Chapter Text
Belos stood back as he pressed down on a lever, pulsing green electricity emerging into a machine that whirred noisily. Hunter had been nice enough to provide materials fit for a replacement, after all. He wasn’t sure what he was going to call this one yet but given this would probably be the last one he’d need to create… he wanted the name to be at least somewhat meaningful.
The machine continued to pulse as the ingredients began to come together. The Galdorstone beat like a heart, the Stonesleeper lungs began to rock gently up and down through the forming nervous system as the Selkidomus scales began to coat the bones of Ortet, which copied themselves across the forming body. The Palistrom wood formed dull muscles around the bones and underneath the skin, eventually creating a blonde human-witch hybrid.
It'd take about thirty minutes for the Grimwalker to wake, so Belos stared at it through the glass. It was perhaps ill-advised to create one before getting rid of the other one, but if Hunter knew what was best for him, he’d stay far away from his beloved uncle. Oh wait, he didn’t have to use that title anymore, did he? Belos felt sort of a smirk crawl across his lips- it felt almost sickening to be this unconcerned about a Golden Guard gone rouge now, but he could sense the boy’s fear when he was in his subconscious, right before he broke out.
It's a shame Hunter couldn’t be more help and get broken down by his thoughts to form a couple more brain cells, but with that human girl he supposed it couldn’t be helped. It wasn’t exactly Hunter’s fault that he came across the truth, although it really was more of a inconvenience than anything else. They all acted the same, they all had that good nature to them that wasn’t willing to make the sacrifices Belos was.
He pulled the mold for the Golden Guard helmet off the wall while he waited. He felt inspired in the moment- Hunter’s successor would likely be the final one, after all. Even though he couldn’t think of a name at the moment, he knew that this couldn’t just be another ordinary Golden Guard. No, no, this Grimwalker would see a promotion in title. He grabbed white shiny ingots and pressed them into his palm, his transformation surging magic through his hands to melt the platinum right in his palms, filling up the mold with hot silvery white metal fluid.
Number 17 wouldn’t just be a Golden Guard- he’d be Belos’ Platinum Guard. He’d be trained to be far more brutal than his predecessor, using the magic against anyone helping those wild witches that were left on the Boiling Isles. Perhaps get him acquainted with Terra Snapdragon as soon as possible, that woman was always looking for new people to brandish under her control, although he’d provide a loyalty check against her before he committed to making her the mentor of Number 17.
He supposed by now he really ought to come up with a name, now that he had a title all picked out. He looked over to the Grimwalker. It still didn’t really look like his brother that closely, and there seemed to be a pigment issue with the scales- charring a dark color around the arms and legs, which irritated him a little bit. He supposed it didn’t really matter given he’d still be wearing the old uniform which covered those up with gloves and boots, but it did annoy him a little that Hunter looked more like his brother than the final product.
It wasn’t really about that though, really. He couldn’t bring back that traitor, not that he even really wanted to. He pressed a finger against the glass.
“Your name shall be…” Belos began before pausing, thinking through past name choices before landing on he thought was fit for a prince. “Baldur.”
The Grimwalker’s eyes opened with a red eye on the right and a blue eye on the left. Belos rolled his eye at the imperfection- perhaps Hunter wasn’t as generous as he had previously given credit.
“W-where am I?” asked Baldur.
“Oh, nephew, don’t you remember? Your mom and dad… well, I don’t need to go into details right now, but I’m your new guardian. Your Uncle Philip- but you can just call me Belos.”
“I… okay.” Baldur said, his memory feeling somewhat foggy. Perhaps he had undergone some sort of great trauma, as he was having a hard time recollecting what his mother or father looked like.
The glass encasing over the Grimwalker retracted as Belos handed him his new uniform. “Get dressed, I’ll get you caught up soon.”
“Right, uncle.”
Baldur blinked as he held the clothes in his hands before watching as Belos picked something up out of a casting mold, a shiny platinum mask that shined all the colors of the rainbow through it’s silvery white mask. “You are my Platinum Guard from this point on- it’s a responsibility your mother was sure you could carry. I expect you to do what that responsibility entails for you, especially in these coming weeks.”
Baldur nodded again, like an obedient servant. Exactly the way Belos liked. Belos exited out of the room as Baldur took in the vastness of the machinery of the room, not sure how to even comprehend his surroundings for what they were.
He was sure his uncle could help, though.
