Chapter Text
Hunter and Luz shared a cell, both were at opposite ends of the room; they had been locked up on the pretense that they had tried to fool the scouts and that Hunter was pretending to be a high-ranking member of the emperor's coven.
They both knew the truth, but the coven guards in charge of the area didn't believe the blonde boy's words; as if they blatantly refused to accept that a child was someone with a higher position than them.
The guard in charge of their arrest peeked out from outside the cell, and handed Luz a black bird.
"You have a call…", the guard mentioned.
At this, both were excited; but quickly that happiness disappeared before the words of the guard, who smiled, having done that on purpose.
"Just a call, decide between the two of you who's going to make it…", and with that, the guard left, letting out an evil and giggling laugh.
Well, what a bastard...
There's only one call available, and this guy wanted to provoke a fight between them, how wicked of him; Luz sneered at the guard, sticking her tongue out at him, completely angry.
She hadn't been in the Boiling Isles long, and she didn't know the justice system all that well, but this can't be right; The angry expression on the blond boy confirms that this guard is only getting angry for nefarious purposes.
Hunter scoffed at the guard's boldness.
That wouldn't work, he just needed to convince the human to let him make the call, and get through to his emergency contact.
Hunter sighed, the man won't leave him alone when he finds out...
Meanwhile, Luz held the bird in her hands, looking sheepishly at Hunter.
"Eda can help us escape if you let me call her…", the girl said with a smile, she was serious to Hunter's horror.
The suggestion was terrible, but it was a valid option in the girl's mind.
'What is the Owl lady teaching her?', he asked himself, unable to understand where she got that criminal mentality from.
He guessed that the Owl lady herself was a bad influence on the girl.
Hunter immediately refused.
"No, I don't want any more problems associated with my image…", he exclaimed, horrified at the possibility that there were posters throughout the empire with his image on them.
Depriving Luz of the opportunity to refute, he added, "Let me communicate with someone, he will be able to help us out, without creating problems…"
"Is that so?", Luz crossed her arms, "Who is it?", she asked bravado, there was no way it was possible to get help and get out of there that easily.
Hunter snatches the black bird from Luz, ignoring as best he can the screams of protest coming from the girl and the guard's laughter coming from outside the cell.
"Call the castle…", Hunter mentions with a certainty in his voice.
The guard outside doesn't believe him, he just laughs one more time and retreats to his office.
Luz gave her an incredulous look, wondering what a simple castle employee could do for them.
At the castle, a bird crashes through the window, causing Philip to forcefully bury the quill in the paper; the man looks sadly at the page destroyed by the sudden movement.
A thirty-minute job, ruined; he would have to start over...
He let out a tired sigh.
The bird kept hitting the window and somehow managed to get in through it; Philip could only look puzzled.
'How had that thing gotten into his private study?'
The bird sat comfortably on the desk, quietly waiting.
Philip took the bird and put it close to hear who the hell was calling him at this time, it was the middle of the night, it wasn't the time for anyone to be calling, much less this number...
"Who's talking?", he asked as he set the shredded paper on fire with a look of annoyance plastered on his face.
"How did you get this contact?", he asked, feeling annoyed at the interruption and the consequences of it.
Hunter swallowed nervously, the man's voice sounding annoyed.
Luz gave her a sly look, wondering if Hunter really hadn't made a mistake by not accepting her suggestion; in return, Hunter just stuck his tongue out at her, refusing to fall for the girl's nonsense and distractions.
"Uncle, I'm in Latissa, could you come get me?", the boy murmured, but his voice was audible thanks to the silence in the room.
The other side of the line fell silent.
Hunter did his best to avoid the flashing gaze from Luz, who seemed to want to unravel all his secrets; he unconsciously took a step back.
Perhaps Hunter was imagining things, but he thought he heard a sigh come from the other side.
Due to his carelessness, Luz got too close and now she was almost on top of him, trying to listen to their private conversation; but quickly he was able to push her away and put a distance between them.
"Hunter?", the voice sounds tired, and it makes a feeling of guilt settle in the boy.
"Yes?", he questions, his eyes don't stop looking at Luz, he wouldn't allow another oversight.
"It's after midnight…", mentions his tired voice, before emitting a slight yawn; "What are you doing in that place?", his uncle's voice asked, sounding worried and exhausted at the same time.
There was a moment of silence, it wasn't the time to justify or lie; therefore, Hunter told him the truth.
"Was I arrested…?", he mused softly.
Hunter wasn't even sure it was a fair arrest, it was more an abuse of power and authority; Fortunately, Hunter knows someone with more authority in the Boiling Isles.
The other end of the line is silent, Philip on the other end can't quite believe what he hears.
"You?", the man asks, sounding quite surprised.
"I…", he sounded as bitter as he could, sneering at the girl who caused the trouble.
There was an exhausted sigh from the other side.
"Sorry to interrupt your rest…", mentions the young blonde, leaning against the wall of the prison cell.
His uncle's voice answered, "Kid, I can't sleep and you know it…", Philip had a lot of things to do, there weren't enough hours in the day; rest could almost be a disposable thing in his life at this point.
"Yeah, uh…", her nervous gaze focused on Luz, "Sorry for interrupting your work…?"
Luz seemed horrified at the idea of working at such late hours.
Everything was silent, but only for a moment…
"Will you help me with the paperwork!", Philip's voice exclaimed loudly.
Luz didn't understand the conversation, because she's only listening to part of that talk.
"That's not fair!", the blond boy yelled back.
"Nothing in this life is fair, kid!", The man's voice contained a cruel mockery, but at the same time, there was a feeling of sadness evident in his voice.
"You interrupted at the worst time, I have to redo an important document, which, I almost finished…"
The boy let out a grunt of pain at the thought of keeping himself working on something so boring.
"That will be your punishment!", Philip declared as a final sentence, "For leaving the castle without permission in the wee hours of the morning, having him destroy an official document…"
"I'm so sorry!"
"Well guess what? Me too!", Philip's voice was full of pain, as if he was holding back the urge to cry. "Those things take time to do! I won't finish in time!"
"It's not my fault the guards didn't believe me that I'm the golden guard!", Hunter exclaims, getting flustered.
Silence is maintained once in the room.
Philip stares at what was just said by his nephew, he started rummaging through his desk and looking for the contracts of the employees in the Latissa area.
"Who was the idiot?", Philip muttered, "I should fire them all…", He stared at the papers, considering if he should get rid of them.
"Don't worry, it's not your fault…", the identity of both of them, as well as their appearance, was supposed to be the best kept secret in the Boiling Isles.
Philip's voice took on a serious tone, "I'm coming right away…", the voice mentioned, before ending the call.
Luz shot Hunter a look, trying to understand what she had been through; Instead of questioning about that, she better ask something else.
"How long do you think it will take?", she says while she looks out the window of the cell, "The castle is quite far…", declares the girl, because that's something true.
"He said right away, so he won't be long…", Hunter replies, going to the window.
It doesn't take long for Luz to follow him.
On the outskirts of the building, a magic circle appeared on the ground, illuminated with great force and temporarily blinding some with its brilliance; From the cell where the children were, Hunter and Luz could see the man's arrival.
A man with shoulder-length brown hair ended up in the middle of the circle, his refined appearance indicated wealth, but above all, it showed authority; Hunter looked happy and relieved to see him.
The man looked in their direction, as if he knew where they were.
He looked like a tired mess and Hunter just scrunched up with guilt; the serious expression on his uncle's face turned into a smile, a question forming on his face.
'Developing criminal behavior?'
Hunter clung to the bars, flushed with embarrassment; Luz didn't understand the communication between them, but it was interesting to watch.
The man began to walk towards the building; Hunter and Luz turned away from the windows, running toward the cell door.
A man entered the building, everyone felt a serious oppression coming from the imposing figure, but the guards in charge and with greater authority did not care; they have power, there was nothing a simple witch could do.
"You!", Philip said, looking at a guard near the cell where both boys were, "Get them out of there, now…", the trembling guard took out his keys and unlocked the cell, allowing both boys to exit.
They quickly got behind him.
"Who let the criminals go?", shouted the voice of the head guard.
All the other guards quickly showed respect for his authority.
Philip didn't do it, there's no need, this is his employee; he just crossed his arms, hoping what nonsense happens now.
The poor guard who answered the door looked scared, but not as scared as when Philip spoke to him.
In front of Philip appeared the head of the area in Latissa, seeing himself as an imposing figure of great authority.
"You should take care of his children, sir…", the dismissive voice said, looking at the children hiding behind Philip.
While Luz watched the confrontation in shock, Hunter paled in horror at the guard's audacity.
'Poor idiot…', was the only thing the young blonde could think of.
Philip raised a questioning eyebrow.
"Only the boy is mine", Philip mentioned.
Luz wasn't his familiar; the guard's tone was distasteful to Philip.
The guard towered dramatically over the three of them.
"It's a serious crime to try to pass yourself off as a high-ranking member of the emperor's coven", his voice sounded quite content.
"You're lucky we didn't decide to tip off the emperor himself about this little, incident…"
'Why did that sound like it was an attempt to brag and threaten?'
"We saw them trying to steal the golden guard's magic staff, it will be delivered to its rightful owner in the castle…", the guard explained, pointing to said object on the guard's desk.
Philip wasn't going to get mad, it wasn't their fault that they didn't know what the boy really looked like, so he wouldn't blame them for this...
"You should be careful, sir", the guard mentions rather mockingly, "You don't want the boy to end up dead…"
At this Philip twitched, Hunter and Luz realized that the guard hit a nerve there; some of the guards laughed at his words.
Philip looked at the guards quickly and recognized them, he kept his appearances in his mind, thinking of their names...
"I'll definitely make a pay cut for all of you…", Philip muttered, barely being heard by the children on either side of him.
Philip turned to sneer at the idiots.
"So, did you come for the boy?", he ask pointing to the blond boy, who immediately hid behind his uncle.
Philip whipped his hand away from his nephew, glaring at this cheeky idiot with disgust.
Philip looked at Luz, then her attention went to Hunter, who gave her a nod, confirming a wordless question.
"I'll take them both…", Philip sighed, tired of hearing so much nonsense in one night.
A smile appeared on the guard.
"That's 50,000 snails!"
'Oh shut, that's too much money!', thought Luz.
Even with the man's wealthy appearance, there was no way anyone could have such an amount of money.
'What idiots!', Hunter thought, there was no reason to pay the guards just to let them go.
“Excuse me?!”, Philip exclaimed, feeling his mind cloud with anger.
The children behind him jumped at his sudden but quite justified cry; that helped Philip control his anger and focus on the conversation of these idiots.
"He seems to have enough money for us to keep quiet about this incident and not mention it to the emperor…", he said as he pointed disdainfully at Philip's elegant attire.
Philip looked at them with his mouth open due to the surprise and the guard's words...
Philip glared at all those bastards, before handing over the corresponding money, and taking each of the children with each of his hands, and leaving the building infuriated by the idiots.