For AUgust's Trick AU Treat Event, Day 2 Prompt: "Cursed". CW for very mild body horror.
Hunter moved silently through the dim corridors of the castle. For years, these walls were his only home. Yet the memories blurred together. What he had once thought were missions assigned to him by the Titan itself were nothing but the dirty work of the coward on the throne. He supposed what he did hadn't changed one bit. He merely had an actual reason to do it.
The eerie stillness of the place was oppressive, punctuated only by the sound of his boots clicking against the cold stone floor, a familiar sense of dread settling over him as he approached the throne room. The two guards at the doors recognized him at once, and let him pass through. Underneath the beating heart of the titan, there was a figure hunched at the throne, their breathing heavy and pained. Hunter could still hear the voice of his uncle, telling Hunter how proud he was, and how much he needed the Golden Guard's compliance.
But Emperor Belos wasn't on the throne anymore. While a golden, antlered mask hid her face, Hunter could make out her dark brown hair, though it was lined with ash-blond streaks. An effect of the glyphs their late mentor had carved into her skin, a cruel lesson to curb rebellion.
"Luz," Hunter called out, causing the new Empress to turn her gaze towards him.
Hunter reached into his pocket and pulled out a small wooden object, a palisman. Carved into the shape of a white cat, its form now still. It was one he had recognized—it had belonged to someone powerful, though he hadn't thought of her in years, not since he watched her bleed out. Some people were better left forgotten.
He stepped closer to Luz and held the palisman out in front of her. "Here."
Luz's eyes locked onto the palisman with a blank stare. She looked at the small creature, then at Hunter, her gaze hollow and haunted. For a moment, neither of them moved. They had done this so many times before, but there was still hesitation.
"You know what you have to do," Hunter said softly, though his own voice faltered.
Luz reached out slowly, her fingers trembling as they brushed the surface of the palisman. Her hand hovered for a moment, her eyes lingering on its peaceful face.
"I don't want to," she whispered, her voice strained, barely audible.
Hunter's brow furrowed. "Luz, we've been through this before. You need to keep going. You need to keep control."
Luz swallowed hard, her hand still trembling as dark green sludge started to leak out from beneath her armour.
"I don't know how much longer I can do this," Luz muttered, her eyes shifting to meet Hunter's. "I'm losing myself."
Hunter clenched his jaw. He had seen it. Each time Luz absorbed a palisman, the once cheerful person she used to be slipped further away, replaced by something colder.
"You have to keep fighting," Hunter urged. "We can't afford to lose you. I can't afford to lose you."
Luz's lips trembled as she took the cat into her hands, cradling the palisman gently. "I can hear the others, the souls inside my head. Begging me not to do it, to spare her. I'm a monster, just like him."
Hunter remained silent for a moment. "Belos was disgusted," Hunter said as Luz looked up, "but not at himself, at the ones he killed. You struggle to crack every single palisman you take, you mourn every one you break. You're nothing like him."
Luz let out a cough, and her breathing grew more tense as tumours of slime began bulging beneath her robes. She stared at the white cat once more, before holding it above her head. Hunter could hear Luz mutter something under her breath as she snapped the palisman's head off.
As a vibrant green fluid spilled out from the hollow shell and into Luz's eyes, the sludge retreated, and Luz let out a sigh of relief, before letting out a sob. She took off her mask, allowing Hunter to see her face. Once bright and full of hope, now she looked tired. Her eyes blinked gold as the palisman turned to ash and the last of the sludge disappeared, all except for a green gash over her left eye.
"I hate this," Luz said, her voice breaking. "I hate that I'm the one sitting on this throne."
Hunter knelt beside her, uncertain what to say. He hated it too. He hated that they had to do this—that they had both sacrificed so much, only to still be trapped in this castle. He hated Belos for what he had done to her, what he had done to both of them.
"I wish it didn't have to be this way," Hunter whispered.
Luz looked at him with weary eyes. "Do you think we could have stopped him? Before it came to this?"
Hunter frowned. "We were just kids, Luz. We did everything we could to survive. We still are."
"We should've tried harder," Luz said, her voice filled with regret. "We should have done something, anything, before-"
Hunter placed a hand on her shoulder. "We did what we had to."
Luz nodded weakly, though the regret still lingered in her eyes. She stared out into the empty throne room, the weight of the world pressing down on her. She was still the Empress, still fighting, but every day felt like she was losing a little more of herself.
When she first entered the isles through his uncle's portal experiments, she was full of wonder, and curiosity. Back then Hunter though it was annoying, now he would do anything to bring it back
"We'll find a way to fix this Luz. I know we will," Hunter tried reassuring her.
Luz stared at him for a bit. She had a small smile, though not one of joy. She looked like she just heard a poor joke. Without another word, she put her mask back on.
"Summon the coven heads to the meeting room. We have work to do," she ordered as she got up and left the room. Hunter stood by the now-empty throne for a moment before letting out a sigh and following her.
Empress Luz. One of my favourite AUs. I was introduced to the concept by the amazing fic "Hail to the Queen" by The_Golden_Demise3, and always wanted to write my own take on the concept. I do plan to write a longer version someday, since I still have plenty of ideas. Some aspects would be carried over from this oneshot (like Luz having Belos' curse, an idea I haven't really seen explored in Empress Luz fics), while others won't (like Amity being dead. Which isn't to say she'll be fine, but I'm getting ahead of myself).