Chapter Text
I:
It starts with a snide, commiserating look from Darius tossed Raine’s way at one of the Emperor’s overly-flamboyant speeches. A grumble of agitation from Eber. It escalates to some choice words whispered between sips of Grade-A Apple Blood about Belos. Then theories. Plots.
And that’s where things start to take a downturn. Plotting. Three against a whole brainwashed world, no matter how powerful the three may be, is nigh impossible. Plot as they may, their plans fail to come to fruition.
“I swear, there’s always someone to mess things up!” Darius fumes, pacing about the CAT’s (ugh) makeshift base. “Titan, I thought we had the guard’s schedules down! But no, Mira just had to show up just as we were getting to the restricted section, didn’t she?”
Eber grinds out an agreeing, frustrated grunt. Raine sighs, putting their face in their hands.
“This was, what? Our fourth attempt? Fifth? At this rate, the Day of Unity will come and we’ll be none the wiser to what it really means.”
Darius lets out a huff and crosses his arms.
“No, we mustn't give up just yet…” He taps a finger against his chin. “Maybe, we’re putting our energy in the wrong place. You can’t put out a fire from inside the house– we need a spy.”
Raine groans. “I can’t say the same thought hasn’t crossed my mind, Darius. I’ve pondered it many times, but the Emperor’s lackeys are just that– lackeys. How in Titan’s name are we going to find a reliable source of information? Moreover, a trusted one?”
Knock knock!
Darius and Raine jump up, Eberwolf rolling into position. Darius waves the other two to their hiding spots as he makes for the door, abomination magic tickling the ends of his fingers. The two other Coven Heads peer from their places, nodding to confirm their readiness before ducking back down.
Darius places his hand on the knob, praying that whatever this was, it would blow over easily. With one more deep breath, he opens the door.
And there was no one there.
Baffled, Darius quickly swings the door open the rest of the way, scanning the area around their little cabin quickly with eyes darting through the trees. After a few moments, Darius holds out his arm and gives a thumbs up to Raine and Eber, who both rise at his signal.
“Who would even be playing pranks at this hour? At this shoddy place?” Darius ponders. Raine shrugs, humming.
“What’s more strange is that there aren’t even footprints. Look.” They point with their chin at undisturbed muck in front of their shelter. “Whoever was here made sure to erase their tracks or not leave them at all. And it’s still raining. I don’t think your average prankster would risk getting blisters the size of snails all over themselves.”
“But who… why–? Oh– yes, what is it, Eber?”
Eber grunts below them, pointing to the door that had just been facing outside. Taped to it was an envelope, yellowed but otherwise plain.
Raine reaches out to grab it, but Darius shoots an arm in front of them.
“Let me summon an abomination to get this. It could be trapped,” he reasons at Raine’s raised eyebrow. “Let’s stand back.”
With a series of vibrato notes from Raine’s piccolo and a quick spell circle from Darius, the three of them stand safe behind a barrier as a small abomination reaches out for the letter.
All of them hold their breath in anticipation, but as the creature reaches to pull the envelope from the door, nothing happens. The three Coven Heads share a glance.
“Raine,” Darius mutters, “Throw a barrier around the abomination instead, if you would.” Raine nods in assent, and brings their piccolo to their lips once more.
“Abomination,” Darius commands, the barrier solidifying around his creation. “Open the letter and take out its contents.”
Surely, the abomination does as much, but still… nothing.
“I think it’s safe to say that we’re not in any danger here,” Raine says as they all breathe out a sigh of relief. “At least, nothing imminent.”
Eber takes whatever the abomination had been holding as Darius allows it to melt away. They stare at it for a moment, then hold it up to Raine. Two sheets of blank paper and three small pendants.
“There’s… nothing written here,” Raine says, flipping the pages over in confusion. Their eyes widen. “Unless…”
This time, they summon their violin and begin a complex, staccato series of fast-paced notes. It’s less melodious and more a display of pure skill, and Eber and Darius are both appropriately fascinated. Confused, too, until the pages start to glow and float into the air.
“What in the–!”
Letters begin to take shape amongst the parchment, glowing a near-blinding, bright blue. Raine continues their melody, focus unbreaking until the pages begin to flutter back down.
Raine dismisses their violin and grabs them, carefully scanning the contents with pride in their eyes.
“Speak of the devil and they shall appear! Funnily enough, I think that we have found,” they say, waving the papers and handing them to Darius and Eber, “Our 'spy.'”
Darius looks down at the paper– a full schedule of the guard’s shifts for the next month– and gawks. Eber is doing much the same as they look at the one they were handed.
“The guards’ schedule,” Raine says, gesturing to Darius’s paper. They looked over to Eber. “And a detailed study on Clairvoyance Stones, which would explain what those necklaces are.”
“Clairvoyance Stones!?” Darius exclaims. “I thought they were just rumors from the Oracle Coven!”
“Well, there is one way to find out if they’re real,” Raine says, looking thoughtfully down at one of the pendants. They toss another to Eber, but they growl at it and sniff it in suspicion. Raine gives a gentle smile.
“Listen, Eber,” they say. “These very well could still be a trap. But the research included on these pages does make sense, and we certainly won’t get anywhere with this coup if we’re not willing to risk everything.” Raine sighs. “It’s not like we’ve made much progress on our own, anyway.”
Eber seems to contemplate their words for a moment, takes one more suspicious whiff of the pendant, then throws it over their head with eyes screwed shut.
Darius and Raine gasp at the spontaneity of Eber’s decision, holding their breath as they pray nothing happens.
One second, Two. Three, four, five.
Still nothing.
“This evening,” Darius breathes, “has been one of myriad scares and I do not appreciate it.”
Raine chuckles, be it from Darius words or from relief, and holds out another pendant for Darius to take. With a nod, the two throw them on at the same time.
“Please let this work, please let this work!”
“I swear if this kills us, I will be… I don’t know. Dead, but also furious.”
“Will stone even work for Eber?”
“Woah!” they all jump. “Woah!” echoes again in their heads.
“It works! The papers were correct, oh Titan, oh wow–”
“Is that you, bard? Cease your excitable rambling– wait a minute…”
“Can Eber be understood now?”
“Gosh, Eber, is that you? It’s so strange to hear you speak– oh, sorry! I don't know if you could hear that, that was rude!"
“You can hear Eber!”
“Yes, now please, control your thoughts. I can hear far too much. And… nothing at all, strangely. Oh, Titan. Raine, did I just hear you laugh inside my head?!”
“Oops, um. Yes? I guess?”
“Oh, lord.” Darius takes the necklace off, rubbing his temples. “Sorry, it was giving me a headache.”
Raine follows suit. “I feel you, that’s for certain.”
Eber takes theirs off, with a wince of pain and also with a pout. They stare longingly at the necklace, then up at Darius and Raine.
“It’s alright, Eber,” Darius starts. “It seems this is the real deal. And if the Oracle Coven is able to make something like this, I am sure you can learn how to do it, too, once this is all over.” He tries out what he hopes is a reassuring smile, which turns into a real one when Eber nods furiously, a fire now kindled in their eyes.
“It must be rough only being able to fully communicate with beasts,” Raine laments, giving Eber a sympathetic pat on the back. “But we’ll fix that, no worries.”
“Hmmm, well…” Darius starts. “Despite the upper hand these resources give us, we still can’t be sure the schedule we’ve been given can be trusted. Nor the person behind this.”
Raine nods. “Well, there’s only one way to find out.”
Careful though they may need to be, none of the three Coven Heads could quite contain their excitement– or their hope– as they reconvened with a new strategy at their table.
“Report.”
“The mission went smoothly, sir. The tip was to be trusted, after all, and all criminals have been apprehended. They are being inducted in the Conformitorium as we speak.”
“Is that so, dearest Golden Guard?”
Hunter shudders at the Emperor’s tone as the man slowly turned toward him, stepping from his throne like he had all the time in the world. Upon his face is a small, imposing smile. Hunter knows what that means all too well.
“The tip we received reported that the witches were fairly young, yet the Conformitorium has sent me reports of three elderly troublemakers instead. Either the tip wasn’t all that accurate, or,” Belos says, suddenly springing up in front of Hunter’s face, “you aren’t telling me everything. Which I would be loathe to suspect, but here we are.”
Hunter feels his breath hitch, but he refused to make a sound. He keeps his posture straight as he speaks, “Those three were, indeed, wild witches. I can assure you of that. Maybe the person who gave us the tip saw wrong. It’s entirely possible. The point is that we caught more lawbreakers, right?” Hunter crossed his fingers, hopeful. ‘Please believe me.’
“Hmmm… I suppose you have a point. But there’s one more thing.”
Hunter’s heart lurches as his uncle leans in again, flicking his cape to the side and roughly grabbing his arm. Hunter hisses as the grip bursts several blisters that show through the conspicuous holes in his shirt. The Emperor peers down at him, eyes glinting.
“Care to explain? Your mission took you twice as long as it should have, and the boiling rain did not reach the area in which it took place.”
Hunter grit his teeth through the burning pain as the Emperor every so slowly dragged his hands across the blisters, a few popping and puss soaking his sleeve.
“I-I had to chase one down rather far. They escaped into the woods and I had to t-track them down. I’m… I’m sorry. It won’t happen again, Lord Belos.”
His uncle holds him there, pinning him down with a terrifying gaze, before finally letting Hunter’s arm go with a harsh flick of his wrist. Wincing, Hunter carefully tucked his arm back behind him, barely able to keep quiet.
“Indeed, it is weakness that allowed the witch to escape in the first place. See to it that it never happens again, nephew.” The Emperor growls, eyes shining with a calm fury.
“You are dismissed.”
Hunter trudges back his quarters, knowing better than to go to the medical wing for help. He opens the door and plops down onto his dingy mattress, taking off his cloak. He sighs as he looks at it, all covered in puss and some blood from his arm being torn up.
With a heavy heart, Hunter takes off his shirt (thank Titan the rain didn't ruin his binder in any way) and gets to work on the few blisters around his torso and legs. He’s lucky his uncle didn’t fuss with any more of them, or his work would really be cut out for him, given how many there are. He takes a deep breath, lathering salve all around, biting back whimpers and cries.
‘It’s okay, it’s okay. It’ll be over in a minute, just gotta… gotta get this done.’ Hunter talks himself through it, tears involuntarily forming in his eyes at the stinging, throbbing, burning pain all over his skin.
Titan, curse boiling rain.
Hunter heaves out a sigh when he’s finally done dressing his wounds. Curling up, he tries to bite back the tears that threaten to spill, but he can’t help the choked sob that escapes.
‘This is for the greater good. This is worth it. You know what you saw. It’s all… gonna be… worth it.”
Galdorstone heart pounding away, Hunter lets the tears stream down his cheeks as he falls into a restless sleep.