Chapter 3
Hunter left his room, ready to head out to the arena to watch the duel.
"Oh, hello there Hunter."
Looking over, he saw Emperor Belos walking towards him.
"Uncle! What are you doing here?" Hunter asked.
"Oh, just wanted to see how you were doing this morning." Belos explained. "You didn't come back for dinner last night, so I was worried."
"Oh, well, I ate out!" Hunter said. "I wanted to experience what it's like to be, you know… a normal teenager for once."
"Understandable, you've been 'The Golden Guard' for most of your life." Belos said. "Do you plan on doing the same today?"
"Pretty much, yeah." Hunter said. "Might check and see if there are any Witches Duels going on though."
"Ah, well the arena was closed down today." Belos said.
"… What?"
"Indeed, apparently the Blights were behind this." Belos said. "Said they didn't want any onlookers for a duel involving their daughter."
"I see… I might try and get in there anyways." Hunter said with a mischievous tone.
"Do as you wish, I'm sure they'll let you in when you tell them who you are." Belos said. "Do be careful though."
"I will, thanks Uncle."
And with that, he left.
When the group arrived at the arena, they saw Gus and Willow waiting there for them.
"Hey! Glad you guys could make it!" Luz said as she pulled her friends in for a hug.
"Like we would miss Amity putting her mother in her place." Willow said. "Hit her once for me, ok?"
She was clearly a bit sour towards Amity's parents for making Amity cut ties with her.
"You got it!" Amity said, surging with confidence.
"Well, good to see that you're confident." Hunter said as he approached the group.
"Hunter! You did come!" Luz said.
"I spent my entire day yesterday helping you prepare for this, of course I'm gonna watch." Hunter said, Rascal chirping in agreement.
"Uh… who's this?" Willow asked.
"Name's Hunter… an acquaintance of theirs." Hunter said.
"You mean friend?" Gus asked.
"Acquaintance." Hunter said sternly.
"Anyways, let's do this…" Amity said as they all began walking inside.
Upon getting inside, the group quickly sat down next to Ed and Emera in the stands.
"So… how good is she?" Luz asked.
"She's not very powerful… but she is skilled and crafty." Emera explained. "If Amity can get in close, she'll win, but that's going to be really tricky."
"Eh, if she does what she did yesterday she should be fine." Hunter said.
Looking down towards the arena, they saw the pair walking towards each other.
"So Amity, are you ready to lose?" Odalia asked.
"Nope, I'm ready to win." Amity answered.
"Good answer, but I didn't raise a liar." Odalia quipped back.
"Hey, you said it, not me." Amity said with a smile.
Luz was proud of her girlfriend's sass.
"Whatever, let's get this over with." Odalia said as she got ready.
"You remember the terms, right?" Amity said.
"Yes, yes, anything goes, if you somehow win, we will fully support your relationship." Odalia said. "And when I win, you will obey!"
"Good."
Alador then stood up from his seat.
"You both ready?"
"Ready!"
"BEGIN!"
At that moment, five Abomitons appeared in the arena.
"Wh-what?!" Amity shouted.
"You did say anything goes, Mittens." Odalia said as she sat in an abomination chair. "They'll be fighting you first, then if you can beat them, you get to fight me!"
"What a dirty little…" Luz said as she watched Amity fight off the Abomitons.
She quickly dodged one's strike, before using her magic to tear it's arm off. She didn't have any time to think though, as another caught her off guard and smacked her away, causing her to drop Ghost in the process.
"Amity!" Luz shouted.
"Well… this hardly seems fair." Hunter said.
"If only I could help her!" Luz said. "Stupid Witches Duel rules…"
"Actually, the rules are pretty free form." Hunter explained. "They pretty much agree to the rules when the challenge is issued, and whatever they say is not allowed, is all that isn't allowed. Of course, there are also some baseline rules in case the participants forget to set the rules too."
"I see…"
"And what restrictions did they put in place again?" Hunter asked.
"Uh… actually, they said anything goes." Luz explained.
"Soooooo, wouldn't help from her girlfriend count as 'Anything'?"
Luz just looked at the boy in shock. He was right after all.
"Luz?" Eda asked.
"Eda… can I borrow Owlbert?"
Meanwhile, Amity was not having a fun time.
She was being toyed with by the group of Abomitons.
"Great… one I can handle easily, maybe two or three… but five?!" Amity said to herself.
"You can give up any time Mittens! I'm sure no-one would think less of you for it!" Odalia called over.
"Not happening!" Amity said as she tore another Abomiton's arm off, though it just reattached it.
"Fine then… finish this so we can go home!" Odalia said with a snap of her fingers.
And so, all five Abomitons were poised to crush her.
"Come on Luz… figure it out already!" Amity whispered to herself.
At that moment, slips of paper landed on three of the Abomiton's heads.
Shortly after, they were all frozen solid.
Seeing her chance, Amity kicked one, causing it to fall into the other two and breaking all three into pieces.
"What?!" Odalia shouted.
"Odalia Blight!" Said a familiar voice from above.
Looking up, they saw Luz standing on Owlbert.
"For the crime of forcing your daughter to cut ties with her best friend, as well as the one she loves, for trying to control her life to suit your own needs and for just being a plain old jerk, I, the good Witch Luz, warrior of peace, am here to punish you!" Luz said dramatically.
"Does she read Good Witch Azura or something?" Hunter asked from the stands.
"Oh you have no idea…" Eda answered.
"What is the meaning of this?! No outside help allowed!" Odalia shouted.
"Actually, the only rule you agreed on was 'anything goes' honey…" Alador said.
"What?! Well no outside help allowed!" Odalia said.
"Then get rid of the Abomitons!" Amity said. "Pretty sure that counts as 'outside help' mother!"
"Grrrr… fine! I'll just crush both of you!" Odalia said as she pulled out a flamethrower.
Luz then flew down, grabbed ghost off the ground, and landed next to Amity, ready to fight.
"About time you dork." Amity said lovingly.
"You couldn't just… I don't know… spell it out for me?" Luz asked.
"Didn't want to risk them spying on us again." Amity explained. "If they did, they would of changed the rules or something."
"Gotcha… So… think we can take these two and your mother?" Luz asked.
"It'll be really tough… but I think we can do it!" Amity said.
"Yeah, they can't do this…" Hunter said from the stands. "Those are Abomitons, really strong, and they have Ms. Blight to deal with now too…"
"Ok, so let's help them! Luz isn't the only one who can fight." Willow said.
"How's about this Mittens." Odalia suddenly called out. "I could easily just call more Abomitons, and have them crush you two… but I won't if you agree to a rule change!"
"A rule change?"
"I can't call any more Abomitons, but you can't have any more of your friends help you!" Odalia said.
"… Yeah, ok, that seems like a good idea." Amity agreed, completely unaware of her friends plans to jump in and help.
And everyone in the crowd facepalmed.
"Welp, there goes that idea…" Eda said.
"… Maybe not." Hunter said as he stood up. "You three are illusionists, right?"
"Uh… yeah? Why?" Edric asked.
"I need a favor."
In the arena, the duo was doing a good bit better now, with Luz getting a good couple of hits with fire magic and Amity tearing another arm off, an Abomiton. That being said, Odalia shooting fire at the two of them was causing a lot of issues, and Luz couldn't freeze the beasts because of it.
"This is getting annoying!" Luz said.
"Keep it up, we'll figure something out!" Amity said.
At that moment, a bolt of energy struck an Abomiton in the head, causing it's head to have a hole in it.
"WHAT NOW?!" Odalia asked.
"Hiiiiiiiiiii!"
Looking up, they saw… someone?
"I thought I said no friends!" Odalia shouted.
"I am no friend! I am just an acquaintance!" The boy said.
"… Wait, is that?"
Landing on the ground with his Palismen, they got a good look at their savior.
"My name is… uh… Gunther!" The boy said.
"Hunter? Is that you?" Luz asked.
"Yeah, I didn't want word to reach the Emperor that I did this, so I had those illusionists make me a disguise." Hunter whispered back at them.
"What are you doing?" Amity asked.
"Three on two didn't seem fair, so I am here to assist you citizens!" Hunter said, back to using some dumb heroic voice.
"… He's a dork…" Amity said.
"Eh, boys…" Luz agreed.
"Do you want my help or not?!" Hunter asked.
"Fine fine… thanks 'Gunther.'" Amity said.
"Better." Hunter said. "I'll deal with these things, you fight your mother."
"Got it!" Luz said as she and Amity charged towards Odalia.
"Great, another loophole… I am not in top form today…" Odalia groaned out.
"Oh well, deal with it!" Amity said.
"Seriously, why are you fighting this so much?!" Odalia asked. "She's just going to leave you in the end to go to the human realm!"
"I… I mean… I don't…" Luz stuttered.
"So?" Amity asked.
"Huh?"
"I plan on going with her of course!" Amity declared.
"WHAT?!"
"HUH?!
"That is my dream! To get Luz home, and live in the Human Realm with her!" Amity declared.
"Amity…" Luz said as she began tearing up
"Grrr… Not if I have anything to say about tha-" She didn't get the chance to finish that sentence as a ball of fire hit her flamethrower, causing her to drop it.
"Yeah, nice try." Amity said. "That was for Willow!"
"THANKS AMITY!" Willow shouted from the stands.
"Grrr…" Odalia said as she pulled out some sort of cannon.
Luz turned to Amity and extended her hand. "May I have this dance?"
Amity smiled and took her girlfriend's hand, before they pulled together and began to dance.
Just like in the fight against Grom, Amity used her feet to create a magic circle in the ground, unlike last time though, instead of an abomination, it created a floating platform for the two of them to dance upon, floating around and avoiding all the shots Odalia fired at them.
The two of them disconnected their hands, and began dancing around with their staves, spinning them to both summon an abomination, and a ball of fire from a glyph that Luz left on the ground. When the abomination touched the fire, it became engulfed, before Amity swung her staff forward, commanding the giant abomination to charge at Odalia.
Odalia didn't have a good way to counter this, so she attempted to dodge, though unsuccessfully.
Deciding to show her a bit of mercy, and spare her of some terrible burns, Luz threw a fire and ice combo glyph into the air before using her staff to activate it remotely, causing water to fall onto Odalia…
Though the ice glyph she was standing on froze her feet to the ground.
Luz and Amity finally landed onto the ground, before giving the crowd a bow, causing them to cheer.
Odalia just growled at this, and decided to use a last resort device, a tiny cannon, and pointed it at her opponents before beginning to charge a shot.
It was meant to be a sneak attack, but Amity saw it coming and deflected the sludge that was fired with her staff.
Not deterred at all, Odalia flipped a switch, before charging again.
Amity and Luz just looked at each other and smiled, knowing that they could easily overpower this device together.
And so, they both got down on on knee, held their Palismen over their shoulders and shouted together…
"NOW EAT THIS SUCKAAAAAAAH!"
They both fired a ball of magic while Odalia fired a flaming ball of sludge. The projectiles collided, but the duo's attack broke through easily and struck Odalia, breaking the ice around her feet and sending her to the ground.
When she looked up, she saw both Palismen pointed at her, ready to strike.
"You lose." Amity said.
"Grr… not yet! My Abomitons will…"
"You mean those things?" Hunter asked as he walked over, pointing towards a pair of sludge piles.
"I… how…?"
"I know, I know, I'm pretty good!" Hunter said, very clearly full of himself.
"Ugh… I hate how we needed your help…" Amity said.
"Yeah, well deal with it." Hunter said as he pointed his Palismen at Odalia. "So, do you concede?"
"… Fine…"
The group in the crowd began to cheer at Odalia's surrender.
"THAT'S MY GIRL!" Eda shouted.
"We… we did it!" Luz said.
"Yeah… we did." Amity said with a smile.
Overwhelmed by emotions, Luz flung herself at Amity, pulling her girlfriend in for a hug.
Amity had other ideas though, as she pulled back and stared Luz in the eyes.
Grabbing Luz's head, she pulled her in for a kiss.
"Bleh…" Hunter said as he began walking away.
The two separated, and Amity noticed him walking away.
"Where are you going?" Amity asked.
"Home, I'm tired." Hunter said.
"Right… Thanks a lot 'Gunther.'" Luz said in a mocking tone.
"Ugh… next time we're enemies again, got it?!" Hunter said.
"Wouldn't have it any other way!" Luz said.
Hunter just waved back at them as he walked away, with Rascal waving a wing and chirping as he did.
"So… now what?" Luz asked.
Amity just smiled.
"Let's get ready for our first date."
The End.
I decided to add the whole part of the fight where Amity and Luz dance after I saw just how well this story was being received. Like, wow… I wanted to make this fight live up to the expectations I am sure you all had, and I hope I delivered. I thought a throwback to Grom would be a great way to do this, while also putting my own little twist onto it.
Now, as for my characterization of Belos. Yeah, he's normally a jerk. Yeah, he doesn't normally treat Hunter well… however… we only see him mistreat Hunter when Hunter fails a mission or says something that he REALLY doesn't like, like how he wanted to research Belos', I'm assuming, curse. I think that upon Hunter returning with the Key, Belos would be a lot happier with him, and will thus treat him better. Belos does seem to somewhat care for Hunter, as shown when he told Hunter to be careful with Wild Magic at the beginning of Hunting Palismen… WAIT, WAS THAT A PUN IN THE TITLE OF THAT EPISODE?!
A-anyways… uh… yeah.
As for Hunter himself, not everything is perfect in his relationship with Belos… obviously. He has experience in dealing with a disapproving parent/guardian. He, in a way, is the one who understood Amity's situation more than anyone in the room, aside from the twins. So, I think he would jump in and help out, just so that he could help Amity get through a similar situation to his own.
Anyways, there is an Epilogue, so we aren't quite done yet! See you next week for that!