Hello, everyone!

Unfortunately, I can't see For the Future at the moment because I do not have access to Disney Channel, buuut For the Future is going to be uploaded to YouTube soon, so I decided to celebrate by uploading another chapter of TRG to celebrate the release of FTF!

No spoilers, or else. :)

Enjoy!

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Hunter didn't sleep that night. And, when he saw Kiki again the next morning, he could tell that she didn't sleep well, either.

Kiki had dark bags under her eyes, although they weren't as big or as pronounced as Hunter's. Hunter felt bad for her; he knew that seeing the demon child, King, being collared like a wild animal was an image that was most likely burned into the back of her eyelids anytime she'd close them. 

It haunted him, too. He only got about three, maybe two hours of sleep, the previous hours of that night spent thinking about Luz Noceda and her boy. However, he often had to stay up at ungodly hours of the night, especially when on a mission or just doing a task for The Emperor, or even doing ordinary desk work, so, his body had long since grown accustomed to the lack of sleep.

Still, that didn't prevent him from worrying about his (only) friend.

"Here," Hunter said, his magenta eyes full of concern as he handed her a mug of a caffeinated version of apple blood. "I figured you could use it."

"Thank you, Hunter," Kiki croaked, taking the mug and blowing at it gently, before completely lifting it to her lips and taking a sip of it. "Titan, I am so relieved that they made a caffeinated version of apple blood."

"Same here," Hunter chuckled, smiling at her. "I practically live off of this stuff."

Kiki's eyes flashed with something melancholic, and Hunter sighed. "Kiki… please don't give me that look."

Kiki coughed, averting her eyes from his magenta ones as she took another sip. "What look?"

“That look you always give me whenever I’m not taking care of myself.” Hunter said, his eyes narrowed.

Kiki sighed. "I… I can't help it, Hunter. I just…" Her grip tightened on the mug, and her eyes shone with an emotion Hunter couldn't quite identify, before she slowly shook her head. "This isn't right," she finally whispered. "It isn't right at all."

“I know, I know. But I can’t exactly do much about it.” Hunter sighed. “Belos will just mess me up again if I mess something up. All I can do to take care of myself is make sure I’m still alive.”

"Or at least go to bed early so you'd have a full eight hours of sleep," she pouted, sipping at the apple blood again.

Hunter chuckled. “I still remember when you wanted me dead, but now? You’re worried about me. How things have changed.” His eyes then softened. “I mean it when I say I appreciate it, though…”

Kiki's chest warmed, and then she used a levitation spell to hold the mug of apple blood, while she hugged Hunter tightly. Her eyes watered as she spoke. "I wish I could take you away from this place, Hunter… away from... him."

Hunter felt his eyes water again and he slowly hugged back, sighing softly. “I…I wanna get away too...but we both know what he’ll do.” he mumbled before speaking up. “The best thing we can do is just…put up with it.”

Kiki sniffled, and then wiped at her eyes before she took the mug of apple blood back. "Okay," she whispered, though her eyes were still filled with sorrow.

Two emerald green eyes watched them from a distance. The person's heart clenched, before they walked away, filled with burning resentment for the man they served.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luz sighed as she looked all around her cell, her eyes soft as she held her son close. She wondered why The Emperor kept her alive if he hated Wild Witches so much. But, she was grateful…she needed to be there for King.

And King wasn't doing well.

King was clinging to Luz's cloak, whimpering in his sleep. "No…! No…!"

Luz’s eyes widened and she leaned in a bit, holding King close and gently waking him since she wasn’t exactly sure what else to do. He was having a nightmare, and the only thing she could think of was interrupting it. “K-King…?”

King gasped, jolting awake, his pink eyes wild with terror. "M...Mommy…!"

Luz quickly hugged King, rubbing his back in circles and gently shushing him. “Shhh, shhh…it’s okay. It’s okay. Mommy’s here.”

King sniffled, cuddling into her side, whimpering. "Th-the collar was around my neck again… i-it was choking me…!"

Luz’s eyes widened in horror at that and she recalled what those guards were doing to him…her baby. Her precious little King. She held him closer. “They won’t hurt you…they will never lay a finger on you ever again.”

King's bottom lip wobbled. He knew that his mother was trying to comfort him, but he couldn't help but be terrified that they were going to get hurt. He whimpered, burying his face into her shoulder.

And Luz was just trying all she could to help her son. She knew he was scared and if she was being honest? Even she was scared. But right now, she could care less about herself as long as King was okay.

“King…look at me. Please, mijo.” Luz whispered.

King slowly looked up into her warm hazel eyes, those loving hazel eyes he'd always known. "I… I don't wanna die, Mama… I miss Abuela and Abuelo, but I… I'm scared...!"

Luz’s heart broke at every word he said, but she wiped away his tears and began speaking in their language again. “Te lo prometí hace tanto tiempo, hijo mío. No importa qué, estarás bien…”

King sniffled, but before he could respond, the two froze upon hearing footsteps making their way down the hallway, to their cell.

Luz froze as well before she growled and held King close, clutching her fist even if she couldn’t use magic. She knew how to fight at least.

But then, The Golden Guard walked inside the room, looking at them with his white cloak wrapped around his body like he was some kind of wise sage.

King growled, and then stuck his tongue out at him. "¿Qué está haciendo aquí el estúpido besador de traseros profesional de Belos?"

Luz’s eyes widened and she suddenly began to laugh, but also held King close. “M-Mijo! W-We don’t…!” She laughed harder, clutching her stomach a bit.

The Golden Guard blinked. “Uhhh…I’m gonna…assume he just made fun of me.”

King sneered at him. "¿Se permite la comida aquí, Sr. Burrito Man?"

The Golden Guard scratched his head. “I…huh…?”

Luz then gave the second in command of The Emperor a look. “What are you doing here?”

The Golden Guard looked from side to side before unfolding his cloak, taking out his staff and waving it a bit to summon a tray of…well…not prison food. It looked like actual food. He slid it under the cell and over to Luz and King. “Your meal.”

Luz’s eyes widened and she poked it. She then examined the somewhat cheesy goo of the food. She tasted it and sure enough, it was edible and actually pretty good. “This is prison food…?”

“No.” Golden Guard said, snorting. “Why do you think I had to hide it?”

King glared at the food suspiciously. He slowly approached it, and then he stared dead at the Golden Guard as he slowly picked it up, and then, suddenly, he hissed at him, before scampering back to his mother, cuddling into her side as he ate.

Luz held her son close again and took a few bites herself. She hated to admit it, especially to someone who was supposed to be her enemy…but it had been forever since she had a decent meal that didn’t need to be stolen.

“...why’d you give us this?” Luz asked, looking up at him, hazel eyes wide and confused.

The Golden Guard stood up. “Not everyone in this prison is evil, you know.”

King looked at him, and then quickly looked away. "So… you're not evil, but you choose to be a bystander?"

“And I believe we're the only ones in the prison.” Luz said simply, crossing her arms a bit.

Golden Guard turned his head slightly as he began walking away. “I wasn’t talking about here.” He said before leaving the room.

King frowned, confused as he looked at his mother. "What is he talking about, Mama?"

Luz tried to think, and she kept repeating those words in her head. It hit her as the Golden Guard saying that he and the other Coven Members were as much Belos’ prisoners as they were. It didn’t surprise her. Belos was a ruthless man.

“I...think he’s just saying that he feels like a prisoner too.” Luz said. “Something gives me the feeling that Belos isn’t nice to him, either.”

King thought about it, then he nestled into her arms. "I… guess it was nice of him to give us real food, but… I don't trust him."

“Neither do I, sweetie.” Luz said, kissing King’s forehead. “But, I don’t need to be an Oracle to see that there is more to him. But neither of us have to trust him, alright?”

King sighed, then nodded. "Okay, Mama. I don't trust him for snot, but I trust you."

Luz giggled and then peppered her son’s face with kisses. “Good! A son should trust his mama, or I’ve failed my job!” She joked as she tickled him with kisses.

King squealed with laughter, squirming, his eyes crinkling as he giggled. "Maaaaamaaa!"

Luz laughed. “I love you, mijo!”

King smiled softly. "I love you, too, Mama.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Surprisingly, the Golden Guard wasn't the only one to visit Luz and King. Kikimora walked down the hallway, hiding the food with an illusion. She knew that it probably wasn't a good idea to start visiting them so often, but…

She had to make sure that they were alright. I suppose that my friendship with Hunter has really made me soft, especially when it comes to children.

This cycle had continued on for a while…before Luz finally wanted answers when Kiki showed up. “Kikimora, was it?”

Kiki paused mid step as she turned to leave, hesitating, before she slowly nodded. "Yes."

“...why are you and the Golden Guard being so nice to us?” Luz asked. “Is it a trick? Do you pity us? Is The Emperor commanding you to give ‘The Wild Witch’ a last meal before her punishment…?”

Kiki sighed, and then she looked at the sleeping King, who had fallen asleep after finishing his meal.

"...No. The Emperor isn't making us do this, ma'am," she said calmly; surprising Luz, since no one treated her like an adult, let alone respected her like one, considering that she was a teenager.

Luz was a bit confused. Golden Guard just hardly spoke to her, likely being the brooding type as far as she knew. But Kiki was treating her like a person unlike everyone else in this castle. “T-That doesn’t answer my question…you two are the nicest people in the castle if this  isn't a trick, so…why? Why are you being so nice to us?”

Kiki stared at the wall for a minute, as if debating whether or not she should answer. And, eventually, she did.

"Not everyone has joined the Emperor's Coven by choice, Miss Noceda. Some of us have to join the pretentious Covens… or risk enduring struggles for the rest of our lives."

Luz was silent before chuckling weakly. “Y-Yeah…I know how that is…does Belos force people to join too? I wouldn’t put it above the bastard. Just add it to the list of crimes he’s done.”

Kiki exhaled, looking at the wall for another moment, before she looked into Luz's hazel eyes, looking more exhausted than she'd ever allowed the teenage girl to see.

"The Emperor's word is law. No matter how badly I want to rip his tongue out."

Luz gave a weak smile at that. “You and me both…so, you’re being nice to us because you’re good…and you don’t want to do all of this?”

She then sighed. “And you’re being bystanders because if you don’t help him, Belos will kill you and replace you just like that.”

"That," Kiki admitted, "and because I have someone here who needs me. No matter how much he wants to act like the brooding type."

“…Golden Guard?” Luz asked, her eyes widening. “From how he acts around me, I…I’m kinda surprised. I take it he just puts that face around me because someone might get suspicious or something?”

"Bingo." Kiki sighed, looking… saddened, for a moment. "We're all we have, him and I. I used to hate him because I made… foolish assumptions about him. But… then, I realized that we had a lot more in common than I'd initially first thought."

Luz was silent for a moment before facing her. “I see…well…thank you. Both of you for your kindness and I’m sorry that you’re trapped in this place too.”

Kiki's eyes softened as she looked at Luz, then her eyes wandered to King. "...did the collar hurt him?"

“Yes. It did.” Luz said, her heart breaking. “But thankfully, the nightmares about it are beginning to stop…whoever got the idea of putting that on my baby is going to suffer."

Kiki hummed. "...I'll ask who put it on him."

“Thanks…I wanna crush them.” Luz said before she sighed. “Thank you again. I’m going to try and get some sleep myself…”

Kiki nodded. "Goodnight, Miss Noceda."

When Kiki left the room and left the prison entirely, Kiki leaned against the wall, and slid down, tears streaming down her cheeks.

I can't do this anymore. They're all just kids.

...

...

...I have to get them out. All of us.