Happy new year everyone
Opening
Feel no shame about shape Weather changes their phrase
(the silhouet of bodies hang on a three is show)
Even mother will show you another way
(Guts is on a cliff, watching the horizon, is cape is flying because of the wind, revealing his sword)
So put your glasses on Nothing will be wrong
There's no blame, there's no fame It's up to you
The first words should be founded Whatever hold you back
(Guts jump to the horizon)
I can, I can get it off
(A picture of Luz, Willow, Amity, Edric and Emira then Eda and King appears)
Tell me what, tell me what, tell me what you want
(A picture of vee in her basilisk form appear)
I don't know why, don't know why, don't know why you afraid
Tell me what, tell me what, tell me what you say
(Guts us walking toward the stars)
I don't know why, don't know why Too late, it's too late
(The show title finally appears)
Struggling to find happiness
Eda flew as fast as she could toward the location of Luz with King on her staff. She was ready to fight for her student but when she arrived she was surprised to see her sitting on the grass… talking to the other human?
The kid was a mess, dried blood on his head and clothes, bruises all over his body. Then she noticed the demon's blood under his foot. Just what in titan's name happened with those kids?
"Eda!" Luz ran up to the witch happy to see her and king to hug them (she still didn't understand why humans do that weird gesture) while the other human put his hand on his sword, ready to fight again if necessary despite his injuries
"Luz, that whole quest is-"
"- A trap." The boy interrupted her. "But I already took care of it"
"Really?" Said King. It seemed odd that a boy so young could kill a demon even with that sword
"I got lucky, the bastard tried to take us out one by one by making it look like part of the quest to separate us. I was able to catch on to his plan, but fighting him took nearly everything I had" Luz looked away as she still blamed herself for the whole thing, Guts was almost killed and if he didn't stop the wizard imposter who knows what would've happened to Eda and King. Guts noticed her reaction, feeling a bit guilty thinking she thought he was blaming her so he tried to cheer her up "But right before it tried to finish me off, Luz took out one of the other puppet-tentacles things that made the bastard free me and that gave me the chance to finish HIM off, if it wasn't for her I wouldn't be here right now"
Luz turned to him in surprise when he said that; because of her need to feel special, she blindly accepted a 'noble' quest from a stranger thinking she was chosen to save everyone only to cause trouble for everyone. Yet here was Guts, praising her accomplishments as if it was equally as impressive compared to what HE did, taking on the trickster by himself.
"Dang kid, that's pretty impressive, nice work" Eda said as she patted her head
Luz smiled and blushed slightly at that, despite her achievements, she still didn't think she was as cool as him, if anyone was the special one it was Guts who was capable of doing so much without magic: single handedly beating the warden at the prison, killing the wizard/imposter with a broken sword, and surviving all alone in the harsh environment of the Boiling Isles
She suddenly felt a pain in her heart and frowned at that last thought; she remembered what he said earlier after she basically told him that he somehow traveled between space AND time, but how it still didn't matter to him because he has NO HOME to go back to, because there is nobody who cares about him, he would still just be wandering alone fighting to survive
What would they do now? Go on their separate ways? Go back to the Owl House while Guts is left on his own to face God only knows what kind of dangers that are out in the Isles? There is no way she would just leave him after everything they've been through. She had to convince Eda to let him stay with them, but only if they both agreed to her idea, not like she could just force them to do it.
"Well now that that's done, I guess I'll be off now, see you guys around" Guts got up to leave before Luz yelled "Guts wait!"
He stopped to turn to Luz, slightly confused at her sudden outburst. They're all safe now, what does she need from him now?
"Umm just… wait there okay, hey Eda can I talk to you for a moment?" She asked Eda, leading her further away to talk in private "Uhh sure kid" Eda was slightly confused as well on what Luz wanted, whatever it was she looked pretty desperate about it.
The girls left while King stayed to observe the human boy that was strong enough to fight powerful demons on his own, "Hmm yes, you will do nicely, together human we will all one day take over the world with you as the leading commander of my armies! You will fight in honor of ME, King, the most fierce demon of the Boiling Isles!"
"Snort" "And what is a demon like you the king of, The litter box?"
"Hey! I'll have you know I was once a mighty powerful demon; feared and respected by all, you will bow before me, lest you feel my wrath upon you, puny human!"
"Heh, whatever you say you little runt" Guts smirked smugly at the talking dog
"I AM NOT LITTLE!" King yelled as he stomped his little foot. Guts chuckled at that and though Guts wouldn't admit it, he thought it was cute to see that
While King was having his tantrum, the girls were having their conversation about what to do with Guts "sigh, Geez Luz I don't know…"
"Please Eda, we can't just leave him alone. He needs a place to stay, he could get hurt out there all by himself!" Convincing Eda of her idea was proving to be more difficult than she thought
"What do you mean? The kid can take care of himself just fine, it's not like he's utterly helpless. Besides, did you even ask him if he wanted to come with us?"
"Nervous chuckle" "Um no" answered Luz as she nervously rubbed her arm, she probably could've thought this through a little better
"…." Eda just crossed her arms, raising her eyebrow at Luz as if to say 'really'
"BU-BU-BUT I WAS GOING TO! I uh… just wanted to ask you first since it's your home, nervous chuckle"
Eda just sighed as she rubbed her eyes " Look Luz, I get what you're trying to do, but you gotta understand it's not the boy that I'm worried about, it's you"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Think about it Luz, according to the emperor, I am a danger to the Boiling Isles because of my 'wild magic', and considering that he's an escaped convict of the Wrath, the target on his back is almost as big as mine. If the emperor finds out that we are working together then he'll double his forces just to bring us in. And that means you'll be in twice the danger as well"
"Well… that may be true, but we still gotta help him. Unlike me, he didn't want to come here, and he's been through so much already" Luz looked down on the floor with a sad face, she may not know much about his past, but she can tell he did not have an easy life where he came from. Even asking about his parents brought up bad memories for him. She may have a bit of a rocky relationship with her mother, but if she lost her she didn't know what she would do without her; all alone in a world that judged her weirdness "He shouldn't have to be alone anymore"
Eda slightly frowned as she remembered when Luz told her as much as she knew about Guts. Apparently he and Luz, while both are from the human realm, are actually from different time periods. A time where kids are apparently allowed to be soldiers or mercenaries raiding castles or whatever. She doesn't know much about the boy either, but just one good look at him and she could also tell he had it rough. The way he looks suspicious at anything or anyone he sees, the way his body is hardly relaxed as if ready for an attack at any moment, and the way he fought against the warden at the prison like a hardened warrior despite being a young teenager.
It reminded Eda of how rough the first few years were after she got her curse and cut ties with her family; how scared and alone she was trying to survive as a wanted and 'dangerous' criminal. Sure, before Luz she had owlbert, King, and hooty, but there were still some bad days, thinking she should just turn herself in, or live in the human realm forever. But regardless, she struggled on, trying her best to fight the system, after all she did not become the most powerful woman in the Isles just by kissing the emperor's boot.
Eda sighed, "Fine, you win. But we still need to make sure he's okay with it first."
Luz's face brightened when she said that, and then immediately hugged her tightly (seriously what's up with that) "Thanks Eda, and don't worry, I am not going to be a burden to either of you guys, because it'll be all the more reason for me to become a powerful witch like you, that way you guys won't have to worry about me" "That is if she's willing to teach me anything" she thought in the back of her head
Eda smiled and awkwardly hugged her back "No problem kid, now come on, let's ask him before King embarrasses himself more than he has" That gave Luz a little chuckle before they started walking back to the ruins.
Guts was sitting on a stone while King was still gloating about how awesome a demon he was, they then noticed the girls walking back to them. Luz was having a big smile on her face that made Guts chest feel weird again "So, what do you need?"
"Hey kid, so me and Luz had a little talk we thought that-"
"-Do you want to stay at the Owl house? Eda can get you human food!" Luz excitedly asked cutting Eda off clasping her hands together "rrriiiiiight, what she said" Eda deadpans
Guts was caught off guard as he was trying to process what they just asked him. He was surprised, yes but Luz was a good person and he really didn't have a full meal in months. However, his mercenary life in Midland taught him better than to just blindly accept any invitation he receives. He liked Luz, but he didn't know much about the zombie woman or the talking dog. Call it paranoïa, but he still hasn't decided whether he could trust them or not.
"And… if I refused… what would happen?"
Luz immediately frowned when he said that, worried that he was going to turn down their offer. Eda meanwhile, just shrugged "It's up to you kid, we're not gonna kidnap you if you don't wanna come, but you should at least come over for dinner, you look like a Slitherbeast trampled you over" His belly rumbled so loud it further proved her point . Oh titan, when was the last time that kid had a decent meal?
The boy looked a bit lost, he was considering it, but he still wasn't completely sure. He had to at least try to figure out their motives "Why are you doing this?"
"What?"
"Why are you helping me, what are you trying to gain out of this?"
"We just want to help you kid. Why is it so hard to believe!?" Eda was genuinely upset, and a bit concerned too. It was like the kid was never shown genuine kindness in his life. As tough as her life was, at least there were other people that cared for her wellbeing: Raine, Morton, Lilith (in her own way), and her mom (as annoying as she was)
Guts was not liking her tone, he crossed his arms and slightly glared at her, standing his ground. "Because I don't believe that anyone can be that nice, where I come from, the only reason someone would want to help you is if they want something from you in return. If you weren't useful enough then you were just discarded or left for dead!" Guts then tore apart his prison rags showing them the many scars that he received during all of his battles. "So fucking EXCUSE ME for being a little cautious about who to trust! Especially when almost everyone in this world has tried to kill me, just like in my world. How do I know I can trust you, huh!? How do I know you guys won't do the same to me when I have no use for you anymore!? YOU TELL ME!"
The rest of them stared at Guts in shock at his outburst, and were shocked even more when they saw his many scars that were on his body. Most of them were faint, you could not really see them that well unless you looked closely. However, there were some that were pretty nasty and are a lot more noticeable than the rest.
Guts was now breathing heavily in anger, he was starting to regret staying here for this long and was about to just turn around and walk far away from them until he saw the look on Luz's face.
(Play Gut's theme)
She was crying, the girl who he had known for less than a week, was crying. Why? Was it because he scared her, probably not because then she would've run, hide like how King was hiding in Eda's hair, or insulted him back to try and push him away. Was it… because of his scars? He doubted it because they had both seen some way more disturbing things in this world. So what was the reason?
He started to feel a pain in his chest now, contrast to the more positive feeling he felt when she would smile widely at him. He hadn't felt anything like this since he had accidentally killed Gambino, and he hated it. He didn't know what this feeling was but he hated it, and just wanted it to stop, but his body would not move. He didn't know what else to do.
"Dear Titan, he's worse than I thought" Eda just sighed, that kid must have a lot of traumas. "Take my hand, Guts."
Guts just frowned and stared at her hand, ready to slap it away, but one small look at Luz's pleading face, convinced him to take it. He gave her his hand and a strange circle formed around. "I swear that I will never hurt you in any way on purpose. This is an unbreakable oath. I will never be able to break it" Guts was just checking his hand to see if she did anything to him.
"Really, that's it?" Guts had no idea how magic works… but then again he was friends with a magical monster. Shit, with everything that has happened he almost forgot about Vee. Did she make it out? Was she even alive? Would he ever find out?
He remembered how she used to feed him rats when the guards stopped giving him food so he wouldn't starve to death, how she tried to talk to him even though he ignored her at first before he slowly opened up to her, how she even tried to free him along with her just so they could see the world together liked they promised.
Guts was starting to think that maybe he had overreacted, but was soon pulled out of his thoughts when he felt a pair of hands on his shoulders. He realized that Eda was slightly crouched down, face to face, and he immediately responded by pushing her back and pointing his broken sword at her.
"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Guts looked like a feral beast, the anger and fear clear on his face. Eda however, only stood there with a stoic expression before she slowly grabbed his sword and gently pushed it down. She then slowly tried again to grab his shoulders, making sure he knew she would not hurt or frightened him. It was proving to be a successful attempt as Guts, despite his body stiffening at her touch, did not try to push her back again.
For some reason, her touch had reminded Guts of his adopted mom, Shisu
"Sigh" "Look Guts, I can't force you to trust us. It's gotta be YOUR choice. Truth is, I wasn't always a good person either, I had to make a lot of hard choices just to survive, choices I cannot take back, just like you. But what I chose to do now, is to be a better person than I was before for the sake of those that I care about. I don't know what kind of torment you went through in the human realm, but if you give us a chance in this world, I promise you it can be better, it definitely won't be perfect, but better." As Guts listened to her, Gambino's advice came to his mind once again
'trust no one'
Guts' head told him to follow Gambinos advice, but his heart told him otherwise. His whole life he had done nothing but fighting in battle after battle, whether it was raiding castles, pillaging villages, or fighting off against ambushes from bandits or thieves, he did nothing but swing his sword just… killing enemies… just surviving…
…He was so tired
He noticed that Luz had come up to them with a pained pleading look on her face, although she at least stopped crying, but her face told him everything he needed to know. She wasn't crying because of him, she was crying FOR him. No one has ever done that for him before, and it brought back that pain in his chest again, and thought of only one way to make it go away.
"I'm sorry Gambino, but for now I just want to rest" "ok" he whispered
His answer immediately brought back Luz's smile; she brought everyone in for a group hug, King even decided to come out of hiding to join in on the action, Eda smiled and started to hug back, she was starting to have an idea why Luz liked doing this so much. Guts tensed up at the gesture, but tried to relax and copy what the others were doing to the best of his ability, sure enough the pain went away… mostly "… yeah, for now"
~~Credit scene~~
(The ending theme of owl house is playing while Guts walks in the Isles,)
He walks past Willow's house and she waves hello, he does the same.
Then you see him him in the library but Amity is teaching him how to read
After that he is at Hexside, teaching severals students how to use a sword
Then you see him at Blight Industries where Edric shows him fireworks he invented ang Guts gave him a thumb up with a blank face
Next Guts is with Emira in her room, as she is showing him how to make potions, but one of Guts potions were unstable and soon blew up in his face Emira then burst out laughing
After that he is in a concert but he was asleep, he only came to cheer Skara and her performance was over.
Finally, Guts arrive to the Owl house, Eda, Luz and king welcome him and Guts finally smiles, for he as finally found a home
A big thanks for EyeCandyman who greatl helped me write this chapter.
So a you read Guts got some love but the poor guy is still far from having recovered of everything and the road to recovery will be hard for him