Hunter looked the - he didn't have it in him to call it makeshift - ramshackle contraption up and down.
"This might be our only option," he said to himself. "This better work."
"Of course it'll work." Luz said as she added a few drops of titan blood from the portal key into the… contraption. How they hadn't realized it was in there was beyond him. "Now pedal."
Hunter did what he was told and began riding the bicycle Luz had told him to use. After a few moments, the contraption transformed into a deformed door.
"It worked." Luz said.
"Does 'worked' mean something different in that second language you speak so often?" Hunter asked.
"Yeah," King said. "That looks real different from the old door."
Luz began tying a rope around her waist. "Yeah, but this is my one chance to see my mom."
"Wait," Hunter said, "there is no way you're testing this out?"
Luz paused. "But…"
"But you're pregnant." Hunter said as he got out of the bathtub. "I'll go."
"It won't be any more dangerous for me than it is for you. And I doubt my mom will react well to you."
Hunter shrugged. "Give me the rope Luz." He held his hand up and walked towards her.
Her eyes widened as she took several hasty steps back, almost tripping into the portal.
"Careful." Eda said, placing a forceful hand on Hunter's shoulder to stop him.
"You can't seriously let her go in there."
"Something happening to you would be much worse than something happening to me." Luz said as she tied her cloak. "Belos would have no reason to let Amity be."
Hunter didn't say anything. Amity hadn't said anything about Luz's declaration a few das ago, bit the tension was still palpable.
Luz cheered up way too fast for it to be genuine. "It's alright," she said. Then she stopped. She untied the rope from her waist and tied it around her chest beneath her armpits. "If it looks like the portal's closing, pull."
Hunter wanted to scream in protest but forced himself not to. He couldn't overstep his bounds. Even if everything was against letting one of his mates walk into that monstrosity. "Are you going to tell her about me?" Hunter asked.
Luz stared at him. "That seems more like a second visit thing."
Hunter raised an eyebrow. "If you think that'll be a good idea."
"I don't." Luz admitted. "But I don't know how to tell her about what happened without making her freak out."
"Would that be before or after you said you wanted to bring your magic girlfriend to hide from the government?"
"You know, you aren't making things easier." She turned to the portal. "Wish me luck. I'll be right back."
/
"You know, I've met a basilisk before," Luz remarked as Vee carried her through town.
"Really?" Vee asked raising the mirror to her face. "What was she like?"
"I don't know. She was too busy attacking my school and trying to suck the magic out of everyone to make small talk."
Vee was silent.
Luz panicked. "Not like I think all basilisks are like that," she assured her.
Vee nodded, "uh huh."
"Besides, it's not like our school being attacked is all that weird. Hunter saved it just a few days ago."
"Hunter?"
"Oh," Luz rubbed her arm awkwardly. "You may know him better as, The Golden Guard. He's actually the one who helped me…"
"What?" Vee fumbled and nearly dropped the mirror. "The Golden Guard? The emperor's right-hand man?"
"Yes. I mean, kind of."
"This is bad." Vee began to panic and pace around as she did. "If he knows I'm here then the emperor…"
"He betrayed Belos." Luz yelled.
Vee froze. She looked at Luz skeptically. "He did?"
"Kind of." Lux said. "It's one of those dramatic things where people keep acting friendly even though they've all but announced that they're enemies. Hunter's dramatic like that."
Vee looked doubtful.
"Besides," Luz said, "he doesn't even know that you're here."
"C-can we keep it that way?"
"Vee…"
"Luz, I've been living with your face for a while now. I know when you're scared. I don't know why, because I can tell that you do trust him, but he scares you."
Luz looked down guiltily. "Belos… Belos did something and… that's why Hunter left him. But… I've been kind of scared of him since. It doesn't make sense because he's risking everything to help me but… I just, can't forget what happened." She rubbed tears out of the corner of her eyes. "And now I'm crying."
Vee looked at the human for a while before sighing. "Fine. But… don't tell him about me. I don't want to risk it."
Luz nodded. "I won't."
/
"So…" Hunter said as he walked into Luz's room. "What's the truth?"
"What?" Luz sat up.
"You and I are quite deeply bonded," he reminded her. "Deep enough that I didn't buy your little act. I could practically feel your anxiety in my head."
Luz stared at him. Then she sighed. "I didn't have time to tell her about you."
Hunter shrugged. "That's understandable. I insisted we pull you out as soon as the portal started breaking."
"And she made me promise to come back and never leave."
"That's…" Hunter thought about it. "Actually more understandable. From what uncle told me about the human realm, I can't imagine a human parent would be happy with their child being here. Besides, the plan was to run away forever."
"And…" Luz hesitated.
"And what?"
"And… please don't ask me for more."
Hunter narrowed his eyes but sighed. "OK. But you should tell the Owl Lady about this whole never coming back thing."
"I will…" Luz said. "Just… not right now."
Hunter gave her one more searching look before conceding. "Fine."
He turned to leave but stopped as he heard running before two arms wrapped around his side. He almost melted right into her grasp. His relaxed in a way it hadn't in a while from being comforted by his Omega.
"I'm sorry I'm being such a scaredy cat." Luz said, resting her head on his back.
"Don't apologize," Hunter told her.
"But you don't deserve this." Luz said.
Hunter didn't say anything, but his silence was deafening.
"You don't," Luz repeated.
"I'm going to go practice those glyphs," he said, forcing himself to move from her hold. He glanced back. "But thanks."
Luz watched him go before sighing and falling back onto her mat. It had been an exhausting day.
/
Until we get more info on the Basilisks, I have no idea how to write Hunter learning about Vee.
Season 2 is back. Now I can actually learn Lil Rascal's name instead of finding ways to avoid it. Any of you notice how much I avoid it?
Follow me on Twitter. My handle is WriterImmigrant.
