Amity wasn't quite sure what to think of the day.
Any moment spent with Luz was a good one, that was for sure, so It's not like it had been bad. And even though the trip to Eclipse Lake hadn't gone anywhere close to planned, they had ended up with the titan blood that they'd needed.
No, Amity's biggest cause of concern was The Golden Guard.
Well, maybe not the guard himself, but his words. She'd told Luz about how he'd threatened her to get what he needed, so at least she'd be on guard if she were to ever encounter him again.
That was the easy part. The harder one was Edric.
His relationship with the guard was no secret between the Blight siblings. Edric's favorite part of the day was going to his room to talk to him for a few minutes.
What was a secret, however, were Amity's feelings on it. She was worried about her brother to begin with. If they'd started dating in the past, she might not have cared. Heck, she probably would have congratulated him on getting closer to the emperors coven.
But now, after the coven had become one of the biggest thorns in her friends life's. In her girlfriend's life. Suffice to say, she wasn't all that pleased with the pairing anymore.
And now that she'd actually met the guard, her feelings had complicated by a margin.
She wanted Edric to be happy. And from the looks of it, he was. But if things continued the way they seemed to be going now, Edric might fall into the unfortunate position of having to choose between him and his family.
It's not like Amity thought that Edric would betray them. This was Edric, after all. He was her brother. But a little voice in the back of her head asked her just how far she herself would be willing to go for Luz.
And it wasn't just that. She was also trying to get a grasp on The Golden Guard's breakdown, back in Eclipse Lake.
It hadn't been a pretty sight, and Amity had felt quite disturbed while watching it, a sentiment that King vocalized for both of them.
She'd offered him a hand. She'd really thought that he would take it.
But he had seen the key. And there was no turning back at that point.
Amity knew that her position had been lucky. The boy had just come back from a breakdown and didn't seem to be fully there in the head while they fought. But he'd won in the end.
If Amity hadn't accidentally broken the key, they're mission would have been worse than a failure.
Amity felt like she was finally processing everything that had happened, as she sat in her windowsill, back at Blight manner.
The only thing she could really register was the fact that she needed to tell Edric. Preferably before he spoke to The Guard again.
It was the middle of the night when she decided to approach him. She may be dead tired, but she wanted to make sure to be the first one to talk to him. If the other boy got to her brother first, there was a good chance that he'd believe his story over hers.
Slowly pushing the door to the twins room open, she saw the two of them sleeping peacefully in their beds. Emira's face was buried in her pillow, while Edric laid on his back, his blanked only covering half his body, and his arm hanging limply outside of his bed.
Sneaking to his bed, quietly, in an attempt to not wake Emira, Amity lightly pushed Edric. The boy mumbled something incoherent, prompting Amity to give him another light push.
The boy cracked one eye open and looked at Amity, gaze unfocused.
"We need to talk." she said,.
"Mittens?" Edric slurred, "What time is it?"
Amity shook her head, "It doesn't matter. We need to talk now."
Her brother pushed himself up into a sitting position, glancing over to the still sleeping Emira, "Just me?"
"Yes," Amity said, "In my room, preferably."
Edric gave her a long stare, before groaning and crawling out of bed. Amity only woke up the twins during the middle of the night when the situation was serious, (Or at least serious in her opinion. The three of them seemed to not quite be in agreement to what a situation like that would entail.) but she'd never woken Edric alone up, so she was sure her brother was confused.
Dragging him with her over to her room, Edric's groggy look slowly faded as he tried his best to wake himself up.
Amity sighed as they entered, mentally preparing herself for the conversation that'd followed. She closed the door as Edric sat down on her bed, rubbing his eyes, "Couldn't this have waited till' morning?" he asked.
"I need to talk to you about this before your boyfriend has the chance to." Amity sighed.
That got Edric's attention quickly, "Hun- My boyfriend? What about him?" it was clear that his tired state nearly made him slip say his name. Edric had been pretty careful about that, claiming that his boyfriend didn't want just anyone knowing his name, due to his status as The Golden Guard. And apparently, since the Blight family was as influential as it was, it was a risk telling his sisters his name.
Amity suspected that Emira already knew, though. Her and Edric were twins. They couldn't keep stuff from each other for long.
Amity pursed her lips, trying to think of the best way to break the news to Edric. She didn't know how much the guard had told Edric about his devotion to the emperor, so she had no clue how he'd react to hearing about his mental breakdown at the lake.
But that could come later. First she needed to relay all the facts. No sugar coding. Just what he did and what he said.
Sympathy could come later.
"I had a fight with him today."
Edric's eyes shot open as he turned his attention fully towards Amity, "What?! What do you mean?" he looked both shocked and concerned, a reaction that Amity had pretty much expected.
Edric hadn't even been informed that they'd met, so delivering the news of their fight first would probably make his mind start working a mile a minute, but it was enough of a grip for Amity to know that Edric would listen to whatever she'd say next.
"Luz had been sick, but we had just uncovered a major clue on how to get her home. A place called Eclipse Lake, where there was supposedly supposed to be titans blood. Something that we needed to make the new portal. So me, Eda and King went there without her to get it." Amity explained, and Edric nodded in between, muttering "Aha" and "Mhm" to signal he was listening.
"And that was where we met your boyfriend." Edric's face contorted at the mention of the Guard. His full expression was unreadable, but Amity could see a flurry of emotions cross it, intrigue being a primary one.
"He'd been disguised as a normal coven scout, but Eda had recognized him by his voice." She continued, "So I used my abomination sludge to tie him up and come with us."
"Why did you do that?" Edric questioned, cutting her off, "Did he do something?"
"Edric, in case you haven't forgotten, he's still The Golden Guard. He is actively working against us."
"Well I'm sure he wouldn't try to stop you if you explained the situation." Edric hesitantly muttered.
Amity shook her head, "Edric. I know you like to see the best in him. But you ignore the position he's really in."
"Whatever," Edric sighed, "Just keep talking" he wasn't meeting her eyes, instead keeping his gaze locked towards his feet.
"Later on, we encountered Kikimora and a legion of the emperor's coven that was also in search of the blood. Since your boyfriend had been there in secret, he tricked me into letting him go and ran ahead. With a very dirty trick, mind you."
At this, Edric seemed confused, "Was he going against the emperor's coven? No offense to your storytelling, Amity, but I highly doubt he'd ever do that."
"He was serving the emperor," Amity groaned, "Let me speak."
Edric put his hands up defensively, but didn't argue.
"King and I managed to make our way to the lake. But it was dried up. If there was titans blood there once, it was long gone by now. And that's where we found him." Amity hesitated for a second. She wanted to bring up the boy's breakdown with Edric, but she didn't want to make up unnecessary sympathy at the moment. So she decided to skip over that part.
For now, at least.
"I had brought the portal key with me." Amity continued, "And when The Guard was talking about the titans blood that was supposed to be there, he happened to mention that there was blood in the key." Amity sighed, as she recounted the next part, "And when he actually saw the key, that's when he attacked me."
Edric stayed quiet.
"He was tired, so I was able to hold my own, but he attacked relentlessly. And eventually, we had each other cornered. And that's when he threatened Luz. He said he'd hurt her if I didn't give him the key. So I did."
Edric slowly shook his head at Amity's confession. "He wouldn't... he wouldn't do that."
Amity looked at her brother with a sympathetic gaze, "Edric. I know how you feel about him, but you have to realize who he is."
"I don't care that he's The Golden Guard," Edic said, standing up from her bed, stance uncertain.
"But you should." Amity sternly said, "You can't ignore the fact that he's working with Belos. And in case you've forgotten, Belos is our enemy."
Edic seemed to have been rendered speechless, mouth hanging agape as if he wanted to protest so badly, but didn't have anything to say. Amity knew that the twins were both good friends with Luz, and Edric certainly didn't wish her any harm. But Amity knew that Edric liked things to be clear. He'd want a clear party to sympathize with.
Whenever Amity and Emira argued, he tried to stay as neutral as possible, only intervening when one of them stepped over the line, at that point choosing to side with the other.
"Edric," Amity said, "I know you're smitten with him, but he hurt me. And he threatened to do the same to Luz. He took away a vital part in helping her get home." Straightening her back, she took a few steps towards Edric, showing him that she wasn't going to argue with him about this,
Edric's posture was awkward, and the boy seemed to not quite know what to say, "And... Do you want me to confront him about this?" he eventually asked, hesitantly. "We never really talk about his status as The Golden Guard in detail. It's mostly just passing mention."
Amity shook her head, "You can do what you want with this information. I just thought you needed to know." she glared at him, "And also, you shouldn't ignore who he is. He is the leader of the emperors coven for titan's sake, no matter who he is underneath that. You have got to stop ignoring it."
Amity left no room for argument, signaling that the conversation was over. She almost felt bad, seeing Edric's conflicted expression, but she knew she made the right call. He needed to know. Edric had made his way to the door, clearly about to leave, when Amity recalled the thing she'd left out.
"Edric." She called out, the boy turning to look at her, "There is one more thing I forgot to mention."
When Amity didn't elaborate, her brother raised a questioning eyebrow, "What?"
"I am mad at him. But, he needs help too." She took a deep breath. It wasn't pleasant recalling the state she'd found The Guard in. The sound of his hopeless laughter had been plaguing her ever since she'd heard it. "When I first found him, he was having a full on break-down over having nothing to present to Belos. He was digging his own grave, Edric. He also went on this whole tangent about being useless, and..."
She stopped talking, not wanting to elaborate more, but Edric seemed to have gotten the idea, as a horrified expression dawned on his face, "Is he... Do you think he's okay?"
"Physically, yeah. But, mentally, he's..." Amity trailed off, "Just... talk to him. But promise me to be careful, okay? If he's a danger to himself, he might be a danger to you too."
"Yeah," Edric breathed, "I'll be careful."
"Good."
"And, um, thanks for telling me this, Mittens." He said, both voice and smile strained, before closing the door quietly behind him, leaving Amity in her own room with her thoughts.
Was it a bit unfair to dump all of this on her brother in the middle of the night? Maybe. But he had a right to know.
Amity highly doubted that either of them would be getting any sleep that night.
***
Hunter's breath was ragged, as he layed in his bed. He wasn't so sure of when to make of everything that had happened.
Belos had accepted the key, despite the crack. He'd said that Hunter did good, and that's all that mattered.
He could faintly feel Rascal pulling at his stray hair strand, clearly trying to make him get up, due to the fact that Hunter had been laying in his bed for hours at this point, eyes wide open, letting his mind wander.
He was proud of himself. Despite the dirty tricks he'd used, he'd gotten the key to his uncle, and that was all that mattered.
But Amity's words were still ringing in his head, circling non stop. If the key hadn't been there, would he have taken her hand?
Hunter couldn't tell you.
"I did the right thing." he muttered, "Belos will open the portal to the human realm. He'll make sure that the day of unity goes as planned." he kept his gaze fixed on Rascal, who had let go of his hair and had seated himself on Hunter's chest.
Rascal chirped, this time saying something Hunter couldn't understand. His moments of understanding his palisman seemed to be quite random, but Hunter wouldn't be surprised if he'd managed to fully understand him soon.
The issue was, of course, hiding him from Belos.
This was the second time in an uncomfortably close period in his life, that he'd chosen to go his own path, and do something that Belos hadn't planned out from him.
Rascal was arguably more dangerous than Edric, in terms of his uncle finding out, but neither would end well.
For Rascal, his uncle wouldn't hesitate to consume his magic.
Hunter understood why he did it, of course. He was sick, with palisman magic being the only thing to sustain him, and Hunter was willing to hunt down as many palisman as he needed to help him.
But giving Rascal to him didn't seem right.
Rascal now marked the second time someone had genuinely tried getting close to him, besides his uncle, the other one being Edric.
Edric Blight.
Amity would probably tell him what happened. To say that Hunter was terrified of his reaction would be an understatement.
On the one hand, Hunter felt like Edric would understand. He had no choice but to get the key. He couldn't go back empty handed.
But on the other hand, Amity was family. Hunter knew that the siblings didn't always get along but there was a strong chance that Edric would side with Amity over him. He was the one who started the fight after all.
Laying for a few more minutes, Hunter heard a faint buzzing noise. Rascal promptly flew off his chest, over to the other side of the room.
Lifting his head slightly up, he could see that the noise was coming from his crystal ball, Edric's number being displayed on the screen, as Rascal sat on top of it.
He momentarily considered just staying in bed, but after the buzzing persisted for a prolonged amount of time, he eventually groaned, pushing himself up and making his way over to his desk, where the crystal ball sat.
Turning it on, he was met with the sight of Edric's face.
"Hey Hunter. Could we talk? In person? Preferably as soon as possible."
Hunter felt himself freeze at Edric's words. The boy in question was unmoving, besides his fingers that he nervously tapped together in a quick rhythm.
Hunter quickly drew a quick, hidden breath, before speaking, "Belos gave me some time to myself for the rest of the day. If you meet me near the emperor's castle then I'd have an hour or two."
Edric hastily stood up, muttering, "Okay. I'll be there," before ending the call.
Hunter could feel his heart's quick rhythm as he stood still over his desk. He suspected that he would have stayed there, refusing to go outside, if it hadn't been for Rascal's persistence.
Putting on his Golden Guard attire, he made his way out of his room, aiming for a spot in a forest nearby.
Edric and Hunter had actually found a few ways to meet up more often after their first date. As they were not in any hurry to prove they're worth wanting, nor did they need a whole night or day, they found it easier to just meet at a halfway point between Blight manor and the castle.
The meetings were short, but it's not like they wanted to talk about anything specific. They simply felt like enjoying each other's company.
But this time it was different. Hunter didn't feel excited like usual. The only thing he could feel was the unsettling dread pooling up in his stomach.
He hid Rascal underneath his cloak, not wanting anyone to see him, but also wanting to keep him around for emotional support.
It wasn't dark out, per say, but the clouds covered up the whole sky and due to the nature of the forest's thick trees, the illusion of darkness was clearly present.
Edric had arrived first, unsurprisingly. He lived just a bit closer by the spot and Hunter had to make sure as few guards as possible saw him when he left the throne room, so that meant taking a few unnecessary detours.
Nevermind all that though, because Edric Blight was standing in the clearing, leaning up against a tree, looking at Hunter with a concerned expression.
Hunter slowly removed his mask, laying it down on the ground, so Edric could see his face.
He wasn't going to be a coward about this. He'd tell Edric what happened and explain why that it was the only way.
Rascal chirped happily at the sight of Edric. Hunter hadn't been able to properly introduce the two yet, only showing Edric his new palisman over their calls.
Edric's eyes widened as Rascal flew over to him. The boy stretched out his arm, the bird promptly sitting down on it.
Edric's mood seemed to lift slightly as he examined the cardinal palisman, "Do you think he likes me?" asked Edric out of what Hunter assumed was sheer curiosity and a desire to start the conversation lightly.
"Probably." Hunter shrugged, making his way over to the two of them, "It seems to like pretty much anyone who likes me."
"That's nice," Edric smiled, "Can I pet him?"
"Go ahead."
Edric seemed to like petting him, giggling slightly when the red bird leaned into his touch. Hunter wanted to smile. Seeing the two of them together like this was comforting, but the thought of what was coming kept him from being fully able to do so.
Edric removed his hand from the bird's neck, his smile becoming a bit more strained. It seemed that he wanted to fully frown, but the bird on his hand kept him from that.
"Hunter," Edric started, "We need to talk about what happened at Eclipse Lake."
Hunter drew a deep breath, before looking at Edric with as neutral of an expression as he could muster, "What did she tell you?"
"A lot of things," Edric muttered, he seemed to be just as lost on what to say as Hunter was, "I don't have all the details or anything, but... did you threaten my friend?"
"Your friend?" Hunter questioned.
"Luz. The human."
"Oh," Hunter breathed, "I didn't mean that."
It wasn't necessarily false, but it wasn't the full truth either. Hunter had no serious plans to harm Luz, but he would have to do what was necessary to get the key. If Amity were to return to The Owl House with it, Hunter would have had to get it by force.
So handing the key over to him had been the only thing that Amity could have done in that situation. And the only thing that Hunter could possibly do if he wanted to go back with the blood.
"Then why did you say it? Were you just threatening her to get the key?" Edric's voice was shaking, but he stayed calm, seeming keen on wanting to keep his composure.
That was good. That was very good. Then there would be less chance of the boy breaking up with Hunter in a moment of rage if the conversation happened to go wrong.
"Partially, yes." Hunter said, "Edric... I was just doing my duties. The emperor needed Titans Blood, and I obtained it for him. It shouldn't be anything personal."
"Hunter-"
"And It's not like I harmed your sister in any serious way. I'd say she dealt enough damage to me for it to be evened out."
"Hunter-"
"And if the emperor hadn't gotten the titans blood, then there'd be a good chance of more people getting unnecessarily hurt."
"Hunter-"
"This was just a mission. There were no personal feelings involved. Edric, I know you may be mad at me, but you have to consider the situation we're both in. I live to serve the emperor. And the emperor is the ruler of the whole isles. In hindsight, this was the best out come we could have hoped-"
"You hurt my sister, Hunter."
Hunter promptly shut up as Edric shouted at him. He looked annoyed, but not angry, but his gaze seemed hurt.
"I understand what you're saying, but what you did wasn't right. You hurt me . You attacked and threatened people I care about. I know it's your duty or whatever, but I can't... I can't just ignore that!" Edric looked at the ground, quickly blinking, "I really didn't care you know, about you being The Golden Guard and all that. But when it affects people I care about..." he stopped for a moment, considering his words, "What if it had been me? What if I had been the one who had the key at Eclipse Lake?"
Hunter didn't know how to react to anything Edric had just said. His lips felt like they had been glued together out of sheer shock. In most other circumstances, Hunter would probably have yelled, reminding whoever he was talking to just who he was.
But this was Edric. One of three people in the whole world who's trust Hunter didn't want to break.
Rascal seemed to have settled down on a nearby tree branch and was watching the exchange with a curious gaze.
You should respond , the bird chirped.
Hunter frowned, as Edric looked expectantly at him.
"You would have given me the key if I asked, right?" Hunter said, "You would have understood the situation and given it to me?"
That was clearly the wrong thing to say, as Edric's eyes narrowed, looking at Hunter with a pained expression.
"Not when it's something like this, Hunter. I love you, really I do, but I also care about Luz. I wouldn't betray her like that."
"Are you insinuating that your sister betrayed Luz?"
Edric's eyes widened, as he gaped at Hunter in shock, "You took it by force! You attacked her! That's not the same as me just giving it to you by my own free will!" he took a step back, as if Hunter's words had physically wounded him. A dramatic display, in Hunter's opinion, but an honest one.
Hunter felt like he was fighting a losing battle. And that scared him.
He couldn't lose Edric. He refused . It's not like he entered Eclipse Lake with any plans of encountering Amity. She had just happened to be there and had happened to have the one thing he needed.
Hunter had failed his last mission. He couldn't do it again. He wouldn't . He couldn't go back empty handed or... he didn't know what his punishment would be, but there would certainly be one. But that didn't scare him half as much as disappointing his uncle.
It only just now truly hit Hunter how incredibly dangerous his relationship with Edric truly was. He could accidentally screw up everything he worked for, just because of the spur of the moment decision regarding the boy.
Rascal was dangerous enough, but that was a given. Rascal was dangerous in a sense of what would happen to both of them if Belos found out about him. But Edric was dangerous because of just how much he unknowingly played with Hunter's emotions.
"I couldn't..." Hunter muttered, refusing to meet the boy's eye, "I couldn't go back empty handed."
Edric's eyes grew wide, but his posture and expression remained the same, "Why? What was so important that you would hurt my sister?"
Hunter looked at Edric with pleading eyes, silently begging for the boy to understand. "Edric. I just couldn't. Not again. I couldn't do it again. I can't disappoint my uncle again."
Edric stared at him for a moment before muttering, "...uncle?"
Hunter felt his heart drop down to his stomach. He hadn't meant to say that. Belos had made it explicitly clear that no one was to know of they're familiar relation, and here Hunter was, announcing it like nothing.
He watched Edric's posture slowly change, no longer being as apprehensive. "Is that really why..." he trailed off, and seemed to be physically struggling to say the next part, "Amity said she found you in the middle of a mental breakdown. That you were digging your own grave. Is the reason why? Were you really that scared of your uncle? The emperor?"
"I'm not scared of him." Hunter said immediately. He may have said it too quickly for Edric to hear, but from the doubtful look the boy was giving him, he knew that he'd heard it.
"Then why did you react like that? What other reason would you have for using such dirty tactics to get the key?" Edric asked, looking Hunter in the eye, as Hunter averted his gaze.
"I'm not scared of him." Hunter repeated and balled his fist, "I just couldn't fail again. That's all."
"And what would happen if you failed?"
Hunter didn't have an answer for him.
"Tell me, Hunter. What would happen if you failed?" He asked again. His voice had more conviction this time. "What could have been so bad that it made you react like... that."
Hunter remained silent. Rascal flew off his shoulder, and took his place on Edric's, gazing at Hunter with a soft, yet questioning look.
"I would be punished, but that's just par for the course. As The Golden Guard, I have to accept things like that." He eventually answered honestly.
He wasn't all too bothered by the punishments that Belos usually supplied. Depending on what mood the emperor was in, the punishments reigned between an above average amount of field missions for the next week, or Hunter finding himself with a new scar on his body.
It was usually the former, but since Hunter had failed his last mission, coupled with the fact that he'd snuck out against his orders to Eclipse Lake, this time would have most certainly been the latter.
"And what are those punishments?" Edric asked again, taking a few hesitant steps towards him, quickening his pace when he saw that Hunter wasn't trying to move away. He didn't stop until they were face to face, "Are those punishments so bad that you'd rather die than face them?"
"The punishments don't bother me," Hunter said, averting his eyes, "I just can't displease the emperor."
There was a moment of defining silence, where Edric seemed to be processing Hunter's words. Hunter felt that his tense body was close to shaking. He tried his best to avoid showing it.
These were all things that Hunter, logically knew, were not quite normal about his life. But he wasn't normal, so of course rules like that would not apply to him. Belos always said that the titan had big plans for him. He was just preparing him. That was all it was.
But as Edric's eyes bore into his soul, Hunter felt like collapsing.
"So all of this is just because... you're scared of disappointing him?"
"I told you, I'm not scared."
"Hunter, you're shaking." Edric pointed out, unfiltered concern lacing his voice. Hunter had clearly not been hiding it as well as he thought.
Edric looked at him for a long time when Hunter didn't respond, "Hunter, wanting to rather die than displease someone? That's not normal."
"Maybe not to you." Hunter responded coolly, "We're not the same when it comes to that kind of stuff."
Rascal, who had stayed quiet for a while now, chirped up, Listen to him.
Hunter wanted to be mad, but he was beyond drained. It was like Edric simply couldn't comprehend the fact that it was the emperor that they were talking about here.
"Why does it even matter," Hunter said aggressively, allowing himself to meet Edric's gaze, "Even if I wanted to change things, which I don't , I would have no say in the matter."
He felt like that was a good ending line, hoping that Edric would just drop his questioning now. But instead, he reached his hand towards Hunter's face.
Hunter's fight or flight reflexes immediately kicked in, and he jerked away from Edric.
Edric's hand stayed stationary in the air for just a moment, before he pointed towards Hunter's cheek.
"Your scar?" He asked, voice strained, "How did you get it?"
Hunter could immediately tell what Edric was thinking, as his own hand shot up to his cheek, feeling the rough texture of the scarred skin.
He remembers getting it. He had screwed up that day. Badly. The memory was fuzzy in his mind, but he knew that he'd never seen Belos as mad. And then the rest of it was just blinding pain.
"Was it punishment for something?" Edric asked, slowly. Hunter's lack of response seemed to answer his question as Edric slowly shook his head in shock.
"Didn't you come here to tell me off for fighting your sister?" Hunter said, desperately trying to move the conversation away from what it had become, "This has nothing to do with what happened at Eclipse Lake."
"Forget that!" Edric yelled, catching Hunter entirely off guard, "And no, this doesn't have nothing to do with that, but that's not what this is about anymore." His voice grew softer, "Hunter, none of what you just told me is okay."
"Have you forgotten who I am?" Hunter countered, "I am The Golden Guard. I don't get to pick and choose what I think is okay or not. That is all planned for me." his stance was rigged as he looked at Edric, gaze daring him to argue against him.
The topic was starting to scare him more than he let on. This was just his normal. He didn't want to have any hope that it could be changed.
Because, despite everything, Hunter felt trapped. But Rascal and Edric had been the two things to make him feel somewhat better about that, because he'd chosen to let them into his life.
He had not chosen for them to start truly influencing it.
Edric's gaze was hardened, but Hunter sensed no hostility. He couldn't deny the boy's frustration, however. Hunter wasn't sure if he'd ever seen Edric truly frustrated.
"In case you have forgotten, it wasn't The Golden Guard that I fell for. That was you, Hunter. And I'm not going to just stand by and watch as someone I love gets hurt."
"Edric, it's the emperor. There is nothing either of us can do."
"I don't give two shits that It's the emperor!" Edric yelled, and Hunter noticed the tears beginning to form in the other boy's eyes. "This is not okay! Especially if he's your family."
"Your parents barely care about you. How is this any different?"
"Because I'm not obsessed with impressing them or getting their validation! I shouldn't have to be! And you shouldn't either. Especially if-" he stopped himself from saying any more as the tears had started spilling.
Hunter, for what felt like the thousandth time, stayed silent. He just watched as Edric stood there, trying to regain his composure, unsure of what to do.
He didn't want to confront the things that Edric said. He didn't want to think about them for any more than a second. But he also didn't want to have to see Edric in the state he was in now.
Sighing, Hunter slid himself down by a nearby tree, motioning Edric to do the same, and after a second of hesitation, the boy complied.
The silence lingered for a few minutes. Hunter could faintly feel Rascal making himself comfortable in his hair. Hunter didn't shoo him away. He didn't quite have the mental energy to do so.
Eventually, Edric spoke up, "I'll find a way to get you out of there."
"I don't want to leave. I'm happy at where I am in life." Hunter responded in a monotone voice, knowing full well that it was only half the truth.
"Okay." Edric nodded, "Then I'll at least make sure to be there for you for you ever need anything." He turned to look at Hunter, prompting Rascal to fly over to his lap, "I mean that. I'd be willing to drop anything to help you. You're my boyfriend, after all."
A weight that Hunter didn't know he was carrying was lifted off his shoulders. He wasn't sure if it was because of Edric's words, or the fact that he called him his boyfriend.
At the beginning of the conversation, Hunter had honestly been scared that there was a chance that the boy would break up with him.
But from the looks of it, Edric had no plans on doing so, even from the start.
They both sat there in silence, no words being uttered, the weight of the conversation having worn both of them down. Hunter softly petted Rascal as he laid his head on Edric's shoulder while Edric was slowly pulling his fingers through Hunter's hair. He suspected that the boy was still very uneasy about the idea of Hunter going back to the castle at all.
Hunter hoped that Edric would drop the topic, but he highly doubted it. Edric was very stubborn, after all.
He'd let himself think about it later. For now, all Hunter allowed himself to do was empty his mind as he leaned into Edric's soft touch.