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Amity feels something awful slither up her spine, cold and sudden and all-too-familiar. The Golden Guard is still digging, throwing dirt out behind him like a dog anxious to bury a bone, and just the sight of him makes her skin feel clammy, her heartbeat anxiously uneven. His hair is a mess, his tired eyes wide and wild and sunken like a corpse.
'This is my grave,' he'd said. He certainly fits the part. That's the scariest thing to Amity, really: that if she left him here, nothing would change, because he was already dead to begin with.
Regardless, she finds herself asking him, "Are you… okay?" It's almost more habitual than anything else. It's obvious that he's not okay.
The Golden Guard laughs. He keeps laughing, his smile wide enough to wrinkle his face, but it sounds more like crying. "For now! I can't— I can't go back. I can't go back empty-handed, hahahahh… A dead dyke is fine. A failure isn't."
Unable to hold it back, Amity flinches as if hit. "That's— That's not fine!" She shouts in horror. "Don't say that!"
But the Golden Guard just keeps laughing. "You have no idea. You have no idea what he's like."
In the distance, she can hear Eda fighting, whoop-ing in something like victory. Other than that, there's silence — until Amity breaks it, her voice softer than she wants it to be. "You'd really rather end your own life than go back?"
"Yeah." The Golden Guard sighs. It's a shaky, painful sound. The kind that bubbles between broken ribs. "Honestly, Emperor Belos probably wants that too."
Titan… Amity's heart aches. She doesn't want to feel bad for him, doesn't want to pity the person that threatened her girlfriend, but she's always felt that way when looking into a mirror. There's no reason it should be different now.
She thinks about all the hours she sat in the library, hidden from the world, wondering if anyone would find her there. Sat behind the secret door, in her secret room, she would ask herself how long it would take for her body to smell. How long it would take until people realized what that smell was, or how to get to it.
She thinks about how hard it used to be to walk down Hexside's stairs and start making her way back to Blight manor.
She thinks about Luz. Her kind, brave Luz.
Luz had been sympathetic to the Golden Guard, hadn't she? Now Amity understands why. When Amity looks at the witch lying in the dirt, too far gone to even cry… All she sees is herself. Is this how Luz felt? Is this what Luz saw when that green-haired girl chased her, roaring, unhinged, through the halls of Hexside, after trying to get her killed?
She catches the gaze of the little red palisman that's been following them since their journey began. The poor thing looks about as desperate as she feels. Its little black eyes shine, as if they're begging her, help him.
Despite herself, Amity nods. If Luz can do it… If Luz can look at Amity and see someone worthy of saving, then Amity wants to learn. Amity wants to pay it back.
So, she walks forward carefully, then sits down in the dirt, right next to the mop of blonde hair. The Golden Guard doesn't move. All he does is lay miserably in the shallow grave he's given up on digging, his mouth a wobbly line, like fragile fishing wire fighting against a hurricane, and his magenta eyes shut tight against the world.
"There's more than two options, you know," she says.
He just laughs, his smile long gone. Maybe this time, he really is crying… She feels close to tears herself, really. "Not for me, Blight."
"I used to think that…'' Ghost, sensing her misery, hops gracefully down into her lap and begins to purr. Unconsciously, she begins to pet it, scratching gently at its little white head and feeling herself grow if not calm, then steady. "I could either go back home or I could die." Ghost looks up sadly at her, eyes filled with a pain all too much like the red cardinal's. She gives Ghost a smile. "I was wrong. There's a lot of places we can go, Golden Guard."
"It's… It's Hunter," he says. He's so quiet, she almost doesn't hear him. "My name. It's Hunter."
"That's a lovely name."
Hunter laughs incredulously, surprised. The sound is much more honest this time, but still touched by a contagious, incredible sadness. "Thanks."
"Just telling the truth." She sighs and scratches her neck awkwardly. "I'm Amity. I'm not sure if you knew my first name, but I'm not much of a Blight anymore, so… You should. Call me Amity, I mean. If you want to."
Hunter peeks up at her through his eyelashes, lifting his face gently from the dirt. "Hi, Amity."
She can't help but smile. "Hi, Hunter."
He smiles too. It's just a small one, almost small enough that she almost believes she's imagining it, but it's a smile. Ghost jumps off her lap and headbutts him. The little red bird on his back twitters unhappily, but seems to otherwise allow it. The commotion makes Hunter laugh.
"Your palisman is much better behaved than mine," he says.
Amity chuckles, low and affectionate. "Maybe. If you like dead spiders, anyways."
"Heh… Better than alive ones, I guess." Finally, Hunter turns over, his face free of the cold, dry dirt. Then he sighs, eyes sliding closed once more. "Where did you go?"
"Go?"
"Yeah. The other options, outside of failure or death… Where— Where did you end up going?"
"Oh." Amity smiles. Her face feels pink, but she's not embarrassed by it. "I went to Luz. She's wonderful, you know. And I know she'd want me to take you to her, too."
Hunter's eyes are still closed. His eyebrow twitches strangely, but she can't read what it means. "...Really?"
Ghost curls up next to Hunter's palisman on his chest, purring so loudly it likely shakes through his very bones. It's trying to heal his broken heart. "Yeah," Amity whispers, suddenly biting down tears. "Yeah, she would. And I'd like that too."
Hunter finally opens his eyes. He stares into Amity's, silent and unmoving, eyes flicking between each of her own as he searches for something Amity doesn't know… and then, slowly, he nods. "If— If it's allowed… I'd like to."
Without thinking, Amity pushes his hair away from his face, exhaling in grinning relief— then catches herself, blushing. "Do you need to grab anything before we go to the Owl House?"
Hunter looks away. "Maybe a few things? Books, mostly. A handful of other belongings."
Amity nods. The sounds of fighting have trailed off now, signaling the approaching arrival of the Owl Lady herself. "Sounds like Eda's catching up. I'll update her on the situation, then we can send the palismans off to grab a few things."
Hunter looks about to protest, but Amity is already standing, making her way to meet Eda before the harpy can attack first and ask questions later. Whatever Hunter has to say can wait. It seems like they'll be having a lot of time to communicate once they get out of here.
At least, she hopes so. Titan, does she hope.