Work Text:
It's over.
It's all over.
Everything that Hunter thought he knew, everything that he thought he had learnt about friendship and about love was over.
No more Lilith.
No more Emira.
No more Edric.
Nobody was allowed to talk to him, hell nobody was allowed to see him, all due to the promise he made to his uncle, Belos.
A promise he swore he would keep.
Hunter sat in the living room, awaiting Belos' arrival. His mind relapsed to the feeling on being a child again, sobbing solemnly on the aged sofa after being castigated for breaking another rule or fucking up once more.
The red, leather plush sank in under the weight of his own that he carried.
Hunter never meant to hurt anyone, but in hindsight he should've known.
He knew that his uncle was upset at him for leaving.
And perhaps it was his fault. For being so selfish, as to leave his life and his only family behind for a fantastical dream.
He counted down the seconds he had before his uncle got back into the room. Savoring each one on his tongue.
Belos entered, a cane in one wrinkled hand and a belt in the other.
And once again Hunter felt like a child.
He took his time to sit down and spoke softly. One thing Hunter noticed about his uncle is that he had a gentle voice. A voice that could lull you to a long, deep sleep, but despite that Hunter wasn't relaxed. Cramped up inside himself.
"Hunter," Belos started, "Why did you leave me?" He gave an almost gentle look, as if truly he wanted an answer.
That he did not receive. Instead Hunter's rhinestone blue eyes were glued to the carpeted floor, his feet shuffling and shifting.
Belos frowned, tucking back a strand of his grayed hair with a large hand. He opened his mouth once more.
"Hunter, why did you leave?" Hunter was shaking.
He didn't know what to say to him anymore. He didn't want to say a word.
Belos raised his voice becoming agitated as if the boy in front of him was a mischievous child. Disobedient and in need of being taught proper conduct. "Why did you leave me?"
Hunter raised his head to face his uncle.
His lip quivered, he couldn't find it in himself to lie.
Even if he were to be punished for what he was about to reveal.
"The reason why I left," Hunter whimpered, as if he were an injured animal, limping for mercy and help, "was because I didn't feel…safe around you."
Belos went silent, blue eyes meeting Hunter's.
Disappointment was the name of his gaze.
Hunter continued, "I couldn't live with you treating me so badly. I wanted to go to a place where I felt safe."
All throughout his life, Hunter only had Belos. Being a rather unsociable and 'weird' kid, he lacked friends. But Uncle Belos was always there. And for a good while that was how it was, he was cared for even if Belos had methods that sometimes upset him.
It was as he got older and as he opened his eyes more to the world around him, that the warmth of the candle Belos provided to him went cold.
And as the moth he was he flew to the next, knowing her light would last.
Belos placed a hand on Hunter's shoulder. Forcing him to make eye contact.
"Hunter, I have raised you since you were young, I helped you when your own father and mother couldn't. Is this the fruit of my labor?"
Hunter bit his lip. He felt guilty.
"I thought that you would help me when I needed you most, like I did for you. You left me, with nobody else to take care of me." Belos grunted. "And now I'm the villain?"
Hunter was shaking.
The ever lurking anticipation for every word Belos would say next crawled up his neck like a spider.
"Hunter," Belos continued, ravishing his name "What did that witch do to you? To make you turn against me?"
The young witch in training could tell Belos hated his mentor, Lillith.
He was impatient for an answer.
"I fed you."
Hunter shivered.
"I raised you."
He dug his nails into the sofa.
"I bought you everything you could possibly need."
He bit his lip so hard it could bleed.
"And this is how you repay me?"
"So tell me," Belos stood up, looking down at him. "What did she say," he raised his hand with the belt, "to turn you against me?"
Rapidly, Hunter stood up to his level, fists clenched with tears racing down his cheeks in streaks.
"She didn't do anything wrong! My friends taught me what it felt like to be loved and cared for! They were there for me, I had a boyfriend who loved me and a woman who took me in when nobody else did! I can't even talk to them anymore because of you and your stupid promise!" Hunter then took a deep breath, before his eyes widened like saucers. Realizing what he had just done.
His uncle looked mad.
"They taught you what it's like to feel loved and cared for," Belos asked, "but you never thought that I loved you? After all these years of raising you as if you were my own, you had the audacity to leave just because of a few punishments? I knew you since you were a baby and you decided to live with a strange woman for three months just because she said that she loved you?"
The silence was deafening.
Belos continued, "Hunter, I'm a sick man and you're the only person that I can turn to for help. I need you to stay here and keep those witches out of this situation."
He didn't lie, Belos was sick. Constantly aching with pains that ran throughout his body so consistently.
Somedays Hunter thought of his end.
"I need you to understand that if you leave, I will die." Hunter didn't know what to say. He didn't want blood on his hands.
"Do you understand?"
Hunter stayed silent for another minute, but nodded his head in agreement. "I can't hear you," Belos whispered.
"I understand."
"Good," Belos turned away from him, seemingly tired of the conversation.
"Go to your room. I see we're both quite exhausted from your recent stunt, so I want you to think about what you've done."
He disappeared into the kitchen, fetching a glass of water for himself.
Like a dying dog, the failed witch whimpered. "Yes, uncle."
_
His door room had no lock and many days he wished it did, so instead he shoved the door stopper underneath it. An extra measure to make sure he couldn't be disturbed.
Hours went by in the confines of plain, white walls.
Hunter cried just like he did before he had left the first time.
His eyes were sore and puffy.
His ears longed for Edric's sweet voice and for his arms to wrap around him tight and never let go.
He wanted someone to hold and take him away from here again.
He wanted an end.
He knew he couldn't ask for help from his friends, so he thought of another way to stop this. It wasn't an idea he had in a little while…
But he couldn't handle this much pain anymore.