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Luz is happy. Anyone could tell by the way she’s bouncing on the heels of her feet, or from the goofy grin stretching across her face.
Hunter had finally agreed to join her and her friends for a day at Hexside. Just one day to truly experience how youthful witches learn their magic (and how Luz had been learning hers). Of course, Luz knew that a day like this was incredibly risky, as there could be coven spies anywhere, but she also knew it could be the only chance for Hunter to really experience a coven-based magical education that isn’t taught by Belos or in isolation.
Hunter stands beside Luz at the edge of the school grounds, wringing his hands together as he watches the wave of students rushing through Hexside’s towering entrance. The rapid fidgeting of his hands was a tell-tale sign that he is nervous as he watches as bursts of magic flicker in the hands of young, eager witches and how chaos unfolds when someone accidentally casts the wrong spell.
He turns to look at Luz, confusion painted in his expression. “This is what you wanted me to see?” Hunter mutters, arms crossed tightly over his chest. His gaze flickers between students, sharp and calculating, as if expecting an ambush at any moment.
She smiles widely. “Pretty much,” Luz says, rocking on her heels. “I mean, you’ve spent your whole life learning magic in isolation…or under Belos’ rules. This–” she gestures wildly to the crowd of students, “this is different. This is witches learning together, messing up together , figuring things out without someone breathing down their necks.”
Hunter scoffs, unimpressed as he shifts his weight. “Looks inefficient.”
“Looks fun,” Luz counters, nudging him in the side slightly. “Come on, admit it! You’re at least a little curious.”
Hunter doesn’t respond right away, his eyes fixed on the students still entering the school building. He isn’t sure what unsettles him more: the idea of being surrounded by witches who would most definitely turn on him in an instant if they knew who he truly was, or the fact that Luz spoke to him like he was any other kid.
Not The Golden Guard. Not Belos’ Right-Hand Man. Just Hunter.
Hunter sighs, leaning against the wall. His eyes flicker every so often towards the entrance, watching as the last few stragglers hurry inside. The courtyard grows quieter, save for the distant hum of chatter and the occasional burst of stray magic from inside the building.
Luz turns towards him. “You really don’t want to go in, huh?” She asks, tilting her head.
“I don’t see the point,” he mutters. “I already know how magic works. I don’t need to sit in a classroom to prove it.”
She hums thoughtfully, kicking a loose pebble near her foot. “Yeah, but it’s not just about learning magic. It’s about…figuring things out with other people, or making mistakes without it being life or death.”
Hunter scoffs. “Must be nice.”
Luz hesitates. There’s something in his voice, though. Something bitter. Something tired. It’s almost like he’s uncertain of what he’s protesting against, uncertain if he truly wants to stay learning under Belos’ rule.
She watches him for a moment, then, without thinking, blurts out, “Do you ever feel like…I dunno, like you have to get everything right? Like, if you mess up, it’s not just your problem but everyone’s?”
Hunter stiffens slightly but still refuses to look at her.
“I mean, I know I act like I’ve got everything under control,” Luz continues, voice growing quieter now. “But the truth is, I don’t. And I hate feeling like I’m not enough.”
Silence.
Hunter exhales slowly, fingers twitching at his sides. He could say something now, something reassuring, something honest. But he doesn’t, because honesty isn’t part of the plan and he knows what he has to do now.
Sighing, he says, “Yeah,” his voice is quieter than he aimed for, “I get it.”
Luz looks at him, surprised.
“Belos always expects perfection,” Hunter continues, gaze fixed on the ground. “If I mess up, it’s not just my problem. It’s his problem, too.” His tone shifts subtly. “And he doesn’t tolerate problems.”
Luz frowns, sympathy flickering in her eyes. She had already seen glimpses of Belos’s cruelty. When she’d confronted him to save Eda, when she’d learned she’d unknowingly taught him glyph magic in the past, and the worst: getting trapped in his mind and witnessing his lies firsthand. Each encounter had left a mark, a lingering unease she couldn’t shake. No matter how hard she tried, his words still echoed in her mind, refusing to fade.
But this was worse.
So, so much worse.
Had Belos truly treated Hunter like this all these years?
Luz turned to look at him, her mouth pressing into a thin line as the full weight of his words settled over her.
And Hunter lets her see it. He lets her believe this is a real moment between them. Because the more she trusts him, the easier this will be.
A moment of silence stretches between them. Seconds drag into minutes, the stillness growing heavier until the teenagers shift uncomfortably in the quiet.
Hunter shifts slightly, reaching into his cloak before pulling out a small, dark bottle. He holds it up between them, the deep red liquid catching the light.
"I know you’ve always wanted to try some," he says, offering it to Luz with an easy smile. One that looks natural enough, but feels carefully placed.
Luz’s eyes widen in surprise. "Wait, is that–"
"Apple Blood," Hunter confirms, shaking the bottle slightly. The liquid inside bounces around the walls of the bottle as he does so. "Soft, obviously. I’m not trying to get you kicked out of Hexside."
Luz laughs, taking the bottle from him. "Wow, you actually remembered that? I mean, yeah, I’ve been curious, but I didn’t think you’d–" She pauses, glancing at him with narrow eyes. "You’re being weirdly nice today."
Hunter shrugs, keeping his expression neutral. "Maybe I’m just trying to be a good friend."
Luz grins, twisting the cap open. She doesn’t notice the way Hunter watches her. How, for just a second, his fingers twitch at his sides. She doesn’t notice as Hunter’s hands fidget further as he watches Luz drink the entire concoction in seconds, obviously underestimating how desperate the girl was to try some. She doesn’t notice as Hunter moves closer, hand now outstretched, hovering awkwardly near her back.
Luz exhales sharply, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "Whoa! Okay, that was way sweeter than I thought it'd be."
At first, everything seems fine.
The apple blood leaves a syrupy taste on her tongue, rich and almost too thick. It tasted almost exactly as Eda had described that evening when Luz, after being denied a sip, had begged to know what it was like.
But then—
A strange warmth spreads through her chest. Not comforting, not familiar, but heavy. Heavy, and getting heavier, before tightening painfully like a vice, squeezing the air from her lungs. Her limbs feel sluggish, like the weight of the air has doubled, pressing against her skin.
She blinks, trying to shake off the sudden dizziness. "Whoa. That’s–" Her words falter, slipping through her teeth like mist.
Her stomach twists. Not in pain, not exactly, but in a way that makes her feel wrong. Like something inside her is shifting, slowing, unraveling. Something that shouldn’t be inside of her in the first place.
She grips the wall beside her, fingers trembling. "Hunter…?"
Her voice is quieter now, uncertain.
Hunter moves closer, his hand still hovering near her back but he doesn’t touch her. He just watches.
"You okay?" he asks, and for a moment, she wants to believe the concern in his voice is real.
But then she sees it.
The way he doesn’t move to help her.
The way his expression stays perfectly neutral, perfectly controlled.
And suddenly, the wrongness in her body feels a lot more dangerous.
She struggles to speak, her tongue feeling too big for her mouth. “Hunter, what–” her words slur, “what did–you…do–to me?”
The grip she has on the wall is faltering, her movements becoming increasingly sluggish as the world spins. Still, she tries her hardest to keep her grip firm on the wall, trying so hard to remain standing. Her limbs are heavy, weighed down by sudden exhaustion (that she doesn’t remember having) like chains she couldn’t shake.
Hunter’s arm snakes around her waist, a hesitant attempt to help her stand. He’s silent for the most part, and Luz begins to think that he has nothing to say. However, after a few minutes, he speaks, and it’s not the words she expected to hear. “I’m sorry.”
The words slip out before Hunter can stop them, quiet and strained, and not exactly how Hunter wanted to start his explanation. Luz barely even registers them at first. Her head is spinning, her limbs feel like lead and the world now tilts dangerously beneath her feet.
Lethargically, she blinks up at him with confusion flickering in her eyes. “Wha–” she tries to ask, but her words are slurred and barely articulate.
Hunter exhales sharply, jaw tightening. His hand hovers around her waist, like he wants to properly steady her, but he doesn’t. He can’t.
“I’m doing this for the both of us.” he says, voice low, almost pleading. “You don’t understand, Luz. If I don’t bring you to Belos, I–” he cuts himself off, shaking his head slowly. “This is the only way.”
Luz stares at him, breath becoming more uneven by the second. The weight in her chest grows heavier, not just from the poison making itself a home in her body but from the realisation that’s beginning to settle in.
“You–” she stammers, her voice barely above a whisper. “You planned this?”
Hunter doesn’t answer. Luz’s eyes fill with tears, but she quickly attempts to wipe them away. The sudden movement of her arm causes her world to tilt further, and her grip on the wall falters. She falls down, landing harshly as her bare knees scrape across the pavement. If she were more awake, more aware, perhaps she would have stood up and grinned, reassuring her friends that she meant to do that in her usual attempt to lighten up the mood.
But right now, all she can do is stare aimlessly at the ground. She stares, and stares, trying so desperately hard to stay awake and stay aware. But the darkness beckons, pulling at her exhaustion as her eyelids grow heavy. It wants to welcome her, to swallow her whole. It tries but Luz knows she can’t let it.
Not yet.
“Why–” she asks, voice shaking uncharacteristically. “Why me?”
Hunter doesn’t answer. Instead, his arm returns to her back. A weak attempt to steady her when she’s already fallen. Black spots creep into her vision, spreading like ink spilled across glass. The very lens through which she sees the world. The darkness returns, beckoning her once more, and this time, she has no strength left to resist.
✭✭✭✭✭
Luz’s world is a haze of static.
Her head throbs, heavy and sluggish, like she’s sinking into something thick and suffocating. Voices drift through the fog. Low, measured tones, words slipping past her grasp before she can even try to make sense of them.
She blinks slowly, vision swimming. The dim glow of torches flickers against the stone walls, casting long shadows. The scent of damp earth and burning incense clings to the air.
And then—
"You see?"
Hunter’s voice.
"I told you I could do it."
Luz’s breath stutters. She tries to move, but her limbs respond like they belong to someone else. Numb, sluggish, delayed. It’s like shouting commands across a foggy canyon and hearing only silence in return. The silence is what haunts her the most.
The sudden loss of control scares her. She knows she shouldn’t be surprised. After all, that heavy, numb feeling had settled over her just before she blacked out. But it still startles her, kicking up the panic she thought she'd buried.
Her fingers twitch, or at least, she thinks they do. Every movement feels distant, like she’s buried beneath layers of wet fabric. Her arms exist, but only as memory.
She wills herself up, but her body doesn't obey. Legs heavy as stone. Hands unreachable. It's like she’s piloting from somewhere far behind her own eyes. Everything is happening in real time, but somewhere behind a thick wall of glass. Sound is dulled. Touch is muted. Her heartbeat echoes like it belongs to a stranger.
Her body lies on the cold, stone ground, sprawled like a marionette dropped mid-dance, strings cut. She’s in there somewhere, floating in static, but her frame is foreign, empty.
"She’s here," Hunter continues, standing rigid before Belos as he gestures stiffly toward Luz. "I brought her to you, just like you wanted."
Belos hums, stepping forward, his gaze sweeping over Luz’s weakened form. Luz’s vision still swims, the blurred shapes before her melting into distorted blobs of color once more. She falls forward, her arms collapsing underneath her weight. When had she tried to sit up?
"And yet," Belos muses, "you hesitate."
Hunter stiffens. "I didn’t—"
"You did." Belos tilts his head, studying him. "Tell me, Hunter, was it guilt? Or were you simply afraid?"
Luz’s pulse pounds in her ears, like a constant drum sounding in a silent cathedral. She wants to speak, to fight, to do something. But the poison lingers, keeping her trapped in the fog. She tries to focus, to fix her vision, but all she does is make it worse. The shadows shift, smudges of light pulse and shift, shapes duplicate and overlap simultaneously.
And throughout all this, Hunter just stands there, fists clenching and eyes downcast.
“I did exactly what you asked,” he reiterates. “I got her here, I made her trust me and now, she’s yours.”
Belos watches him carefully, his expression unreadable. “Tell me, Hunter, why do you sound like you’re trying to convince yourself?”
Hunter swallows hard. He can feel Luz’s presence behind him, barely conscious and barely awake but still there . Still listening.
Belos steps forward, slow and deliberate, his gaze flickering between Hunter and Luz’s barely-conscious form.
He rests a hand on Hunter’s shoulder. “You did well,” he says, voice smooth and calculated. “You brought her to me, just as I asked.” Hunter exhales, relief flickering in his chest until Belos tilts his head, eyes narrowing, and the relief he had felt dies. “But, tell me, Hunter,” he continues, “do you truly understand why I wanted her at all?”
Hunter hesitates, glancing back nervously at Luz before forcing his eyes back up at Belos. “She’s…another human,” he says carefully. “You think she should be on our side.”
Belos hums, pleased. “Exactly. She belongs with us, Hunter. She belongs with me.” His gaze darkens. “And yet, she still resists. She clings to these wild witches and their chaos, their corruption .”
Hunter swallows hard, fingers twitching at his sides.
“You’ve spent time with her,” Belos continues, stepping closer. “Tell me, do you believe she can be reasoned with?”
Hunter freezes.
He knows exactly what Belos is really asking.
“Or,” he muses, “will she need convincing?”
Hunter’s breath catches in his throat. He knows what convincing means. He knows what proving himself really means. And suddenly, the weight of the choices he’s made feel suffocating.
Hunter straightens himself up. “She won’t,” he answers quickly. “If you let me speak with her again, I promise she’ll understand and join our side.”
Belos is quiet for a moment, as if considering the option Hunter had offered. Then, he turns to exit the room. “Very well.” he accepts. “Speak to her. But if she refuses… you know what that means.”
Hunter remained still as Belos’s footsteps receded into the stone corridor, each one echoing like a sentence being passed.
The door sealed shut.
Silence fell between them. Heavy. Awful.
Luz stirred, her fingers digging weakly into the ground as she pushed herself up with trembling arms. Her breath rattled in her chest.
“…Hunter?” Her voice was raw. Disbelieving.
He stepped toward her instinctively. “Luz, I–”
She flinched, her body recoiling like he was something venomous.
“You poisoned me,” she said, the words slurring just slightly from the lingering fog, but her meaning hit like a hammer. “You–why?”
He froze, throat closing.
Her eyes burned into his, and in them he saw the exact moment she understood.
“You lied to me,” she whispered, more heartbreak than accusation. “All of it! The trust, the kindness, the way you looked at me like you actually–” She cut herself off, fury twisting into anguish. “You were just leading me here.”
“No,” he said, too fast. “Yes– just listen, it wasn’t like that.”
Luz let out a bitter laugh that cracked mid-breath. “Right. Because people usually drug their friends when they care.”
Hunter’s voice shook. “I did it because Belos–he said if I brought you in, he’d spare you. I thought if I made it look like I was still loyal, I could protect you.”
“By handing me over?” she snapped. “By dragging me into this place like I’m a gift you wrapped in chains?”
He flinched like she’d struck him. “It wasn’t supposed to go like this.”
“Then how was it supposed to go, Hunter?” Her voice was rising now, breathless with fury. “Were you hoping I’d thank you? That I’d be so flattered by your betrayal, I’d just forgive you?”
“I thought you’d be safe here,” he muttered, barely audible.
Luz stared at him, something hollow and devastated in her face.
“You don't get to call this safe,” she said. “You sold me out to a tyrant.”
He said nothing.
“I trusted you.”
Hunter opened his mouth but nothing came out.
Luz turns her face away, shoulders trembling. When she speaks next, the words scrape out raw and soft, but unyielding. “Was it all a lie, then?”
“No. That’s the problem.”