You spent not a second longer and flew to town with your Palisman staff. Your flying was far from graceful as you were still struggling to battle your acrophobia. But it did the job to get you where you were headed in one piece.
With what you saw online and the fact that Luz wasn't home yet at such a late hour, you concluded that she was one of the abducted students at Hexside.
"I knew this day would come, but I am nowhere near prepared for this scenario." You grumbled.
You've always thought you might have to bust Luz out of prison one day but it still baffles you that it's a possibility.
"I was absent-" You huffed.
"-for one day! Gone for literally a day!"
"And I miss a butt ton of storyline." You complained as you stomped your way into an Emperor's coven precinct.
You tried your best to avoid the guards at the entrance.
After all, you couldn't help with your friend/sister's escape if you were captured.
Thankfully, you picked up a thing or two from Luz's lessons. In fact, you've already had several invisibility glyphs prepared. Still, it's quite odd for someone to casually have a couple dozen of those glyphs in their bag.
You inhaled as much air as your lungs could hold and placed one against your chest. It instantly activates and you're now out of sight.
You carefully sneak in the main doors of the building which is unusually lacking in security.
You knock on the door. A coven scout opens it but sees no one outside. You take this chance to slip inside just before the scout closes the door again.
. . . . .
"Ugh, the kids are at it again with the pranks." The scout groaned complacently.
He was holding an ice pack against his head.
"Kids these days have no respect for the Emperor's coven and I honestly can't blame them." The scout shrugged.
'That voice... It's Steve.' You thought to yourself.
Poor Steve. His mask was dented with a punch mark and was barely hanging on his face. The guy is not paid enough for this.
You turned your head and there he was. It was Hunter, standing in front of the cell where the abducted Hexside students are being held.
You analyzed the situation. Steve is not in his best state right now so he won't be a problem. If a fight will commence that is. He is physically incapable of combat at the moment.
But with Hunter around, busting the kids out might be a struggle. You'll have to cause a distraction and you have to be quick. If you hold your breath any longer than a minute you'd pass out.
You'll need an intricate, clever, well-thought plan.
You see an oil lamp just hanging beside the entrance door.
A "genius" idea pops up in your head.
'boop' You push it off its vessel and it falls on the floor. The glass breaks and the oil spills all over causing the fire to spread.
"What the- Fire!!" Steve exclaimed.
This grabs Hunter's attention so he walks over to Steve to help him put it out.
"Steve, what did you do?!"
"It wasn't me, I swear."
The flames startled everyone in the room and at that moment you only had a few seconds before you were out of oxygen.
All clear.
'9'
'8'
You run to the cell...
'7'
'6
There were four kids there. Willow, Gus, Viney, and Scara.
'They look so scared.'
'But where's Luz?'
'5'
'4'
...You take a bottle of a corrosive substance out of your bag...
'3'
'2'
...You held the lock but it clangs slightly against the metal bar...
'Shoot!'
'1'
...Someone grabs you from behind...
'0'
...You are pushed against a wall.
You gasped as your back hit the hard brick wall. Your eyes shut tight, tearing up a bit from the pain. You breathed heavily, your lungs longing for air.
You were pinned against the wall and the first thing you saw upon opening your eyes were two scorching magenta eyes.
"Not so fast, criminal!" He scowled.
"Oh come on!" You angrily shot.
"Nothing gets past you huh?"
"Y-Y/N?!" What are you doing here?!" Hunter's once piercing sharp eyes turned round upon realizing it was you he thought to be a scheming lawbreaker.
"Y/N?" The four students gasp.
"Wait, you know this guy?!" Gus blurted out loud.
"Heyooo the fire's dead. Oh hey, (Y/N)." Steve greeted you.
You were a scheming lawbreaker but it was you, Y/N. So his grip on your shoulder loosens.
You notice immediately and push him off you.
"Hey! I'm the one who's supposed to ask the questions here! Why would you lock them up?!" You angrily gestured at the prison cell.
"And where's Luz?!"
"Kick his butt (Y/N)!" Scara cheered.
"I don't know what you're talking about. The human's not involved in this." He denied.
"Good, you're not so bad after all.~ " You sarcastically sang, forcing a sweet fake smile.
Your smile drops to a sneer before you turn your back on him and angrily march towards the cell in an attempt to free your friends.
Just then, a red aura wraps your body, paralyzing you.
"Ugh! I hate it when you do that!"
"Hey, let her go! I can't believe I tried to replace Jerbo with you!!" Viney scoffed.
"What do you think you're doing? You can't just waltz around breaking the law?"
"First off, I can. Second, the law is garbage and I will burn it to ashes as I see fit." You asserted.
"Now let me and my friends go!"
"Yeah let us go! We didn't do anything to deserve this." Gus exclaimed as he banged the cell bars.
"Well, I don't get it. You're joining the best coven there is. You can keep all your magic, you get free room and board, and you can even play Flyer Derby on your day off! Well, this year's day has already passed, but next year's only 52 weeks away!" Hunter smiled, trying to sell the fact that the Emperor's coven is the best future you'll ever get.
"We don't care! None of us want this!" Scara objected.
"You will eventually. Trust me, I'm your friend now."
"Friends don't stab each other in the back." Gus shot back, glaring at Hunter.
"Sure they do. The Coven Heads do it all the time back at the castle." Hunter shrugged like it was all ok.
"Wow, that explains everything about our relationship." You mumbled to yourself while squinting at him.
Hunter looks toward Willow, "Captain, you're on my side, right?"
Willow has her back facing everyone. She is facing a wall with her head lowered looking gloomy and defeated.
"I... thought I... could be good at this." She muttered to herself.
"But we're here because... I made a bad call." her voice trembled slightly, like on the verge of crying.
"I'm just... half-a-witch Willow."
You grunt angrily as you shoot Hunter a look with "Look what you've done!" painted in red on your face.
An abomination goo suddenly appears, wraps the team members up, and vanishes altogether.
"What did you do to them?!" You panicked.
"Darius must've picked them up! This is great!" He smiled and raced towards the door.
The spell's effects wear off and you are abruptly dropped to the floor.
"Ow! Hey!" You grunt before quickly standing up to follow him.
Hunter flings the door open and runs outside.
. . . . .
"Darius, I did it! I found recruits!"
"Yep, and you're making me work on my day off. Take this and quit bugging me." Darius grumpily said as he tossed towards Hunter a really awfully crafted curtain? Or was it a really old tablecloth?
Hunter looks down at his sigil and touches it.
"I can... wear this proudly now. Right?" He looks up at Darius.
"Can you?" That was all Darius replied.
Hunter looks at Darius with uncertainty.
"See you at the castle, Golden Guard." He spoke with disinterest before flying off in his ship.
"What have you done?! This is so wrong! All this for what? Belos' crusty old towel?!" You yelled.
"For your information, this is the original Golden Guard sigil." He scoffed, feeling very offended. "It's a symbol of true loyalty to the Emperor."
"And don't worry. They're more than ok. They have a bright future ahead of them because of me." Hunter bragged.
"Everyone would envy them.
"I do not envy those kids, man." Steve comes out from the door behind Hunter.
"They just have to go through basic training before becoming scouts. It's not too bad."
"Dude, do you even remember what we had to do? The duels. The mazes with the traps. That time we were left alone on a mountain?" Steve pointed out.
"Ah, classic." Hunter laughs.
"Hunter, you need serious help." You exasperated.
"And of course, Belos likes to collect everyone's palisman," Steve added.
Hearing this makes you shudder, and your grip on your staff tightens. You can't imagine losing your Palisman.
"He's gonna take them... b-Belos is gonna take them." You faltered.
Your head was filled with fear knowing what Belos would do with your friend's Palismen.
Hunter was frozen for a moment. For once he looks like he's actually questioning the things he's doing for the Emperor.
"Steve is beginning to regret his choices." Steve grunts and walks away.
You walk away in the other direction, leaving Hunter with his own thoughts.
Hunter looks up at Darius' ship, taking Steve's words into mind "I think Hunter is too." He mutters to himself.
You look up at the flying ship and then your staff.
"I guess I have no other choice." You say with conviction in your words yet your hand trembles in fear.
To your surprise, Hunter holds your shaking hand.
"Don't try to stop me, Hunter." You swat his hand away and board your staff.
As you were about to take off, he stopped you with his magic.
"Hunter, I swear if you don't let me go I will-"
"I will do it." He interrupted.
"What?"
"It's my fault that my... y-your friends are in this situation. It's my responsibility to fix it."
"But you'll get in trouble."
"So what? It- it doesn't matter, It's my doing." The boy tripped over his words as he spoke.
"At Least let me help." You tried to reason with him.
"No! It'll be safer for you if you stay."
"But-"
Before you could finish, he places a hand on the back of your head. He pulls you in and plants a soft kiss of assurance on your forehead. It was like for just a moment, all the frustration you felt evaporated all at once.
Your whole face heated up and your brain felt all foggy.
"W-woah... that was poggers." You chuckled.
'What did I just say?' You blush even more after realizing your ridiculous choice of vocabulary.
Hunter's face goes red as well but he quickly brushes it off.
"O-okay?" He chuckled awkwardly.
'Is that a bad thing?' He asked in his head.
He shook his head, setting the question aside and back to the mission at hand.
"Go home, don't wait for me. I'll get them back." He boarded his staff and looked back at you one last time.
"I promise."
. . . . .
A/N: Hello. That's that for part 2. I hope you enjoyed that teeny bit of fluff/angst combo. Idk what I'm doing. But I know, that my longing for an angsty plot will come for my ass sooner or later. Also sorry for not writing for like, a month. I was dealing with personal responsibilities and issues.
But I feel rude for doing so, ngl.
Anyways, part 3 is brewing somewhere in my dusty, cob web-filled brain. Thanks for reading. :>
─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Sometimes, voices echo in the night.
They echo in my head.
And they won't go away.
Sometime, at midnight:
"You see, for me to share my gifts, I need something in return."
"What is it?"
"You might not like my answer."
"I've gone this far haven't I?"
"What I want is the very thing that fuels the living-"
"-Just a little bit of your life force."
"...You seem to have grown silent."
"I- I just... I just had to think it through."
"Do you withdraw?"
"NO! No... I accept your conditions."
"Not a very wise choice... But very well, half-blood."
─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───