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Wake up, work, sleep, repeat.
That's what Hunter knew for his entire life. It was basically his daily routine for as long as he could remember, and ever since getting promoted to be Golden Guard at age ten, his day-to-day workload had gotten much more intense. Especially after he was promoted to replace Lilith as leader of the Emperor’s Coven. He hardly had time to even sleep if he wanted any free time to read a book or go on Penstagram. However, the boy had gotten so used to this daily routine that none of it bothered him, despite it being so unhealthy. Every single day, wake up, work, sleep, repeat. He had grown numb to it. This was normal everyday life for him.
However, today he had had a particularly long, grueling shift. He had been out on a mission since 7 AM and had only finished it at 2 in the morning. Hunter had dealt with long, draining shifts before, but it was rather rare for one to be an entire nineteen hours. The poor boy miserably dragged himself to his room, still in full uniform. The castle was effectively deserted by now as nearly everyone was asleep. Flapjack was sitting on Hunter's windowsill, patiently awaiting his owner's return. Hunter then opened the door, causing Flapjack to excitedly rush over to him to welcome him home.
Hunter took off his mask, sighing, "It has been a long day, Flapjack…" he grumbled. His face was covered in sweat from the humidity inside his mask, "Ugh, it can get so hot in this thing…" He quickly got dressed out of his bulky uniform and into some cozy pajamas, tossing himself onto his patchworked bed. Hunter spread himself out, it always felt great to lay down after a brutal shift like this. Flapjack then perched on Hunter's stomach, tweeting at him to ask how his shift went.
“Terrible,” Hunter replied, “Today I was given a list of wild witches to round up to bind to covens. I do this all the time, so no biggie right? WRONG. The final few I needed got away from me and they led me on this wild goose chase across the entire isles. I spent, like, twelve hours hunting them down with no help. In fact, I actually got hindered! Kikimora was trying to capture them before me, and because of her, they kept getting away over and over and over! It was a disaster! To make matters worse, I couldn’t return to the castle without finding these few wild witches. Belos would’ve been upset if I didn’t get everyone on the list, and I can’t let him down a third time. I finally managed to catch them while they were sleeping about a half-hour ago, so that’s why I was gone for so long.” Hunter then gave Flapjack some pets, “At least it’s finally over. It’s nice to see you again.”
Flapjack frowned, that sounded awful. He chirped, asking Hunter if he was doing alright.
"Titan, I feel horrible.” Hunter answered in a monotone voice. “I'm exhausted and starving,"
Flapjack tweapped back at him, suggesting for him to go and get a midnight snack from the kitchen before bed.
“As much as I’d like to, I can't," Hunter responded, "I'm only permitted to eat at designated times assigned by Belos. Not to mention, he requires me to follow a strict diet. I already missed lunch and dinner while I was on my mission, so I'll just have to wait until morning for breakfast."
Flapjack was pained by this. He couldn't bear to see his owner go hungry. He chirped again, proposing if he couldn’t just go get a snack, he should instead raid the pantry for food.
"Are you crazy?!" Hunter shouted, baffled, "Do you want me to get killed?! Do you have any idea how much trouble I'd get in if I did such a thing?!" Hunter paused, seeing the look of shock in Flapjack's eye. He realized he was shouting and started feeling guilty, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just been a long day, okay?" Hunter could tell his palismen was worried. Besides, this was the first time this situation had happened since Flapjack had chosen him to be his wielder, so he had to explain that something like this happening wasn't new to him. "Flapjack, don’t worry about me. I'll be fine. This just happens every now and then. Besides, I'm used to it. Every time this happens I just sleep the hunger off, works like a charm." Hunter then pulled the covers up, grabbing his Sprig plush from under his pillow to cuddle with. "Come on Flapjack, my next shift starts in five hours, meaning we only got four hours to rest. Let's catch what little sleep we can get." The tired boy turned the lights off, shutting his wary eyes as he pulled his Sprig plush close. He began to doze off, trying to catch any sleep he could before the clock would ring at six.
Hunter had fully expected Flapjack to nuzzle up with him, as that's what he had done every night since their venture to Eclipse Lake. However, Flapjack had other plans. He wasn't gonna let his owner sleep with an empty tummy, so he began pulling on Hunter's hair forelock, instantly jolting the half-asleep boy awake. "Ow ow ow! HEY! What are you doing?!" He cried as Flapjack began yanking him out of bed, dragging him outside his room and into the castle halls.
The halls were pitch black outside of a couple of lit torches, making it near impossible to decipher one's surroundings. Once Flapjack had successfully pulled Hunter out of his room, he let go of his hair strand and began flying off. Hunter had no idea what Flapjack was doing, but he was terrified of Flapjack getting caught by someone. "Flapjack!!!" Hunter whispered as loud as he could, chasing the bird, "You can't just be out here in the open like this! What if someone sees you?!" Hunter chased his palismen all the way throughout the halls, which was exactly what Flapjack had wanted. "I demand you to get back here!" Hunter ordered, still trying to be as quiet as he could. Flapjack then reached his destination, the kitchen. Hunter realized what Flapjack had just done. He definitely had led him here on purpose. "Did you just lead me on a goose chase just to bring me to the kitchen?!" Hunter growled, grinding his teeth, "I already told you I can't eat until morning! I'm not even allowed in here!"
Flapjack continued his plan to get Hunter food despite his protests. One thing Flapjack hadn't known was that the fridge along all the cabinets was tied up with locks, but he refused to let that stop him. He wasn't going to rest until Hunter ate something.
"Flapjack! What do you think you're doing?!" Hunter hissed as Flapjack flew to the lock on the fridge.
Flapjack chirped back at him, saying he was going to do everything in his power to get food for him. He began pulling the lock with his talons which caused a lot of loud clinking and clanking noises. This made Hunter terrified. All this noise was definitely gonna get them caught, he rushed over to Flapjack, grabbing him with his hand. "Flapjack, stop it! You're gonna get us caught!"
Flapjack squirmed in Hunter's hand. Hunter wasn't holding him tightly at all, but it was enough to where he couldn't break free. He chirped at him, telling Hunter to let him go and that he just wanted to help him.
"Well, you're NOT helping!" Hunter retorted. "Can you please just listen for one second?!" Flapjack stopped squirming and looked up at him, willing to listen to him. Hunter let out a sigh, "Look, Flapjack. I am NOT on Belos' good side right now. I failed my palismen mission, then I stupidly defied his orders to go to Eclipse Lake, and titan-forbid I get in trouble a third time. If I get caught raiding the pantry at two in the morning who knows what could happen to me. I might even get replaced. But you? Flapjack, do you have any idea how much danger you just put yourself in?! If anyone saw you just flying around the halls like that you'd be served to my uncle on a silver platter! We don't want that!" Hunter paused, noticing the heartbroken look in Flapjack's good eye. This caused him to frown, "Look, I understand where you’re coming from, and I admit, I would love to eat right now. My stomach has been screaming at me all day, but the risks of raiding the pantry far outweigh the benefits. I could get replaced you could literally get yourself killed. We're putting ourselves in serious danger right now." Hunter then loosened his grip on Flapjack, enough for him to free himself out of his grasp. "Please, Jack-Jack. I just want to keep us safe, okay?"
Flapjack and Hunter gazed at each other's meloncoly eyes for a moment, then, Flapjack perched on Hunter's shoulder, chirping that he understood and he was sorry for all the trouble he caused.
"Thank you, Jack-Jack." Hunter said, smiling weakly. "Now, let's go back to bed. We gotta get back to my room before someone catches us." Hunter started to make his way out of the kitchen, but, due to the darkness his foot got caught on a broom, causing him to stumble over. The broom crashed onto the ground, creating a loud bang that echoed through the halls. "Oh titan! That was loud!" Hunter muttered through his teeth, "We gotta get out of here!" Hunter began rushing for the exit, but then-
*Thump* *Thump*
Hunter froze, somebody was coming his way, and there was only one way out of the kitchen. If he tried to escape now he'd just bump right into the person. In the hall, he saw a tall, shadowy figure approaching. It was far too dark to make out who it was, and it could've easily been Belos himself.
There was no getting out of it now…they had been caught.
Flapjack flew behind Hunter's back to hide while Hunter braced himself for the yelling of his life. As the lights flipped on all Hunter could think was, 'I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm de-'
"There you are, little prince. I've been looking for you." said a familiar, calm voice.
Hunter fearfully peered open his eyes, to his surprise, it wasn't his terrifying uncle about to destroy him. It was the stern, but caring, abomination coven head, Darius Deamonne. This was literally the best-case scenario. He must've been the luckiest boy on the isles. "Oh, thank titan, it's just you. Don't scare me like that!" Hunter said in relief. Flapjack proceeded to come out of hiding, perching on Hunter's shoulder again. Hunter looked up at the much taller coven head, confused. He saw he was hiding something behind his back, "Wait…you were looking for me? At two in the morning?"
"I was waiting for you to come home from your duties." Darius replied, "I knocked on your door when you first got back, but you weren't there, so I began searching around the castle for you. I was able to track you down once I heard blabbering coming from the kitchen."
Hunter eyed to the side. He had heard them even before the broom slammed on the ground? Were they really that loud? Wow, they sucked at being quiet. Thankfully, Darius seemed to be the only one who had heard anything. Hunter then looked back up at him, still puzzled, "Okay, but, I'm still confused. Why were you looking for me? It's super late, shouldn't you be asleep?"
Darius gazed down at the shorter boy, grinning, "Shouldn’t you be asleep?”
Hunter eyed away again, feeling his ears burning a little.
“You had a very long mission today. Much longer than usual." He said as he booped Hunter's hooked nose. "After you missed dinner I wanted to give you a little something when you got back." Darius then pulled his hands out from behind his back, showing what he was hiding. It was a plate of freshly baked fairy pie. "You must be famished after your nineteen-hour shift. You were trying to raid the pantry, weren’t you? Why else would you be in the Kitchen at 2 AM?"
Hunter wanted to explain that it wasn’t his idea, but rather Flapjack had tried to force him, “Well, actually-”
Darius laughed slightly, cutting the boy off, "Nah, nah, no need to explain. I get it. I was young once too, you know. Teenage boys are bottomless pits." Darius then handed the plate to Hunter, to which he took, "The Emperor controls when and what you're allowed to eat, so it's about time you got a special treat for once."
Hunter paused, staring at the food. He didn't even know if he liked fairy pie; he had never eaten one before now, but at this point, he was too hungry to care. Food was still food. Then, Hunter looked up at Darius, stunned he was doing such a kind favor for him. This didn't feel right, was he going to stab him in the back? "...You're not gonna tell Belos about any of this, right?" He nervously asked.
"Course not, little prince," Darius said as he playfully messed up Hunter's hair, which couldn't help but make Hunter smile. "Just go back to your room and eat before we get caught, mmkay? Make sure to clean up after yourself too." Darius then proceeded to cast a spell circle, "Here, I'll help." He summoned some abomination goo that engulfed both Hunter and Flapjack, teleporting them right back to Hunter's room.
Once they were back in his room, Hunter closed his door and proceeded to sit on the edge of his bed, staring at the Fairy Pie in his lap. "Well, that could've gone a lot worse..." he commented to himself.
Flapjack tweeted at him, saying that at least everything worked out.
Hunter then picked the pie up with his hands, but before he took a bite, he realized that he never had the chance to thank Darius for the food. He felt bad about it and figured he could just tell him in the morning. Hunter then took a massive bite out of the fairy pie, causing him to freeze. The pie was gooey and warm with an incredibly sweet taste, yet also had a sharp crunch with the bits of fairies inside it.
It was…delicious.
This was the best thing he had ever eaten, so much more flavorful than all the hardtack he had been served over the years. He swallowed, "Wow…who knew Darius was such a good chef?!" Hunter said to himself, "The man knows how to cook!" He then took another bite, eating felt so heavenly at that moment. He instantly began feeling so much better than before, both physically and emotionally. It didn't take long for him to gobble the whole thing down, it being gone in mere seconds. Flapjack smiled, glad his owner had finally eaten after such a long day.
Hunter sighed in relief, smiling and feeling rejuvenated. Suddenly a massive wave of sleepiness overtook him. He promptly laid back down, feeling even more exhausted than he previously had before. He took in a deep yawn, "Alright Flapjack, let's go to bed for real this time. Now we only have, like, three and a half hours to sleep." He said as he pulled the covers up and grabbed his Sprig plush once more. Flapjack then nuzzled in on Hunter's neck, now preparing to rest for the night. Normally, Hunter constantly struggled with insomnia, but this night was different. Having his belly full, his precious palismen cuddling up with him, and knowing that at least one witch in the castle seemed to be constantly looking out for him, it was all more than enough to lull Hunter straight into the dream world after today's long, exhausting shift.
Darius then knocked on the door, creaking it open, “Hunter? I wanted to check on you real quick,” After receiving no response he opened the door more, seeing Hunter had already passed out on his bed. The plate once containing a fairy pie now empty on his nightable. Darius fetched himself the plate with his abomination magic. “Wow, he ate this and conked out so fast,” he whispered, stunned. He stared at the sleeping boy. He was clearly comfortable, cuddling with his sprig plushie with Flapjack nuzzled up on his neck. Darius then frowned, “The poor kid, Belos controls damn near everything in his life. It’s not right…he’s just a kid. I hope one day he learns the truth and joins our side,” Darius began walking out of Hunter’s room, closing the door, “but, until then, goodnight, little prince.”