His scar

The owl house

Eda slammed her hands on the table, "what? No no no there's only one grom. Luz you gotta slow down,"

I took a deep breath, then explained, "so basically he's the golden guard, we ran into him in a forest, he was attacked by grom, and now we're here."

"That's the golden guard?!" Lilith gasped. I almost forgot that she once worked with him. I wondered if they talked to each other much. Hunter rolled his eyes.

"Is- he okay?" Eda asked examining his wounds carefully. I squinted at him, those cuts were deep, too deep. He had already lost a lot of blood on the way, I was surprised he hadn't passed out yet, I should have jumped in sooner. He made my blood boil but he was still just a teenager.

"Talking later, helping now," I declared. Hunter tugged more.

"How are gonna help me when you have me tied up idiot," he growled. Lilith placed a towel over his face, "ow!" He flinched. The blood seeped into the towel.

"Yeah it's gonna hurt a bit," Lilith said awkwardly.
Hunter glanced at her and scowled.

"Ah Lilith, how's the curse been treating you," he asked, his cocky tone returning, Eda raised her staff at him and snarled. Hunter shrugged and laughed, "the head of the emperors coven turned powerless. now that's one for the headlines. Oh wait it already is everywhere, hard to imagine anyone still has any respect for you," he snickered with a grin.

"You would know about being powerless wouldn't you, golden guard," Lilith hissed in an instant. I bit my lip.

"At least I didn't cause it. I mean cursing your own sister, ha now that's clever," Eda raised her staff to his neck and scowled, "oh wow I'm so scared," He teased while rolling his eyes.

Lilith glared at him as she stuffed a towel in his mouth, "Would you stop that for one second. We're helping you here! Even you should be grateful," she argued. Hunter grumbled and slouched back, wincing every few seconds at any sort of touch. His eyes were glossy with tears, but I could tell he was choking them all back.

"Do you think we should take him to a healing coven or something?" I whispered to Eda. She shrugged.

"That's probably a good idea. But this all seems.." she paused, looking towards the ceiling, "odd," she finished. She wasn't wrong, this could be another scheme of the emperors, but I knew what I saw and I couldn't leave him there. His face was so painted with fear, it hurt to even think about. If I left him there I don't think I could have forgiven myself, but then again, he was working for the enemy. I groaned, this was so confusing.

Eda sighed, "alright alright so here's what's happening," she yelled so the whole house could hear, "he's staying here as our prisoner, but also we'll help him heal or whatever."

"What makes you think I won't just leave," Hunter asked.

Eda shrugged, "well we're gonna take great care of you, maybe you won't want to leave," Eda boasted. He raised an eyebrow, "also we won't let you. Looks like your stuck with us," she explained. Hunter just sighed.

Hunter POV:

The owl lady tugged me through the hall of her strange house. It was so cluttered and gross, but somehow I found it all, exciting. I pushed the thought away, no this was a mess.

She finally swung open a door that opened up a small room, nearly the size of a closet. It was unbearably dusty, to my surprise however, there wasn't much in it. There was a single sleeping bag lying on the floor, and a small bookshelf with about 3 books. On top of the shelf was an orb for entertainment.

"Welcome to your uh.." the owl lady started, "room. It's not much but get used to it kid," she explained. She looked at me with big eyes, I noticed the two different colors up close, I wondered what it was like to have curse. Maybe if I learned about hers I could figure more out about Belos.

For a while she just stared at me, like she was looking down on me. I was nobody to be looked down on especially by her. I almost wanted to stand just so I'd have some ground. It was weak to be looked down on right? I'd already been weak before, so I kept my gaze out the window.

She shrugged, "well I'll just leave you to it I guess," she told me awkwardly. I wasn't sure how to respond, if I should smile or say something. No I definitely couldn't smile at her she'd basically imprisoned me. And what would I say if I spoke-

She left before I had the chance do to do anything, outside the door I heard her whisper, "this is weird."

I slumped on to my bed- or sleeping bag. I could feel the hard ground below me, it was like sleeping on a rock. Sleeping wasn't an option however, I had too many thoughts rushing through my head. Belos would send somebody for me for sure, but I got myself captured he'd be so disappointed. Belos was always the one person I had, he was so wise and strong. I couldn't let him down, not after all he's done for me. I groaned, feeling like a terrible person. Belos would be so furious if I mess this up. Belos, I can't go back empty handed. What would he think about this. I couldn't risk to find out.

I felt the tears well up in my eyes, why did I have to feel like this, why won't it go away. I choked them back, I couldn't be weak, I had to be stronger, better. I searched the room desperately for some sort of knife or sharp object to cut the plant the human- or Luz had wrapped around me. Maybe I could squeeze out of it somehow. It was strong, stronger then I'd expected. Wild magic was always so interesting to me, if a human could do magic without a staff, maybe I could too.

I shook my head, trying to focus, when suddenly the door swung open.

"Oh- hi," Luz smiled. I groaned, was she supposed to be my babysitter or something. Just one more person to look down on me, "I uh thought I'd give you your palisman, just so, your not lonely or anything," she cheered. I gasped, glancing at the little red bird that sat on her shoulder. I thought back to all the times he'd been with me. Whenever I had a bad day he was always there.

The little bird fluttered to my shoulder and snuggled into my neck as usual. I smiled and rubbed against him. We were interrupted by the humans annoying squeak.

"Awwww," she grinned. I felt the heat rush to my face. Wow I just looked like and idiot. I frowned and stared out the window again. Luz plopped on the floor next to me, I could tell because the floor let out a loud creak when she did.

"So how's your face?" She asked. I sighed, suddenly remembering the matching scar on the side of my face. Belos lifting his hand, the scream, if made me shutter.

"It's fine," I muttered.

"That's good. What do you think of the room?" She added.

"It's terrible," I stated blankly, I squinted at her, was this some kind of interrogation, "why are you talking to me?"

She shrugged, "well I just felt like I should. We're kinda friends now," she offered. I scoffed, "ok we're definitely not friends," she admitted.
"But we could be."