I did the equivalent of mentally rising from my bed like a vampire rising from their coffin yesterday as I was trying to sleep as a thought struck me; There's a high chance there's a verse of the PrincessLuz AU where Belos *doesn't* kick the bucket early or pre-story start, and for Reasons Luz and Hunter has to make a run for it from the castle (Belos is about to kill Hunter and Luz gets a good hit in before they book it. Or Hunter walks in on the Nightmare Dinner Scene and they make a run for it. Many options.) and Belos proceeds to spin a heartwrenching, complete bullshit lie how the Golden Guard has lost it and abducted his beloved daughter and who knows what he will do to her. Not directly stated but highly implied that Hunter is now Kill On Sight.
Meanwhile Amity, at undecided rate of knowing Luz+Hunter well but knowing Hunter would rather break his own bones than purposefully make even a scratch on Luz, is watching this all unfold like "uuuuhhh, Doubt™". And if she has the luck of running into them, well she can't kill Hunter! For reasons. And Luz seems to really not want to go back. Maybe one of the scouts she's with is about to hit Hunter and she just- moves without thinking. Knocks the fucker out and oh that sure is a choice she can't take back. Fuck guess she's a deserter now.
At the castle we have the separate but synchronised freaking out of Darius, Raine, and Lilith, who are Losing Their Minds over them being out there and actively being hunted down to be brought back to the saw trap that is the Emperor's Castle. Possible team-up after Darius and Raine see how hard Lilith is spiralling and she lets something slip?? But also laughing over the possibility of Lilith swallowing her pride and going to Eda for help. Maybe with some pressure from Darius and Raine. Eda opening the door to three Coven Heads, one being her estranged sister and one her ex, and she wonders if the appleblood she had yesterday was spiked with something.
MMM YES YES YES EXCELLENT CONCEPTS. poor amity rapid-cycling between "luz is clearly fucking Terrified of belos and i'll be damned if i drag Anybody back to their abusive parent" and "oh titan. i just chose HUNTER over LILITH".... poor girl. im love her.
a while back there was a timeline where luz hunter and vee ran away several years pre-fic-canon... i could see events unfolding here similarly. "okay, we'll be found on the isles, we either have to sneak through the castle portal or eda clawthorne's portal so we can hide out in the human world" <-three people who don't realize Just How Out-Of-Place a group of scruffy obviously unhoused teens will be in suburban connecticut.
