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William ran as fast as he could out of the castle, pushing himself as far as he could go before collapsing in the forest. William kneeled there, his strength failing him as all he could do was simply tremble there. He had been helping a filthy liar this whole time. “And it took me 15 years to figure it out!” William whispered to himself in frustration. He felt dirty in his golden guard uniform, its yellow hue shining off the sunset.
There were hundreds of things he wanted to do. He wanted to run away, he wanted to cry, he wanted to get out of where he was right then. But instead, he stayed there, frozen. It was then he began to hear rustling in the trees. He tried to scramble back, but hit a tree. And then, someone appeared out of the woods and into the clearing. They were a blonde-haired man with dark red eyes. Beside him, was a cardinal palisman. The man gave a quick gasp, tensing up slightly before relaxing once more. The man almost reminded William of himself- Perhaps a bit too much like himself.
William dug his bare hands into the dirt, with next to nowhere else to go.
‘You’re..” the man paused to think. “Wilson.. Wittebane?”
The man had gotten William’s name completely wrong. “Perhaps that’s a good thing.” William thought. He nodded. “Don’t worry I’m not going to hurt you, I swear on Titan.” The man said, noticing William’s fear.
“I-” The man stopped. “Are you okay?” the man finished. William nodded again, his throat too choked up to speak without crying. “I can tell that’s a lie. What’s wrong?” The man asked. William sat there stubbornly and gave the man his best “go away” face.
“Stubborn I see.” The man responded after a few seconds of the awkward silence.
“Don’t worry I was the same way at your age.” If William hadn’t thought this was some kind of sick trick before, he was sure of it by now. The cardinal palisman fluttered over and sat on William’s head, making itself comfortable in William’s hair. The man sat down across the clearing, keeping enough of a distance that William felt safe. “So, you are the Golden Guard, arn’t you” The man spoke. “I…” William’s voice drifted off mid sentence. “I think.” William answered.
“...Who even are you? I haven’t seen you anywhere in our records.” William asked the man. The man almost half-smiled. “I’m Hunter Deamonne. Nice to meet you.”
William sat there in shock. “But- But you’re a wanted criminal! I.. I shouldn’t be talking to you, I really shouldn’t be Belos would ki-” And that's when it hit him. “..Belos..” William whispered, staring into the grassy earth, thinking.
“I.. Guess i’ll be dead anyway.. When Belos finds out about what I know now..” he thought.
William finally sat up from the tree trunk to sit in a cross-legged position, his hands in his lap. “I assume you.. well.. saw some things?” Hunter said more seriously. William laughed awkwardly in a desperate attempt to break tension, but it didn’t work. “..I guess you could say that.” William paused. “..Yeah.. You really could say that..” The clearing drew silent as the two sat there. William tried to brush his fingers together to ease some of the stress as he normally did, but he felt as if nothing could calm him at this moment. But yet, he wasn’t screaming and crying or shaking anymore. He wasn’t sure how, but this criminal really had helped calm him, if only a bit.
Hunter spoke to break the silence. “Y’know, I’ve been there. I actually used to be a Golden Guard myself, like you. But eventually, I learned the truth. About everything. And so I left, and I haven’t been this happy for as long as I can remember.” Hunter rambled. “How much did you find out, exactly?” William opened his mouth to speak, before quickly closing it again.
He had nothing but this criminal’s word after all, and he wasn’t about to spill his biggest secrets so quickly. Hunter sighed. Hunter then stood up and grabbed a book out of his bag as the cardinal palisman returned to his shoulder. Hunter walked to William, who tensed up in preparation for combat. But instead, Hunter handed William the book.
“You might wanna keep this handy.” Hunter’s gloved hand hovered around William for a moment before William reached out and took the book. William flipped the book over to read the title. “The Legend Of Grimwalkers: Everything You Need To Know” William looked up from the book in confusion, hoping to see Hunter again. But he was already gone, as if he had never been there to begin with. William briefly skimmed the pages of the book, each page was decorated in its own collection of annotations and notes, some he could read and some too messy for him to decipher. He closed the book, stood up, and left the clearing more confused than ever.