Willow took her headphones off, turning to stand before freezing, then running over to the stove to turn it off. " Oh no no no!" The pot had overflowed, now there was a lot of soup and burned veggies all around the top. She knew she should have kept focusing on cooking! She sighed, turning to look at Gus and Hooty who smiled innocently at her. Gus went over to grab a towel, helping clean the mess, as Hooty started to lick the floors….gross.

"Well...enough soup is saved for at least one bowl. Hopefully this will be enough for Luz before the mold grows." Willow stepped back from the pot.

" Positive side, The soup is yummy, Willow!" Hooty exclaimed, prompting Gus to look at the rag he was using to clean up and stick his tongue out to licking it. Willow swiftly reached over and knocked the rag out of his hand and onto Hooty.

" What does it matter?" Hunter asked, lowering his chin to now look at the ground. " I'll never get to see her again, anyway." Amity blinked a few times, looking to King, before back to Hunter.

" Do you love her?" Amity asked, stern voice, letting him know she wasn't about to ask that question again. Hunter let out a long sigh, nodding a few times.

"Of course I do… The only reason I hadn't originally tried to fight you guys was because I know you're her friends. I'd rather just play along with The Owl Lady and…" Hunter made a vague motion to King, before huffing, " Royalty guy, then even think of doing something that would hurt her in the long run…"

" Hu…" Amity looked at King, before looking at the small toy Luz had been messaging her on, King was able to show her how to read the text. She thought about how after discovering Willow and Hunter, how Luz was so happy they had found each other. Her girlfriend's heart was always bleeding with kindness, and she worried so much for The Golden Guard after the palisman-napping incident. Luz wanted nothing more than to help Hunter be freed of The Emperor's Coven, and the Emperor himself. When Luz saw how relaxed this boy was around Willow, how he unwrapped the candies for the plant-witch, and how much his ears moved from just the touch of her alone, the human saw hope that Hunter could be saved from the corrupt system that he was thrown into.

But, how can he be saved if he was dead? Amity knew what to do. Between Hunter's confession, Luz's hope and seeing the good in him, and knowing how devastated Willow would be if Hunter was dead...She was not willing to let him go empty handed. And she knew deep down that Luz would understand. Amity reached up to the key around her neck, taking it off.

"Amity, what are you doing?" King whispered harshly to her, but stopped as he heard glass cracking in the witch's hand. Hunter turned to look at her, quirking his own brow before his face dropped at what she revealed.

"I can't let you take it intact, but...I hope this will at least give you time." Amity stared up at Hunter, she felt the pooling of Titan's blood on her glove. With hope her glove will keep enough blood for Luz's purposes, and not have enough left in the key itself to help Belos. Hunter hesitated, before taking the key and staring at it, before looking up at Amity in honest bafflement.

"I-I…" He couldn't find the words, the girl before him just saved his life at the cost of this? Wouldn't Luz be upset? Hunter looked back down at the key, swallowing deeply before nodding. " I'll… I'll make sure Kikimora cannot come after you, Royalty, or The Owl Lady."

"King...I'm King." King huffed.

"King…" Hunter repeated, looking at the skull demon, before returning to Amity. " I...don't know if I can repay you for this."

"Just promise that...you will never let Willow slip from your mind." Amity nodded, giving him a smile. Hunter gave a nod back, looking at the key before breathing in and nodding again. "Now go. If Eda comes before you leave she might try to kick your butt without a second thought." Hunter gave a laugh, before stepping back, outstretching his hand for Lil' Rascal's staff to appear. He felt dizzy for some reason, relief maybe?

"...I appreciate this, Blight. I mean it….thank you." He turned, mounting the staff and flying through the hole at the top of the cave to the outside.

"Are you sure you should have done that, Amity?" King asked, turning his head back to the witch.

"You know… I think everything is going to turn out just fine." Amity smiled at him.

Eda arrived soon after, disappointed that The Golden Guard wasn't there to fight, but conceded to pick up Amity and King and leave the cave. She didn't ask for details of what happened, but assumed that there must have been a fight.

"Hey, today might have been a disaster, but I am sure things will be fine!" Eda said, smiling down at Amity as she flew with the two kids in her arms. " And we can get that Golden Nerd back for this, I am sure!"

"Eda...I gave him the key." Eda stopped flying, hoovering in the air to stare baffled at Amity. " He really thought Belos would kill him." Amity looked up at Eda. " He is just….a scared kid." Eda quirked her brow at Amity before looking ahead with a furrow, starting her track home again.

"Yeah, he was like...absolutely broken." King piped in, watching the trees below them move past before he looked up at Eda. " If it apparently wasn't for the fact he is in love with Willow, that might have turned the situation really bad!"

"Whoa...that is a lot to unpack there." Eda commented. " Guess we should thank Glasses for that, hu?" Eda hummed, looking back to Amity. " Are you on the same page as Luz then? The kid needs to be heisted out of the Coven?" Amity gave a small amused smile before frowning again.

" I think he does, but...he was right. He is the leader of The Emperor's Coven, if he just disappeared people would be after him." Amity sighed, she felt bad for the situation he was in. At least with her she was actually able to stand up to her parents, but...how do you stand up to The Emperor of the Boiling Isles without being petrified? She didn't want to think about it.

"By the way, what EXACTLY are we going to tell Luz, Gus, Willow, and Hooty?" King asked, looking over to Amity. " Like, is it supposed to be common knowledge that Willow and The Golden Guy are dating?"

"...uuhhh weelllll…." Amity puffed her cheeks. What was she going to say to them? Maybe wait until Willow leaves? But, Hunter will probably tell her what happened when they next see each other.

"Well, kid. You better think fast if you want to lie or tell the truth." Eda said, landing in the yard of The Owl House.

Willow stared at Hooty for a few moments as the owl-worm allowed the soup to scold his skin, before looking to Luz. At least she was better, for the most part. She was a bit frantic, but otherwise the mold seemed to have bloomed.

"Have the others returned?!" Luz asked, staring at Willow for a moment, but not letting her answer before she turned and charged down the hallway to the stairs. Willow turned, looking at Gus and Hooty, before following.

"OW! Just get an elixir!" Eda called. As Willow turned the corner she stopped in surprise, she never actually had seen 'Harpy' Eda. It was a look for the woman, to say the least. Willow smiled as Luz jumped at Amity, exclaiming to her joys that everyone was ok. At least now will be a good time to see if Hunter messaged her back.

She pulled out her scroll, opening it up. The only messages were from her Dads...none from Hunter. She was a little put off by this, but Hunter only really answered his scroll in the mornings and evenings when he was away from his duties. He probably was working a bit of a later shift today, too, considering his mission.

Willow didn't notice Amity's eyes on her, who was still trying to figure out what to say. She looked to Luz, who currently had King in a spinning-hug-hold. Maybe she should talk to her and Gus first? This was going to be a hard subject to breach, even more so since the last thing Amity wanted was to upset Willow. Confessing that they followed her was a huge breach of privacy but...it ended up in some good, right?

"So, what happened? Tell me ALL about it!" Luz sat on the couch, King on her lap, patting next to her for Amity to come and join, eager to hear the tale of their daring adventure. Amity smiled as she walked over, sitting next to her girlfriend as she watched Gus sit in one of the chairs. She looked back to Willow, who was moving to sit on the other end of the couch.

"Well...First, I think we should come clean first, guys." Amity started, looking at Gus and Luz. Willow tilted her head in confusion before Amity looked over to her. "...That Hunter kid is...nice."

Hunter walked along in the snow slowly, the key's string clenched in his fist, and Lil' Rascal perched on his shoulder. He was still mulling over what Amity did in his head, trying to find what she really wanted but...maybe she really was just looking out for him?

'So, what now?' A voice from the back of his skull asked. His own thoughts, but not in a voice he recognized.

'Turn in the key to Belos.' Hunter replied to himself. They will probably tell Willow what happened, right? Were any of his actions...horrific? Something she would disapprove of? He still felt that Willow deserved better. She only knew of 'Hunter the Love-Fool' and only caught glimpses of 'The Golden Guard' in their time together. She didn't know the full picture, which was 'Hunter, the scared kid who just wants to help his uncle but got more than what he bargained for'. Very few people ever see that...even Belos himself.

He wanted nothing more than to run to where she lived, scoop her up in his arms, and profess his love for her as loud as he could. Maybe now that he has a pretty big gift for Belos in the form of the key, he can have a bit more freedom and do just that?

'Don't get too attached.' Belos' words rang out in his head. Why shouldn't he? Because he had a greater destiny? If it was so great, then why does Belos never tell him about it? Why shouldn't he get to live and love like any other teenager would get to do? After all, what kind of plan would The Titan even have for him that means he can't have fun? Hunter smirked to himself, knowing that this feeling of defiance wouldn't last for long but...he still enjoyed the thoughts. In the end, though, his Uncle needed him. They were the last of their bloodline, and family meant a lot, right? Lil' Rascal moved to land on his head before chirping, and making Hunter stiffen up and look at the bird properly.

"Wait...Did you just speak?" Hunter asked up at the palisman, who chirped again. " Was that your name?!" Hunter moved to pick up Lil' Rascal, letting him perch on his glove, " Can you say it again?!" the bird looked to smile, fluttering to Hunter's shoulder before chirping again.

"Hu...What else can you say?" Hunter asked, smiling as Lil' Rascal started chirping and singing for him.

_AN_

Guys I am legit updating early because I HAVE TO SHARE THIS WITH EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING

Someone by the name of Mexfan12 on Instagram drew the first meeting between Hunter and Willow! I am legit crying because of how happy I am and how much I love it! GHRIgrijoegrhoeruijgleriuq! I feel so blessed! Pls go look at the art! Its so good! I wish I could share the link through Fanfic, but it isnt allowing me ;-;