Hope and Luthia

> "Did you really think we could play happy families for the rest of our lives? I am not your father, and you are not my daughter. The only mistake I made was believing that you were anything but a monster."
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- Luthia to Hope

The relationship between Hope and Luthia is extremely strained and complicated. Initially, Luthia appeared as a savior and father-like figure to Hope, which only grew when he adopted her as his foster daughter. However, as Hope aged and began exploring the world, Luthia began to view her as too troublesome and a crux to his previously successful and carefree life. Their relationship came to a head when Hope left for college, resulting in an arguement where Luthia claimed that Hope was a monster. After Hope joined the Brotherhood, Luthia became determined to hunt down the "monster" he helped create.

## Throughout Spes Vindicta

### Season 1

Hope and Luthia first meet on the night of her parent's murder. Luthia, a then beat cop, attended to her farmhouse in Brindleton Bay following an unclear emergency call to 911. Despite being ordered to wait for back-up after he discovered Cain's body, Luthia heard Hope's sobbing which drew him into the house. When he first found Hope, curled up next to the body of her mother, he believed her to be dead as well due to the amount of blood covering her, and was shocked to discover that she was not only alive, but also a spellcaster. Hope confessed to Luthia that she had brutally murdered her father in an act of vengeance after witnessing him strangle her mother to death, and Luthia took pity on her. Knowing that Hope may be executed due to her indentity as a spellcaster, Luthia helped her by covering up the scene and pretending to have sighted a masked man fleeing from the home.

Hope went along with the ruse that Luthia had created and, after multiple interviews with detectives, was cleared of any blame and sent to live at the Brindleton Bay Spellcaster Academy. Knowing how much she hated it there, Luthia often visited Hope throughout the eight years that she lived thered for, often bringing along with him secret presents and gadgets from the outside world. Lonely due to her lack of friends and her PTSD, Hope looked forward to Luthia's visits and they built up a solid and playful friendship. She viewed Luthia as not only her saviour, but also a father-like figure, comparing his visits to those that the other students received from their parents or caretakers. Luthia also gifts Hope an old phone, informing her that she can call him whenever things get too hard.

During this time, Luthia also began dating a woman named Sophia, and spoke to Hope about his plans to propose to her. Hope initially encouraged this, but during Luthia's most recent visit, he informed her that Sophia said yes to the propsal, and that due to this he wouldn't be able to visit her as often, as Sophia felt uncomfortable with his close relationship to a teenage girl. Hope became aggitated due to this, resulting in a small fight between the pair, though Luthia still gifts her with a switchblade as an early birthday present. After Luthia leaves, Hope worries that she may have scared him off and due to her anger, he would now never return.

After Hope killed Headmaster Kerran, she called Luthia to ask for help, telling him their codeword "Code Red". Hope is briefly imprisoned at the Spellcaster Dungeons and is informed that she will be executed due to her crime. In order to save her, Luthia adopts Hope, allowing her to leave the prisons to return hom with him, as by adopting her Hope now falls under human-to-spellcaster relations. Hope was instructed to remain at Luthia's home under careful watch, but the duo took the opportunity to flee Brindleton Bay, taking on new indentities and leaving their lives behind. For Luthia, this meant breaking up with Sophia and quitting his dream job as a detective. For Hope, it meant a chance to finally have the family she always dreamed of.

Hope and Luthia settled down in Willow Creek. Hope changed her name from Rose to Hope, while Luthia took on the name Josiah. While things initially went well, Luthia almost immediately began to regret his actions as he struggled to find a suitable job, and ended up working as an assistant to a lawyer firm with the Landgraabs. Their relationship began to become strained, as the pair often bickered and argued over Hope's yearn for freedom, her relationship with Vidar, and her desire to expand her skills in magic. The Mage Hunters were also hot on their tail, causing added stress to Luthia's life.

Eventually, Luthia admitted to Hope that he regretted saving her, and that he blamed her for losing his fiancee and job. While the death of her parents and Kerran were not her fault, Hope refused to take responsibility for her actions in causing additional strain to Luthia and their undercover life, believing that she deserved to have freedom and live like a normal teenager. This resulted in a heated arguement between the pair, with Luthia telling her that he is not her father, and that he sees her as a monster. Hurt by his words and encouraged by Vidar, Hope ends up leaving for university without speaking to him again.

After witnessing the death of her on-again off-again boyfriend Memphis at the hands of the Mage Hunters, Hope and Vidar merged into one celestial being and killed all ten Mage Hunters in one blow. After turning back into herself, Hope was horrified by her actions and haunted with the knowledge that she couldn't save the boy she loved. Seeking comfort, she fled from her friends right after the battle, and returned to her and Luthia's home in Willow Creek. However, a different couple answered the door, revealing that Luthia sold the home a few months ago and moved away - where to, they did not know. Feeling abandoned and haunted by Luthia's claim that she was a monster, Hope chose to abandon her humanity and joined forces with the Brotherhood, agreeing to become an assassin.

Meanwhile, Luthia had returned to his job as a detective in San Myshuno, revealing to his Chief all the details about Hope and what he did for her. While the chief promised not to turn him over to the Imperium, he refused to give Luthia his job back. Luthia was also unable to reconsile with Sophia, who was now engaged to another man. Luthia lived in a small dingy apartment in San Myshuno for a while, depressed and yearning for his old life back, and reading up a recent wave of assassination of men and women, some high-profile, some known criminals, and some average people who narrowly escaped trial - all people who Luthia knew to be evil. While concerned, Luthia didn't consider much of it until while watching the new, a witness claimed that one of the assassins was a female with shadow-like magic, joined by a talking dog. Realising that the killer was Hope, the Chief offered Luthia back his job if he was able to help them catch her.

Now understanding his part in causing Hope so much pain, Luthia agreed to let Hope go. However, he told her that if he ever saw her again, he wouldn't be able to save her a fourth time. Thankful for his actions and all that he had done for her, Hope forgave Luthia for his actions years ago, and the pair parted on good terms.