Hunter glances down at himself. Does he really look that bad? He’s too panicked to care about how disheveled he must look, frankly. 

“I just… I don’t understand. Why are you here?”

“I told you; we’re here to rescue you. Now do you know how this door opens?” 

Hunter simply cannot logically connect why the human, of all people, is trying to break him out of jail, how she found this place, even how Rascal got her here. He shakes his head. It doesn’t matter - no matter how she found her way here, she needs to get out. 

“Luz… stop.” He puts his hand on hers, stopping her frantic fiddling with the lock. “I’m glad Rascal’s okay, but-” he’s interrupted by a violent cough, causing Luz to flinch back. He stops, resuming as if nothing happened. “-you’ve got to go. There’s no point in getting me out of here.” He stares down at the floor. He’s been mentally skirting around the thought, but saying it out loud solidifies his reality. 

“What- Hunter, how can you say that?” She sounds so sad, concerned, and… a little offended. He cringes.

“Even if you managed to break me out and not get arrested… Belos would just find me again.” Hunter doesn’t even realize the quiet tears starting to form on his cheeks. “You can’t hide from him.”

Luz just stares, open mouthed, a fiery anger filling her eyes. But strangely enough, it doesn’t seem directed at him.

“Of course we can! Eda’s done it for years.”

“B-But-”

Luz grabs his hand, giving him a stern glare uncharacteristic of her soft and squishy face. “Hunter. Listen, I get it - you have clearly been through a lot this past week, and are not thinking clearly. You’ll be allowed to feel ALL your emotions about Belos or betrayal or whatever in full force, %100 percent support that.” She points her finger at his chest. “However, right now, you need to bottle up that emotional crisis, so I can get your sad, jerk ass out of here. Is that understood?” 

There’s a moment, Hunter just processing that. A million thoughts rush in his mind, but they’re all background to his overwhelming need to just get out. Get out of this cell, out of the palace, out and far, far away. Right now, the out he wants so badly is standing right in front of him.

He does what she says. He takes a deep breath, and bottles it all down. He doubts he can keep it down for long, but he doesn’t need to. Just long enough to escape.

Just long enough to get out.

He nods.

“O-Okay. Okay.” 

Luz nods back, fishing through her pack for some slips of paper. “Alright, step back. I’m going to blast open the bars.”

“No- don’t.” She stops. “It might be rigged with an alarm.”

Hunter didn’t even notice that beside Luz stands her rat-dog, King. He cracks his knuckles(?), stepping forward. 

“Lemme at it, Luz. Eda taught me to pick locks the second she took me home!” Luz shrugs, scooping him up.

“I’m honestly not surprised! Go for it, King.” He sticks his claw into the lock hole, eyes squinted in frustration. Nothing but the clang of metal fills the room for a few moments, and then…

Click!

The metal door swings open. They all hold their breath, but no alarm comes. No blare, no sound of rushing guards. Hunter takes a step, cringing as pressure is put on his side wound. Luz rushes forward, stopping in front of him. 

“Hunter!” She steps forward, arms extended, but Hunter flinches back. He can’t- he doesn’t know what she’s doing. And he trusts her, but frankly, he doesn’t want anyone near him right now. She seems to pick up on his hesitance, stepping back and lowering her arms awkwardly to her side. “Can you walk?” She asks. 

“...he-healing glyphs. Please.” Hunter cringes at his own begging tone, extending his hand out. His frantic breaths and hyperventilating have made his side ache more than it has since he first arrived here. Fortunately, Luz obliges immediately, handing him a few of the smaller glyphs. He puts three on his side, grateful to inhale a few, painless deep breaths. He puts another on his ankle, and his head. 

Rascal, picking up on Hunter’s state, transforms into a staff, letting Hunter grip the wood. The staff props him up, using Rascal as a sort of walking stick/crutch. 

Luz smiles at Hunter. 

“Come on; let's get out of here.” She steps out into the hall, hand outstretched. He looks down at it, then at her, then at the floor. The threshold. If he takes this step, Belos will never give him a second chance again. 

Hunter tightens his grip around Rascal. Right now, he doesn’t feel like rationalizing or justifying Belos. He doesn’t feel like going over every day of the sixteen years of his life spent in the palace. 

There have always been times when he’s wanted to run away, when he’s wanted to flee from Belos and his responsibility as the Emperor’s nephew. But he never did; that would be selfish. Leave his only family because of a condition he couldn’t control? Selfish.

But right now, Hunter feels like being a little selfish. He’s going to do what he wants; based on his emotions. Based on his pain.

He takes Luz’s hand, and steps out of his cell for the first time in days.

Chapter Text

Luz is going to kill Emperor Belos with her own two hands.

She won’t actually, obviously; she doubts she could if she tried, considering how their one and only fight went. But if she had the option, oh ho ho. He’d be gone.

She stays close to Hunter as they start to walk down the stone hall, King scampering ahead, heading back to where Eda will (hopefully) be waiting. Luz keeps glancing over her shoulder, eyes darting around as she searches for any sign of trouble. Frankly, she wants to be moving a lot faster than they are, but she’s not about to push Hunter.

He’s a few paces beside her, using Rascal to help him walk. His eyes are dead set, unfocused as he stares ahead. He looks bad - a pang of guilt and sympathy shoots through Luz’s heart. She’s never liked to see people hurt, not even on T.V. She cried over children’s movies until an embarrassingly old age, and still avoids the gorier, horrific stuff. The boy beside her is very banged up. His eye bags are somehow even larger than before, his hair disheveled, and every so often a dry cough tears out from his throat and into the air. The real damage is his side, though - Luz can seek blood through the thick layers of gauze wrapped around his abdomen, leaking from an unknown injury.

They move in silence, Hunter’s ragged breathing the main source of disturbance in the chilled air. Luz just doesn’t know what to say to him, or if talking would even be helpful right now. So, she elects to say nothing, keeping her lips uncharacteristically shut until he breaks the quiet.

“...thanks.” He murmurs. His voice is still as recognizable as always, just scratchy and dry. 

Luz takes a step closer towards him, wringing her hands around Owlbert’s staff. She smiles. “Hey- don’t worry about it. We’ll have time for the emotional reconciliations later. Right now, we’ve got to escape.” He nods once, powering ahead with a little more determination in his steps. Luz feels bad shutting him down like this, but she’s right; they just don’t have time right now. Each second that passes Luz is more and more worried Eda got caught, or killed, or-

Luz spots a figure up ahead as the wall ends, someone tall and with inhumanely large hair. She lets out a massive sigh, pace subconsciously quickening. 

“Eda!” She calls out, waving her hand. Her voice echoes, bouncing all around the stone. Eda doesn’t wave back, just looks up, acknowledging Luz’s approach. That makes Luz frown. Is she all right?

The human girl starts moving even faster, steadily increasing her steps to a light jog until she’s a few feet away from Eda. Luz glances around, slowing. Her heart sinks. 

“Oh…” The sound escapes Luz lips, Eda still staring bitterly at the ground. The older witch’s fists are clenched at her side. “I’m sorry…” She reaches out a hand to touch Eda’s arm, but pulls it back; she probably needs a moment, seeing as Raine is nowhere in sight.

“No- Luz it’s alright. They…” Eda wipes her eyes with her sleeve, inhaling a deep breath before finally turning to face Luz. Her face is painfully unreadable, a mixture of pain and anger as she tries to maintain composure for her children. “They’re here. But, they’re just-” Eda jerks her arms, trying to describe something but unable to find the words. “I don’t know what’s happened to them, kid.” Eda turns her head again, wiping at her face in a few more frantic motions. Luz wishes she could help, but she honestly isn’t sure if she wants to know what has Eda so distraught. 

A hacking cough from behind catches Luz’s attention, Eda whipping her face around. Hunter has finally reached them, standing awkwardly to the side. He stays a few paces away from Eda, using Luz as a sort of human shield between them. Eda forces a small smile to her face, pushing away the rest of the tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. Her smile fades to a grimace as she takes in Hunter’s appearance.

“Yeesh - you’re not looking so hot.” She says, taking a small step towards Hunter. He’s incredibly tense, and his anxiety spreads to Luz, putting her somehow even more on edge. Eda’s hands are raised at her sides to try and ease Hunter’s tension, and she stays an acceptable distance from him. “Come on; once we’re out of here we can get some proper healing magic on you.”

“Eda, shouldn’t we-”

“Wait.” Everyone turns to face Hunter as he speaks, voice a little louder than it has been. “You said something about a… Raine. Raine Whispers, right? Are they being kept here too?”

There’s a quiet pause before Eda nods once, quick and curt.

Hunter considers this, looking to the side. “Makes sense.” He bites his lip, clearly grappling with something internally. Eventually, he looks up at Eda, making eye contact with the older woman. Luz just glances between them, eagerness to get out with Hunter in tow battling with her intrigue and worry about Raine. “Where are they? I might be able to… help.”

Eda shakes her head, bending down to pick up King and place him back on her shoulders. The little demon has been miraculously quiet, understanding now is not the time nor place to crack jokes. 

“I appreciate the offer, kid, but I… I can’t even tell what’s been done to them.” She sighs, long and disappointed. “Let’s just get you out of here.” Nobody is swayed by this, all staying firmly planted in their respective locations. Eda pushes a small smile to her face again, but it never reaches her eyes. “I feel better just knowing they're alive.” Luz cringes; Eda’s usually way better at lying than that. 

Hunter closes his eyes, taking their momentary pause as a chance to lean his back against the stone wall. “What time is it?” He asks. Luz shrugs.

“Around 1 am, probably.”

“The guards won’t be around for another six hours at least - if that impacts your decision at all.” He finishes with a cough. 

Luz reaches out, finally taking Eda’s hand. She’s relieved when her mentor doesn’t pull away, just accepting the gesture. “Come on, Eda. It’s worth a shot.”

More silence as Eda mulls it over in her head. Eventually, she sighs, giving Luz’s hand a squeeze. When she opens her eyes again, there’s a spark, that glint of passion Luz is so used to seeing. 

“Alright. Follow me.” 

It didn’t take long. It was, at most, a minute of walking, likely less. The group rounded a sharp corner, where a broken down cell awaited them. 

Luz stares between the bars, wholly unable to process what she’s seeing.

If they hadn’t guessed beforehand Raine would be here, they’d barely be able to tell who it is. Instead of a person, moving and talking and hell, even breathing , there’s a still form against the wall, covered in thorns. Thick, bramble-esque stalks entrap a humanoid figure, rust colored tendrils wrapping around over and over again. Through the binds, Luz can see a human looking green eye, glazed over and staring at nothing. She wouldn’t be sure Raine’s in there, if it weren’t for Eda’s reaction. The witch stands stock still, staring down with a blank expression on her face. No comments, no jokes, no concerns - just a blank stare.

“Wh-What happened? ” Luz blurts, holding a hand to her stomach. Hunter steps forward, looking down with a scrutinizing gaze.

“I’m not sure. If you can get me in there, I think I can figure it out.” 

King tugs on Eda’s dress, holding up his claw. She lifts him up, her movements somewhat stilted and robotic. This lock takes even less time for the demon to crack open - the cell isn’t particularly tough. Defense doesn’t seem necessary with the state Raine is in. 

All four enter the cell, eerily quiet with their cautious steps. Eda is the last one to enter, keeping herself near the open door. Hunter kneels down next to Raine, taking a deep breath as he reaches out a hand to touch the thick brambles surrounding them. 

The boy’s fingers only graze the material before he recoils back, eyes opening wide. Eda and Luz both flinch forward, Hunter taking a few quick, shallow breaths. 

“I-I recognize that magic,” he flicks his magenta eyes at Luz, a mixture of fear and shock flashing across his face. “It’s Kikimora’s.”

“Kikimora?” Luz asks in disbelief. “But isn’t she…”

“A spell that lasts after death…” Eda takes a step forward. 

Hunter lets his panic fade, switching back to a scrutinizing look, surveying Raine’s situation. “It’s not unheard of… but I never thought I’d see a spell like this in my life.”

“Is there anything you can do about it?” Luz asks tentatively, leaning over Hunter’s shoulder. He scrunches his face, reaching out to touch the thick branches. He places his hand on one, a shiver running down his spine. Still, he keeps his hand connected, and Luz watches with mild concern as he closes his eyes, face still furrowed. 

After a few moments, he pulls his hand away, staring down at his knees. 

“It’s a powerful spell- but I know Kikimora’s magic. And since she’s dead, it’s weakened. It’d be better if I had my normal staff, but…” he glances over his shoulder at the cell door, sighing and instead taking Rascal off of his shoulder, watching the bird transform in his hands. “It’s doable.”

Eda’s posture immediately straightens as the confirmation escapes his lips. She risks taking a few more steps forward, unabashed hope flickering in her multicolored eyes. “If you’re right, kid, please,” she crouches down, meeting Hunter at his level. She doesn’t dare try to reach out and touch him, just kneels by him, holding her fists in her hands. Eda never pleads - in fact, Luz is pretty sure she’s only heard the woman beg for something once, when she was trying to get the human to return home with the portal. “Will you try?”

Hunter sighs, long and exhausted, but nods. 

“I will. On one condition.” He looks at Luz, his eyes so thoroughly exhausted it breaks her heart a little. She doesn’t want to be making him do this, but Raine is right there, and she won’t let Eda return home without her friend. He leans in a little closer to Luz, words quieter. “I can’t guarantee this’ll work- and if it doesn, it’s going to take a lot of energy. Probably knock me out.”

“Hunter, if it’s too dangerous you don’t have to-”

“No, no. It’s fine. I’ll be fine. I just-” He inhales deeply before looking into Luz’s eyes, boring straight through her skull. “If I fall unconscious, please… don’t leave me here.” 

Luz is fully ready to respond, to assure him she would never , but surprisingly, Eda starts talking before she can.

“We won’t leave ya, kid. You’re the reason we came in the first place; I’ll carry you and Raine out on my back if I have to.” Eda stands up, and Luz can tell the witch means every word. 

Hunter gives his final nod, and he takes a deep breath, chest rising and falling. Luz and Eda both stand back and Eda, despite her obvious tension and worry, wraps an arm around her child, using her other to pick up King and hold him close. Luz starts to bite on the edges of her nails, Eda subtly moving her back to keep her out of Hunter’s way. 

Luz can feel her heart rate spike as Hunter places his hand on Raine yet again, this time with staff in hand. It takes a few moments, but gradually, Rascal starts to glow a faint yellow. Luz watches in awe, the golden bubble of fizzling magic spreading to envelop Raine’s form. Slowly but surely, the tendrils surrounding Raine begin to loosen and unwind, falling limp under Hunter’s spell. They keep unwrapping and unwrapping, Raine’s body becoming more and more visible each second. Eda’s breathing hitches as the final vine from their face is removed, their body finally starting to uncoil from its previous state of forced tension. 

That’s when Hunter’s magic starts to act up. The magic glow fizzles, and in the brief moment where it disappears the vines jerk up, tight and tense. Luckily, he’s able to get the spell going again. His breathing grows more and more ragged, and he squeezes his eyes shut, pouring every ounce of energy he has left into undoing Kikimora’s magic. 

More and more of Raine is revealed: Torn clothes, frazzled hair, crack glasses resting on their nose. Eda detaches herself from her kids, rushing forward. She kneels down, not even attempting to hide the amalgamation of worry and relief painted on her face. The last vines and thorns fall, the last one seeming to end right by Raine’s wrist. It falls to the ground, lifeless, and just in time. 

Hunter’s magic sputters, before completely going out, and he falls to his side, Rascal remaining a wood form clutched in his hands. Luz leaps towards him, kneeling by his side as Eda wraps her arms around Raine’s unconscious body. Oh god, is he alright? Eda’s going to be too busy with Raine so she has to- 

“Luz- do you know how to check his pulse?” Eda asks, her voice surprisingly well composed for holding her former partner’s potentially lifeless body in her arms. Luz manages a nod, reaching with her fingers to feel Hunter’s wrist, searching for a sign…

Then she feels it. A pulse, somewhat faint, but distinctly there. His chest rises and falls subtly, lungs still being filled with air. She lets out a massive sigh. 

“Is Raine-” Luz starts asking the question, but she cuts herself off, a smile spreading across her face; she already knows the answer. Eda has her forehead pressed against Raine’s, a few tears slipping down her cheeks, a huge, relieved grin on her pale face.

“Y-Yeah, they’re-” Eda laughs quietly, closing her eyes as she buries Raine’s head between her neck and shoulders. “-they’re alive.”

Luz calls over Owlbert, situating Hunter’s now unconscious body onto the staff as best she can, King trying (and failing) to be helpful in the process. She keeps glancing over Eda and Raine. She decided to give Eda a moment, just letting the witch hold Raine in her arms. She’d love to celebrate, but unfortunately, there’s still a key part of their plan that needs executing: Getting out.  

Once Eda is up, with Raine slung over her shoulder, she starts running. No longer are Luz, Eda, and King casually strolling through the dungeon, eyes wide as they drink in every detail - they’re rushing through the halls as fast as they can go. They’ve got two unconscious (former) coven heads in their arms, and while thankfully no alarms appear to have been set off, they’d still rather not get caught like this. Luz is thankful the isles have brought her endurance up so much. The adrenaline helps, too; her heart is pounding so hard she thinks it might leap out of her chest.

Still, there’s a massive grin planted on her face. Despite the fact they aren’t in the clear just yet, Luz is proud. This was probably the stupidest, riskiest thing she’s attempted since coming to the isles, and that is a high bar. Although it’s possible tricking the literal Emperor of the Boiling Isles beats this plan by a few points on the “reckless brilliance” scale. Each second seems to drag on, but despite time’s perceived slowing, she, Eda, and King do make it to the end of the cavern. They step out into the moonlight, Luz inhaling a deep breath of fresh air. Oh how she missed it. She reaches into her pack to grab an invisibility glyph, when she hears a swoop. The three people still conscious all freeze. 

“Copy that. I’m just checking out this outcropping by the Eastern moat; thought I saw something-”

An Emperor’s Coven Guard descends from the sky, a silver compact raised to their ear. Their words stop as they turn around to see a wanted criminal, demon, and human child all standing outside a tunnel with two unconscious witches in their arms. 

“SET OFF THE-” He doesn’t finish the sentence before Eda socks him in the face, his silver compact flying out of his hand and shattering on one of the stones. The trio hold their breath.

“I think we’re-”
An alarm starts blaring. Luz’s hands fly to her ears, teeth grit as she tries to block out the ear-piercing sound. It’s loud and high pitched, like a continuous screen. Eda, however, pulls Luz’s arms away. 

“Luz! We could use your girlfriend's distraction right about now!”

Righ! Luz digs into her pocket, pulling out her matching tomodachi. Her fingers slip off the button a few times, and she has to take a deep breath, pushing out the panic. She opens the messaging system, punching in a single bat emoji before hitting send. Hunter’s still draped on Owlbert, unconscious Rascal tucked in his pocket. Raine’s now leaning against the wall, equally unresponsive. A few seconds pass, then a few more-

BOOM!

The ground lightly shakes, Luz whipping her head to see the cause of the disturbance. The guards above them, who were previously shuffling around to respond to the alarm, start to all chatter and yell, pointing behind Luz, Eda, and King’s location. 

Another boom, and this time, Luz can see trails of yellow and orange sparkles fall from the sky into the forest below. Her jaw drops.

She looks over at Eda, who is beaming in the way only a proud mother could. “My old fireworks! Ha ha!” She wraps her arm around Luz enthusiastically, pointing at the smoke still hanging in the sky. “Oh, I thought those things were defective! Didn’t tell me your girlfriend was into demo, kid!”

“She’s not.” Luz continues to stare blankly, trying to process Amity, Amity Blight stealing fireworks from from the Owl Lady’s shed and then setting them off in front of the Emperor’s Castle.

Luz is struck from her stupor as a new alarm starts blaring, this one louder and even more frantic. Eda dashes over to scoop Raine over her shoulder, sighing dramatically.

“Looks like I’m gonna have to go harpy mode. Can’t wait to sleep in a tree tonight.” Luz focuses on securing Hunter, scooping up King and placing him on the back of the staff. When she looks back, Eda has transformed, holding Raine in her arms. Luz can’t help but smile seeing Eda’s proud expression; those strange, brief moments of numbness are gone. Eda’s back, and raring to go. She glances at Luz, smiling in the softest way she can with her sharp, beastly teeth. “You alright to go, Luz?”

Luz nods, clambering onto the front of Owlbert. She’s ready to take off when Eda unexpectedly appears beside her, reaching out a hand to gently scruff her hair.

“You did good today, kiddo. I’m proud of you.” 

Luz wants to respond, but she feels all choked up. She swallows her rising tears, instead just nodding, a grin stretching across her face. She’d be lying if she said the stress of the night hasn’t gotten to her, and that she’s not worried sick about Raine and Hunter. But Eda’s back to her full self, a steady rock to lean on during dangerous escapades like this. As Eda takes an invisibility glyph and takes off, flapping her powerful wings once before vanishing, Luz knows everything’s going to be okay. Not just Hunter, or Raine, or the mission, but everything. 

She holds her own breath, Owlbert lighting up. He swoops, taking off into the night sky as another firework launches, sending even more guards into a frenzy. Luz can’t help but stare at the glittering explosion as it falls back to the ground. No wonder Amity didn’t explain what her ‘distraction’ plan was. Still, Luz’s heart swells in pride. She must be really rubbing off on Amity. Hopefully not too much. Luz doesn’t know if Eda could manage another one of her running around the Owl House. 

Luz finally gasps in a breath as they crest over into the forest, breaking the invisibility spell. She starts laughing, and Eda joins in. Luz is sure the adrenaline pumping through her veins is the only thing keeping her awake right now, but she doesn’t care. They did it . They dive closer to the treetops, heading for home; Amity said she’d run as soon as she set off the distraction and meet them back at the house. A finale burst goes off behind Luz, illuminating the forest. 

No doubt Belos is going to be pissed when he realizes what happened. He’ll probably tighten up security like all hell, maybe even send out a guard team or two. But it doesn’t matter much to Luz. They got who they came for. 

Now it’s time to go home.

Hunter wakes up to light. A lot of it.

He blinks wildly, just trying to adjust to the sheer volume. He’s groggy, and his head hurts - titan, why does his head hurt so much? Did he get hit on the head, or-

Oh. Now he remembers.

Despite his brain's sludge-like state, the painful twinge in his right side reminds him of everything that he’s been through in the past… four days? Week? He isn’t sure. He remembers the cell - that must be why his vision is swimming, still blurry and unfocused, unable to open his eyes all the way. He hasn’t seen sunlight for days. He remembers Luz letting him out, and then, everything gets sort of foggy. Vague feelings of magic and images of the Owl Lady hovering above him, but not much else. 

He groans, reaching his hand up to his head. He hears the distinct sound of rustling, a figure kneeling beside his head. He frowns as he blinks, trying desperately to clear his vision. Eventually, thank the titan, it works. Then he blinks a few more times, because there’s no way he’s seeing what he thinks he’s seeing.

“Blight?” He asks incredulously. The girl in front of him smiles, raising her eyebrows.

“Well, look who’s decided to join the land of the living.” She says, blowing a puff of her lavender colored hair out of her face. He tries to sit up, but she pushes him back down, placing a cool towel on his forehead. “Don’t even try it, Blondie. Eda says you’ve got a stab wound, fever, concussion, and more bruises than she can count. Stay here; I’ll call her up with some food.”

Hunter very badly wants to leap up and start running, to try and figure out where he is, what’s happened, what day it is, but his body protests. So instead, he closes his eyes, blocking out the blinding light of the morning sun as he sinks into the blankets around him, mind too muddled to pay any attention to how the Blight girl must be perceiving him. Titan, blankets - how he missed those. 

“...what day is it?” He manages to mutter out, keeping his eyes closed. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he’s aware he should be analyzing his situation. But there’s a haze of illness, injury, and exhaustion over all his thoughts, and his usual filters are starting to crumble. He’s just so warm , surrounded by a pile of blankets, a kind of warm he hasn’t been for days. 

“Friday morning, by now. We got you out sometime last night, and you’ve been asleep since.” She taps Hunter gently on his shoulder, and he grumbles, prying his eyes open. “Eda told me to give this to you once you were fully conscious.” She tilts her head to the side. “ Are you fully conscious?”

He waves his hand. “I think so. Unfortunately.” He grimaces, gripping his pillow. “Everything hurts.”

“Yeah, well that’s what this is gonna help with.” She places a bottle in his hand, and he cracks an eye open to look at it; light blue liquid sloshes around inside. “Painkiller potion. It’s the strong stuff, so she didn’t want me to give it to you until you were up.” 

“I…” Hunter doesn’t know what to say. He’s tired, and his mind is fuzzy, and he’s just so confused . Still, he uncorks the potion, forcing himself to swallow it down. He can feel the faint tingle of healing magic in his limbs, the sharp pain in his side already starting to dull. He rolls on his side, burying his head into the pillow. 

This sucks.

It’s not like he hasn’t had to wake up after being knocked out before; he’s just usually alone. Where he can handle it himself, not have some fourteen year old fretting over him. It doesn’t even hurt that bad. 

He accidentally elbows his side and has to bite his lip to suppress a whine. Okay, so maybe it does hurt pretty bad. 

She seems to pick up on his distress, sighing as she rises to her feet. 

“I’m going to let Eda and Luz know you’re up, alright? The soup should be done by now.”

He can hear her take a few steps, door creaking open. He wants to say something, but he doesn’t know what…

“...I’m sorry.” Amity stops, turning around to look at the boy, still lying flat on his stomach. He curls his knees in on himself slightly, a subconscious movement. He bites his tongue, hard, trying to keep his tears at bay. No, no, he’s not about to cry. He’s not a child.

“...for what?” Amity sounds genuinely confused, and Hunter isn’t sure how to respond. What is he sorry for? For Eclipse Lake, for the castle, for the cave. For causing her so much worry, for making her feel like she had to come save him from his own uncle-

For existing, he supposes.

He doesn’t think she’d accept that as an answer, so he says nothing, hoping she’ll leave the room. 

She doesn’t, staying quiet for a moment before exhaling. “If you’re sorry for something you did to Eda or Luz, I wouldn’t worry about it. Those two are… horrible at holding grudges.” She laughs a little, soft and light. “Seriously. It might be a problem at this point.” She lets her lighter tone fade, and Hunter keeps his face away from her, instead studying how many cracks he can count in the wall of the apparent closet he’s been shoved in. “If it’s for what happened at Eclipse Lake…” she takes a few steps closer, crouching down by his pile of blankets. He squeezes his eyes shut, curling in even further. Is she still upset? Shit, he can’t fight back like this. Luckily, he doesn’t feel any sting of an attack. He just hears Amity’s voice, soft and sincere. “It’s okay, Hunter. Really. I’m over it honestly.” He opens his eyes, looking up at her. She has her hand on the back of her neck, rubbing it awkwardly. “Didn’t think I would be, but… just don’t worry, alright? Focus on healing - Titan knows you need it.” Hunter snorts.

“I’ll try, Blight.”

She smiles, this one a little more of a smirk, much more familiar to Hunter. She stands up, stretching out her arms. 

“Unfortunately, I still have to go to school today, so I’m heading out. Feel better, jerk.” She shoots him a playful glare. “And be nice to Luz; yesterday I discovered the power of expired fireworks, and I’m not afraid to use it.”

Hunter squints. “What?”

Amity just grins, all too proud of whatever horrible thing she certainly did with fireworks. “I shot fireworks at the Emperor’s castle.”

“You what.” Her grin is, frankly, terrifying. 

“Oh yeah- man, I get why Luz and Eda do stupid things all of the time now! It was the adrenaline rush of a lifetime!” She sighs wistfully, shooting Hunter one last glance from the doorway. 

“Don’t die yet, blondie; you still haven’t gotten me back for beating your ass at Eclipse Lake.”

He scowls. “Technically, it was a draw.”

“I beat your ass.” She laughs as she leaves. Somehow, a small smile grows on Hunter’s face. Having someone to talk to just felt… nice. The painkiller she gave him is feeling really nice too, if making his mind even more muddled and groggy. Good, it’ll distract him from the existential dread of his life falling into shambles.

Oh titan, his life has completely fallen into shambles-

Before Hunter’s brain can take him down that terrifying train of thought, Luz busts through the doorway, concerningly energetic considering the fact she apparently spent all of last night breaking him out of jail.

“Hunter! Oh thank god, you’re alright!” She exclaims, rushing into the room. Hunter adjusts himself into a somewhat more presentable position. He sits upright, his back against the wall, still covered in blankets. He’s not giving up his warmth just yet; he just got it back. Luz halts herself before she gets too close to him, standing somewhat awkwardly in the middle of the room as she swings her arms. “Are you… feeling alright?”

Hunter grumbles, wrapping his arms around himself. “About as good as someone who spent four days in an abandoned dungeon could be.” He responds bitterly. Luz visibly winces, hissing through her teeth.

“Oh geez- I’m so sorry.”

“What? You have nothing to be sorry for, human-”

He’s cut off as the Owl Lady steps into the room, precariously balancing a bowl of soup in one hand and shutting the door with her other. Hunter instinctively tenses; no way out. Before the door is shut, however, a little form darts past the wild witch, flapping into Hunter’s hands. He grins.

“Rascal! Oh, thank goodness you’re okay.” He scratches Rascal’s head, the bird all too happy to oblige. Fortunately, Rascal isn’t as frantic as he was after their first reunification, happy to flap onto the boy's shoulder. Hunter watches the witch place the steaming bowl of food next to him, fang glinting as she smiles.

“Welp, congrats on not dying, kid.” She says, gesturing to the bowl. “My cookings not a great prize, but it's filling, and won’t make you sick more than you already are.” Hunter remains still, absent-mindedly stroking Rascal. “Annnd it’s not poisoned, trust me. Your little bird friend made sure of that. Watched me the whole time I cooked.” Rascal puffs up his chest proudly despite the wild witch’s annoyed tone. 

Good food - safe!

Rascal chirps happily. Despite Hunter’s reservations, he picks up the bowl, holding it in his lap somewhat awkwardly.

“Uhm… thanks.” He mumbles, staring at the golden-green mix. It wouldn’t make sense for them to hurt him now, right? They… rescued him? He’s still not sure if that’s the right word. A bitter voice in his head reminds him nobody else was coming for him. He doesn’t know if Belos would’ve ever given him a second chance.

Or if he even wanted that.

Even if ‘rescue’ doesn’t feel quite right to the lingering guilt from his betrayal, they sure as hell helped him. And whatever he thinks another party would do with him, be it interrogation or torture… 

Deep down, for some reason, he knows Luz wouldn’t do something like that. 

He cautiously raises the spoon to his lips. The taste is… passable, at best. But he doesn’t care. It’s real food, and it’s here, and it’s being offered to him, so god dammit he’s gonna take it. He scarfs it down, drinking at least two cups worth of water along the way while Eda stands by, Luz running downstairs to grab something.

“Yeesh, kid - did they feed ya down there?”

“Barely.” Hunter mutters, slurping down the rest of the soup. He sighs, slumping against the wall. He stares bitterly to the side, numbness washing over him. “So, when do I have to go?” 

The Owl Lady blinks at him. “Huh?”

“I mean, when do I have to leave your house - I can’t stay here forever.” Panic suddenly grips the teens heart. His next words are quieter, no longer rough around the edges. “Unless you really are going to keep me here-”

“Kid - no one’s keeping you anywhere.” Eda holds her hands out, kneeling down on the floor to bring herself to his level. “It was Luz’s idea to save ya, and that sorta includes the whole ‘recovery’ thing.” Her words grow softer as she smiles fondly. “Besides, it's the least I can do after what you did for Raine.”

Huh? What is she talking about…

Hunter blinks, some of that fog in his head clearing up at last. Oh, right. There was another prisoner. Raine… Raine Whispers. Who they freed. Who he helped free, he thinks. 

Luz bursts back into the room, a pile of books in her arms. She unceremoniously plops them down on the floor, a huge, nerdy grin on her face. “I present- entertainment!” She starts sorting through the books, making specific piles. “Eda says your wound’s pretty bad, so I thought I’d bring up some books to read, and-”

Eda puts a gentle hand on Luz’s shoulder, silencing the girl. “Luz, I told you we should wait for all this until after he… y’know.” She moves her head in Hunter’s direction. Her face falls.

“Oh… right.”

He’s staring blankly, pulling his knees closer and closer to his chest. He was thinking about how he’ll have to leave, when he’ll be okay to go home, when it fully hit him. 

He doesn’t have a ‘home’ anymore. There’s nothing waiting for him out there, no missions to return to, no uncle to impress- nothing. As much as he wants to stop them, tears start to well in his eyes, and he pulls his hands over his ears, curling into as small a ball as possible, ignoring Rascal’s tweets of concern. 

Luz bites her lip, glancing at Eda worriedly. The Owl Lady just sighs.

“There’s the emotional crisis.”

“I-I-I…” Hunter tries to form some sort of sentence, but the words die in his throat. He coughs, the jerking movements breaking the dams in his eyes, his tears falling onto his cheeks. He wants to stop, he tries so damn hard to stop, but he can’t. They just keep coming as he grips his knees, devolving into full on shaking sobs. He can’t pinpoint exactly what he’s panicking about, just everything, all at once. Every buried emotion, every ignored problem, every shoved away thought about how every single year of effort and energy he put into building his life has been reduced to nothing, they all come rushing at him. So he just cries. At some point, Luz puts her hand on top of his, and he does nothing to stop her. He squeezes her palm, gulping in air desperately. 

He can’t cry forever. Eventually the tears stop flowing. He hiccups, throat scratchy and dry, eyes screwed shut. He can’t bear to look at Luz and the Owl Lady’s faces. They must thing he’s so pathetic, so stupid, sobbing like a baby in the corner of their room even after they’ve given him so many nice things-

To his surprise, however, an arm wraps around his shoulders. He tenses, but again, doesn’t stop Luz, his exhaustion forcing him to lean his head on hers, sobs having now turned to sniffles. 

“I-I’m never gonna be able to go back to the castle, am I…” he murmurs, lips dry and throat raw. Luz squeezes his shoulder, and he finally opens his eyes to look at her face. A few tears run down her cheeks, too. 

“No, kiddo. You’re not.” Eda enters the room, a mug in her hand. She must’ve left at some point during his breakdown. She shoots Luz a knowing look, and Luz detaches from Hunter, shuffling out of the room with a sniffle, wiping her face on her hoodie.

Eda sits down in front of the teen, carefully placing her mug by his side. “I know it’s hard to understand but… well, you’re safe now, alright? Gah, I’ve never been great at the whole ‘comforting words’ thing.” Eda chuckles, giving Hunter a moment of silence to sniffle, wiping his remaining tears on his sleeve. Her expression darkens, into something full of pity and… anger. But it isn’t directed at him.

“The Emperor did that to you, didn’t he?” She points to his side.

There’s flashes of images in Hunter’s mind- a dark hall. A flash of hot pain, being dragged away and oh titan where are they taking him why won’t his uncle listen he’s so sorry-

“I...I don’t wanna talk about it.” Hunter manages to choke out. Eda just nods thoughtfully. 

“Okay. You don’t have to. Just…” She reaches out her arm, making eye contact with the boy, trying to get some sort of confirmation. He nods weakly, and she takes his hand in hers, giving it a squeeze. “Get some rest, okay? Now that we know you aren’t comatose, we can let the medicine work while you sleep. You’re gonna be alright, goldie.” She makes the move to hold away, but Hunter, in his state, stops her, gripping her hand.

“Wait. Please… please don’t go.” He says with a cough. The little, logical voice in the back of his head screams out; why would he ask that?! He barely knows her, she probably hates him, oh no what if she gets upset? But Hunter’s feeling too much to care, and all he knows is he doesn’t want to be alone.

And then the Owl Lady nods. She nods, and moves back sitting a foot or so away from Hunter but with his hand clasped in hers, backs against the wall. Belos never would’ve done this. Belos would’ve scolded him for acting like a child, telling him to go back to his room and behave, for Titan’s sake. What kind of sixteen year old needs to be held to fall asleep? What kind of soldier?

Instead of yelling, or warnings, or another sleepless night spent clinging to his plush, Hunter’s groggy head falls onto Eda’s shoulder, and he finally drifts back to sleep.

Chapter Text

Luz did not want to sleep.

There was way too much to do. They got home around 2 A.M, greeted by a surprisingly giddy Amity Blight. But they didn’t have much time for celebration; there were two unconscious, heavily injured witches to take care off. Despite the fact Luz’s adrenaline was soaring and she wanted to do everything to help, Eda insisted she and Amity get some sleep. Luz was not planning on sleeping, that’s for sure. But Eda got her and Ams all wrapped up on the couch, and it was just so cozy, and man was she tired…

Needless to say, she ended up passing out pretty fast.

Luz wakes up blearily a few hours later, early morning sunlight casting a gold sheen on her face. She yawns, stretching out her arms and crawling out from her place on the couch, careful not to disturb King, who is curled up at her feet. 

“Eda?” She calls out, glancing around the relatively empty living room. Amity’s pile of blankets on the floor are empty, and Luz frowns.

There’s a sound of shuffling from the kitchen, and Eda pops her head out of the doorway, stirring a thick black pot in her hands. She grins, and there are faint eyebags beginning to form on her face. 

“Good, you’re up. Will you come in here and stir this potion? I need to go check on Raine.”

Luz nods, shuffling into the kitchen. Her eyes widen as she sees the state it's in.

The room is scattered with pots and pans. There’s ingredients for food sitting out on the counter, abandoned in favor of the multiple potion brews Eda has going. She shoves the pot into Luz’s arms, and Luz grunts from the sudden addition. Eda has obviously not slept, and Luz is frankly impressed with how much she’s gotten done. She is never this productive. Like- ever. 

“Boots is keeping an eye on goldie upstairs in case he wakes up, and I-” She huffs, hoisting up a cardboard box and walking towards the stairs, her heels clicking on the tiled floor. “-need to get these glyphs up to Raine.” 

“Eda, are you… alright?” Luz is still waking up, frankly, and she’s half convinced she’s dreaming with how erratic Eda is acting. Eda just shrugs her off, which is, admittedly, a very Eda thing to do. 

“I’m fine, kid. And I’ll stay fine as long as you keep stirring!” She gestures at the wooden spoon, which has fallen still in the mixture. Luz jolts, grabbing the handle and starting to stir a little more enthusiastically than necessary, trying to place the pot on the counter so her poor arms don’t snap under the pressure. 

Luz is left to stir drowsily for a few minutes, Eda clomping back down the stairs and bursting into the kitchen. She softly pushes Luz to the side, giving the liquid a final, powerful stir before pouring it into a few glasses she has set out on the table. She finishes with a flourish, pushing the pot back into Luz’s arms and putting her hands on her hips.

“There! Four medium strength healing potions,” Eda wipes her brow, still standing proud. “Guess I should thank Hexide for something.”

Luz lets the heavy pot fall to the floor, way too tired to be carrying around a hulking piece of metal. 

She glances at the window, trying to determine what hour of the morning it is. “Eda, what time is it?”

Eda’s moved on to shuffling through a cupboard, searching for tupperware of some kind. “Ah, I don’t know- like six?”

           Luz perks up, slamming her hands on the table. "Oh cramity- I've got to get ready for school!"

           "Absolutely not, young lady." Eda removes her head from the cupboard she was previously shoving it in, sternly staring down her ward. "Today is a recovery day- and not just for the two unconscious witches upstairs."

“Doesn’t seem like you’ve been doing very much resting…” Luz trails off, Eda shooting her a withering glare. Luz throws up her hands in defeat, knowing Eda’s right; they’ve got a lot to deal with this weekend, and Principal Bump’s long winded assembly speech can wait. “Okay, okay. But seriously, Eda. Have you even slept?”

“Yesss…?” Now it’s Luz’s turn to glare. Eda sighs, slumping over with a defeated grumble. “Okay I haven’t. But I’m fine! Kid, I’ve stayed up for weeks- ” Eda tries to put her elbow on the counter, but she misjudges the distance and ends up slipping, falling unceremoniously onto the floor. 

Luz giggles, leaning down to help her mentor up. “You alright, Eda?” She asks, not particularly sympathetic. Eda grumbles, batting her away.

“ Yes , I’m fine.” She brushes off her dress, and Luz frowns. Eda notices Luz still giving her a pointed look, and she dramatically rolls her eyes. “I’ll take a break as soon as I finish prepping these potions. And making soup. Shit, Amity’s probably gonna need breakfast-”

“Eda!” Luz exclaims. She inhales a deep breath through her nose, pointing at the witch with her hands. “Amity can take care of herself, and I can help with Hunter and Raine.”

Eda just waves her hand. “No, no, this isn’t your responsibility kid-”

“Eda.” She puts her hand on Eda’s, and the Owl Lady looks down, eyebags even more pronounced from this angle. Luz sighs. “Didn’t you and Lilith talk about asking for help?” 

Finally, Eda relents, slumping over her shoulders with a chuckle. “Yeah, yeah- you got me there, Luz.” She scruffs Luz’s hair affectionately. “But I’m not gonna leave ya to take care of those two alone. I’ll go take a nap once Raine or the kid are up and functioning.” She stares wistfully up the stairs, smile gone. “They’ve woken up a few times, but not for long. I don’t think they were… asleep under that spell. Just comatose.” She sighs. “They just need to rest.”

“Well, they can do all the resting they need here!” Luz reassures Eda, summoning her energy despite the early hours. Luz’s energy is infectious, and a little smile breaks Eda’s face too. 

“Yeah- yeah, you’re right!” Eda slams her fist in her open palm, newfound determination glittering in her eyes. “Alrighty kid- I need you to go to the basement and scrounge up every healing glyph you can find. I’ll finish brewing up here…” She glances around at the multiple pots still scattered about the kitchen. “I may have gone overboard on the potions.”

Luz giggles, raising her hand in a sharp salute. “I’m on it!”

Evidently, the basement of the Owl House does not have many healing glyphs, as it consists mostly of dust and human junk even Eda couldn’t convince the Boiling Isles citizens is valuable. Luz returns from her mission empty handed, sighing. Fortunately, her face brightens at the telltale sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. 

“Amity!” She leaps over to hug the lavender haired girl, Amity responding with a pat on Luz’s back. 

“Haha, good morning, Luz.” She pulls away. She was fortunate enough to get some sleep, but not alot; there are still pronounced shadowy pockets under her eyes. 

“Oh! Lemme go grab you some breakfast. I think we have some feareal leftover-”

Amity silences Luz by putting a hand on her shoulder, smiling. “Thanks, Luz, but you don’t have to. I need to get going for school anyway.”

Luz’s shoulders sink. Oh, right. Just cause she gets a day off to recover from last night's chaos, Amity still has to trudge off to school. “Oh, right. Are you sure you can’t take the day off? We didn’t get much sleep last night.”

Amity’s expression darkens. “You know how my mother is- if I’m absent she’ll throw a fit.” 

“...just take care of yourself, okay?” Luz takes Amity’s hand, running over her pale thumb. “And thank you so much for helping.”

Amity blushes lightly, turning to the side. “I’m happy to help, Luz. Sorry I can’t stay longer- you should go up and see Hunter. He’s awake.”

“He is? Crap, is Eda done with the soup, he’s probably starving-” Luz’s momentary panic is cut off by Amity’s soft giggling.

“I think he’ll be okay.” She looks to the ground, letting her hand slip away from Luz’s. “You saved his life, you know- that’s pretty incredible.”

“Eh, it’s not the first jailbreak I’ve initiated-”

Amity leans over, kissing Luz on the cheek, and the human’s words die in her mouth. Amity smiles. “Don’t sell yourself short, Luz.” She drifts towards the door, giving a final wave as she leaves. “Let me know if there’s any trouble! I’ll see you on Monday!”

“See you…” Luz probably resembles a tomato right now, still not used to such open affection from Amity. But there’s no time to dwell on that! She has a sad little blonde boy to keep alive.

“EDA! IS THE SOUP ALMOST DONE!”

When Hunter wakes up next, the sunlight is far less assaulting to his eyes. He groans, rolling over onto his back, squinting at the window. Looks like it’s early afternoon by now. Damn, he’s slept a lot- he supposes that’s expected, considering his sleep in the dungeon was fitful to say the least. He debates getting up at all, knowing all that awaits him downstairs is awkward social interaction and probably another existential crisis. Maybe if he pretends to be dead long enough, his body will simply give up…

Hunter is, unfortunately, not allowed to test this theory, as Rascal tweets, enthused by his witch’s awakening. He tugs on the strand of hair that always seems to be dangling in front of Hunter’s face, forcing Hunter into an upright position with a lot of grumbles. 

“Alright, alright, I hear you.” He waves away Rascal, rubbing his eyes. He looks down at his side, and realizes he’s wearing a new shirt. It’s huge and baggy, a dull gray with the words ‘My Aunt Went to Disney and All I Got Was This Shirt’ written in bold letters, a crude picture of a mouse near his chest. He pulls it up to examine his wound, surprised to not see a single red stain. The Owl Lady must’ve changed his shirt and bandages…

Red spreads to his ears, and he pulls his pillow to his face with another dismayed groan. Rascal chirps in concern.

“Nope. I’m never coming out again. I’ll starve, thank you very much.” Hunter says, words muffled from behind his pillow. He can practically feel Rascal roll his eyes.

A few minutes pass, and Hunter’s stomach grumbles loudly. So maybe he lied. 

He pulls himself off of the floor, hobbling to the door with minimal pain in his side. Rascal dutifully perches on Hunter’s shoulder, and the witch can’t say he minds. Each one is afraid to let the other out of their sights. 

As Hunter makes his way down the stairs of the Owl House, he can hear faint laughter and chatter coming from the living room. Maybe, he can manage to slip into kitchen without anyone noticing-

The chatter stops, and Hunter whips his head to the side. Welp, there goes that plan. Two witches, a demon, and a human, all stare at him from various chairs and couches. Luz’s eyes light up when she sees him, and she jumps from her armchair. Eda, the Owl Lady, sits on the couch next to a figure he vaguely recognizes as Raine Whispers, the bard coven head. Or, former bard coven head, he supposes.

When he remembered they were rescued as well, he thought for a second maybe they were in a similar situation to him; he didn’t know them well after all, just from customary greetings at required dinners and galas. His hopes are dashed as he sees their easy smile, sitting naturally next to Eda with a steaming mug in their hands.They don’t look great- their glasses are taped together, and there’s a thick bandage wrapped around their right wrist. They're more gaunt than he’s previously seen them, but there’s still a spark in their eyes. They’ve changed as well, now wearing black sweatpants and, like Hunter, a tacky, confusingly worded oversized graphic T-Shirt. Theirs says ‘Just a Taurus who majored in Economics; keep Looking’. 

Luz bounces over to him, small smile on her face. “You’re up!”

“Unfortunately, yes.” He grumbles. His posture is slightly hunched as he avoids straining his injuries. “...do you have anything to eat?” His words don’t have any of their usual bite to them; he’s too tired, and he doesn’t want to risk offending anyone in his situation. She nods, already on her way to the kitchen.

“Yep! I’ll be back in a jiffy!” She disappears into the room, leaving a confused Hunter behind. What does jiffy mean?

He turns around, facing the two adults who are now eyeing him. He shifts uncomfortably; he hasn’t been this awkward since one of the newer recruits had the gall to ask him if he had a girlfriend. (Said recruit was immediately fired and probably nearly stabbed by Belos.)

He coughs lightly, more out of desperation to fill the silent air with something than any actual ailment.

“I-I’ll just go with her-”

Eda cuts him off with an ‘ahem’ of her own, smiling with eyebrows raised as she gestures to an armchair.

“Don’t worry, kid; we don’t bite. Well, King does sometimes, but he’s promised to be on his best behavior. Sit down.” Hesitantly, he goes to sit on the chair, body still rigid. He reaches up to feel Rascal, ensuring the bird is still there. His eyes are mostly trained on Whispers, analyzing them suspiciously. What happened to them? Did Luz already tell them about who he is? He doesn’t know if he could handle another person he has a complicated past with.

His nerves ease somewhat as they smile, despite their obvious exhaustion. There’s something so genuine about their look, their hands clamped around their mug and their posture relaxed, as if they’re at a holiday meetup and not a couple of prisoners recovering in a fugitive’s home. They’re sitting somewhat close to Hunter, on the edge of the couch near his armchair. 

“So you’re the young man I’ve heard so much about,” They say, laughing lightly. They outstretch their hand. “I’m Raine. Raine Whispers.”

He takes it hesitantly, still not quite sure what to do with them. “I’m, uh, Hunter.” It feels odd to introduce himself by his name, rather than his title. He grimaces.

Former title.

That soft look stays planted on their face as they lean back, sinking into the couch. “Thank you.”

“Huh?”

They turn away, looking at their shoes. Despite the fact the witch is significantly older than Hunter, they still seem nervous, and they tap their foot anxiously. “Edalyn told me you’re the one who undid the spell on me.” Their eyes shimmer, glossy with authentic sympathy. “I don’t know why you wound up in a place like that, but I am very thankful for your help.”

Eda smiles, placing her hand on Raine’s. “We both are.”

Hunter stares at them blankly. He doesn’t know what sort of reaction he was expecting from them, but it certainly wasn’t that. Luckily, he doesn’t have to think of a response as Luz bursts into the room, balancing a plate on her hand. She hands it off to Hunter, plopping down in an armchair of his own.

“Eda’s going to make a proper dinner tonight, so don’t worry!” She says. Hunter nods, staring down at the plate. It's got fruits, some nuts, and a piece of bread. He starts to nibble on one of the blood apples, notably deciding to avoid the bread. That’s mostly what they gave him in the dungeon and… he just isn’t sure if he’s ready to touch it yet. 

There’s a moment of awkward quiet, Eda and Raine now holding their hands in their own laps, no longer entwined with each other. Nobody’s sure what to say, and of course, it's Luz who breaks the silence first.

“How are you two doing? With your memory, I mean.” She looks at Hunter, concerned. “Amity said you were having some trouble.”

Raine holds a hand to their head, biting their lip. “After the spell was cast, not much, I’m afraid. I dreamt a few times, but that’s it.” They laugh sadly, shaking their head. “I can’t believe it’s been three weeks…” Any reservations Hunter had about assisting the rescue of Whispers disappear upon hearing that. Three weeks- even if they weren’t conscious, that’s too long to be trapped in a spell. Too long to be separated from the world. 

Hunter realizes all three are looking at him, waiting for his response. He just shrugs, taking another small bite of his food. “Everything’s pretty clear now, for better or for worse.” Confusion contorts his face, and he leans over to Luz, whispering. “Did you… did you not tell them who I am?”

Luz shakes her head, staring to the side. “...no. I- uhm- well I thought you might not want to? Or do it yourself? I-I can let them know if you want-”

“No, no. It’s uh, it’s fine.” He rubs the back of his neck with his hand. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” Suddenly, she perks up, like a lightbulb just went off above her head. She stands abruptly. “Ohmygosh, I totally forgot to ask! Do you need anything to eat, Mx. Whispers?” Raine waves their hand with a little laugh.

“Oh no, I’m fine, thank you dear. And you can just call me Raine, you know.” Luz plops back down in their chair, grinning. 

“Right! Sorry, I must be spending too much time at school.” She says sheepishly. Whispers takes a sip of their beverage, staring at the ceiling. 

“Mx. Whispers… been awhile since I’ve heard that one.” 

Eda snorts, lightly punching Raine’s arm. “Right, cause someone decided to teach immediately after graduation. You just got out of school and decided to go right back in.”

“Not all of us have an aversion to education the way you do, Eda.” Raine responds teasingly. Eda sticks her tongue out her response. “I-It didn’t last one. I wasn’t… made for teaching, haha.” They stare into their cup, face falling. “Glandus didn’t really work for me, e-either.” 

“Glandus?” Eda says with a mock gasp, placing her hand on her chest dramatically. “After all those years I spent beating up Glandus dweebs on the grudgby field, you teach there- truly, a betrayal.”

“You weren’t supposed to beat them up Eda.”

“Says you.”

Luz chuckles, deciding to add to the conversation. “Says the rulebook, actually.”

“Rulebook, shmulebook! What are you, my sister?” They all laugh, and Hunter feels painfully unincluded yet again. It’s not their fault he just… doesn’t really understand what their talking about. He’s researched grudgby, yeah; it’s the most popular sport on the isles. But he’s never even seen a game. He’s never been to a school.

Are these things he should have been doing?

Luz notices Hunter’s forlorn expression, and smiles at him. “Hey, why don’t we leave them alone and get you some tea. It might help with your throat.”

Hunter nods, attempting to stand. Instead, halfway through the movement, a sharp pain shoots through his side. He hisses, doubling over, his hand clutched on the arm of the chair. Everyone’s laughter ceases, sucking the air out of the room with their anxious breath. It takes a moment for him to steady his breathing, and he flinches when Luz places her arm around his, trying to steady him. He doesn’t push her away, the gesture actually helping him stabilize.

“...are you okay?” She asks, stepping away. He nods, lying through his ass, obviously. Shit, it’s gotta be infected- of course it’s infected! He wore the same bandages for four days, titan’s sake. 

Despite their own less than ideal state, Whispers rises slowly, coming to Hunter’s side. He takes a step away from them, closer to Luz. What’re they doing?

“Is everything alright?” They ask, and their voice is so soothing Hunter almost lets his guard down. Almost. Instead he just nods vehemently, standing up straight despite the spike of pain that shoots through his entire right side at the movement.

“I-I’m fine. I’m fine.” 

“It’s okay if you’re not, kid; that’s a nasty wound. I’ll go grab some more glyphs.” 

“Perhaps I could try and help?” Raine asks, and Hunter bristles. No, no- he doesn’t need more of their help. He’s already asked for enough. 

Eda joins them, putting her arm on Raine’s shoulder. “I don’t think you should be trying magic right now, Rainstorm.” They look at the bandages on their wrist, then sigh. 

“No, I shouldn’t. A-And no offense, Eda, you’ve been doing a great job, but I was in the healing track my first two years at Hexide, remember? I know how to apply potions and glyphs properly.”

Hunter’s panic continues to grow. He doesn’t know why the idea of being alone with Whispers makes him so terrified, or why the idea of owing anything else to Luz and Eda sparks so much anxiety. Regardless of why, he shakes his head, holding his hands up.

“I told you, I can handle it myself, I’m fine- ” Eda puts her hands on her hips, an ‘ahem’ escaping her lips as she stares at Hunter, seeming vaguely annoyed. She’s been nothing but kind since he’s been taken to her home, hell, she even stayed with him, embarrassingly, helping him fall asleep that morning. Despite this, a familiar feeling panic grips his chest again, the little voice in his head screaming at him to shut up shut up shut up, don’t say another word, you idiot-

“I don’t doubt you can, kid, but- ugh.” Her momentary frustration melts, and she sends Hunter a confusing look of pity. “You got stabbed, for Titan’s sake. You’ve gotta let us help, or it’s just gonna get worse.” Hunter says nothing, just takes Rascal from his shoulder and holds the palisman close to his chest. Eda sighs, taking a few steps back to settle into the couch. “But if you really won’t let Raine help, I won’t force it.”

Hunter’s eyes flicker from Eda, to Whispers, to Luz, the third of whom sends him an encouraging smile. He sighs. Luz hasn’t given him any reason to distrust her. So if she thinks it’ll help…

“Okay… okay. Alright.” Rascal chirps in approval from Hunter’s arms.

He is already regretting this decision.

Whispers took him back up to his room, and they’re alone. The silence is heavy and awkward, at least, to Hunter. Raine seems relatively unbothered, humming a faint tune as they rustle through a bag of potions, glyphs, and other healing supplies, setting out specific bottles and papers. Rascal has cozied himself on the windowsill, looking down at Hunter. His witch sends him a pleading look, searching for some sort of confirmation this was the right choice. Rascal nods, chirping softly.

Help - good help. Proud. Proud of Hunter.

Hunter sighs, murmuring under his breath. “I don’t know buddy…” The bird just repeats himself.

Help good. Proud.

Raine finishes whatever sorting they were doing, kneeling down by Hunter’s mattress pad. He’s lying as still as he can, back propped against the wall with a pillow.

Raine takes a few deep breaths, seemingly psyching themselves up, despite the fact Hunter’s the one being treated. It isn’t exactly reassuring to the young witch. Their easy smile relieves him of some of his anxiety.

“Alright- can you lift up your shirt for me?” They ask. Hunter freezes. Shit. He forgot about that.

The Owl Lady was kind enough to give him the baggiest, most oversized shirt she could find, but two small lumps are still visible through the cloth. He wrings the bottom of the shirt, glancing away. 

“I… I don’t think I want to do this anymore.” He glances to Whispers, trying to gauge their reaction. 

They look confused for a moment, but then something lights up behind their eyes and they chuckle. 

“Oh- are you trans?” They ask. Hunter bites his tongue. It’s not something he likes to talk about often- not that anyone would’ve listened if he tried. He’s just about ready to dash out of there when Raine lifts up their own shirt, revealing two distinct top surgery scars on their chest. “Don’t worry; I am too.”

His embarrassment is suddenly a lot less palpable. 

“I can go get you an undershirt, or something to wrap with if you’d like.” They offer.Hunter honestly appreciates it, but he still shakes his head. 

“No- it’s fine. Here.” He lifts his shirt slightly, revealing the tightly wrapped bandages underneath. Raine starts to unwrap, hands trembling slightly. They take another deep breath, laughing awkwardly.

“S-Sorry; I don’t do great under pressure when it's quiet. Do you mind if I talk?”

“Sure, knock yourself out.”

They laugh, continuing to unwrap the layers of gauze. “I hope I don’t. I hear I was comatose long enough.” Their eyes drift to the ceiling, thinking of things to fill the quiet air around them. “Let’s see- well, I’m Raine, b-but I already told you that. I worked in the Bard Coven for… well for a long time. You probably knew me as the coven head.”

Yeah, I met you. Hunter thinks, but he doesn’t say a word aloud, just lets Raine continue their work.

“B-But don’t worry! I don’t work for the Emperor anymore- haven’t for awhile actually. I’ve sort of been working against him since the beginning. It was an… undercover situation.” Now this is something Hunter hasn’t heard. He waits for Raine to go on, but their words are cut short as they finish unwrapping, staring down at his gaping wound. He doesn’t look, just stares up at the ceiling. He’s dealt with plenty of his own injuries before, but this one… it’s up there in severity.

Because I didn’t try to dodge. He shakes that thought from his head. Now is not the time.

“Titan, kid- what happened?” Raine asks, breathless.

Hunter huffs, his words coming out much more aggressive than he intended them to. “It’s none of your business.”

“R-Right.” Raine corrects, grabbing a bottle of some sort of ointment from their side. “Eda says it’s a stab wound. Is that right?”

“...yeah.” Hunter replies, but he doesn’t say anything else. They start cleaning, and Hunter grits his teeth. It stings like all hell, but he manages to stay quiet. “Could you- keep talking- please.” He manages to ask. They nod quickly, reaching for a towel. 

“Uhm- uhhh, let me see. Right! I’ve known Eda since high school, but hadn't met her human girl until today. Luz, right?” Hunter manages a nod. He’s thankful for her rambling- it distracts him. “She’s a very kind child- I’m assuming you’d know, being one of her friends. Reminds me of Katya.” 

Raine finishes cleaning the injury, and Hunter sighs in relief. It’s short-lived, however, as Raine stares down in concern. His hearbeat hitches.

“What is it?”

“Whoever did these stitches did not know what they were doing- I’m going to have to redo them.” They bite their tongue, eyes meeting Hunter’s. Their next words are muttered angry, low enough they don’t think Hunter can hear. But he can. “What kind of monster does this to a child-”

“I’m not a kid!” He shouts, more forceful than intended. He wrings his shirt, keeping his tears at bay. “I’m sixteen.”

Raine looks at him, unimpressed. “If you’re not a child, then that makes me ancient.” 

Shit, he didn’t think about that. He tenses, looking to the side. “S-Sorry.”

Raine’s playful expression melts at his reaction, and they smile reassuringly. “Don’t worry- I’m just joking.” They fish out an ointment, eyes meeting Hunter’s with a seriousness that wasn’t there before. “This is an anesthetic; it’s going to numb your stomach, so it might be hard to move for awhile.” Hunter scoffs.

“I don’t need anesthetic. I’ve dealt with worse.” Instead of being impressed or indifferent, Raine looks at him with… sadness. A deep sadness that makes him shift uncomfortably in his seat.

“I’m sorry, honey. But we have it here, so we’re going to use it.” Hunter’s only been called things like ‘honey’ once or twice, by people trying to belittle or insult him. It sounds… different coming from Whisper’s lips. “I don’t care how ‘tough’ somebody is; there’s no need to suffer unnecessarily.” They begin to apply the ointment, and Hunter shivers; it’s cold. Not painful, just cold. That’s when there’s a knock on the door. Raine and Hunter both look up in surprise. “Yes? Who is it?”

“Uhm… it’s King! Can I come in?” Raine glances at Hunter, who gives a weak nod. He really doesn’t care what the demon-rat wants to do. 

The door creeks open and the creature waddles in, shutting it behind him. He shuffles over to Hunter, something clutched in his arms. He looks at Raine.

“Luz said the smelly witch boy has to get stitches. Hunter frowns, and Raine, unsure how to respond to that, just nods slowly.

“Uhm… yes, he does?”

King nods, Hunter still confused on how he managed to speak while never physically opening his mandibles. He turns to Hunter, eyes narrowing. He plops a small, somewhat ragged limp bunny plush into the boy's arms. Hunter is confused to say the very least. But before he can question this, the demon has already begun to speak.

“This is Francois. He’s the highest general in my army of darkness, and he has survived countless bloody wars.” Raine and Hunter stare blankly, King waving his claws for emphasis. “He is very important, so if you hurt him, I will tear your arms off!” This point is directed at Hunter, king shoving a claw in his face. “But if you don’t, he will lend you his strength for your boo boo.” He pats the plush on its head. “You be good, Francois!” And just like that, the demon is gone, giggling as he shuts the door behind him. 

Hunter stares down at the plush. It’s nothing special, just simple beige cloth with two button eyes. It’s stupid, really. The whole gesture is stupid.

Yet, Hunter finds his eyes beginning to water, and he sniffles, wiping his face with his arm. He pulls the plush close to him; it’s just so soft, and the gesture so nice, and titan it reminds him of Spriggy, who has probably been discarded by now-

Raine, mercifully, doesn’t mention Hunter’s sniffles, just starts to work on his stitches. They don’t poke and prod, they don’t laugh or make fun of his tears over something so simple- when he cries out in pain, they don’t tell him to shut up. They hold his hand, and tell him it’s going to be okay, that he’s doing a great job.

These people all act so differently than everyone he’s been around before. He can’t predict them. He doesn’t understand them.

But he can’t say he hates it. 

It’s over surprisingly fast. Raine is efficient, and they’re quick to apply healing glyphs, giving Hunter plenty of painkilling potions along the way. They pack up their bag as he wipes the last of the tears from his face, Francois still clutched in his arms. 

Raine smiles down at him, crouching by his side. “You did great, kiddo- it should heal in no time.”  

Hunter sniffles, avoiding eye contact with the witch. “I… t-thank you.”

“No problem, dear. It was the least I could do.” 

“Seriously, I… thank you.” He holds Francois closer to his chest, words quiet. Rascal swoops down to Hunter’s shoulder, nuzzling his cheek. “You didn’t have to do that.”

Raine sighs, settling in next to Hunter. He lets them stay close to him, still looking away as they speak. “I don’t know why you ended up imprisoned where I was but… I am so, so sorry. No witchling deserves that.” They put their hand on his arm. “I’m glad they got you out.”

Hunter doesn’t know how long he’s going to stay here at the Owl House, or if he’ll even stay at all. But there’s a guilt gnawing at his chest- even if Raine will only be here for another day, even if they’re just some traitor who stitched up his wounds… he can’t help his guilt. They deserve to know who he is.

“How much did they tell you?” He asks. Raine looks at him, confused. “Luz and the Owl Lady, I mean- how much did they tell you about me?”

“Not very much. Luz said you’re a friend of hers who ended up arrested, and who helped them get me out.” A friend. 

Hunter stares at the ground, a darkness passing over his face. He laughs bitterly. “I’m surprised you didn’t recognize me.”

“I-I’m sorry, should I have? I’m not great with names-”

“I am- or I guess I was … the Golden Guard.” Hunter braces himself. Shock, yelling- he expects something. They’re a rebel after all. But he hears nothing. Just silence as they blankly stare.

And then, their expression fades into pain. A look of pure pity and sympathy. “Oh, titan- you’re sixteen?” They put their hand to their mouth, shaking their head. “Of course Belos… tch.” They put their hand on Hunter’s, gently squeezing it as he screws his eyes shut. No pain. Just reassurance. “I won’t ask what happened, but I am… so sorry, dear.” Somehow, despite the bombshell he just dropped on them, they smile. “Thank you for letting me help you.” And then they stand up, grabbing their bag and leave, Hunter now alone in the room, Francois in his arms, and a shocked stare on his face.

He wasn’t alone with Raine for the rest of the afternoon. The household didn’t talk much about what happened to bring them all together- Raine and Eda mostly just enjoyed each other’s presence. Hunter returned Francois to King safe and sound, and in return, the little demon showed off his entire ‘army of darkness.’ (It’s a plushie collection of unholy proportions- where they store them, he doesn’t know). Eda made them all dinner, and then Hunter returned upstairs, starting to pick through some of the books Luz brought him. At some point she joined him, choosing a book as well, pointing Hunter to some of the more interesting passages as they just… talked. About books. About magic. About Amity. (Luz’s comments on that topic were MUCH more favorable than Hunter’s.)

They talked, like normal fucking kids, and Hunter loved every second of it. 

Now he sits on his mattress bed, a new plush in his arms, with Luz across from him sketching out glyphs. Her tongue is stuck out in concentration, until she eventually raises the glyph up in triumph.

“Ah-ha! I present to you-” She taps the paper, and a few flowers burst out, forming a ring. She places it on her head, posing. “The flower crown glyph.”

Hunter scoffs, rolling his eyes. “That is the most useless glyph I’ve ever seen.”

“You’ve seen like two glyphs.”

“And yet my point still stands.” He finishes with a smirk. Luz sticks her tongue out at him, but he takes no real offense to it. He just knows it isn’t genuine. He yawns, glancing out the window. Darkness has now fallen over the Boiling Isles, and moonlight filters through the panes. He closes his book, setting it to the side. Any other time he’d stay up all night reading, but his sore body cries out in exhaustion, and the painkillers running through his veins beg for sleep.

“I should probably go to bed soon, human.” He says, eyeing her. She puts down her pencil, looking to the window as if she’s just realized it's now night.

“Right! Gotta let that healing magic do its job.” She tucks her pencil and papers into her pocket. “I’ll head out.”

“Wait. Before you go…” Luz turns to him, and Hunter drags out a sigh. He glances at Rascal, fast asleep on the windowsill, proud of his witch. It’s been a long time since someone’s said that- that they’re proud of him. 

“Yesssss?” Luz asks, snapping Hunter back into the question he knows he has to ask, or else it will drive him insane.

“Why?” There’s no bite to his words, no judgement. Just sheer confusion. “Why did you do it? Breaking into the castle like that, it was dangerous and unnecessary, and I just…” He clutches his hands together. “I can’t understand why.”

Luz wraps her legs around, sitting criss-crossed. Her answer is simple, so painfully obvious to her. “Because Rascal said you needed our help. And that’s what friends do.”

“You… see me as a friend?”

“Yeah?” Luz’s face falls. “U-Unless you don’t want me to, in which case I-”

“No, no no I…” A bittersweet smile crosses his face. “...that’s nice. I’ve never really had a friend before. Unless you count Rascal or…” The smile drops. “Belos.” His uncle’s name tastes bitter and foreign in his mouth. 

Luz just smiles, reaching out to take Hunter’s hand. “Then me and Ams, we’ll be your first! We can have sleepovers, go get nice cream at the cafe, all the stereotypical teenage friend group things.”

“That… sounds nice. Thank you, Luz.” He finally looks her in the eyes. “For everything.”

She chuckles. “Don’t thank me just yet- sleepovers means more truth or dare.”

“Annnd I take it back! I hate you.” Luz’s giggles devolve into laughter, her chest heaving. He shoots her a dirty, wildly overexaggerated glare. “I am never playing that stupid game again. Ever. I will kill you.”

“Oh, that’s what they all say…”She stands, dangling off the door. “Goodnight, Hunter. You better get some sleep- your sad white boy eyebags are bringing down my vibes.”

“I have no idea what half of the words you just said mean. But ‘night, human.” She shoots him one last teasing grin before shutting the door, leaving Hunter to fall back into his pile of blankets with a sigh. 

He doesn’t really have a future anymore, and it's… scary. He’s surrounded by new people- former enemies. People who have every right to hate him, to grill him for every gruesome detail of what happened to him, what led him to this point. But even so, even through all the anxiety and uncertainty, he feels safe. Safer than he had every terrifying night in the dungeon. Safer than he had been sitting alone in his room, crying out for no one, when Belos was angry and disappointed and this close to snapping just a few stairwells away from him.

He’s scared as all hell. But his side feels better. His mind feels better.

And he’s going to get better. 

Someday.