Chapter Text
Luz held the band aid box, something about the design reminding her of Eda and King. Maybe it was just fresh in her mind, so pretty much everything could remind her of what happened. The sound of someone's footsteps on the bathroom's tile floor snapped her out of her mind, and made her look up. Hunter was standing awkwardly, hand on the door frame. Luz drew breath to speak, but hunter beat her to it.
"Rubbing alcohol." Hunter blurted out. Luz raised an eyebrow, then regretted it as the movement brought pain to the left side of her face.
"I- what?"
"For the-" Hunter gestured towards the nasty cut she had gotten on her eyebrow. "Rubbing alcohol is a good antiseptic. It also cleans and sanitizes the wound, to prevent infection."
"Really?" Luz asked. She didn't know what rubbing alcohol was, but it sounded painful. "How'd you figure this out?" Hunter shifted a little uncomfortably.
"Medical training in the emperor's coven, you, uh, got injured a lot, so.." Hunter said, rubbing his neck. "How are you feeling?" He eventually asked after a moment of silence. Luz was a little taken aback by the question.
"Like a sack of shit." She replied honestly.
"Well, that's-"
"Well, more like a duffle bag of shit." Luz corrected, rubbing her chin.
"Uh-"
"No, definitely a backpack of shit." Luz said, nodding to herself.
"I could have gone my entire life without ever hearing that sentence." Hunter said after a long pause. "But, is there any specific reason you're feeling like a...backpack of shit? I mean- there's a lot of reasons- I- I didn't mean to..." He groaned, slapping a hand to his face. "You know what I mean, right?" Luz hesitated. She had a long list to go through, she had abandoned Eda and King, the boiling isles, her home was probably being destroyed...
"I have about four hundred and eighty-two reasons, but number one on the list would have to be the fact I helped Belos meet the collector. That because of me, the entire isles is doomed because I was-" Luz choked, eyes stinging. She didn't trust her voice at the moment. She held her head between her hands, rubbing her wrists into her eyes. Hunter hesitantly patted her on the shoulder. "Titan, Hunter...they're all gonna hate me..." She whispered. Hunter, after a moment's hesitation, drew her into a hug.
"I don't hate you. They won't. Probably. Yeah- they won't." Hunter said simply. Luz glanced up with some confusion.
"But-"
"Well, did you know it was Belos?"
"I didn't but I should've-"
"Well, you didn't, and you couldn't. And, had you known he was going to release the collector, would you have done it?"
"What?! No! I-"
"Then why are you blaming yourself?" Hunter asked. "I'm not...great...at social stuff-"
"You're terrible." Luz chuckled, wiping her eyes with the back of her arm.
"Again- not great...but it seems like you shouldn't have to beat yourself up about that." Hunter said. "Belos hurt all of us, and if it wasn't you, it would have been someone else. I was manipulated by him for years- and I don't even have an excuse." The statement was reassuring, even if she didn't think Hunter understood completely. At least she wasn't alone in it.
"Well, you never did anything too bad under Belos, and even if you did, it's not like you wanted to do it." Luz said, beginning to smile more. Hunter's face darkened, the slightly awkward smile on his face falling.
"Right..." Hunter said quietly, turning away.
"Hunter?" Luz asked, reaching a hand out to him.
"It's just- I hurt people, Luz." Hunter said, eyes cast downwards. "When I was the golden guard, I hurt people. I don't think I knew at the time, but I did. On missions, I broke up families, I arrested families just for not agreeing with the emperor. I saw their eyes, and I saw hurt and fear and hatred, and I did nothing. Actually- I did worse than nothing! I..." Hunter ranted, eventually trailing off. Luz didn't know what to say. She wasn't usually speechless, but no response could ever feel right to that. She had seen his persona as the Golden Guard, confident, cocky, and dangerous, but she never really thought about what the right-hand-man to Belos really did.
"It's not your fault, Hunter. You were manipulated- stung along by him. Besides, you aren't that person anymore." Luz whispered, the words not feeling right in her mouth. Hunter looked at her, an unreadable expression on his face.
"Then who is that person? If I'm not the person who did it, then who did? Because someone had done those things, someone committed those acts, and someone should carry that blame."