Magenta eyes slowly blinked open as the young teenager they belonged to let out a low groan.

"You're awake?" A blurry figure rushed over. The teen tried to pull himself up but was stopped by a hand against his chest. "Easy, easy. Don't try to move." The eyelids slid shut once more. "Someone call the head healer!"

The next time his eyes opened they were greeted by a bright light blinding them. "Pupil dilation looks good," he heard muttered. "Can you hear me?" was said in a louder voice.

"…Yeah…" was the raspy response.

"Good, that's good." The light removed itself from his eyes.

"…Where am I?"

"The Alchemilla Healing Center. How are you feeling?"

"…Tired." Alchemilla… wasn't that a public healing center? Why was he brought here? "…What happened?"

"Well, I was hoping you could tell me." The woman with the light pulled out a clipboard. "First of all, do you know who you are?"

"I'm-" He was about to say "the Golden Guard," but realized that was a bad idea, considering this woman was not dressed as a coven scout. After all, no one was supposed to know who he was, and that was assuming she believed him in the first place. "-Hunter." Ideally he would have used some fake name, but he was too tired to come up with one.

"Okay, Hunter." The woman scribbled something on her clipboard. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"I was…" How did he say this without giving anything away? "I was following… someone when- when-" His hand shot down to his gut. Peeling back the healer's gown revealed a new scar on his abdomen. "I was… stabbed?"

The healer nodded and continued writing. "Anything else?"

"No, that's it." Hunter was silent for a moment. "How… did I get here?"

"Someone brought you in, her name was…" the healer flipped through some pages, "Asu Danim. She said she found you bleeding out in an alley."

Hunter narrowed his eyes at that. "How long have I been out?" The silence he received in reply suddenly made him very worried. "…How long," he repeated.

". . ." The woman sighed. "You've been in a coma for a little over a year."

"WHAT?" Hunter bolted up. Or at least he tried, but only managed to get up a few inches before dropping back down. "No, that's- not possible, you're lying!"

"I know this must be hard for you, but please, calm down…"

"CALM!? You want me to-" Hunter took a deep breath. He could practically her his uncle, chastising him for conduct unbecoming. "Right. Sorry, that's just… a lot to take in."

"I can imagine." The healer frowned. "Is there… anything I can get you?"

"Just… some water, for now." The healer left, allowing Hunter to gather his thoughts. First of all, who brought him here? It obviously wasn't someone from the coven, otherwise they wouldn't have brought him to a public healer's. And it couldn't have been a civilian, for obvious reasons. Which really left only one possible explanation; that those wild witches saw fit to save him. It was a ridiculous thought… but it was the only one that made sense. Plus, it might explain what happened to his armor.

But why? The only possible reason he could think of was that by sparing him they hoped to gain the Emperor's (and his own) mercy… Well jokes on them, they were going to get mercy anyways… assuming the joined a coven that is.

The healer came back in and passed Hunter a glass of water, which he accepted thankfully. "Now, we were unable to find any form of identification on you, and no one matching your description has been reported missing, so we've been unable to locate your next of kin." Well of course not, they probably all thought he was dead. "Do you, uh… have anyone we could call, or…"

"…No, just me." It's not like he could say "yes, the Emperor himself" after all.

"I'm… sorry to hear that." The healer scribbled something down. "Well the bad news is that we're going to have to keep you here under observation for a bit, just to make sure there are no lasting effects."

"That won't be necessary," Hunter said, pulling himself off the bed. However he only managed a few steps before his legs, atrophied from months of disuse, fell out from under him.

Fortunately, the healer was quick enough to catch him before he hit the floor. "Yes, I'm afraid it is," she said. Hunter would have argued further, but the evidence he just experienced was rather compelling. "The good news is we've ran a basic diagnostic spell on you," she continued as she led Hunter back to his bed, "and haven't turned up any other injuries of sickness, so after a bit of rehab, you should be free of rain."

"And how long will that take?"

"It depends on the person, but usually about a week or two."

Hunter nodded. It wasn't ideal, but he couldn't return to the castle in the state he's in now, and it's not like he could just ring up the local coven outpost, who would believe him?

"I'll have someone get started on your regimen. In the meantime… well, I'd say get some rest, but… I've think you had enough of that for now." She let out a small chuckle and Hunter gave her an unamused look. "Sorry, bad joke…" Hunter couldn't help but agree. "I'll just… be going now," she finished awkwardly, leaving the room.

Hunter groaned as he lay back. Uncle was not going to be happy about this… but surely he would understand, right? It wasn't his fault! …Okay, some of it was, but it's not like he could have contacted the coven earlier! But still… he couldn't help but wonder if Belos even thought he was alive anymore. And wouldn't that be devastating, to learn that wild magic had finally taken the last of his family. So, really, Belos actually would be happy, learning that his nephew was alive and (mostly) well, being unable to contact him due to lack of ability, not lack of willingness.

Yes, that was right; he'd finish his treatment, return to the castle at the earliest opportunity… and then everything would go back to the way it was. Just as the Titan intended.

AN: Welcome to the part where things get interesting. Aka, the entire reason for this AU in the first place.