Chapter Text
Hunter stared outside his bedroom window, looking out at the same landscape he’d always known. Same Titan’s ribs thrusting out towards the sky, same coven scouts patrolling the outer walls, same pointed rocks in the chasm beneath the castle. He’d lived in this room as long as he could remember and had every tedious detail memorized. He should count himself lucky to live in the castle, he would tell himself. After all, he was the Golden Guard, the new face of the Emperor’s Coven, one of the most respected witches on the Boiling Isles. Heck, he was the right hand to the Emperor himself, a position impossible for witches his age.
Then why did he feel like such a failure?
Hunter trudged away from the window and slumped face first onto the bed. Wincing in spite of himself, he was reminded of his most recent disaster at Eclipse Lake. Sure, he stole the portal key off of that Blight girl, but with the Titan’s blood drained out of it, the key was all but useless. His uncle was furious, not just with the portal key, but at Hunter’s clear disobedience.
A small chirp dragged him away from those memories and towards his other major failure. But... was it really a great loss that he let the human get away with all those palismen? As the small cardinal nestled itself into his hair, he remembered his uncle’s outburst after he returned: relieved that Hunter was alive, but angered with the loss of the palismen. Although... the look on Kikimora’s face afterwards almost made the whole ordeal worth it. Almost.
“I don’t know why you stick with me,” Hunter mumbled to the palisman on his head. “There’s probably a hundred better witches for you to follow around.”
Lil’ Rascal gave a chirp in response, settling down further into Hunter’s hair.
“Heh,” he smirked. “Look, all I’m saying is it’s dangerous for you here. If anyone catches you-”
A knock on his door caused Hunter to bolt upright, sending Lil’ Rascal flying across the room. Righting himself and ensuring his palisman was adequately hidden, he answered the door.
“Sir.” The coven scout raised his arm in salute. “Emperor Belos requests your presence in the throne room. Immediately.”
“At ease,” Hunter replied. “I’ll be right down.”
The scout turned and left as Hunter shut the door, panic starting to take over.
“Did he find out about you?” He said to Lil’ Rascal. “Did he find out about the other palismen? Did...did something worse happen?” Hunter’s mind raced with a million other situations as he hurriedly dressed in his formal Golden Guard uniform.
As he went to leave, Lil’ Rascal chirped in protest.
“What?!” Hunter exclaimed. As he turned to look at the palisman, Lil’ Rascal flew over and nestled himself inside of Hunter’s cloak. “No. No no no OUT!” The cardinal didn’t budge.
Hunter pinched the bridge of his nose, then gave a deep sigh. “Alright, fine. But you better stay hidden. I’m not going to take the fall for you if you blow our cover, got it?” A smug, satisfied chirp came from his cloak in reply.
Hunter entered the throne room, kneeling before Emperor Belos himself, although Belos wasn’t wearing his typical mask. “Sir, I heard you summoned me.”
Belos laughed, a surprisingly light chuckle, catching Hunter off guard. “It’s alright, Hunter,” Belos said. “We don’t need to deal with all the formalities. It does get quite tedious after a while.”
Hunter awkwardly stood up as Belos waved him over, gesturing for him to take a seat by the throne. Hunter followed, taking off his mask in the process.
“I remember when you were still so young.” Belos gazed out fondly across the room. “You had such a habit of running around, dodging the staff, playing “The Floor is the Boiling Sea” anywhere you went. It was impossible to get you to be patient or even sit still for the longest time.” Belos looked back to Hunter. “It seems you share some of those traits even now.”
Hunter went to open his mouth in protest, but decided it would be better if he didn’t.
“I suppose I’m the one to blame for that. I’ve been trying to keep you safe when it’s clearly in your nature to do the opposite. You need something to keep yourself occupied. So, I’ve decided to give you an assignment.”
Hunter perked up. “An assignment?”
Belos smiled. “Yes, a very special assignment. The scouts have informed me that the human has made substantial progress on creating a functional portal door. Furthermore, she’s been receiving significant aid from Miss Amity Blight. Unfortunately, no one has been able to discern how exactly this progress is being made. And it is a shame that we can’t have this information to prepare for the Day of Unity.” Belos let his sentence hang, looking to his nephew.
Hunter nodded his head. “I understand. Were there any particular...methods that you would like used?”
Belos was still smiling, but his eyes were cold. “Whatever it takes to get it done. By any means necessary.”
Hunter gulped in spite of himself. “When would you like me to leave?”
“As soon as you’ve adequately prepared for your journey.”
Hunter nodded his head and stood to leave. “I’ll send a full report as soon as I acquire any important information.”
Belos nodded his head in acknowledgement. “Very well, Hunter. I’ll look forward to reading it. I know you won’t let me down again.”
Hunter gave a small bow and left the throne room. As soon as he was safely alone, Lil’ Rascal gave a concerned chirp from within his cloak.
“Yeah,” Hunter sighed. “I know.”