Chapter Text
Luz Noceda was lost.
Ever since she was but a small child she had obsessed over the idea of magic. Of course, back in the Human realm that was no more than fantasy, everybody knew that magic didn’t exist, that it was only a form of escapism for those with nothing better to do and a cash grab for the few that wrote stories and filmed movies about such impossible concepts.
That’s why on that fateful day, when Luz chased after that small owl and emerged in the fantasy land of her dreams, she decided that this was where she wanted to be. Where she was meant to be. The magical land of witches and demons beckoned her to stay, to be where she belonged, not back home where her ideas would be pushed to the side or mocked but in the Boiling Isles, where she could finally, finally accomplish the dream that she had suppressed her entire life.
She could become a Witch.
And nothing could change her mind.
Unfortunately… she never was good at thinking things through…
Everywhere she went, pain and misery followed. Every person who made the mistake of treating her like an equal ended up hurt and their lives forever changed, and rarely was that change for the better.
Eda, her mentor, was almost turned to stone and lost her magic permanently because of her.
King, the little demon that became almost like a brother to her, had been hurt and harmed in ways that never befell him until she arrived.
And her friends… Willow, Gus… Amity even… they were so fast to put themselves in danger because of her, so quick to rebel against everything they had known their entire lives just because Luz had a hunch that the Emperor was up to no good… it was only a matter of time before one of them got seriously hurt or fell into real legal trouble with the Emperor’s coven.
And the worst part was that it would be her fault.
It would be her fault for making them believe her own selfish beliefs and controlling them like a pack of dogs that don’t know they have leads attached.
She really was no better than Belos himself…
Tears fell from the corners of Luz’s eyes as she clambered to the top of a small hill, its red grass moist and slippery from the storm that had just passed. She ignored the stray boiling rain on the ground melting away the material of her leggings, leaving a burning pain along her exposed knees as she slipped down again and again trying to reach the crest. Thankfully her hands managed to grip onto the grass firmly enough to hurl her body up to the peak before her nerve endings could burn up completely.
Standing up on shaky legs, Luz stared at the towering silhouette of the Emperor’s Castle as it loomed along the orange skyline, the setting sun barely peeking over the horizon as its guiding light diminished by the second. It would become night soon, Luz couldn’t tell if that would be a help or hindrance just yet, it was only a fact as of now.
The longer the young girl stared at the large building the worse she felt yet the more sure she was of her decision. Ever since she had arrived in the demon realm Luz had been told over and over again how horrible the Emperor was, of what a tyrannical ruler he was and how the coven system was nothing but a tool he created to control the inhabitants of the Isles, but in the past couple of hours she’s had nothing but time to think, to make her own decision,
And maybe Belos was right?
He was arrogant and controlling, Luz never said he was a saint, but maybe he was onto something with his beliefs about wild magic. He had been Emperor of the Boiling Isles for fifty years before Luz arrived after all, fifty years of the coven system, of the wild witches' magic being restricted, yet the people seemed happy. Both when Luz first arrived and even now, as she pondered on this small hill she had chosen as her thinking spot, the people of the Isles seemed to be doing fine, not perfect by any means but fine.
Maybe being taught by a wild witch made Luz grow up with a biassed ideology about wild magic. She was taught that restricting a witch's magic was some heinous act, something vile and unforgivable, but… if it helped people in the long run then what really was the problem?
Maybe it really was the Titan’s will to segregate witches into covens, to lock away their magic for their own good. Luz had seen what wild magic can do in the hands of a witch and it was… not pretty to say the least. Even if they didn’t intend on using it maliciously it always seemed to cause more problems than it fixed, it would make sense for the Titan, for the Isles themselves to want to keep their inhabitants away from such dangerous forms of magic, right?
After everything Luz and her friends had done to fight against the Emperor, she was finally starting to realise.
Belos was Right.
And that’s why after inflating her lungs with determination, Luz pushed off the ground, sliding down the small incline before making her way in hurried steps towards the Emperor's castle. She didn’t dare look behind, didn’t dare to see the Owl House again, what used to be her home becoming smaller and smaller in the distance, Eda and King were probably already looking for her knowing them, why would they even bother .
Soft grass turned to loose stones before being replaced with industrialised cobbled streets, lights and sounds of all different types erupting from behind the tall houses, humble inns and restaurants of Bonesborough. The night market was in full effect tonight, Luz knew it would be, every witch on the Isles brave enough to leave their homes on this night would be pulled into an intoxicating land of food and drink, potions and spells, booths and vendors.
Luz grinned to herself slightly, she had always thought she was no good at planning ahead yet the one time she sat down and made a solid plan it was working like clockwork. Everyone and their mother would be either at home or out on the market, that meant less people out on the rural roads to spot Luz during her escapade, and nobody to stop her on her way.
Luz quickened her stride, her purple hoodie pulled tightly over her head as the nerves she had managed to suppress up to now bubbled back up again, threatening to stop her in her tracks if left unattended. A deep breath through her nose calmed them slightly though she couldn’t shake the idea that what she was doing was incredibly stupid, however that was pretty par for the course for most of her plans.
It was too late to go back anyway, and she didn’t have the mental strength to explain what she had been doing to Eda and King when they would undoubtedly start questioning her the moment she got back.
She only hoped that her plan would work as intended.
______________________________________________________________________
The castle was even larger up close, its tall walls and extruding towers making Luz’s stomach churn in anticipation and admittedly a bit of fear.
The building stood high and mighty on top of the singular stone pillar that supported it, a carpet of razor sharp stalagmites, so pointy they could rip her skin apart with a single touch spread through the entirety of the cavern below it.
Everything up to this point had been the easy part. Sneaking out of the house, manoeuvring around the countless scouts patrolling the castle walls, leaving her friends behind…
…leaving Willow and Gus, her first true friends…
…leaving Eda and King, her closest family in this realm…
…leaving Amity…
Luz shook her head so violently she heard a bone crack in her neck, she couldn’t allow herself to think these thoughts. She was doing this for their good too, they were the only reason she would be willing to go through with this plan! It was all for the greater good, it was for their good.
Forcing herself back to the mission at hand, Luz found herself at a sudden roadblock, a pretty massive one too.
There was only one way in and out of the castle without a staff or some kind of flying apparatus, of which Luz had neither, and that was by walking along the long bridge which connected the platform which she was currently standing on to the landing of the castle.
The problem was that the bridge was completely retracted.
“Shit.” Luz whispered so quietly it could’ve been confused for her breath hitching.
Looking around, Luz scanned the area around her for anything she could do to get past the cavern of pain between her and her final destination while also trying to push down the voices in her head berating her for overlooking such a crucial detail. Maybe there would be a control room somewhere? Like the ones they sometimes had in public car parks in the human realm? She could just break in, press a button and the bridge would come right on out, right?
Right?
Trying her best to stay composed, Luz found no such booth or station, in fact she didn’t find much of… anything.
She had been on the grounds of the castle only once before but she could vaguely remember the gist of it all. Dozens and dozens of the Emperor’s coven scouts securing every inch of the landing, keeping a watchful eye from the many lookout towers sprouting up around the premises, light spells illuminating their stupid little masks. Yet on this night there was absolutely nothing, no scouts on the landing, not a soul on the towers, no beaked masks or white cloaks anywhere to be seen.
This would have probably caused Luz more concern if she hadn't been so enraged by her own stupidity to realise it.
Luz beat herself over the head mentally for not thinking about such a likely roadblock, of course they retract the bridge overnight. Did she really think she could just sneak past a couple of scouts and be granted entrance to the most secure complex on the entirety of the Isles?!
Did she really think that she could just waltz into the Emperor’s castle like she owned the place and talk to the most powerful witch in the demon realm like she was an old friend that just so happened to be in town!?
Was she really that stupid!? So incompetent that she couldn’t make a single plan by herself without FUCKING UP!?!?
A loud grinding noise brought Luz out of thoughts, her hands letting go of fistfulls of hair as the pain from scalp was overpowered by the newfound pain in her ears. The ear splitting sound, a mixture of mechanical whirring and the screeching of grinding metal overwhelmed the girl as she tried and failed to lift her head and face whatever could be emitting such a foul noise.
After what Luz could have sworn was hours but could only have possibly been a minute or so, the screeching fell silent once again and Luz allowed her hands to drop from covering her ears down to the floor. She let herself take a couple of deep breaths, trying to calm herself down after such overstimulation before finding the strength in her neck to strenuously look back up.
Where just moments before there was nothing but a pit to a spiky demise now laid a large, lengthy bridge. The rigid metal making up the contraption formed a pathway from her position to the landing of the castle.
Luz didn’t remember when she fell to the floor but the rough stone digging into her exposed knees proved that she must have at some point during the bridge's opening. Staring past the passage at the castle itself, Luz could just about make out a couple of silhouettes on the other side of the bridge by the entrance; the two figures didn’t move an inch and instead waited on either side of the looming doorway into the castle.
Absentmindedly Luz managed to push herself to her feet. If she had been in her right mind she would’ve thought twice about what she was about to commit to, asked herself some important questions like why was security so minimal tonight, who might have lowered the bridge if she saw nobody around, and why the only two scouts she had come across were making no attempt to capture her for trespassing.
Alas her mind was too frazzled and her heart too determined to notice the glaring red flags, and as she took a step forward onto the bridge a chill fell down her spine as she realised,
“This is it.” She whispered to herself, her voice raw and raspy as she began to traverse the bridge.
The tired girl tried to look as together as possible, taking careful and methodical steps as the castle walls only seemed to grow higher and higher the closer she got. Daring to take a peek over the bannister Luz regretted her decision immediately, the absurdly deep pit directly below her sending a wave of vertigo through her body, the pointed rocks barely visible at the bottom threatening to tear her into ribbons if the bridge was to start retracting at any point during her approach.
After what felt like a lifetime, a wave of relief washed over Luz as she stepped off the bridge and back onto solid ground. Wiping the sweat from her hands on her shorts, Luz’s eyes wandered between the two scouts keeping guard at either side of the tall entrance, the grande wooden doors between them closed tight and probably chained shut and barricaded beyond belief if Luz had to guess.
With a determined stride Luz walked up to the doors, the scouts doing nothing to stop her approach which was not only strange, but to Luz and her knowledge of how the Emperor’s coven usually operated quite concerning.
Sure, the Emperor’s coven scouts were pretty incompetent most of the time, Luz had realised that much after having the upper hand against an entire squadron of them for the -teenth time while having nothing but a couple of glyphs and her own ingenuity to defend herself with, but the fact that these two did nothing to stop her, not even really acknowledging her existence as she approached the front door, that rubbed her the wrong way.
Concern started to rise from her chest again, the bridge opening seemingly by itself and the only two scouts she had met on her way doing nothing to stop her, almost like they expected her to be there, it cemented the thought in her mind that someone expected her to be here tonight, and even worse, that they wanted to make sure she got there in one piece.
Not letting her thoughts get the better of her, Luz placed her hands firmly against the smooth wood of the double doors and with all the power she could muster in her shoulders attempted to push them open.
The doors wouldn't even budge. She might as well have been pushing at one of the concrete walls hoping that it would carve a way in for her. There was no way she was getting through these doors alone.
Taking a defeated step back from her only way into the castle, a lightbulb went off in Luz’s head as she instead approached one of the scouts, the shorter of the two from Luz’s observation though they were standing so far away from the other that it was hard to compare, and either way they still had a good couple of inches on her.
Stopping a couple of feet in front of the scout, the masked sentry once again made no indication that they even noticed Luz approach, their head pointed like they were staring right through Luz. That somehow made her feel even worse about whatever was going on.
“Umm… hello?” Luz called out to the shorter scout, and to her surprise that seemed to actually get their attention, their head turning in her direction though she couldn’t see their eyes behind the darkness of their mask.
Sensing that there was really no turning back now, Luz cleared her throat.
“I, uh… I need to speak with Belos.” She tried to speak loudly and authoritatively though her voice fell flat by the end, the man's name leaving a bad taste in her mouth.
A thousand questions filled her mind as Luz realised the reality of her situation, was she actually about to do this? Was this really happening? Would she wake up any second now, comfortably in her sleeping bag back at Eda’s house? Why did she suddenly feel so disconnected from her own body? And why are these guards not… guarding? Like at all?
A moment passed as Luz kept constant vigilance on the scout, not daring to be the first to break her stare just in case they were to pull something when her guard was down, was that it? Was this an ambush? Was the other guard going to attack her while her attention was on their colleague?
Luz’s hand reached down to the fanny pack along her waist in preparation for battle, though neither guard made any move to attack, hell Luz though they would stay completely still like before, that was until the shorter guard, the one she was attempting to talk to lifted a finger to their own throat, forming a small blue circle that disappeared just as it was completed.
“She’s here sir.” A feminine voice echoed from behind the mask, and just as quickly as they had raised it the guard let their hand drop back by their side.
With her eyes growing considerably wider in anticipation, Luz waited for a further explanation, something, anything to tell her what was going on. The guard however only turned away from her, resuming the blank stare into the distance they had been keeping before Luz interrupted them.
After another long moment of waiting, Luz threw her arms out by her sides in an expression of bewilderment,
“ And you guys wonder why your salary is so low…” She muttered to herself in annoyance, not making any effort to keep her voice quiet or her statement hidden in any way. Though neither of the guards seemed to hear her, and if they did then they didn't care as not a peep escaped either of their lips for the duration of her wait.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Luz bounced in place by the castle's entrance, a heat rising to her face and butterflies hatching and fluttering around her stomach as she could do nothing but wait and listen to the wind reverberating around the castle walls. Strong gusts passing through open windows and dancing around the offshooting spires as it whistled and echoed through the otherwise quiet night.
It was kind of soothing actually, it reminded Luz of home, of how the wind would whistle around the thick foliage and dense tree trunks of the woods behind her house, it reminded her of her mamá’s whistling as she folded their laundry or cooked breakfast on a saturday morning, it reminded her of the life she had. The life she sacrificed having just so Belos couldn’t have the portal. The life she didn’t know she was leaving behind forever.
If not for that portal, for Owlbert stealing her stuff, for that palisman dragging her away from everything she’d known, she could’ve had a normal life. She could’ve been a happy child. Had a happy family. Had normal friends.
It was all because of wild magic.
Wild magic ripped her from her home.
Wild magic took her away from her mother.
Wild magic ruined her life.
An almost overwhelming wave of sudden understanding fell over Luz. This whole time she had been fighting against Belos just because people told her to, yet it took her up to now, waiting to speak to the man she was taught to hate for her to realise.
Belos was right,
Wild magic is evil.
And she would not let it hurt anyone like it hurt her ever again.
The sound of falling chains and the clicking of locks brought Luz’s attention back to the door in front of her. The creaking of rusty latches and wooden planks being lifted echoed from behind the door as Luz stood tall, preparing herself to be face to face with the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles once again.
As the final lock clanged against the ground the doors swung inwards, like an invisible force had pushed them open for Luz to pass through. The dark halls of the castle waited for her just past the threshold, the pristine yet dank passages illuminated by evenly spaced torches, though the regular fire that would have been used for such torches in the human realm seemed to be replaced with balls of solid light, identical to the ones Luz’s own light glyphs created.
The sight of them made her sick .
Taking one last deep breath in, Luz prepared herself for the worst before taking a step inside, the doors closing behind her as she moved deeper into the castle's interior and the now distant sound of the bridge retracting again sending a chill down her spine.
The sounds of the doors locking again made Luz stop in her tracks as the noise reverberated down the empty halls of the castle, taking one last look behind herself Luz was admittedly fascinated to find no clear locking mechanisms on the door, and furthermore no locks, chains or wooden planks anywhere to be found on the floor around the entrance.
Turning back again, Luz made her way forward, nothing but the most intense determination in her walk as she traversed the winding hallways. As she walked along the cyan carpeted floor, Luz allowed her eyes to wander between the decorations set up throughout the entirety of the interior.
Many different banners and tapestries adorned the walls, the ones around the entrance displayed different coven sigils; Plant, Illusion, Abomination, and most prominently the Emperors coven sigils hung from the walls, the torches placed by them illuminating the designs brightly as she passed. There were other more intricate designs too, some depicted the savage ages and others Belos’s introduction of unity and the coven system, Luz had seen all these banners before of course when touring the castle with her Hexside class but in the dimly lit corridors of the castle, late at night while alone, the designs came off much more threatening than before.
Luckily Luz had remembered passing the throne room when she, Gus and Willow tried stealing The Healing Hat during their tour so she had a good idea of which direction to go, and not allowing herself a moment of hesitation Luz sprinted down the halls, turning whenever a certain hallway looked familiar and following the ever growing sounds of… was that a heartbeat?
The isolated hallways echoed the sounds of her footsteps as Luz hurriedly chased after the gradually crescendoing sounds of a heartbeat, passing tapestries, statues of important witches and large pipes running along certain walls before disappearing into the ceiling or floor.
She didn’t know why she was chasing after the sound, she just felt that she should, like it was beckoning her towards it, leading her where she needed to go, and she obliged, the noise getting louder with every corner she turned, her own heartbeat beating loudly in her ears as her breathing became more desperate to fill her lungs with oxygen. Until finally she’d reached it.
The door to the throne room.
Luz’s breathing hitched as she realised she had made it, a strange sense of dread slowing her movement as she approached the tall, metal doors. Why was she so scared now? She knew that it would come to this, it was all part of the plan, so why did it all of a sudden feel like she was crawling through treacle? Like her body was fighting against her own actions?
With all her might Luz pushed herself down the long hallway, ornate statues of the Emperor standing spaced out along the entirety of the way. Those statues did him a much better service than he deserved, portraying him tall and mighty, his mechanical staff anchored menacingly into the ground by his feet. Definitely a humble gift from the Construction coven head to earn some brownie points with Belos.
With one last step Luz found herself in front of the entrance to the throne room, the room in which Belos undoubtedly resided even at the unholy hours of the night. A panic ran through her entire body as she clenched her left hand into a fist before lifting it up in front of her face, ready to commit to her crazy plan.
Moving her fist slowly to the door Luz prepared to knock. Though that was deemed unnecessary as the doors began to swing open by themselves before her hand could connect.
Painfully slowly the doors creaked open, the sound of metal scraping against ceramic barely reaching her ears as a heartbeat filled her eardrums once again; though Luz could not tell if the heartbeat was her own or belonging to the gigantic heart suspended in the air along the back wall of the throne room.
The vile smell of sulphur threatened to make Luz gag as she stepped inside, her eyes adjusting to the lack of light. It was even darker than the hallways before, the only light sources in the room being two massive torches behind the throne, though these seemed to be keeping actual fire instead of materialised light like the ones prior. Miscellaneous scouts littered the room on either side of the throne, those same beaked masks and white cloaks keeping a watch on every inch of the room. Though like the ones by the entrance they didn’t seem very concerned with Luz’s trespassing.
Forcing her eyes to look at the exact spot they had been avoiding so fiercely, Luz’s vision landed upon the throne. The large backrest of the golden seat almost reached the heart directly above it as a comparatively small yet still huge figure sat on the throne, writhing and pulsing as its white and yellow cloak covered its body.
It was the Emperor.
With no acknowledgement of her presence, the Emperor raised a gauntleted hand before striking his fingers together in an echoing snap .
Almost immediately a lone scout emerged from the shadows by the throne, in their hands a small silver platter with a matching silver dome covering the contents.
Carefully the scout approached the Emperor, every step quick yet precise like it had been practised a thousand times over, before kneeling down at the Emperors feet, the silver tray held high above their head as they removed the dome, carefully keeping it perpendicular to the tray as the Emperor reached blindly for the item presented to him.
Straightening up in his throne, the Emperor held the item tightly in his hand, and all too late did Luz realise what said item was…
It was a palisman…
A small wooden otter was held tightly in his grasp, the end of what once must have been its staff poking out from the bottom of the palisman though the rest of the staff was nowhere to be found.
Luz could do nothing but watch as the man examined the creature closely, a small part of her deep down wanting to yelp as he squeezed the poor animal forcefully, the newly formed cracks in its exterior oozing a viscous green substance that the Emperor quickly guided through the eye holes of his mask.
A horrible moan echoed from behind his mask as the man sat at the top of his height, returning the cracked and destroyed carcass of the palisman back to the tray before gesturing the scout to leave, which understandably they did right away.
Luz wished she could run away too.
For a short moment Luz forgot why she was there in the first place, the sight of such ritual shaking her to her core, that was before for the first time that night Emperor Belos spoke,
“ Ah. I do apologise that you had to witness that. ” The slow serpent-like hissing of his voice set off Luz’s fight or flight response, her shoulders buckling and fists clenching as her body prepared for a battle that hopefully wouldn’t have to come.
“ Please, come in. To what do I owe the pleasure? Luz the Human?” The snake-like man continued, his eyes glowing a neon green with the essence of the palisman before returning to his natural piercing blue as they gazed down on her small stature.
“Let me guess, you came back to finish the job? To explain to me how Wild Witches are only misunderstood? How I should dismantle the coven system and let the inhabitants of the Isles wreak havoc against the wishes of the Titan?”
Luz took a small breath in, hearing the man speak her name brought back unpleasant memories of their last confrontation. Her eyes locking with the Emperor's, she took a single step forward, her body barely illuminated by the distant torches.
“Your guess is wrong, I’ve only come to talk with you.” She responded calmly, making sure not to stumble or stutter over her words.
The Emperor turned his head in curiosity, like a dog to a tennis ball.
“Oh? And what about, pray tell.” He responded, gesturing the girl closer to him and against her better judgement Luz obliged.
Now standing in the middle of the open room, Luz prepared herself to speak her next words.
It felt so wrong, like every part of her physical body and her conscience was fighting against her, pulling her back, urging her not to say what she was about to say, to turn back and return to Eda and King, it wasn’t too late yet, she could still come back.
But her decision had been made long, long before this moment, long before she stood before Belos, long before she entered the castle, long before she had even left the owl house.
So she spoke, her voice low and grim yet perfectly audible,
“I want to join the Emperor’s Coven.”
A breathy, sinister chuckle echoed around the room, the sound only growing louder as the Emperor’s chest heaved in laboured laughs before being replaced by intrusive coughing and choking. His body doubled over, a hand clutching his chest as he wiped a small chunk of… what Luz could only describe as gunk off his gauntlet with his other hand.
“I’m serious.” Luz continued bluntly. “I want to join your Coven.”
It took a moment for Belos to compose himself, but as he straightened himself in the throne once again his next words came out cold and dangerous.
“Do you take me for an idiot Luz?” He accused the young girl as she tried her best to stand tall and not react.
“You expect me to believe that after everything you’ve done to stun my rule, after everything you and Edalyn have done against the coven system, that you would just change your mind and decide to join a coven out of the blue? And my coven out of any of them?” His voice grew more angry at every statement, a horrible mania showing through in his bright, almost glowing eyes.
The Emperor stood up from his throne, staring down at Luz from his elevated position.
“What I think is happening here, is that you have something else up your sleeve. Maybe your friends are trying to steal my precious relics again, or maybe the Owl Lady is waiting just behind that door to attack me once I step closer?”
“You can do all the spell circles and take all the precautions that you want.” Luz challenged, “You will find that I am here alone, unarmed, and that nobody else knows of this besides me and you.”
The man stopped for a split second, shocked, an obvious rage building up behind that mask at being talked back to by a wild witches apprentice.
Belos was a lot more distrusting than Luz had prepared for, that was another thing she managed to overlook in her plan, the fact that Belos might just refuse her plea or arrest her instead if not worse . If their conversation kept going like this it would not end well for her, she had to find something, anything to prove herself to him.
Thinking quickly Luz unbuckled the fanny pack around her waist, letting it drop to the floor by her feet before kicking it towards the Emperor. The lined pages poking out from the broken zip showing the familiar patterns of the different glyphs she had learned and used, most commonly against Belos and his lackeys.
Just as quickly Luz allowed herself to drop on to one knee, the green carpet leading up to the throne cushioning her fall as she placed her hands on the floor in front of her, her head bowing down until she could see nothing of the room but the dirty green carpet beneath her.
“You were right.” The girl managed to choke out as the Emperor watched in awe, what used to be one of the largest threats to his rule kneeling down before him.
“You were right about wild magic. It’s dangerous. Unpredictable. It only ends up getting people hurt.” She continued as the tall silhouette of the Emperor descended the small set of steps leading up to his throne, a red glow enveloping her bag as it lifted to the man’s eye level.
Pulling out a single piece of paper, the object crumpled in the Emperor’s hands. A small ball of light being left in its place as it reflected against his masked face.
Luz could see none of this however as her head stayed bowed, gravity making it all too easy for tears to start falling from her eyes and drop into the carpet below her, soaking into the rough fabric.
“I was so entranced with the idea of magic being real that I never thought of the consequences it could bring. I never took a moment to think about the dangers of anyone being able to use any kind of magic they wanted, and when I met Eda…”
Luz stopped for a second, speaking ill of her mentor felt so unnatural.
“...she only fueled those beliefs. Pulling me even deeper down that rabbit hole.”
The magic around her bag dissipated, leaving the item to fall to the floor with a thud before quickly being taken away by one of the scouts, Luz’s one way of defending herself if things were to go south ripped away right before her eyes.
“But I realise now.” Luz continued, panicked sobs closing her throat involuntarily as she tried to find the words that would most appease the tyrant in front of her.
“Wild magic has done nothing but hurt people. It taints their minds without them even knowing, and by the time they realise it’s too late.”
Step.
“It’s a curse . Wild magic is a curse that tears people apart and rips them from their family and friends!” Luz’s hands grabbed tightly onto the carpet.
Step.
“Wild magic took me away from everything I’ve ever known and loved. It took me away from my family. From my home. A-And I want to make sure it never hurts anyone like it’s hurt me ever again!” Her voice grew louder as more and more venom poured into her words, all of her suppressed anger and resentment leaking through as she began shouting inside the large room.
Step.
“ So please. For the sake of every witch on the Boiling Isles. For the sake of the Titan’s will. Please let me join The Emperor’s Coven!” Luz finally managed to scream out, her voice raw and a metallic taste in her mouth as she punched her fist into the ground in desperation. Her breathing wild and uneven as she attempted to fill her air-starved lungs.
Step.
Belos was right in front of her, she could tell even with her eyes locked to the ground as his tall shadow coveried her minute figure. Luz didn’t know at what point her muffled sobs had turned into full blown streams running down her cheeks but it was far too late to stop them now, and they might just be the last tears she’d ever cry.
A bone-chilling moment passed as the Emperor’s shadow loomed over her, not a word to be heard out of the man’s mouth other than his horrible breathing. The smell of sulphur now so pungent that Luz did gag, the reaction coming subconsciously as she immediately covered her mouth with her right hand, trying and failing to keep her composure as the Emperor refused to leave.
Finally, finally Emperor Belos spoke again, his voice displaying a tone of amusement and utter satisfaction as his eyes burned into the back of Luz’s head.
“ So, you finally understand that I’ve been doing nothing but helping the people of the Isles.” A wide grin could be heard in his voice.
The girl didn’t respond, she didn’t really see a reason to, only muffled sobs came from her mouth as Belos knelt down slowly in front of her.
“ Lift your head. ” He demanded. She quickly obliged, lowering her hand from her mouth and straining her chin until she saw the Emperor eye to eye.
Luz had never felt smaller than in that moment.
The Emperor stared down at her, his manic blue eyes staring deep into her very soul. Luz knew that he was already tall by the demon realm’s standard but staring up at him from the floor made him seem a thousand times bigger, and Luz herself a thousand times more insignificant. It took all of the strength in both of her arms to not completely collapse as the man examined her face in excruciating detail.
Luz held back a shiver as she watched the man lift his left hand, the metallic gauntlet adorning it shimmering in the dim light as it moved past the side of her head, grabbing a lock of her hair and twirling it around his fingers.
Luz didn’t dare to move, her gaze still stuck on the masked ruler in front of her. A sudden disgust ran through her stomach as the man continued playing with her hair, though she didn’t let her face show it.
In a sudden pained reaction, the Emperor retracted his hand quickly. Luz’s discomfort lessened only for a moment before a moan echoed through the empty walls of the throne room.
The feeling in Luz’s stomach returned even stronger than before as another, longer moan escaped Belos’s lips, his right hand lifting up to caress his forehead as his left stayed outstretched between the two of them, shaking slightly.
“ Ah… Yes I-... You’re so sure?” The man asked to the room, though it sounded as if he was speaking to somebody right in front of him, somebody Luz couldn’t see.
“ Of course… I understand… ” He spoke again, the jitters in both of his hands growing more prominent before stopping completely.
Luz watched in a completely different type of terror than before as the Emperor returned both of his arms under his cloak, though he remained crouched uncomfortably close to her.
“ Ah… ” He breathed, “ The Titan, he is never this vocal at these hours.”
Quickly calming his breaths, he spoke once more, “ The Titan senses greatness in you Luz. He values your strength, your capability.”
A shocked expression took over Luz’s face as the Emperor spoke with admiration,
“ The Titan has big plans for you.” He continued, and though Luz despised herself for feeling in such a way…
…she was elated.
The Titan, the source of all the magic in the Isles, the very Isles themselves, had plans for her ? A simple human? Someone who was never supposed to be there in the first place?
Luz had talked badly about Belos’s connection to the Titan before, that he was lying and couldn’t communicate with them at all, yet in that very moment being told that the Titan had plans for her? That she was chosen by the Titan themselves for something big?
It made her so unbelievably happy.
That meant she had a job, a reason to keep going, even if she didn’t know what that was just yet she knew she had purpose .
Maybe it was a reward for finally accepting the Titans will, for finally making her own decision to refuse wild magic like the Titan had intended, either way it didn't matter because the Titan had plans for her, and whatever those plans ended up being Luz knew she would accept them gratefully, no matter the cost or risk.
The Titan had plans for her.
“ Well, in that case… ” Belos hissed, standing back up to his full height. “If the Titan thinks so highly of you, and you truly wish to join my Coven…” He turns his back on the girl, taking slow steps back towards the throne before stopping half way there.
“... then I would be a fool to not allow it.” He finished his sentence, turning back around to face Luz once more.
“ However. It does not sit right with me to place you into training with the other scouts,” He started again, a curious tone in his voice, “You have already shown me your abilities many times over. Even without being able to produce magic yourself, you have proved your worth in battle, and those glyphs of yours- though against the Titans will- prove your capability to solve problems in your own way.”
Luz’s face had started to go ever so slightly pink from the unexpected praise. Though that positive feeling was quickly wiped away as the Emperor approached her again, not bothering to kneel back down this time.
“Therefore I would like to appoint you as one of my personal guards. That means you would be working more closely to me and the other higher guards as well as possibly leading your own scout groups and battalions if need be. You would be my ‘Left Hand Man’ in a way, after receiving the necessary training of course.” He explained professionally before leaning close, his voice lower and more gravely than before,
“Afterall, how could I do any less for ‘Luz the Human’? You’re something of a big deal around here you know.”
A shiver ran through Luz’s entire body, the Emperor’s ‘Left Hand Man’, what a title like that would entail she wasn’t entirely sure, but having special privilege from the Emperor himself was something the regular scouts and guards would kill for from Luz’s knowledge. This was everything she wanted, how could she refuse such a deal?
“T-That would be a dream, Bel-” She spoke before thinking, though she didn’t even get to the end of the sentence before getting cut off.
Luz couldn’t react before the Emperor’s metal hand fell upon her left shoulder. His cold, metal fingers digging deep into the soft tissue of her upper arm.
“That’s ‘My Emperor’ or ‘Emperor Belos’ to you.” He warned seriously, a painful pressure building on Luz’s left side as the man squeezed her body tightly.
Luz panicked, her breathing becoming quicker as a horrible pain enveloped the entire left side of her body. Even more fear threatened to take over her as some kind of green sludge started leaking from the Emperor’s gauntlet, falling onto her shoulder and getting stuck in the material of her purple hoodie.
“ I like you Luz, really I do. But I cannot choose favourites, you will speak to me with the same amount of respect as every other member of the coven, do you understand?”
The underlying message was very clear to Luz, ‘Do as I say or I will hurt you again’ .
Luz nodded, trying her best to keep the sudden fear out of her voice as she bowed her head in submission, “I understand, my apologies Emperor Belos, I will do better.”
At those words the pressure in her shoulder vanished, a deep rooted pain ebbing through her muscles as the Emperor released his grip and lifted his hand back to his side. She didn’t dare try to soothe the ache with her other hand now knowing how Belos punishes those that act out of line, also she did not want to touch whatever that green goop spreading through her hoodie was.
“ Very good.” The Emperor responded, the same way you would praise a dog for doing a trick. “ Let this be a lesson that ‘messing around’ will NOT be tolerated in the Emperor’s coven, unlike some of the other covens we hold ourselves to the highest standard of professionalism. Understood?” He finished sternly.
Luz nodded silently, oh she understood alright .
Seemingly satisfied with her silent response, the Emperor moved past Luz. She didn’t dare lift her head to look at whatever he was doing just in case that was another punishable offence.
It didn’t take long for The Emperor’s demanding voice to call to her again,
“ Stand up and turn to me.”
She did as she was told.
The Emperor stood staring at her by the still open doors to the throne room, a single finger on his right hand beckoning Luz over as his horned mask made him look more akin to wild creature, not the demanding man he really was.
She didn’t have to be told twice.
As Luz joined the Emperor by his side, he turned to face the door with Luz, the chilly air from the corridor outside assaulting her unmasked face.
“ If you are to be my personal guard then you must learn the layout of the castle inside and out.” He breathed, the mask on his face making his breaths fall downwards on top of Luz’s head uncomfortably. “I would be honoured to give you a personal tour. I also do wish to speak to you privately about… certain aspects of this position, so as you’re here now, would you like to take a stroll around the castle with me?”
Knowing that there was only one correct answer to this offer, Luz responded tiredly,
“Yes Emperor Belos. That would be great.”
From her position by his side, Luz could see the corners of the Emperor's lips curl up in a partially hidden smile.
“Fantastic,” The Emperor responded in satisfaction, forcefully wrapping an arm around Luz and placing his hand on her opposite shoulder. Luz couldn’t tell if it was to stop her from running away or out of The Emperor’s own delight, either way she hated it.
Slowly, the Emperor led Luz forward as she tried to match his slower walking speed, she wasn’t used to having to adjust to other peoples mannerisms but she had to try, for her own good.
“You made a very, very good decision today Luz.” The Emperor assured her as the two of them passed into the cold, twisting hallways of the castle.
“ You will see that yourself in due time. The Titan will make sure of it…”