Chapter Text
“Uhg”, the boy in gold muttered to himself as he clutched his throbbing head. He lifted himself off the ethereal looking ground. Where was he? Wasn’t he just with Eda and Luz fig- Oh no! Hunter stumbled into a panic. Were they ok? Was Flapjack safe? Had..had his uncle, no, had Belos killed him too?
“Almost but not quite,” a figure spoke, a voice nearly identical to his own, if not the age in it. Hunter spun on his heel, taking an attack stance.
“Who goes there?” Hunter demanded. If they were trying to ambush him, they were clearly bad at it.
Silence.
“Show yourself! I know you’re here! Show yourself you coward! Don’t you know who I am! I’m the Gol-Golden…” Hunter drifted off into a stutter. The phrase that had once been his confidence now only acted like a knife, cutting into his very soul. That title tied him to Belo. Belos who raised him from young, Belos who wanted him safe, Belos who had lied to him his whole life. About his goals, about his past, about his family, about even Hunter himself. How many… how many other Hunter’s did he kill? Was he just another Hunter? Another thorn in Belos’ side? Tears were burning at the sides of Hunter’s eyes, as he desperately tried to shut it all out, only to fall onto his knees.
“The Golden Guard, yes we know.” The voice, no the voices, spoke once more. The boy looked ahead, to meet himself? No, it was the previous Golden Guard. One by one, more Guards walked out of the first. Each looking a little different to each other, but all connected with the same helmet. Not long after, Hunter was surrounded by his fellow Grimwalkers. 17 of them. The first, what Hunter assumed was the first Grimwalker, removed his helmet and spoke.
“You can’t let Belos get away. He needs to pay for what he has done. His cruelty knows no bounds” An image ingrained itself into Hunter’s mind. He could feel the burning sensation as he witnessed his former self, burning while Belos turned his back. He could hear, not even feel his blood curdling cries for help. It had been a long painful death.
The 2nd Guard followed suite, also removing his helmet.
“He claims to care about everyone in the boiling isles. He only cares about himself.” Another image imprinted itself into Hunter’s mind. He could feel his muscles shaking, as his previous self aided Belos to escape a closing cavern. Belos ran and never looked back to see the Grimwalker get crushed by the weight of the stone. Hunter swore he felt ever bone of his crack.
One by one this continued. Each Grimwalker unmasked and gave warning to Hunter, paired with their own deaths.
“Belos never keeps his word.” Hunter felt frozen and hopeless as his former self was abandoned on the Knees with no way out, hoping that Belos would be back soon with help.
“The moment he doesn’t need you anymore, he’ll toss you out.” Hunter felt a pain in his back, for it to only rip out his side. He wanted to scream, he wanted to make this pain end. But Hunter couldn’t, for that Guard voice had been stolen by Belos. Belos and the same knife that had killed innocent Caleb.
“Belos is loyal to no one.” Hunter felt an arm wrap around his throat, and a searing hot flame aimed at his temple. His previous self was held hostage, the perpetrator giving Belos a choice. Palismen, or his loyal Guard. The choice was easy for Belos. More tears erupted from the young Hunter. He couldn’t even ask for them to stop. Everything was moving too quickly, and everything hurt so much. The physical pain was nothing in comparison to the pain his soul felt.
“His intelligence is a curse to all who surround him.”
“Belos is as hypocritical as one can be.” Hunter let out a silent scream as felt the blast of his own staff hit him, followed by being torn apart by fleshy claws summoned by glyphs.
“He can never be wrong. Anyone who disagrees must be silenced.” Hunter gagged as he felt and watched himself beheaded. But the Guards continued. They had to. They needed to show the newest member how important he was.
“Belos’ strength arises from his patience. He will wait as long as he needs to to get what he wants. ”
“But even though he is patient, he isn’t afraid to move quickly.” Hunter felt like he was being electrocuted. He could feel his skin sizzle, and see the Guard's clothes smoke. While Hunter was being fried alive, he began to feel ill as well, his body wanted to turn its insides out, but couldn’t do it. His counterpart succumbed to the poison, dying on the spot.
“He relishes the fear of his victims,”
“And he makes sure, to use what once brought them joy, to ensure pain.” He began to feel his body turn to stone. When Hunter gazed up to see himself being petrified, he was greeted with something else. It was Eda, Lilith, and King! They stood in the bars, fearing the worst, stone creeping up Eda’s feathers trying to claw and fight its way to the the two he now considered family. Not like he would admit that of course. He began to realize he was sinking, sinking into the depths of the ocean, lungs screaming for air, yet he couldn’t swim in his stone state.
“He takes and takes, but will never give back.”
“He has ‘grand’ plans, but will not lift a finger to help” This sent a barrage of images and pains through Hunter’s body. Some he did not even understand. His stomach growled as he saw Belos eat the last of the food supplies. Starvation. He saw the basilisks being forced to drain magic, some to the point of death. He saw strange humans, running, fighting, dying, from other humans carrying long sticks that shot fire. The humans that had been caught were chained and worked to death. When they died, more came from ships.
“Belos is the textbook definition of manipulative.”
“He may claim that he is flawless, but I assure you, he is not. Everyone has their weakness.” Hunter watched in horror as his former self ran into Eclipse Lake. He felt himself explode, followed by a sense of free fall. This Guard slipped from Belos’ grip, and fell into the jagged rocks of the Boiling Sea's shores.
The final Guard walked up Hunter. He was writhing in pain, and he looked pleadingly to his most recent former self. Silently begging him to stop the pain. The Guard removed his helmet, his eyes only pitying his new self. Out of all the clones, this one resembled Hunter the most. He was taller, older, and had a scar straight across his face. Hunter realized why Darius looked so upset when he was deemed the new Golden Guard. One could think that Hunter was this Guard’s son. He was everything Hunter had looked up to, physically and literally, and still to this day. Hunter froze in terror when he realized that no one knew how he had died. That he was there one day, gone the next.
Titan give me strength, Hunter sucked in his breath and gave a nod. He knew what was coming and would face it head on.
“Belos is a menace and a threat to not only our society but to the humans as well. Out of everything between the realms, he is the most dangerous monster there is. If he succeeds, magic, this realm, everything you’ve ever known and everyone you care for will die. He is aiming for complete genocide, and he will not go down without fighting tooth and claw. He isn’t above killing his very own brother to accomplish his goal. A brother who had always treated him kindly, and who began a life and family here. He is a cruel, selfish, untrustworthy, tyrant, who will treat all those around him like pawns to a game. His game has gone on long enough, and enough lives have been ruined by his reign.” Hunter trembled in agony, every pain he had gone through before coursed through his body all at once. He watched as The Golden Guard taught those he could about glyphs. He recognized a younger Eda at some point as well as Darius. Hunter saw how close Darius had been to him, as well as a third… the previous Bard head. He watched it all come crashing down as the Bard head attempted a small coupe, only to be halted by Belos himself. Hunter watched as in the Bard’s final moments, he ratted out The Golden Guard, and how Belos eyes hardened and glowed through the mask. Hunter screamed in silence, blow after blow as Belos demanded who else had he turned, how could he be such an ungrateful wretch. The Guard never uttered a peep.The agony ceased once Belos showed how cruel he truly was. In front of all the Coven Heads, stood the Guard with Belos as his looming shadow. The Guard knew his fate, but still stood tall and proud. The martyr was mauled by the beast, blood, insides and mud thrown across the room like confetti, covering all who was in the hall. The Coven Heads left, some mildly annoyed, while others quite intimidated. Darius walked on, trembling like a leaf, covered in the blood of his comrade and the mud of his killer.
“You must do what all of us could not.” The martyr spoke.
“How? How can I bring down Belos? He already knocked me out, and killed all of you? If you guys couldn’t do it, how do you think I could? What makes me different from all of you?” Hunter could at last speak. All the fear and panic he had endured from before echoed in his voice. They all looked at each other, before one spoke.
“Because you have something we never had.”
“You have us.”
“You have our strength”
“Our speed”
“Our power”
“Our endurance”
“Our vitality”
“Our knowledge”
“You have a Palisiman”
“You have friends”
“You have family” The guards all gestured to the side, where images of all of Hunter’s newfound friends and family were there. Luz, Amity, Eda, King, Lilith, Hooty, Willow, Gus, Darius, Raine, Eberwolf, Flapjack, even Steve! All of them were fighting in battle. Some were even still fighting Belos! The candle in Hunter’s core began to burn hotter and hotter, stronger and stronger, blazing with incredible strength. The martyrs looked upon him and smiled.
“Rise Hunter. Rise and show what it truly means to be The Golden Guard!” They called upon him in unison. As The Golden Guard rose, strength returning to him in tenfold they spoke in unison once more.
“In you, our lives, our legacy, lives on. We live on in you. Now, step forth, and do what we could not!”
“I won’t let you down!” The Golden Guard declared firmly. He could feel himself being pulled out of whatever ethereal place he was in. Hunter, The Golden Guard, was returning to the real world to put an end to Belos. The last things he saw and heard from that place stuck with him forever. All the previous guards merged into one man. One man he knew the name of instinctually. Belos was right, they looked exactly alike minus Hunter’s tooth gap and eyes. It was Caleb. Caleb walked up to him, and cradled Hunter’s head between his callused hands. Their eyes met, blue against red. Caleb gifted him a warm smile, and softly spoke.
“You could never let us down.” Hunter nearly cried, and Caleb planted a soft kiss on the boy’s forehead before sending him off.
The Phoenix had awoken