Work Text:
There it was.
Tilting his head in the dirt of what once used to be a lake of Titan’s Blood to look at the one speaking and reaching out to him he saw it. His last glimmer of hope, his last chance to prove his usefulness to his uncle was right there, peeking out of the Blight girl’s collar.
He couldn’t waste this chance, no matter what.
Gathering his strength he pushed himself up and immediately lunged straight for the key, though the witch who currently had it in her possession managed to evade him and got ready to fight.
Hunter turned to face her and fight for the one and only thing that might convince his Uncle not to kill and replace him like he’d done so many times before, only to be met with the Owl Lady’s bone-headed pet which attacked him with a surprisingly powerful roar –if you can even call that “Weh!” sound a roar. His palisman dove in front of him just in time to block the magic shockwave, transforming into his staff form and letting Hunter wield him as his weapon, evening the battlefield.
Except when Hunter tried to teleport right up to Blight to grab the key, he instead only zoomed over a couple of feet to the left, nearly stumbling over his own feet. Odd, why wasn’t Flapjack working as usual? Then again.. he’s never used a real staff before now, has he?
Before he could figure out how to use his staff right he was hit with a glob of Abomination goop, restraining his arms in a position that made fighting practically impossible. He struggled and squirmed, trying to break free. The goo was seeping through the fabric of his sleeves and felt strange against his skin.
Two more teleport attempts and he finally managed to get his staff to work the way he intended, launching himself up high while simultaneously breaking him free of the Abomination restraint, allowing him to fire several bolts of magic down at his enemy in one swing.
While the purple-haired witch worked to keep herself and the dog-rat-demon from getting hit by his attack, he landed and prepared his next move, before noticing that while his arms were free now, the goop was still stuck to his sleeves and spreading a tingling numbness along his skin. Something about that sensation scared him and so rather than attack again he tried to wipe the stuff off his arms.
It wouldn’t come off. The more he wiped at it the more it just spread along his arms and hands. His skin was turning numb, it almost felt as though the goo was seeping through it and becoming a part of him. His breathing sped up, he was starting to freak out.
A sudden shadow looming over him got him to pause before he could fully panic. Looking up at its source the last thing he saw was an Abomination wall curling in around him to lock him into a dark, sturdy bubble of Abomination goop that slowly but surely grew smaller and tighter around him, goo dripping on his shoulders and seeping through the fabric there to add to the tingling numbness.
Acting quick he tightened his grip on his staff to teleport out- except his staff was no longer there. With a gasp Hunter felt around the darkness to try and find his staff, it was his only way out! But he couldn’t find it. How could he, with his hands having gone numb like that? Was Flapjack even still with him? He began to panic again. The Abomination walls were closing in around him, touching him from all around and continuing to spread the numbness until it covered his entire body.
…
Next thing he knew, he was in a stock room of the Emperor’s Coven, watching as Head Witch Darius walked through the rows and rows of Abomatons he’d brought in from Blight Industries, judging them all as trash, with a comment or two about what a hack Alador Blight was.
When Darius finally approached him he expected the Head Witch to be offended and ask why the Emperor’s Coven didn’t just approach HIM about an army of Abominations if they desired one, but instead the man just looking down at him with disgust.
“Ugh.. and somehow this is the worst of them all, absolute amateur work. I refuse to use it, just go and take it apart! With some luck we can at least recover some of the ingredients.”
With that, Darius waved him off. Hunter tried to protest his attitude, he WAS still Darius’ superior after all, being the Head Witch of the Emperors Coven, but when he tried to say something the only sound that came from his mouth was a low moan. He couldn’t even follow after him. He couldn’t move at all.
“Abomination, follow.”
A Coven Scout had spoken to him and somehow, he could move now, or rather his body was moving, on its own and only to follow after the Scout as they lead the way. He tried to stop or turn the other way to follow after Darius instead, but his body didn’t listen to him. He tried to speak again, but still the only sound that escaped him was a low moan. He could do nothing but follow and do as he’s told.
Well.. Darius had said that he’s really good at following orders, hadn’t he?...
They eventually reached an Abomination workshop, normally used for the Coven Scouts serving under Darius to work out and prepare high quality Abomination goo for the Head Witch- though Darius rarely made use of that, being much more confident in the Abomination goo he creates via his magic rather than ‘steeping so low as to experiment with dirty, unconventional methods like a hack’.
“Abomination, lie.”
The Scout ordered, pointing at a work table and Hunter did as told. It didn’t matter that he was supposed to be ranks above this Scout. It didn’t matter that he didn’t want to be here. It didn’t matter that he didn’t want to be taken apart. It didn’t matter that he didn’t want to die.
The Scout was preparing a tray of tools before approaching him with a crooked dagger.
Oh Titan, he didn’t want to die, but he couldn’t move! He couldn’t disobey!
He tried to shout and beg, let this Scout know that he’s not just some mindless Abomination, he’s a person, a real person!
All that left his mouth was a low moan.
… Then again.. he couldn’t deny that there was no way for the Scout to tell that he was different from any other Abomination… Who’s to say that he actually was different? Maybe all Abominations could think like him, trapped as slaves in their own bodies.. Or maybe he was just making himself believe that he could think for himself. After all, he’d always been following orders to the best of his ability, even when he still thought that he had something like free will. Maybe it had all been an illusion he’d convinced himself of all along. Maybe he’s always just been a mindless Abomination…
As the dagger came down to stab into his chest, it hurt.
------------------------------------------
Hunter sat up in his sleeping bag with a gasp, eyes wide and hands flying to his chest to grab at his shirt, still feeling the phantom pain of a blade there. His heart was pounding and his breath came out in short puffs.
The worried chirping of Flapjack helped pull him back to reality after a moment, the palisman flapping around his head and trying his best to help him calm down, which he eventually did with a shaky sigh.
The runaway Golden Guard took a quick look around his hideout in the school’s Paranoratorium from where he sat to ensure that they were still alone and safe before pulling his legs up close and wrapping his arms around them, resting his chin on his knees.
Flapjack landed in front of him, chirping worriedly to ask if he’d had another bad dream.
“Kind of.. It was mostly dumb and didn’t make sense though..”
After all, Abominations can’t feel pain.