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Chapter Text

Luz Noceda POV

“Luz Noceda, come to the office, please! Luz Noceda to the office!” the announcements yells out.

I sigh as I hear the oohs echo across the classroom.

My teacher rolls her eyes and says, “If I had to guess, I think you should bring your stuff,”

I grab my backpack and hurry out of the classroom before everyone starts laughing. As I walk down the hallway, dreading the 4th visit this month, I hear Mami talking to the principal. I hear something about a camp, and I scratch at my scars. I get to the office, and I slowly open the door, hoping to eavesdrop on the conversation but the door creaks.

“Hey, Luz! Why don’t you come on in?” Principal Hal calls me. I walk in nervously as Mom stares at me. She immediately looks at the new scratches that are bleeding on my arms. She looks back up at me worriedly. I try to avoid eye contact. I sit in a chair right in front of Mr. Hal. Mami stands up next to him, a worried expression on her face.

“Well Luz, I was hoping to not see you down here again on the last week of school, but here we are. Let's do the usual question, do you know why you are here today?" Principal Hal asks me.

I stay silent and look down at my arms. I wish I wore long sleeves today.

"Luz, did you hear me? I asked if you-" I interrupt him with my book report, trying to explain why I brought many snakes to school. It makes sense if you know the story of how the Good Witch, Azura fought the Gildersnake and defeated him! It was predictable, but the story wrote it so well! So from the book report, I had to use snakes to portray how Azura beat him.

"The end of what?" Mom asks me.

"My book report! I think I knocked it out of the park!" I tell her like it's obvious.

"You're in here because of it," Principal Hal tells me as I hear screaming behind me.

"That's where my back-ups went!" I respond.

"What were you going to do with these fireworks Mija?" my mother asks me, clearly concerned about multiple things.

"It was very obviously for the closer for when the Gildersnake explodes!" I say, frustrated but disappointed in myself.

Then Mom goes and rambles about how if I can't separate reality from fantasy, I'm going to have to take you to camp, blah blah blah. I cross my arms in the hope I don't continue scratching. Then the worst possible thing happens. The snake from my hand shoots out at Mr. Hal. Everything goes in slow motion as I grab the snake that's trying to make me fit in the box. It finally hits Principal Hal in the face.

"That doesn't count right?" I kindly ask. Mami shakes her slowly. She starts to walk out, and I grab my things. Principal Hal sighs and shakes his head as I leave. I put my hood on quickly before I start to sob.

I run down the hall, trying to catch up with my mother. She walks out of the building and to the car. I go out slowly and hop into the front seat. The drive home is quiet. Mom just keeps looking at my arms. I make an effort to hide them, but alas I fail.

"Mija," she grabs my arm "You need to stop doing this. It hurts you. Please, stop," she finishes.

I ignore her all the way home. When we get home I run upstairs into my room, hoping all this can end. After thirty minutes of crying and bleeding, I doze off into a dreamless sleep.

Three days later...

The final bell rings, marking the end of my final year of middle school. I scream with joy, and run out of the English class I've always hated. I run out of the school, flipping off the school on my way out. I hear everyone laugh and mock me, but I don't care anymore. I'm off to high school! Maybe I'll make friends. Maybe I won't be lonely anymore, and maybe, Mami won't be disappointed in me anymore. I sigh in relief that I am finally out of that hell hole, but then I realize I'm about to go into another one. I have to go to camp, Reality Check Camp. To drain all of my creativity and uniqueness. Tears well up in my eyes again, and I sit on the steps outside of the school. Am I that terrible that I need to be fixed? Is who I am that hated?

Suddenly I hear footsteps coming towards me, and I quickly hop up. It's Maya. She's seen the worst of my antics. She was at cheerleading tryouts and the theatre auditions. We also dated, but she was doing it only for a laugh. She wanted proof I was gay (Actually, I'm Bi, but gay is easier to say) I couldn't help being a bit attracted to her. She was really the only person being nice to me, and her blonde hair is beautiful with the little light pink streak in it. But I was an idiot, thinking anyone could love me, or even kinda like me, for who I am. Now all she does is harass me, and I can't blame her.

"Oh hey, Luzer, heard your mommy is sending you away. It's so sad you're so weird, your mom doesn't even want to be near you! " Maya tells me. I stay in silence, hoping that she will go away. "Oh, you've gone mute? That's probably for the best, Retard. It's not like anyone wants to talk to you, so might as well go silent. Or better yet, just disappear," she cackles and walks away. I wipe away the tears as I see my mother pull up to the school. I grab my stuff and walk towards my car.

In the car, Mami talks about everything this camp can help me with. I ignore her. We pull up to the house, and she tells me to grab my stuff. I grab it all, but I know I won't need it since I know I'm not making it to camp. I go back outside with the duffel bag slung over my shoulder. Mom awaits outside for me.

"Mija you're going to have so much fun at camp! You are going to learn about Finances and appreciating public radio, the time will fly by!" Mami tells me. I nod sadly. "Mija, you will finally be able to make friends! And hopefully, with some friends, you'll stop doing this to yourself," she points down at my arms and I try to hide them. "The fantasy world is holding you back, and I know you can make friends that aren't drawn, imaginary, or reptilian. You just have to give this place a chance," She suddenly gets a call from her job. "Oh I got to go to work now," she gives me a kiss on the cheek, "The bus stop is just up ahead and will be here soon so, be good and text me when you are there I love you ok?"

"I love you too Mom. I'll miss you. Adios Mami!" I shout at her as she leaves the driveway, leaving me behind. I slowly walk towards the bus stop, holding my note in my hands. I know it will hurt her, but I can't be hurt anymore. This camp took away the last straw for me not to do this. When I get to the bus stop, I get ready to hurl myself in front of the speeding car when I drop The Good Witch Azura book in a glowing puddle. As I am about to grab the book, hoping it's not radioactive, it goes into the puddle. I have a quick freak out before putting my hand into the puddle, hoping the water is just deeper than I thought. When I put my hand into it, I don't feel the ground at all. I take my hand out, noticing how the water sticks to my hand and is glowing. The substance feels like blood, just a dark blue color. I start thinking if I should do my plan without the book but decide against it and step into the puddle. When I do, I completely fall in.

Chapter Text

Luz POV

I find myself in an unfamiliar place, soaked in what once was a glowing puddle. I find my book and hold it to my chest, sighing in relief that I found it. I stand up in what seems like a dried-up lake. I look to be in some cave. I'm surrounded by dark green crystal and dead trees. As I look around the dried lake for even a single puddle I start to think I finished drying up it. Tears from in my eyes, threatening to drop. I grab my duffel bag, full of clothes, and take an outfit out. I get changed, throwing my jacket, tank top, and shorts onto the ground. I try to ring out my clothes, but only water comes out. The dark blue stains my clothes. I look down at the puddle I had just created, which was not glowing, and I sigh. I grab my clothes and climb out of the lake. 

I look around for an exit and find a tunnel. I walk through it carefully as I get out into a cold mountain. As I look outside, I see the land. I scream in fear seeing it's a FUCKING CORPSE, but cover my mouth, not knowing who could hear me. I have to say though this is a truly, beautiful place. I can see everything from up here and I gasp at the beauty. I shiver, looking in my duffel for some clothes to keep me warm, but I didn't pack anything for winter, I did bring a hiking stick. I grab the stick out and start the journey down the mountain. 

I get down the mountain to see an ocean. I smile and grab the blood(?) stained clothes. Maybe if I wash out the clothes, the blue liquid will come out into the water, making it glow so I can go home. I get onto the beach and throw my clothes into the water. I scream as my clothes disintegrate into the water. I try to grab my clothes out of the water, but I burn myself. Once again, I sob for the fifth time today. I grab clothing from my bag and wrap it around my hand. 

Suddenly I hear footsteps in the distance. I hop back up and prepare myself for battle.

"Who are you?" I shout, hoping the person can hear me. Someone runs to me with a white cloak and silver bird beak-type mask. I get in an attack position when I see them.

"What are you doing? Why are you not in school?" the cloaked figure asks me.

"Answer me! Who are you?" I ask back.

"I'm a coven scout for the emperor's coven. Are you alright?" 

"Where am I, Coven Scout?"

"The Boiling Isles? Are you lost? Do you need to go to the Healing Coven?" 

"Let me see you under the mask!"

The person takes off his mask very carefully, revealing a man with one horn, blue eyes, and pointy ears. I scream, fall down, and back away from him. 

"Hey, it's alright. I'm Steve. I'm just here to help. What's your name?" the man asks. 

"L-Luz No-Noceda. Why do you have a fucking horn?!?!" I ask, not at all politely. 

"Ok Luz, do you know what school you go to? And my dad was a demon. That's why," Steve tells me.

"DEMON? Like from hell? Did I kill myself? Am I in Hell?" 

Steve looks very concerningly at me. 

"No, like from the Boiling Isles. Did you try to kill yourself, Luz?" 

"Well I wanted to but I didn't think I did. So I'm not in Hell?" 

"No, you are in the Boiling Isles like you have been all your life. Do you want to go to the Healing Coven?"

"What is that? Is it like a hospital? Cause then, no!"

"Ok, Luz, you know what, I'm just going to ask you some questions to determine if we need to take you there, alright?"

I nod softly.

"How old are you?"

"Fourteen years old,"

"What are you?"

"Well, I'm a human. Why did you ask me that?"

Steve shows shock on his face.

"Please show me your ears, Luz,"

I show him my ears.

"They're so round..." he says.

"Yeah, obviously. Yours must just be pointy."

"You're not a witch, Luz?"

"What? Are you a witch?"

"Yes everyone is on the Boiling Isles. I have to take you to the Emperor,"

"What do you mean you're a witch?! Like you can do magic?"

He nods and draws a circle with his finger. The circle then turns into a little ball of light that floats into the sky. I gasp in excitement.

 
"Oh my god! You can do magic!" I shout.

"Yeah everyone can." he puts his mask back on. "But I have to take you to Emperor Belos,"

I start to smell a sweet, herbal smell. I start to get drowsy.

"Steve, what's happening? Steve!" I shout as I fall completely asleep. 

Chapter Text

Hunter POV

There she is, a famed human. I always thought the human realm was just a myth. Nothing more than childhood fairy tales but now was proof of it. The human lays on top of my bed. I know I need to wake her from the Sleeping Nettles since she needs to talk to Emperor Belos. Not knowing how to wake her up, I slap her. She snaps awake and strikes me. 

"What the hell! Who HITS someone to wake them up?" the human yells. 

I shrug. 

"Who are you? Where's Steve? Where am I?"

"I'm the Golden Guard. I don't know who Steve is, and you are in the Emperor's Castle. Now come on, human, the Emperor awaits for you," I explain to her.

"Ok, but you need to take me there. I don't know where I am, so I need direction. I might ask questions about this place since I deserve a goddamn explanation of where I am. And my name is Luz, not human," Luz prompts me. 

I sigh and start to walk out of the room. 

"Hey! Where are you going?" she shouts at me.

"Just follow me,"

She runs to catch up with me.

"Who are you, truly?" Luz asks. 

"I told you, I am the Golden Guard," I tell her, confused why I must repeat myself.

"What do you do, though?" 

"I'm the Emperor's third in command. It's a very high honor knowing I'm the youngest in the Emerors coven ever!"

"Coven?"

"It's the Isles Government. I'll explain it in a bit,"

"Ok, I guess, what is the Boiling Isles?" she asks. 

"It's where witches and demons live. We live off the corpse of the Titan-"

She interrupts me, "So I was right! I am on a FUCKING corpse! How can you witches do magic?" 

Starting to get frustrated with this over-eager girl, I explain, "All witches have Bile Sacks, which is where the magic comes from. Some also-"

She interrupts me  again , "So what can you do? Like, what magic can witches do? Do you have a magic staff? Does everyone? Can I learn? Can you teach-"

In revenge, I interrupt her, "Slow down, human! Witches, legally, cannot do all magic. It angers the Titan-"

The human clearly cannot control her mouth as she keeps interrupting me.

"The Titan is dead, though. How do you know it angers the Titan?"

"The Emperor can talk to it. He helps all witches, not anger the Titan. Belos created the coven system! He makes sure the coven systems work with sigils. Sigils seal off all magic besides the one type you choose. The Titan demands we don't get too powerful, saying it would be our doom. He promises wild witches don't get away with angering the Titan. Without Belos, we could have famines, floods, plagues, and more. He is truly our savior.

"So he's a prophet?"

"I don't know what that is. Now back to what I was saying, there are nine main types of magic. Abomination- "

"What is that-"

"Human, if you are to interrupt me again, I will throw you into the Boiling Sea! Got it?" 

She nods nervously. I sigh in relief. 

"Other ones are Bard, Beastkeeping, Construction, Healing, Illusion, Oracle, Plant, and Potions. Now I am open for questions." 

"Wh-what is an a-a-abom-abominations?" she asks, clearly scared. 

"It's like a goo that can transform into things. Is that all?"

She stays silent. I look down to see her scratching at her arms. Her blood trickles down a scar she's scratching, and Luz smiles. I grab her right arm, wishing people would do the same for me. Her glare shoots up at me. 

"Let go of me, Golden Guard," her voice changes from nervous to deadly serious. 

"It's Hunter..." I say softly. Titan, why did I tell her? Belos can only know that name. Oh, Titan, I'm going to have to get punished. I touch my cheek, remembering the last punishment. 

"Ok, Hunter, let go of me!" she says again but only louder. 

I stop walking, and she does too. I look at her sympathetically and she continues to stare. I sigh and try to speak what I want to say. I want to say, " I know how this feels, Luz, but all this world will do is hurt you and beat you. You can't do it to yourself too. I know this won't get you to stop, especially from someone who does the same thing,"   Sadly, I can't. I won't let her see my shame. Instead, I let go of her arm and start my stride again, faster than before.

"Are we almost there, Hunter?" Luz asks me.

I nod softly. I look back at her arms, and she continues to scratch. She looks back up at me and stops. I take a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, just a couple more minutes, I think," I respond to her.

I start to see tears in her eyes. It must be so hard, away from her beloved home into the Demon Realm. Maybe Belos can help her! Maybe sPerhapsn live in the castle with us. Sure, it's hard, but she looks tough enough.  I try to think of something to help her. I've always struggled with this kind of this stuff. 

"What is the human realm like?" I ask, hoping it will help.

"Frankly, Hunter, this whole fucking thing is freaking me out, and I have no interest in talking about my life with another person who kidnapped me. All I need you to do is get me to Belos? Then we never have to talk again," 

I nod and walk faster. As we get closer and closer to Belos, fear strikes within me. What if he decides a human on the Boiling Isles is terrible and...? I can't even finish the thought. There is something different about her. She's easy to talk to. I find her enjoyable? 

We are suddenly faced with the Emperor's door. As she is about to knock on the door, I grab her arm once more.

"I told you this before-"

"Shhh! He'll hear you!" I whisper-yell. "You need to be perfect in front of Belos, alright? He is not a merciful man!"

She gives the slightest nod, knocks, and opens the door, leaving me in fear for her life.

Chapter Text

Belos POV

A familiar friend is introduced to me as my large doors open. I am glad I am wearing my mask to hide my shock. It's Luzura! Here she is, the human everyone told me about, the witch I thought she was. She should be dead. Why is she here, right in front of me? I shake off my shock and try to speak.

"Hello, Human. I am Emperor Belos. Welcome to the Boiling Isles!" I say, wondering if she recognizes me. I see her visibly shaking.

"Do I bow or... I don't know what to do in front of an emperor. I'm sorry," Luzura states. I sigh in relief that she doesn't recognize me.

"In general, yes, but it is alright for now," I said.

Luzura nods and asks, "I am Luz, Luz Noceda. Why did you and your scouts capture me?"

"There has never been a human in the Demon Realm. It would be wise to go home, for this place isn't safe for you. Therefore, we need you to get you home before you're-"

"I don't know how to get home!" she interrupts.

Anger spikes in me, and I try not to attack her. Maybe I should kill her. She won't reveal my secrets here. I take a deep breath and remember that killing her isn't the answer. She could assist me in getting the portal. I take a step back and try to calm down. I need to focus on getting the portal. Hurting her won't help. I need to find a way to convince her to trust me, and maybe she'll help.

"Darling, I understand, but you must not interrupt me. I am royalty. I might need to punish you if you do it again," I say gently.

She nods, about to say something, but I speak again.

"Now, I need some information, Luz. How did you get here?"

"It started when I stepped into a dark blue, glowing puddle in Gravesfield and got here in a dried-up lake."

I gasp. Questions run through my head. Is she from my hometown? Does Eclipse Lake still have Titan's Blood?

"Where are the clothes you arrived in, dear?" I ask her.

"I tried to wash them out in the ocean, but they burned as they dipped in."

I clench my fists in anger. How could someone be so foolish? I was lucky to control myself.

"That is the Boiling Sea, darling. There is water you could've washed it in,"

"I'm sorry."

"It is alright, but you must be smarter to be in the Emperor's coven."

'Excuse me? I only want to get home!"

"Luzura, I am the only person who can help you get home, but you must join us in the Emperor's Coven to reach home. There is a portal here on the Isles."

"Where? Take me-"

I cannot control my anger anymore. My goo shot at Luz, hitting her in the ear. She screams and falls to the ground. Serves her right for interrupting me, the Emperor! I must act helpless and kind, though.

"Luz, are you alright?"

"What the fuck was that?"

"I told you I might need to punish you. My curse feels the need to."

I hate lying to another human, but I must. She felt her ear, realizing it was missing some of it.

"M-m-my ea-ear... help me please... please," she pleads.

"Get the Healing Coven!" I shout. Moments later, the Healing Coven Head, Hettie Cutburn, helps. She calms Luz down and stops the bleeding. A chunk of her ear remains missing. I nod toward Hettie, allowing her to leave.

"Why did you do that?" Luz asks me.

"I cannot control it, Luz. I am cursed. Wild Witches hated me changing their ways, so they put this horrible burden on me. Their ways, though, hurt others and the Titan. I was punished for being right. I had no choice but to accept their curse. I must use my power for good, but I'm also bound by it. It is a constant battle between good and evil, and I must try to stay on the side of good." I lie to her.

"How can I get to the portal?"

"You need to help the Emperor's Coven get it from the most wanted criminal in the Boiling Isles," I tell her ominously.

"Who?"

"The Owl Lady."

"I-I-I will join you on this hunt for her, Emperor," she says, shaking and scared.

"Thank you, Luz. Not like you really had a choice did you? Now your ear, take that as a lesson, darling. If you interrupt, disobey, or fail me, you are gone. Got it, darling?"

She nodded, clearly scared.

"Will I be a coven scout?" she asks.

"No, you will be a part of the Emperor's Coven but not a scout. You will be part of the team that tracks down the Owl Lady. You will work with Lillith, but most of the time, you will be in the castle with my nephew, The Golden Guard. Got it?"

She swallowed and nodded again. "You are a good girl. Now let me show you your room," I say, patting her head. I get up and walk away, leaving her shaking in fear.

Chapter Text

Luz POV

I walked down a hallway, closely following the Emperor. I touch my right ear, feeling a divet missing from my cartilage. Tears slowly fall on my face. I wipe them away. If the Emperor sees, I am as good as dead. I steel myself and continue following the Emperor, my steps echoing in the silence. I take a deep breath, trying to center myself and prepare for whatever might come. The door opens into my new room, where Hunter lies on a bed.

"Golden Guard, I hope you won't mind sharing a room with dear Luzura. She will need a place to stay until we can retrieve the Owl Lady's portal," Emperor Belos says.

Hunter, the Golden Guard, smiles forcedly at Belos and says, "Of course. It would be my honor."

"Good. Luz, I will have some Scouts get your bed in here, but for now, you can rest up. I shall see you in the morning to introduce you to Lillith."

Emperor Belos leaves the room, shutting the door behind him. Hunter stares at my bloodied ears. I grab some of my hair, hoping Hunter will stop looking. Hunter turns his body to his nightstand and picks up a First Aid Kit. He kneels and grabs my ear, carefully cleaning the blood off. He wraps it with a bandage.

"Are you OK, Luz?" Hunter asks me.

My eyes well up, and I sob. I try to speak, but only a wheeze comes out. Hunter sits near me, not knowing what to do as I cry. He awkwardly puts his arm around my shoulders. He says nothing, but I can tell he understands. I take a deep breath and wipe away my tears.

"I'm sorry," I say softly.

He takes his arm off my shoulder and sits back on his bed. I take a deep breath and look away. Silence hangs in the air between us. We sit there, neither of us knowing what to say. 

We hear a knock on the door, and some Coven Scouts arrive, carrying a mattress for me. They placed it softly on a bed frame on the other side of the room. An additional Scout comes with sheets and blankets for me to sleep on. I fling my duffel bag onto my new bed and sit near it. I thank the Scouts, and they leave the room.

"Do you have something to put my clothes in?" I ask Hunter.

"Yeah. We can share my dresser here. I only use the first drawer anyway," he says.

I grab the duffel and head to the dresser. I open the bottom drawer and shove my clean pants into it.

"No! You can't shove clothes into my dresser! You have to fold it!" Hunter says. I roll my eyes and fold my clothes.

"There, happy now?" I ask, exasperated. Hunter nods, and I sigh, closing the drawer.

I return to my bed, and Hunter returns to his. He turns off the light.

"Hey!" I whisper-yell.

"We have to go to bed! We both have to talk to Belos in the morning! Now go to sleep, Human." He tells me.

I roll my eyes and lay down on my bed. I shuffle around, worried about another wretched meeting with Belos. I sigh, dreading another interaction with Belos, but I know there is no way to avoid it. I toss and turn for hours. Finally, I fall into a dreamless slumber.

I wake up to horrifying screaming. I immediately get up and look around for screaming. I see Hunter slowly sitting up and hitting the alarm on his nightstand. The screaming stops.

"Was that your alarm clock?" I ask, disturbed.

"Yeah. Do human ones not scream?"

"No, they beep softly."

"Fascinating. Anyway, you probably should get dressed. There is a bathroom right behind you to change in."

I go to my drawer, grab my clothes, and head to the bathroom. On the counter, I see a small blade suitable for me. Even though there are many more, I only take one. I put it in my pocket for later. I take a deep breath and remind myself that I can do this. I turn on the shower and step in, allowing the water to wash away my worries. I get out and dress. As I open the door, Hunter stares at me, concerned.

He is about to ask a question, but I cut him off before he can speak, “Let’s go. I’m ready.”

It is clear Hunter saw the blade I took. I know I must act strong so he won't question me. I walk out of the room to the throne. 
We get to the door, and I shake violently. Hunter notices my trembling and stares at me. I take a deep breath, look him in the eye, and try to act normal. He looks away, concerned.

Then he says, "Don't say anything to Belos. Let him talk and nothing should happen. You haven't given him another reason to punish you."

I nod, knowing I should stay quiet, and try to put on a brave face. This time though, I don't know if I can control it. I take a deep breath and try to calm my shaking. I can feel my eyes stinging but I blink back tears. I feel my throat tighten, and my chest lacks air. I bite my lip and take another deep breath, attempting to compose myself. I can't let them see me like this. No one can see me like this. Hunter stares at me, scared.

"Calm down, Luz, please! If Belos sees you like this... I don't think he will let you stay!" Hunter panics.

"I'm trying!" I say, gritting my teeth to keep control over my emotions.

Suddenly the door opens, and I prepare myself for Belos. Instead, a kind lady with dark blue hair looks at me with shock.

Chapter Text

Lillith POV

"Hello, Emperor. You called me?" I ask Belos as I bow to him.

"Yes, Lilith. A human has recently entered our realm. I need you to take her with you to get The Owl Lady's portal. It will be important on the Day of Unity," he tells me.

"How did a human come here? I thought the only way was through that portal?" I ask with curiosity.

"I do not know or care. "

My frustration rises.

"Emperor, I can promise you that I can be more than a babysitter. If this is because of the fight with Kikimora, I can assure you that she started it. She knows how to get on my nerves that little bi-"

"Kikimora is loyal and that is all that matters, Lillith. Now I hope you will take on this mission."

"Isn't it a conflict of interest? Since Eda is-"

"Your sister? No one else has captured her. I need someone more capable. You're supposed to be at least. Didn't you make her the Owl Lady?"

"It wasn't intentional!" I scream at him. I cover my mouth quickly, but it is too late. His glare penetrates me. He quickly turns around and I see him clench his fist. It turns green for a moment. Only for a second then it changes back.

"I will make you a deal, Lilith, since you cannot control your guilt over this issue."

I nod, thankful he's not killing me now.

"If you capture Eda, I will cure her curse. I will also let her join the Emperor's Coven since she deserves to be in your position more than you."

I nod, trying to hold back tears.

"Thank you, Emperor. I will take my leave now."

He nods and I look away. I compose myself and remember to be thankful to be alive now.

I open the door to the hallway to see the Golden Brat. I see him bending down over the human breaking down as I look. The Golden Guard looks at me and mouths "Help me." I can sense the desperation in his eyes, and it's clear he doesn't know what to do. He's trying to help the human, but he's lost. I take charge, trying to figure out the right way to help her. I kneel next to the human, and I can feel her rapid breathing. Her tears drop to the ground, making small splashes. I instantly reach out to hold her hand, offering comfort and support.

I look at her and say, "Ok, Human, I want you to breathe for me." She looks up at me, her eyes pleading for help, and I can feel her hand shaking in mine. I take a deep breath and try to be as reassuring as possible. "It's going to be alright," I say softly.

Her tears slow down, but her breathing doesn't. I search my brain for answers to help the human.

"Can you tell me five things you see?"

She looks at me confused but speaks, "Umm... I s-s-see the tile floor, the o-odd stained glass window, you, Hunter, and um... the ceiling?"

I see her still shaking so I continue.

"What are four things you hear?"

"I-I hear your voice, my h-heavy breathing, Hunter's tapping of his leg, and the doors in the distance closing."

I wonder who this 'Hunter' character is, but then I realize it's the Golden Brat. I shake my head and focus on the girl.

"Tell me three things you can touch?"

"I feel the cold floor," she stops and touches my hair. "Your silky hair and my old clothes."

She finally calms down so I stop the exercise. For a moment, silence envelopes us. Then she does something truly odd. She wraps her arms around me.

"Thank you," she whispers to me.

"Of course, darling. Are you alright?"

She nods and clutches something in her pocket, almost making sure it was still there.

"In other news, I am Lilith. I will help you find Eda, the Owl Lady."

She lets herself loose from me. She smiles softly.

"I'm still here!" Hunter shouts from behind me.

I roll my eyes at him as the human chuckles. I lend my hand to Luz. She grabs it and stands up.

"By the way Lilith, the name is Luz," the human shares with me.

"Why don't I show you my office?" I ask her.

"Yes! I need to see all the magical things!!!"

I laugh and nod. I start to see more of Luz now. Happy and carefree, like all kids should be.

"Hunter, wanna come?" Luz asks Golden Brat.

He looks at her with worry in his eyes. He shakes his head and the worry disappears.

"No, I need to talk to my un- I mean the Emperor for a moment," He says.

"Don't be too long! I want explanations for all the magic things in there!" she shouts at him as she is running down the hall. She seems so excited. We start to leave him behind as I see him open the door to Belos.

Chapter Text

Hunter's POV

As I open the door to the emperor's throne room. With a humble gesture, I lower myself to the ground, my head bent down in deep reverence for the emperor. The silence is palpable as he observes me, his eyes filled with authority. Finally, he nods, permitting me to rise.

Standing tall now, I look up at the Emperor, fully aware of the weight of this moment. Determined to present my case convincingly, I gather my thoughts and prepare to speak.

"Hello, Hunter," Belos addresses me, his voice resonating through the spacious chamber. "Where is the human? She was expected to join us."

With a composed demeanor, I reply, "She currently accompanying Lilith."

He waves a dismissive hand as if her absence is of little consequence. "She can join us at a later time. After all, she has only been here for a couple of days."

A wave of relief washes over me, knowing he won't punish her.

"You may leave now, Hunter," He says to me.

"Uncle, I would like to speak to you for a moment."

Anger and confusion rush to Belos' face.

"You have to schedule something with me. You don't get special privileges since you are my nephew."

"It will take only a moment, Emperor." I see parts of my uncle's curse takeover."Do you need a palisman?" I ask hesitantly. He nods at me and I grab a small butterfly palisman. I lend it to him. He snatches it out of my hand faster than I have ever seen someone move. He breaks it in half, the palisman's soul pouring into his eyes. He sighs in relief, his body relaxing. His grip on my arm loosens and he smiles softly at me.

"What were you saying?" Belos asks me like nothing happened.

"You can't hurt Luz anymore," I tell him.

"Excuse me? Have you forgotten all of my teachings? If she fails, she needs to be punished to learn not to do that again," he yells at me.

"I know Uncle but hear me out-"

His cursed form returns, barely missing my arm.

"I apologize, Emperor, for speaking out of turn. It won't happen again." I say.

"It seems you've forgotten your place here. I am the Emperor, not you. I could've left you on the streets of Bonesborrow to die. I was kind enough to deal with you. The choice can be reversed if you continue to be a brat," My uncle tells me.

I nod. Tears well up in my eyes, and I wipe them away. Weakness is how you get killed.

"If you don't hurt Luz, I will take her punishment as mine." I pause for a breath. "She is my responsibility, after all."

In response, Belos replies, "As you are so persistent, I will agree. You will still be punished for such a disgusting argument, however. You have stupidly lost your eating privilege today. I know it is not what I usually do, but out of kindness, I understand the stress of the human. You may now leave, Hunter."

"Thank you, Emperor," I respond. I then walk out of the throne room, my head hanging low. As I finally get to my room, I lay on the bedfor a few minutes. I close my eyes, deep in thought. I can't help but feel a mixture of emotions, ranging from resentment to sadness. Tears form but I let my pillow wipe them away. I slowly sit up and wipe away any tears left on my face. Why did I argue with the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles? Especially over a human I barely know? It's disgusting. I'm disgusting. I sigh and walk over to my desk. I study for hours until I hear Luz slam open the door.

"Hunter?" Luz shouts.

"Shh! You can't just shout my name!" I yell in a whisper.

She looks at me confused and shuts the door. "Why? Doesn't everyone know your name here?" she asks.

I sigh as I rub my eyes. "No. We don't really refer to each other by names here except the Coven Heads," I tell her.

"That's dehumanizing,"

"Dehumanizing?"

"Oh right, y'all are witches here. Dewitchizing might be the proper term?"

"Nope. Still have no idea what you're talking about," I tell her bluntly.

"I give up. Anyway, why didn't you come to Lilith's office with us? It was awesome!" she asks.

"I had to talk with Belos about where you were. Since you missedhis meeting this morning. Afterward, I studied. You can't capture wild witches if you don't understand wild magic," I explain.

"You should've come and hang with us! There were so many awesome things in her office! Her magic staff thingie is AMAZING, Hunter! She said they are called Palisman and-"

Something triggers me in the moment and I yell, "I get it! You love this place!"

She went silent for a bit. I shake as I think about what she could do to me. I prepare myself for the wrath, until she says, "Of course I do! It's like the Azura Books, except Azura is toned down for ages six to eleven."

I stare at her confusedly. "Why aren't you punishing me? Why aren't you shouting at me?"

"I could get mad at you, but then my pleasant mood is ruined. I might as well brush it off because no way in hell did you mean it," she tells me. She gives me a small smile before whispering, "I'm used to it anyway." She fidgets with something in her pocket.

"I don't understand," I say mostly to myself. "I spoke out of turn."

She looks at me concernedly yet she says nothing and rubs her ear. I thank the Titan for that.

"You wanna show me where to get dinner?" Luz conveniently changes the topic.

"Uhhhh..." I remember my punishment. "You know what? I'm not really hungry. I had a big lunch. Full of Griffin Eggs and Apple Blood. So I probably should continue studying. I bet Lilith will take you down."

"Ok... are you sure you're OK?" she asks kindly.

Titan dammit. I forgot I'm an awful liar.

"Of course!"

She nods, and walks away, closing the door. I sigh in relief. I go straight to the bathroom, the only place I can cope. I open a small drawer and count my blades. I notice one is missing and think of Luz's scars. I remind myself I have to talk to her. I grab the small one. I take off my left glove to reveal my scarred hand. I choose a large scar, and place the blade upon it. This is punishment. I yelled at Luz, the very person I'm trying to protect. I spoke out of turn to her. I reminded Luz of her past. I hurt her.

I dig my blade into the scar. Blood trickles out of it. I swallow the pain. I push down harder and swipe it across the scar. Then I do it again and again and again until my blood coats my hands. I wash my hand off in the sink. I go back to my room, grab my first aid kit, and inspect the cuts. I cringe and see that many cuts will need stitches. I grab a needle and thread and I start to stitch them up.

After an hour, they stop bleeding. I put my glove back on and pretend it never happened. I turn off the light in my room before Luz gets back. I lay in my bed, hoping to drift into blissful sleep.

Chapter Text

Luz POV

It takes a week to be assigned a mission. Lilith told me to rest after the tragedy that brought me to this place. Hunter didn't agree but Lilith was his 'superior' (that's how he phrased it) and he had to follow her direction. I begged her to let me explore this new place and Hunter told her I needed to learn what this new world is like. Lillith is very strong-willed and disagreed. So I spent the week wandering around the castle, learning about magic and this wonderful world. Sure, when I first got to the Boiling Isles, I was horrified, but after a while, it's just like any fantasy book. You have weird magical sports, magic staffs, and a world no one knows about. I may only know these things from what Lillith has told me but it feels like I could belong here. Isn't that sad? That I feel more comfortable in a different realm than at home?

To prepare me for my mission, Hunter taught me about this place's history. He explained that before Emperor Belos, people did magic wrong, angering the very land they lived on. He talked about how Belos could talk to the Titan and blah, blah, blah. I stopped paying attention for a while. I don't believe all of this shit. It just sounds like any cult to me, but I pretended it was true. The Emperor gave me a home, food, and a purpose. I might as well repay him by believing what he says. Who knows, I could be wrong and he can speak to the Titan.

When Lilith wasn't on small missions for the Emperor, she hung out with me. She taught me how magic worked here. She told me I couldn't learn magic, since I don't have a magic bile sack, which is disgusting. It is really disappointing but that's not going to stop me from learning. Even though Lilith is strict and a bit pessimistic, she is very fun to hang out with. She's very caring and if you break her outer shell, she is a giant history nerd. When I asked her about the times before Belos, she told me about the Savage Ages. She was excited about it. You could tell this was her passion but she stopped herself after too long. She told me that Emperor Belos hated people talking about those times. I wish she would've talked more about it.

Yesterday, Lilith burst into my room after Hunter left to talk with Belos about the news I had been waiting for. She said I would come with her to the Covention. It wasn't a mission to get home but I could finally get out of Hunter's stuffy room. I couldn't contain my excitement. I ran up to her, hugged her, and thanked her. She pulled away and I saw confusion in her eyes. I let go of her, knowing I had done something wrong. I promised myself not to do that again to her.

She continued about how I would be with her mentee, Amity Blight. I smiled when I heard that name. For some reason, I felt like we could get along. Maybe I could finally make a friend. She droned on as I thought about a friend. I could have someone to laugh with, cry with, and be myself. Maybe I belong in this life. If I can prove I can be useful, I could even live here. This place is my dream after all. Even after she left, I couldn't stop thinking. I will be more than a Luzer.

Now here I am, about to enter Lilith's office. I look at my phone, revealing the time to be around four AM. Hunter wanted to join me, but he is actually sleeping into six so I'm letting him have his time. I knock on her door. Lilith opens the door, looks me up and down, and sighs.

"You weren't listening yesterday, were you?" Lilith asks, clearly frustrated.

"Yeah I was..." I lie to her.

She looks at me with the sternest face I've ever seen. She rolls her eyes and asks, "Then why aren't you in your uniform?"

When I realize how badly I'm lying, I say, "I didn't know where it was?". God, I need to lie better.

"Luz, you need to improve your lying skills. I will explain this again. You are presenting as the Bronze Guard in public. Darius, the Abomination Coven Head, has made your outfit. You must not reveal who you are to anyone. Hunter, Emperor Belos, and I are the only ones who may call you Luz. When you leave your room, you will be the Bronze Guard. It took all of my efforts to let you out of the castle for anything but Eda's capture. Do not ruin this. Now Darius's office is in that direction. Tell him that you are theBronze Guard and he should give you the uniform," she repeats to me.

I nod. Some tears well up in my eyes. I simply wipe them away. I refuse to be weak. She just told me what I needed to know since I dumbly didn't listen the first time. I walk towards Darius's office. As I walk down the halls, I hear whispers from the Coven Scouts. They accuse me of being a wild witch, or even a child of one of the Coven Heads. How come others don't know who I am?

I knock on Darius's door and he opens it. It reveals a man wearing an Abomination sweatshirt, lilac sweatpants, and dark purple slippers.

"What do you want..." he looks at my ears, "human?'

Why do I feel degraded by that? It's just my species. Did he say it in a degrading way? Getting ready to speak, I shake it off my head. "I am the Bronze Guard. I need my uniform for the Covention today. If that's OK with you."

"Come in,"hetells me.

I walk into his office, which might be the cleanest room I've ever seen. It's ironic if you think about it, someone who uses purple goo constantly has a clean room.

"Excuse me? Human, take off your shoes. That's disgusting," he tells me.

It's even more ironic that he's a neat freak. I laugh softly under my breath, hoping Darius won't hear me. I remove my shoes, still standing in the entryway. He comes back into view, holding my uniform.

"Here you go. Now please leave," Darius says as he hands me the uniform.

I nod. As I start to leave, I could almost swear I heard him say, "Belos really needs to stop with the child soldiers."

I get into my room and change into the Bronze Guard outfit. It is similar to the Golden Guard except for the color. The whole outfit was close to a bronze color. The mask was very similar to the Golden Guard's, except it had a small beak, representing an owl, and it was all bronze. I grab my blade out of my old clothes and put it in my new clothes. I hold the mask beside me, not really wanting to wear it.

I knock on Lilith's office door again, praying I remember everything she told me. She opens the door and smiles softly.

"You look wonderful, Luz. Now I recommend putting on your mask so we follow Belos' orders," I put it on. I smile under the mask. "Now, Bronze Guard, are you ready for the ride of your life?" I eagerly nod. Excitement bubbles up inside as she walks outside. I remain curious as I only see Lilith with her palisman staff. Suddenly the staff floats slightly above the ground. I now know what we are doing.

"Fuck no, Lilith. I am not getting on that fucking stick," I yell, jokingly, but still very serious. She pulls me onto her palisman. She slaps on the stick, and it flies high into the air. It is hard for me to open my eyes as tears falling down my cheeks. Why did it have to be flying on a thin stick? Why couldn't we take a bus?

"Luz, look at the view," Lilith tells me.

I slowly open my eyes, to reveal to myself the most beautiful view of the sunrise. I keep my eyes open the rest of the time. We then land, showing a witch about my age with green hair and yellow eyes. This girl awkwardly smiles and waves towards me.

"Hi, my name is Amity. Amity Blight." the green-haired girl says to me.

I have a feeling we will get along.

Chapter Text

Amity POV

"Don't embarrass me before the Emperor's Coven, Mittens. You know what will happen if you do." I hear my mother say.

I nod, holding the necklace she spoke to me through. I try to avoid thinking of what will happen if I mess this whole thing up with Lilith. Especially since she has the newest guard, the Bronze Guard. I need to get on the good side of them. I can't ruin my family's reputation. This has to be perfect. My anxiety flushes away as I look over to see the very people I was worrying about.

"Hi, my name is Amity. Amity Blight," I say while I wave toward the masked figure.

They give an awkward wave back. My face falls, determined to keep this professional. I offer my hand to Lilith, who gives me a firm handshake.

"It is purely wonderful to see you once again, Amity. I've missed our lessons dearly," Lilith says during the handshake.

It feels like forever since we I've been for a lesson, though it was not long ago. Maybe a month or so since they stopped. They were so amazing. She taught me amazing things about magic. Most of the time, she taught me about her morals and history. I learned secrets about the Emperor's Coven that few knew. I could confide in her. I may not have told her about my parents, but her office was always my safe place. I will always despise my mother for canceling them.

"I have as well. Soon enough, I will work below you," I agree with her. She nods, and I let go of her hand. She gives me a sympathetic smile. I ignore it and shuffle toward the Bronze Guard. I put my hand toward them and they grab it aggressively. They hold my hand for a moment. It feels comforting. I softly smile as I stare at our hands, connected.

They let go of my hand and say, "Sorry!" they quietly chuckle. "I don't know how to handshake. I've never been part of such a formal occasion before!" they laugh louder.

The voice sounds so young, like someone my age. How did they get into the Emperor's Coven so early? Am I supposed to be getting prepared for the test? What if I don't get in? What would my mother do? Worries spiral in my mind. The what if's attack me. I feel my heartbeat pounding against my ribs. I need to breathe. Why can't I breathe? I feel a firm hand on my right shoulder.

"Are you okay, Amity? Would you like to go somewhere else to calm down?" I hear the Bronze Guard ask.

I subconsciously nod. They grab my arm, and I pull away.

"I'm fine. Let's just go in," I tell them. Regret floods my mind for being so harsh. The Bronze Guard just nods, walks ahead, opens one of the doors, and holds it open for me. I walk through. I give them a smile, and I mouth sorry. They run up to Lilith and start talking to her. I walk slowly behind them, stuck in my thoughts. I can't help but wonder why this person wanted to help me. They don't know me but they decided that I was worth it to help. I small smile creeps upon my face. I've never met someone who would do that for me. I walk over to the auditorium and meet Lilith and The Bronze Guard.

"You feel better now, Amity?" The Bronze Guard asks.

"Yeah. Thank you for your kindness," I answer.

They nod.

"You ready to go on stage?" Lilith asks me.

"WAIT WHAT? Lilith you did not tell me that I would have go on stage! Why can't I just stay behind here, waiting for any dangers to attack you? It wouldn't be worth it for me to go up because I can't do... Crowds?" The Bronze Guard says, sounding almost like a question at the end.

"That's what you thought you were here for? You haven't gotten enough training for that. Belos wanted me to show off the new guard! You won't have to speak darling. I will explain about you when we are up there. Mostly I am here to show students what kind of person we expect in the Emperor's Coven," Lilith explains. I guess the Bronze Guard is a girl.

"I have stage fright, Lilith!" She shouts.

"It'll be fine. You will just be up there with Amity and me," Lilith says.

The Bronze Guard goes silent. I see visible shaking so I do what she did for me. I grip her shoulder and ask, "Are you OK? Would you like to leave this area?" She shakes her head. I wish I could see her face right now.

"Now to introduce our special guest, the head of the Emperor's Coven, Lilith Clawthorne!" I hear Principal Bump shout.

We all walk out to the stage. Lilith talks about the Bronze Guard, and I show off some of my abomination skills. Out in the audience, I see Boscha and Skara. I avoid eye contact with them. I hated my mom for making me be friends with them but now they are bearable. Sure, sometimes they act a bit rude to others, but I'm not much better anyway. I know Bochsa will just talk about Grudby after this so I would rather seem inattentive to possibly avoid that. Soon enough, I hear clapping, so I start to head back.

The Bronze Guard follows me back behind the stage as Lilith answers more questions. Clearly exhausted, she takes off her mask. She's beautiful. I stare at her a bit until I notice her ears.

"Your ears? They're round? Are you a human?" I ask her in disbelief.

She looks at me in shock, immediately covering her ears.

"You're not supposed to know that. Oh shit, Lilith will get so mad at me. Oh Titan, what if she tells Belos? I'm done for!" she says, losing more breath by the moment.

Lilith walks through the curtain and we all freeze, staring at the Bronze Guard.

"Luz! You took off your mask?" Lilith whispers and yells at her.

"Lilith it's fine. I don't care she's human. She seems nice," I tell her, trying to help the situation.

"Lilith, I'm so sorry!" Luz says.

"Amity, listen closely," Lilith says. I nod. "You cannot tell anyone about this, you hear me? This must remain a secret to the public. Got it?"

"Yes, of course, ma'am. I would never share such a secret," I tell her.

"Okay. Good. We must go now. Thank you for the presentation, and I hope to see you soon," Lilith says.

I look over at Luz, who has put her mask back on. I can hear small sniffs underneath the mask. They both leave, leaving me alone. I walk out, hoping my meeting with Lilith was perfect enough for my mother.

Chapter Text

Luz POV

The flight back to the castle is entirely silent. I scratch the scars on my arm anxiously. Lilith looks back at me with anger. The anger dissipates into worry as she stares at my arm. I quickly grab my cape, covering my arm. She opens her mouth, as if to say something, but turns around. A breath of relief exits my body. I look around at the beautiful scenery, trying to get my mind off Amity. She was so different. She wanted to help me! Of all people! This masked figure from the Emperor's Coven! On stage, she was so confident. Why didn't she care that I was human?

We land in front of the castle. We both hop off Lilith's palisman. She motions me to follow her. We walk in silence again. She stops in front of her office, opens the door, and tells me to go in. She sits down at her desk. I take off my mask, sitting down as well. I shake violently, imagining her deciding to kick me out of the castle, making me live on the streets with only my tiny blade for defense.

"Luz. You're lucky that it was Amity who saw you without your mask. I trust her very much not to tell anyone, but if it was anyone else, you could have been stolen, or worse. What you did was so utterly foolish! If you were kidnapped on my watch, do you know what Belos would have done to me?"

She doesn't leave me any time to respond as she said "He would demote me, making me a criminal, Luz. And he would kill you the first chance he got."

Tears well up as her words soak in. I could have hurt her. All because I showed my ears to Amity. How could I be so stupid? I would have hurt this entire world. Thoughts flood in. It feels like forever since I have had these thoughts. I dig my nails into my arm. I stand up and start walking away from the door.

"Luz," Lilith says to me.

"I'm fine. I was stupid, that's all. I'm so sorry. I guess I'm just not cut out for missions." I try to smile as I talk.

"Luz, I overreacted. Amity would be a great friend to you. How would you guys be friends if she didn't know the real you?"

I shrug and say, "I'm not here to make friends, I guess."

I walk out of the office and to my room. I see Hunter in the room, sewing something onto his cloak.

"What ya sewing?" I ask him

He grumbles and says, "Just fixing up my cloak. Got damaged today."

I get up close to his bed to watch. I could easily say that his sewing skills are subpar. I see a small smile creep up his face.

"You like doing this?" I ask.

"Kind of a hate-love relationship with it. It's just time-consuming,"

"Why aren't you using a sewing machine?"

"A sewing what?"

"Is that another thing you don't have here?"

He nods.

"Well, pretty much it sews things for you. All you have to do is move the fabric."

"What? Ugh, are all humans just lazy?"

I roll my eyes and laugh.

"Truthfully, yeah,"

He holds up his patched-up cloak. I look at the patches and say, "Are those cloth bandages?"

"Yeah, what's your point?"

"Do you not have fabric? You're the Golden Guard. Wouldn't you get fabric from Darius or someone?"

"Just because I'm a kid doesn't mean I get special treatment. Neither do you. If I want fabric, I have to earn it just like everyone else. I don't expect any favors." He shrugged. "It's just the way it is."

"Don't you think you have already earned it?"

"I don't think I will earn it for a long time. Bandages work anyways."

He gets up from his bed, folds the cloak, and puts it in a drawer in his dresser. He turns off the lights. We both hop into our beds. Soon enough I hear him softly snoring. I slowly get out of bed and into the bathroom.

I grab the blade from my pocket. I stare at the light pink lines across my wrists. I carefully drag the blade across one. I do it again, letting the blade go deeper and deeper. I repeat it over and over again with many scars. Small tears creep out of my eyes. I am numb to the pain. I can feel the warmth of my own blood dripping down my arms. I sit there, motionless, until I'm pulled out of my trance by a voice calling my name.

"Human? Are you in here? I got to piss."

Dammit! I haven't cleaned myself up yet. I start to feel my breath quicken. I shuffle to the cupboard, dripping onto the tile. I frantically look in the cupboard, hoping to find something to cover my wounds.

"Luz, are you okay? I'm coming in. Cover yourself up."

Hunter opens the door, finding me on the ground, covered in my own fresh blood. He quickly runs from the bathroom, returning with a first aid kit.

Chapter Text

Hunter's POV

I wake up, needing to pee. I groggily walk to the bathroom, seeing the light is on. I pound on the door saying, "Human, are you in there? I need to piss." No response comes. I start to hear her breath quicken in the room. She is slamming doors open and close, I guess the cupboard ones. What could she possibly be doing in there? I knock again, and there is still no response. Her breath quickens more. "Luz, are you OK?" No response yet. "I'm coming in. Cover yourself up." I open the door. I see her. I gasp. She's on the ground, covered in blood. The blood comes from straight cuts on her arms, shoulders, and neck. Tears drip down her eyes, and her breath is fast.

I quickly dash out of the bathroom, grabbing my first aid kit. I return to the bathroom and sit on the tile floor, stained with blood. I carefully open the kit up, grabbing the ointment out. I apply it softly to her arms. She winces. I carefully put it on all of her cuts, even the ones on her neck. I put it away, seeing that the cuts are still heavily bleeding. I grab out my thread and needle.

"Wait, I thought you could just do some fancy schmancy magic things and it would be healed." She tells me.

"Well, maybe you should've had your mental breakdown around someone who could do magic," I say, clearly frustrated.

"Oh, that's why you haven't shown me your tricks!" She says, acting like I'm not about to sew up multiple parts of her body. Then I realize what I had said.

"I wasn't supposed to tell you that," I say.

"Tell me what? That you can't do magic?" she asks.

I nod, threading the needle.

"But you're a witch. You have that weird bile sack thingy connected to your heart don't you?" she asks again.

"I don't think I do. A lot of my ancestors couldn't do magic either. Oh, just a warning, I don't have any numbing elixirs, so this is going to hurt."

She nods and I quickly put the needle through one of the cuts. I stitch up her cuts until I finally finish. I put away the needle and replace it with bandages. I wrap her arms in the cloth, the same thing she pitied me for. Luckily none of the neck cuts needed stitches so I just put some band-aids on those.

"You didn't have to do that," Luz whispers under my breath.

"Oh yeah and just let you bleed out on the floor. I totally could've done that," I tell her sarcastically.

"It would've been easier for everyone if you had," she whispers under her breath, clearly hoping I didn't hear it.

"Hey, you seriously need to stop doing this shit. I don't know what happened in the human realm or how long you have been doing this crap. I just know that this world will hurt you and tear you apart. You'll kill yourself doing it to yourself as well."

She stares at me, whispering "Hypocrite."

"What?"

"Come on! Where do you think I got the goddamn blade? The thrift store? No! I found it in your bathroom which means you're doing this shit too. It can't be that bad if you are doing it too! And don't get me started on Be-"

"Stop it! I'm fine. Don't change the topic. This is about what you just did in the bathroom, Luz! Imagine if I didn't wake up, you would've died on the bathroom floor. Is that what you want? To die before you could get home?"

"That's what I tried to do before getting here," Luz whispered, her tears drip down.

"What Luz? What do you mean? That you tried to kill yourself before landing here?"

She nodded. I sat down on my bed, my hands covering my face. What am I supposed to say? That everything will be better here and lie.

"What about a deal Luz?" God why do I keep making deals that hurt me?

"What is it?"

"I'll stop cutting if you do. It's a truce. So neither one of us is a hypocrite. Whatcha say?"

She looks down at her bandaged arms and nods.

"If you break this though, Golden Guard, I will kill you." She says, hopefully joking. She said it seriously, but not like how Belos says it to me. Belos is just joking too probably. I'm his nephew, so he wouldn't actually kill me. Right?

"You're not actually gonna kill me right?"

"No! I'm not a maniac dude!" she says, softly punching me.

I chuckle and look over at the clock.

"Shit! It's four AM! We have to wake up at six!" I tell her.

"Wait what? Six? Why? I don't even have to wake up that early for school!"

"Just go to bed. I'll see you in the morning," I tell her. Soon enough I can hear her fast asleep. I sigh. What happened to her to make her try to kill herself? Would she try again? She can't leave me in this hell alone.

Chapter Text

Amity POV

A week. It's been only a couple of days since I last saw her. The Bronze Guard, The Human, Luz. It feels like years since I have. I can't get her off my mind. She cared about me, yet I pushed her away. Just like someone I used to know. Ugh! I need her off my mind! I grab my scroll and get onto penstagram. I look through the Emperor's Coven's announcements, hoping to see her face. I don't see anything so I go to Lilith's page. I scroll and scroll, hoping to find her. I then run into a photo of Lilith and I. Titan, I miss our lessons.

Suddenly the twins run into my room. They sit on my bed, where I was comfortably lying a minute ago. I start to sit up as Emira starts to speak.

"Mittens! I know you have a new crush but you have to help us with chores!"

I jump up and say, "No I don't!"

Edric then holds up my journal and says, "Your diary says something different!"

"How on the Boiling Isles did you get that?" He proceeds to toss it back at me and I catch it in both arms.

"Mittens we were just worried about you and EDRIC stole your journal! Like a bitch," Emira explains to me. I sigh and put it to the side.

"Ok, whatever, it's not going to happen anyways. What chores do you need me to do?" I ask.

I catch Emira eyeing the full plates of food around my room. Lunch and dinner from yesterday and the breakfast plate from this morning fill her with worry. I grab the food and say, "Here, I'll start with these plates."

I walk out of my room with the plates. My fruit bowl and paincakes emit a wonderful aroma that I crave. I walk down the stairs faster until I finally reach the trash. I hesitate for a moment, thinking about how I could eat this instead. I throw it in the trash and wash the dishes. Then I hear footsteps. I turn around to see my very own mother.

"Good job princess! I'm so proud of your self-control," she pinches my cheeks. "Continue this and I might allow you to have a cheat day! Can't let you get too fat if you are to find a suitor." she finishes.

I nod and head back to my room, tears growing in my eyes. I lay back into my bed, scrolling through penstagram again. A brilliant idea pops into my head. I DM Lilith, hoping that she will allow me to chat with Luz. I quickly get a message back saying yes. I wait for what feels like an hour for a response. 5 minutes later I get a message.

ECHead: Heyyyyyyyy

WITCHCHICK128: You're Luz right?

ECHead: yeah! ur amity right

WITCHCHICK128: Yeah!

ECHead: Hru

WITCHCHICK128: Hru? What do you mean?

ECHead: do you like live under a rock😂 it means how are you

WITCHCHICK128: Oh! I'm fine how about you?

ECHead: good but i have a weird question

WITCHCHICK128: Sure!

I start to daydream about what she could possibly mean. Maybe she will ask me on a date, or ask if I can kiss her!

ECHead: can you send me a video of you doing a simple spell

Whelp, that's not what I expected.

WITCHCHICK128: Sure, just wait one minute please.

I put my Pensta on a table and press record. I start drawing a circle in the air, turning into a tiny ball of light. I go over and press stop. I hope that's simple enough for her. I doubt she could do it if the rumors are true that humans don't have bile sacks. If she learned how to do two different spells, she could eventually go to Hexside! With me! I send the video and wait for a response.

ECHead: Wow! ak;dhfdkshasadg;fj like i wanna do that

WITCHCHICK128: What do you mean by ak;dhfdkshasadg'fj?

ECHead: it's a keyboard smash so it just means like i dont have anything to say

WITCHCHICK128: Oh OK. I doubt you could do it though if you don't have a bile sack.

ECHead: im pretty big brained i bet i could figure it out

I laugh.

WITCHCHICK128: OK let me see it then.

ECHead: lemme film it real quick

I wait patiently for a couple of minutes. After ten minutes, I finally hear a ding from penstagram. I click play on the video.

She is standing in front of the scroll, her mask completely off. I see a teen boy in the background lying on his bed. I notice he is reading a wild magic book, and he actually seems interested. Luz is wearing a hoodie I haven't seen her wear. She's laughing but still frustrated. She's holding a device in her other hand, looking at the video I sent her. She starts to draw a circle with her other hand. In the background, the teen boy sneaks up behind her, and knocks her device out of her hand.

"Fuck you! I actually need that!" She yells jokingly. He laughs a bit and she picks up her phone. Suddenly there is this picture over my circle I drew for the light spell. She carefully traces it and softly touches the drawing. The paper then turns into a light spell. She screams with joy. "I can do magic! Oh fuck yes! This is my literal dream!" She goes over to hug the teen boy yelling, "Thank you! Thank you!" He stares in shock as she starts to draw more. She suddenly remembers that she is still filming. She goes over and yells, "You saw that right? Please tell me you saw that!"

I stare a moment at the video. She's human. She couldn't possibly do magic, right? I immediately message her back.

WITCHCHICK: I have an idea!

Chapter Text

Luz POV

I did magic. I actually did fucking magic! I start to draw more and more of these glyphs(?)I get a ping from Lilith's penstagram. Amity responded.

WITCHCHICK128: I have an idea!

I smile and start to message back.

ECHead: What is it

Hunter starts drawing the glyph, and he's clearly dumbfounded as it turns into a ball of light.

WITCHCHICK128: You should join me in Hexside!

"Hunter?"

"Yeah?"

"What's Hexside?"

"Magic School," he says, still mesmerized by the glyphs (I'm calling them that).

I hop up and yell, "MAGIC SCHOOL? THERE'S MAGIC SCHOOLS HERE?"

Hunter stares at me again and nods. He then grabs a book off the shelf. It says it's about elemental magic.

ECHead: YESYESYESYES! But how?

"Wait, you're not planning on going to Hexside, are you?" Hunter asks.

"Well, Amity wants me to," I respond.

"I bet you 10 snails that Belos won't allow you to go," he tells me.

"Why not?"

"Because if I'm not allowed to go, no way you are allowed to go,"

WITCHCHICK128: OK! You have to come with my siblings and me to the knee. We can teach you your second spell!

"Where is the knee?" I ask Hunter.

"I think that is where you were found," he responds.

Oh of course! That makes perfect sense!

WITCHCHICK128: We can pick you up at the library. I want to show you something cool there!

A big grin starts to appear on my face.

Hunter stares back at me and says, "He's definitely not going to go for that."

"Ugh, Belos! Why does he have to control EVERYTHING in our lives?"

Hunter looks away, ignoring the question. He whispers under his breath, "Like you would know anything..." He then gives a little hrmph.

"How come he didn't allow you to go to school anyway? Like don't you need the most powerful magic to be his third in command?"

He sighs and looks away again. Oh shit, I forgot.

"I'm so sorry! I forgot you don't have ma-" I ask.

"It's fine," he interrupts abrubtly.

He then walks into the bathroom. I then hear a knock on the door, revealing Lilith. I immediately show her the glyph.

"Wow! That is so fascinating! It looks like the elemental magic practiced in the Savage Ages!" She yells, clearly excited.

"Lilith, I need to go to the Library tomorrow. I need to do more research on these spells," I tell Lilith.

Hunter emerges from the bathroom as I say that. He glares at me.

"I wish you could, but it's strictly forbidden for you to go out of the castle," she tells me sadly.

"Why? Is it because I'm a human?" I respond, trying to sound formal.

She nods, slightly disappointed.

"You are very valuable to us," she says.

"He's isolating us from the real world!" I ask.

"He wants to protect us Luz!" Hunter says.

Lilith nods and leaves the room, forgetting her penstagram.

ECHead: Let's do it!

Chapter Text

Emira POV

"Mittens when is your girlfriend getting here?" Edric whines in my. "I want to go up to the Knee!"

Amity's face flushes with a bright red as Edric mentions her girlfriend.

"Luz isn't my girlfriend!" Amity yells.

"Not yet at least..." I say.

"Ugh, you guys are so annoying!" Amity says, her face becoming a brighter red than I've ever seen.

"Mittens, you might want to breathe," I tell her. She lets her breath out, her face coming back to a normal color.

"I didn't do that because you said so," she says.

I roll my eyes. She looks at her Pensta and starts scrolling. I grab out my illusion book to study for the exam. Edric tries one of the spells in the book. He casts a double of himself. It shortly disappears afterwards. I start to see Luz walk up the stairs. Edric and I look at each other, clearly thinking of the same idea. I cast a double of myself, right in front of Luz, scaring the absolute shit out of her. Edric did not have the same idea and instead scared the shit out of Amity with his illusion.

"Holy fuck! Who are you guys?" Luz yells at Edric and me.

"We are Mittens' siblings. I'm Em, short for Emira. This idiot over there," I point towards Edric, who is laughing his ass off as Amity cusses him out, "is Ed, also known as Edric. I recommend staying away from him. "He's not worth your time." Luz lets out a little laugh. I look at her ears, realizing that they are round. "Are you a human?"

She says, "Yep! But it's a secret, okay?"

I nod. She then runs up to Amity. She wraps her arms around Amity.

"What....what is this?" Amity asks her. Amity's face goes bright red.

"It's a hug!" Luz tells her, still hugging her.

"A...hug?" Amity asks.

"Come on guys! We have to get to the Knee if we want to get there before dark," Edric says.

They both nod. I grab my mom's palisman, a small white cat named Ghost. We all hop onto the staff. We start flying off the ground and Luz tightly grabs onto Amity. Amity's face turns bright red again. Small tears drip from Luz's eyes.

"You OK, Luz?" I ask her. She nods aggressively.

"Is this your first flight?" Ed asks. She shakes her head no. She clearly is in no mood to talk so Ed and I keep quiet while Amity tries to calm her down. The rest of the ride to the Knee is almost silent, except for the cute banter from the back of the staff.

"We're here, Lovebirds!" Ed yells at them an hour later. They immediately let go of each other and hopped off the staff.

"Woah! This place is so much better when I'm not freezing!" Luz takes a spin to see the whole area. "I feel the magic flowing through this place!" She says a lot louder, clearly excited. Amity smiles at her. Luz then plops down into the snow and moves her arms and legs back and forth.

"What are you doing?" Amity asks her, chuckling at the sight of Luz. Luz immediately pulls her down in the snow. Amtiy laughs again.

"It's a snow angel! It's fun!" Luz says, a huge smile forming on her face. Amity starts to join in on the fun while Ed takes a photo of the two of them.

He whispers in my ear, snickering "We'll need this photo for their wedding." I snicker too as I see them continue to make snow angels. Ed then yells out, "Come on! We need to find a place to camp out here."

They both get up covered in snow. We all walk together trying to find a place that isn't too snowy to set up camp. Edric and I can hear cute banter behind us. I sigh. I wasn't expecting to be a third wheel with Ed around, but here I am. After maybe 10 minutes of walking, Edric puts all of our stuff down.

"This is the perfect spot!" Ed tosses me a large bag and says, "Em, can you start putting up the tent for the Lovebirds over there while I set up our tent?" I nod and start to set it up. Out of the corner of my eyes, I can see Luz and Amity having a snowball fight instead of helping me. I stare at them for a moment, realizing something. This is the happiest I have seen Amity since her whole friendship thing with Willow. Their giggling echoes throughout the mountain. As Amity and Luz shout out trash talk to each other, I hear a low growl in the distance.

"Hey! Shut up! You guys are upsetting the Slitherbeast!" I whisper-shout towards them.

"Slitherbeast?" Luz asks.

"It's this beast demon that lives here," Amity describes. Luz looks at her with a horrified face.

"We'll be fine, Em!" Ed shouts from the finished tent.

"Shit dude! How did you already finish that tent?" I yell back.

"Can I use your tent for a moment?" Luz asks.

"Oh yeah! Um why do you need it?" I ask.

As I say that, she walks into the tent. I wave Amity over to have her help me build her tent. A good 20 minutes later, we finished building the tent. Amity goes in the tent as I realize Luz still isn't out.

"Ed!" I yell. Suddenly he pops up behind me.

"Hey sis!" He says. Immediately, I punch his shoulder.

"Don't do that!" I tell him. He rolls his eyes.

"What do you want?" Ed asks. I see that he is holding a large bat.

"What the fuck is that?" I ask.

"Dinner!" He says, excitedly.

"We are not fucking eating that!" I tell him, horrified that he would think that.

"Yeah we are!" He says.

"We will figure this out later. Anyway, have you seen Luz?" I ask him, very annoyed.

"I think she's still in our tent. Why?" He responds.

"I'm going to go check in on her. I'll be back." I leave, heading towards the tent. I knock on the tent door before realizing it will not make a sound at all.

"Hey Luz! I'm going to go in for a moment." I tell her. I open the tent door to see Luz, trying to change bandages, pus spilling out of her cuts.

Chapter Text

Hunter POV

Ugh. What time is it? It shouldn't be bright outside yet. I look over at my clock.

"How the hell is it 10 AM?" I ask. I open up my curtains, seeing the bright sun out.

"Luz! Did you turn off the alarm? I'm going to get in trouble for being late!" I yell. I walk over to her bed to see there is nothing in there. Where is Luz? I quickly get dressed and hope Belos hasn't noticed yet. I walk down the hallway towards Lilith's office. It's been forever since I walked down this hallway to her room. Probably since our falling out. I quickly realize I'm not wearing my uniform, nor do I have my staff. A coven scout starts walking towards me.

"Hey! Who gave you clearance to be here?" The scout asks me.

"I'm your superior. I will have you know." I tell him, showing him my sigil.

"Dude. You look like you just came from baby class. Now how did you get in here?" they ask.

"I am 16-" I say before I am cut off.

"Ugh! Are you trying to kill my ears? That voice is terrible!" they yell.

"I can take care of this, Scout. Thank you though," a voice behind me says. I turn around to see Lilith. The scout walks away while Lilith drags me into her office.

"What the hell are you doing without your uniform? Do you know how dangerous that is for you?" Lilith yells. She continues to rant about my irresponsibility but I ignore her. My brain drifts off to where Luz could possibly be. She could be with Amity but why wouldn't she tell me? Is she doing something bad? Is she breaking our promise?

"Hunter! It is exceptionally rude to ignore a coven head? I should have just let that scout kick you out of the castle!" She yells.

"Sorry. I need to ask you a question actually, Ms. Clawthorne," I say. She rolls her eyes and sighs.

"Fine. Ask it," She responds gruffly.

"Have you seen Luz today?" I ask.

"You lost Luz?! How could you possibly have done that?"

"She turned off my alarm and snuck out, I believe."

"I knew you were incompetent but-"

I cut her off saying, "I am not incompetent!"

"Oh I see, you are also rude. That's the last straw, Brat. I'm taking you to Belos," she tells me angrily.

"Fine," I respond, trying to hide my fear in my voice. She continues to walk me down the hall to the Throne Room. Ugh, how could I be so stupid? I finally enter the throne room. Lilith whispers something in his ear, and I see his curse come out. Lilith then smirks at me, leaving the room.

“Where did Luz go, Hunter?” he yells at me.

“I don’t know, Uncle,” I whisper.

“What do you mean? You said it yourself, she’s your responsibility.”

“She wasn’t in our room.” 

“This is what I get when an irresponsible teen is my third in command.” 

I look down.

“And what are you doing without your uniform on?”

“I woke up late. Luz must’ve turned off my alarm on the way out.”

"So suddenly that's an excuse? You are supposed to be smarter than her. Yet here you are, forgetting to get a uniform on and letting a human out into the Boiling Isles. I'm just disappointed. You were supposed to be better than-"

"I am better than this Uncle! I promise! This isn't my best work!" I interrupt him.

His curse comes out, striking the scar on my cheek. I touch it softly, feeling blood drip down my cheek. He strikes again, high on the cheek, and hits my eye.

"Hunter, it's so disappointing when you have to be punished. The Titan has big plans for you. I'm just here so you don't mess them up. Now leave, and consider this Luz's punishment as well," He tells me.

I run out as fast as I can. I try to get to my room but end up falling on the way there. How badly did he hit me? I touch my eyes, and soon enough, my hand is coated in crimson red. My eyesight starts to blur as I start to see a figure walking toward me. As they see me, they start to run, and slides on the floor. My vision goes black and my hearing goes out as the figure is asking me questions. My vision goes completely out, forming into a memory.

 In my memory, I was really little, like six or so. I was really bored and needed a book. So I went to my uncle’s study. A place in the castle I’m not allowed to go to. The room was filled with religious decor. There was a book on the top of the shelf. I don’t remember what the title was. All I remember is that I wanted to read it. I grabbed a chair and pushed it against the shelf. As I stood on the chair, I realized it wasn’t stable. I quickly grabbed onto the shelf, as the chair broke. I hung onto this shelf for dear life, but I fell when Belos swung open the door. The shelf fell shortly after I told him everything, my first mistake. His cursed form came out, slicing my right cheek. One of my first punishments.

After getting the curse under control, Belos left me in the study with these words, “Take that as a lesson, Hunter. Don’t go into my room and certainly don’t sneak around."

Hot tears streamed down my face. I quickly ran out of the study but got very lightheaded. I fell onto the ground, barely conscious. I was then picked up by another figure, not quite very visible. He put me down on his couch, quickly grabbing a first aid kit. He had healing potions, unlike me, so the pain was numbed. He stitched up the wound on my face since he didn’t have strong enough healing magic. He asked me what had happened to me, but I didn’t answer at the moment. He finished the stitches. I told him "I was punished by my uncle, but it’s because I deserved it." I walked out of the room without another word. The memory stops, leaving me in the black again.

I slowly open my eyes, revealing the figure again. It's...Darius?

Chapter Text

Hunter POV

Why is Darius here? I need to get to my room to stitch up my cheek. I sit up, and I feel my cheek. There are stitches on it already. And I’m wearing an eyepatch. Was it that bad? Did Darius do my stitches? I sit up a little too fast because I feel a bit dizzy.

“Hey! Stay still! I still haven’t given you the healing potion!” Darius exclaims.

“I should be getting back to my room, Darius. Thank you for the help, but I think I can handle myself without a healing potion,” I tell him.

I start to stand up, but I fall right back into his couch.

“You lost a lot of blood, Little Prince. You are not going to make it very long without regaining some of it. Now, stay there so I can get the potion,” He responds.

He gets up, leaving me on my own. I quickly notice that Darius has taken off my gloves. My hands are wrapped in bandages and covered in a disinfectant. My shirt is also off. I look down at my scar-covered chest, trying not to remember where they are from. Some parts of my abdomen are bandaged as well. The gash from my last mission must have reopened.

Darius comes back out with a healing potion. He sits on the couch beside me, watching me slowly drink the potion.

“What happened?” He asks me as I finish up the horrid-tasting potion.

I sigh, not quite knowing how to answer. It’s not like I could tell him anything about what happened. It’s classified information. I made that mistake too much when I was little. We sit in silence for a moment.

“Do you want a sandwich or some soup?” Darius asks me.

“No, no, no, I should seriously get going,” I say.

“That’s not an answer to my question,” he responds.

“You’ve done enough for me. I’m going to get going.”

“Okay, I’ll put the soup on,”

“No! Why are you being so stubborn about this?”

“Have you looked in a mirror recently? Come on, if it makes you feel better you can help me make it,” he says.

I sigh. “Where did you put my clothes?”

“They’re in the bathroom. Once you’ve changed, I’ll probably have the soup ready.”

I nod and walk towards the bathroom. I stare into the mirror, observing the stitches. Man, my stitches have never been this neat. Probably because he can use magic. I carefully take off the eyepatch, seeing my eye. It’s sewn together, probably to help it heal. I softly trace my finger on the stitches. It’s good Darius stitched that up. I have never had to do that before.

I stare at myself for a moment longer before noticing clothes on the counter. I put them on, hoping they are for me. I walk out of the bathroom, and I’m lured into the kitchen by the smell of food. My stomach grumbles loudly. Darius pours me a bowl and then himself. I sit down at the small dining room table he has, but I can’t eat the soup. I just stare at it, my stomach begging for me to just pick up the titan damn spoon and shove the soup in my mouth. But I can’t. I look up from my soup and see Darius staring at me.

“You going to eat any of the soup, or are you just going to continue glaring at it?” He asks me.

I nod quickly. I shakily pick up my spoon and choke down the soup. It tastes good. So good. I feel small tears forming in my eyes. Titan, why am I like this?

“Are you ok?” He asks me, seeing the tears in my eyes.

“Y-yeah I’m fine. The soup is just…hot,” I try to lie.

“Okay…” he says back.

He continues to eat his soup as I sit there in silence.

He clears his throat and asks, “What…what happened to you?” His usually confident voice is turned into a kind, worried whisper. I stay silent. He continues “I know you have a… special connection with the Emperor and I’m wondering if-“

“I’m fine Darius,” I snap back at him. “Don’t you have something better to do anyway?”

I clasp my hand over my mouth.

"I'm so sorry! Please don't punish me!" I whisper.

"Punish you?" Darius asks me.

I stand up, and my breath quickens. My heart pounds against my chest, trying to escape my chest. Am I dying? I collapse on the floor, trying to regain my breath. Why can't I breathe?

"Calm down. I'm not going to punish you, I promise. I'm not that kind of guy," He says, slightly touching me.

I flinch away from him. My breath quickens. What does he mean by he won't punish me? I interrupted him, and I've been outstandingly rude to him.

"I know your Uncle is into punishing you, Little Prince, but I have no reason to punish you," He tells me, keeping his distance.

"H-how do you know he's my un-uncle?" I ask him, regaining some of my breath.

"You told me when you were really young. One of your first punishments I believe. I really hoped he would do that kind of thing to you again, but here we are, scared that I'm going to punish you for talking," He sighs, rubbing his temple.

I stare at him again. I touch my scar, as the memory unmasks the figure it hid before. Darius helped me.

"I should get going. Thank you for the food and the stitches. I can handle the rest myself,"

"Okay just... take yourself, Hunter. And for the love of Titan please treat your injuries better. You had a fever when I took you here from an infection on your side."

"Thank you for your kindness and I will try to. Goodbye," I tell him as I walk out of his door.

I walk down the dark corridor, trying to hide from the Coven Scouts and Lilith. I open the door to immediately be greeted by Luz.

"What the hell happened?" we ask at the same time.

Chapter Text

Luz POV

I run into Ed and Em's newly built tent and zip the door up behind me. I release a sigh of relief. I sit down on the ground, carefully unwrapping my bandages on my arm. And Hunter said I wouldn't be able to do this by myself. If he could see me now. As I finish unwrapping the bandages, I notice my cuts are covered in pus. Shit. This is what I get for only changing the bandages once in three days. I reach for my bag, which makes some of my stitches rip. 

“Fuck!” I whisper under my breath as blood starts to spray on the recently built tent. I didn’t bring any thread, or a needle for that matter. It’s only been 2 days since my incident. I'm so stupid for thinking I wouldn't tear them before tomorrow morning, or this night for that matter. I should've just stayed in the castle so Hunter could change my bandages. He is very much superior with any medical thing then me. Usually, my mom just would take me to the ER if they were this bad and the nurses would keep me there for a couple of nights. I have a feeling that Hunter doesn't get that privilege for any injury, self-harm or not.

I grab the bandages and the disinfectant. I try to wrap them over the bleeding gash but the bandage quickly soaks it and the pus. Shit again! How could I be so stupid? In anger I grab my hair causing more of my stitches to tear.

I rip out a chunk of my hair, in frustration. Shit shit shit! I look at my arms, seeing 4 MORE of my stitches tore. Why can't I take care of myself for two fucking seconds?! I actually don't think I would want Hunter to see this. 

I look down at my phone, noticing I've been in here for 20 minutes! I suddenly hear a knock on the fabric door. 

"Hey Luz, I'm going to go in for a moment," I believe Emira says.

She then suddenly opens the door. She looks me up and down with a shocked face. 

"I-it's not as bad as it looks! I-i promise!" I shout. She starts to look very pale, and she faints. 

"Oh shit! I killed her!" I shout. The shout echos out. Suddenly I remember why we need to be so quiet. 

"The Slitherbeast is coming!" Ed yells out. 

I quickly get back into my hoodie, and I rush out with my light glyphs. 

"Where is Em?" Edric asks out.

"She fainted I believe!" Amity shouts out to him. 

"Well I guess it's just you and me then against this Slitherbeast," Ed says once again. 

"I don't know many spells!" She shouts.

"What about that fire spell we were teaching you?" He asks. 

"I can't do that without my training wand!" 

"Well you better figure out how to do it because I can't do this aloooooooooo!" Edric is suddenly snatched by the Slitherbeast, as it's clear that the demon doesn't know where the noise is coming from. 

I pull out my light glyph, hoping it will stun the beast but it fails. The demon then goes to pick up Emira. Amity and I stay completely still as the beast wanders away.

"Luz! What could you have possibly done to my sister faint and why did you yell?" Amity yells at me, quiet enough for the Slitherbeast not to come back.

She then at my hand, which is dripping blood from the open cuts. 

"Did it get you? Scratch you or something. Sit down so I can examine them!" Amity demands me. 

"No it's not from that. I'll fix them up later. I just need to help you get your siblings back," I respond. 

She quickly starts to take off my sweatshirt, completely ignoring what I said. 

"Luz. What happened?" Amity asks me concerningly. 

I really can't have this conversation right now. I need to go save Ed and Em before I can even think about what is happening on my arms. She tugs on my arm, making me wince in pain. 

"Sit. Down. I'm going to get the first aid kit. I believe I might have a healing potion in there," She says. 

I immediately sit down. I haven't seen this side of Amity before. So authoritative and powerful. A blush comes across my face, though it might be from the infection. She comes back with a blanket and the first aid kit. She wraps me in the blanket, as I was not realizing how cold it is up here. She sits closer to me and my heart skips a beat.m. 

"Shit these are older than today, aren't they?" Amity asks. "They're infected, Luz!"

"They are a couple of days old but I accidentally ripped some of the stitches," I respond.

"Did you not change the bandages? Or disinfect them every day?" 

I shake my head. 

"Okay, okay, this is fine." I can hear her breath quicken. Her heart pounds against my arm and I realize she's probably having a panic attack.

"Hey. Take some deep breaths for me OK?" I touch her hand. It seems only to quicken her breath. Shit! What was that thing Lilith taught me? 5 things you see or something.

"Tell me five things you see?" 

"Luz I don't have time for this! You are clearly unwell and my family is out there somewhere getting eaten by a fucking Slitherbeast!" Amity yells at me. 

"You can't help anyone if you are panicking like this OK?" 

Amity finally tries to take some deep breaths, but then she traps me into this huge cage.

"I'm going to save my siblings. I'll be back in a jiffy!"

She runs off and I sigh. I'm definitely going to find a way out of this cage. I stare up into the sky, hoping from a sign from the titan or god or someone. I then start to see the light glyph in the stars. Of course these glyphs are something I need to find within the Isles! I quickly catch a snowflake, hoping it will give me some kind of glyph. The snowflake has a glyph on it so I draw it in the snow. A cylinder of ice launches me up into the sky. Yes! I learned a new glyph!

I quickly run towards a cave in the distance, hoping that is where the Blights are. When I finally reach it, I'm happy to see them all alive still. Em is finally awake and Amity is using the fire spell. They all start to run out and I join them too, holding back the demon with icicles. 

"How did you even get out of that cage?" Amity asks as she shoot goo at the beast.

"Let's just say I think the Titan himself helped me," I respond. 

After we defeat the beast, Ed and Em decided this was too much excitement for one night. We all hopped back on the staff for another hour ride. I'm very lucky no one discussed the cuts on my arms. and they dropped me off at the window. Right as I was about to go into the window, Amity gives me a hug, and whispers, "Let's do this again sometime, but just us."

A blush covers both our faces for a good minute until Ed shouted, "Come on Mittens! We need to leave!" 

We both wave a small goodbye to each other as I sneak into the room. I notice Hunter isn't in the room so I quietly unpack some of my things. After putting some of my things in my dresser, I decide to go out and find Hunter. Right as I open the door I am greeted with the very person I wanted to see. Except he has a large bandage on his cheek and he's wearing an eyepatch. Before I can even think I yell.

"What the hell happened?" We both yell at the same time.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Hunter POV

I'm peacefully reading my book about the Savage Ages when Luz practically breaks down the door. I stare at her for a moment, surveying her injuries. Luckily, nothing is too rough, but she is bleeding.

"Luz! What the fuck happened to you this time?" I ask her, slightly annoyed. 

She rolls her eyes at me before saying, "We had the Owl Lady in the clutches of our hands, but of course, I had to ruin it."

She plops down on her bed. I sigh, realizing I'm bound to get another punishment. I grab my First Aid kit and sit down in front of her. 

"You know, this is when people usually say, 'No, no, no, it's not your fault'," she tells me.

"You just told me it was your fault. Why would I question you about that?" I respond to her, confused. 

"I guess that's a good point. You probably don't need the First Aid kit. My legs will scab up, anyways," she mumbles. 

"That is not how you should react to injuries, Luz," I tell her, chuckling a bit. I put some disinfectant on her little scabs on her knees. She flinches a bit from the stinging. I think of a way to distract her before coming up with an idea. "So... how's the girlfriend?" I ask her. 

"Wait, What? She is not my girlfriend!" Luz states, her face turning bright red. 

"Oh, crap, are you OK? Do you have a fever or something? Are you sick?" I ask her, slightly panicking over the red on her cheeks. 

"Stop making fun of me!" She laughs while saying. 

"I'm not making fun of you right now. Seriously, are you OK?" I respond to her with worry. 

"No, Dimwit, I'm blushing! I'm fine, besides for the mental anguish you are putting me through," she says, laughing harder this time. 

I let out a sigh of relief. "You are all good now," I state. 

"Hunter, do you think I can ask you something?" Luz asks. 

"It's 'May  I ' but yeah, you may ask me a question," I respond, correcting her. 

"Am I going to have to meet Belos about this failed mission?" She whispers as quietly as an echo-mouse. 

I think about it for a moment.  She  might have to talk to  him  with Lilith, but since I'm taking her punishments, not alone. "Yeah, probably, but just with Lilith," I answer. 

She stares at me, confused. "So I won't have to take a beating?" she asks. 

"It's not a beating  it's  a correction, a punishment if you will," I respond. 

"A punishment is taking away like your phone or something, not getting attacked."

"How is that even effective?" 

"How is getting injured by your father figure effective?"

"I'm not getting injured badly. It just reminds me that  he  knows I can do better," 

"What kind of explanation is that?" 

"A good one."

"No, Hunter, it's a shit one! That doesn't excuse him from using you as his punching bag!"

"What even is that?" 

"That was not what I wanted you to get out of that sentence! You need to get it into your fucking brain that this isn't normal!  I know  Belos mangled your eye and cheek worse than you would like to admit! That's terrible, Hunter! TERRIBLE!" She yells at me. 

I look at her, and she's on the verge of tears. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I'm sorry," I say. 

She pinches the temple of her nose, stopping the tears from staining her cheeks. "No, Hunter, don't apologize. This isn't your fault. I know yelling scares you, sorry," she responds. "I should've realized that you don't  even  understand why this is so wrong."

"I don't think you understand how normal that is here. I promise you every parent does this, except for your mom, I guess," I mumble.

She lets out a sigh. "OK I won't fight you about this today so let's just change the topic."

I nod at her, going back over to my bed.

"Do you think Lilith would let me go to Hexside with Amity?" Luz asks me.

I stare at her, dumbfounded. "No. no one in this titandam Castle will let you do that. You are like Belos' prized possession right now. He doesn't want you to get hurt out here," I tell her. 

"But he loves to make you hurt," she mumbles under her breath. I decide to ignore it.

"Lilith and I are responsible for you. If you get hurt on our watch... I don't think you want to know what will happen," I reiterate.

"Right, this whole 'Belos is not a merciful man' shit. But how am I supposed to get better at magic if everyone around me is telling me everything is too dangerous?" 

"Because things here are dangerous! You literally almost got eaten by a Slitherbeast! The stomach lining of those things is actually horrific!"

"Why the fuck do you know what the inside of a Slitherbeast looks like?" 

"Come on, everyone is eaten by a Slitherbeast and has to cut it apart from the inside at least once!" 

"You disturb me in many ways Hunter,"

"You do too Luz,"

She laughs and I chuckle too. 

"I get it that you're overprotective of me, but that doesn't mean I can't live my newfound life. I'll ask her but I can't promise you I won't go no matter her answer," she explains to me. 

I sigh and let out an "I understand," to her. 

"I'm going to wash up. That weird-ass Owl-tube thing was so slimy for some fucking reason," she states. 

I nod and sit back down on my bed. I know soon enough I'll get called down the the Throne room again, but I might as well be happy with this peace I'm getting now. 

Chapter Text

Sorry for the crazy long wait for a chapter! I have had a really hard time writing chapters cause I'm not great with romance, being aroace and all. I'm writing a lumity arc and I could use some help on how to write romance so please PLEASE give me tips below. Usually on my other fix my cocreator helps with the romance but they also have their own fic so any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!