(HIATUS) Prodigies Against the Throne // Hunter x Reader

| 10 | If A Chapter Doesn't Have A Silly Title, Then You KNOW It's Gonna Be Bad

Don't act like you never idolized the emperor, too, your brain reminded you harshly with a sharp pang of guilt.

You watched as emperor Belos went stiff for a second before ordering Hunter away. Hmm...

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Steve's POV

There was a soft knock on my door. I thought that was pretty odd since I never get visitors. "Come in!" I called. Someone wants to see me! Exciting!

I was more than a little surprised to see Y/N walk into my room. "Y/N? What's up?"

She silently walked over to me and sat next to me. "Steve," she finally began after a minute of worrying silence. "Are you... happy here?"

"Doubting your commitment already?" I commented though I wasn't all too surprised.

She didn't answer, instead turning her head slightly. Y/N was upset about something. I had to drop the silliness. "Well," I began. "I came here because I thought that the emperor's coven was the best. I would be respected, be able to keep my magic, and be a part of the strongest coven, working directly under Emperor Belos himself!" I raised a fist into the air with conviction before lowering it slowly. "But... I dunno... After a while, the conditions don't seem to be worth it."

"How so?" she prompted.

"Well, training was intense. Far worse than what you went through, for sure. One of the challenges they had us complete was that they left us alone on a mountain with no given resources and in order to pass, you had to survive... not everyone did."

"Oh," she whispered. Poor kid probably had no idea how bad Belos was. I'm probably shattering her view of him... I should stop.

"Why did you ask?"

"What else is there?" she asked, dodging my question. I gave in.

"He took my palisman, for one. He did with everyone. And our work schedules are pretty extreme."

"Yeah..."

"Y/N," I said firmly, grabbing her attention. "Why do you ask?"

"I... I don't know... I think that maybe... he's having a worse effect on Golden Guard than I'm realizing."

I could tell that she wasn't telling me everything, but I decided not to push. "Is there anything else you'd want to know?"

"If I run away, will I survive?" Y/N blurted out, refusing to face me. Her entire body shook and I could tell it was taking all of her strength to hold herself together.

I stayed silent for a while, thinking it over. "Well," I said at last. "That ultimately depends on two major factors. The first is how much you know. If you don't have too much knowledge of sensitive information, you're less important to silence."

"And the second..?"

"It also depends on how good of a fight you put up when they inevitably try to catch you. If the search drags on and you're hard to catch, eventually, Belos will decide you are no longer worth the trouble, make up some cover story about you so no one believes you if you speak against him, and you'll be able to live your life without him coming after you."

Y/N stared at me for a moment through her mask. "You've thought about this a lot, haven't you?" she murmured softly, causing a pang in my chest. She gets it, I realized. She already knows how I feel.

"I made it that obvious, huh?" I said sheepishly, scratching the back of my neck.

She removed her mask and stared into my eyes with unwavering intensity. "Come with me," she said firmly. I stared at her in shock, mouth gaping. I removed my own mask and her eyes widened slightly. She had never seen my face before.