Chapter Text
Belos sat bolt upright in his bed, drenched in sweat, trembling and gasping for air. He quickly calmed down once he realized that he was still in the comfort of his bedroom…another nightmare? They seemed to be getting worse. Was it due to his compromised condition? He knew all too well that he was supposed to be resting, but he couldn't shake this odd feeling of…dread? Was it because of what happened?
Belos sighed and held his left hand out in front of him, spreading his fingers apart as he examined it like it was some sort of never before seen entity. After a moment, he snarled, closing his hand into a tight fist.
You idiot, you hurt Hunter. You couldn't control yourself when it mattered the most. Now he's certainly afraid of you…
Belos narrowed his eyes, letting out a noise akin to a hiss. As he lowered his left hand, he raised his right one, which was already twitching slightly. He relaxed the muscles in his arm, allowing the twitching to stop. Belos closed his eyes, taking a calming breath. Yet despite his efforts, his mind refused to stop racing. Belos mumbled to himself, frustrated. After a moment, a dark thought suddenly broke into Belos' mind. The emperor, at first, only closed his eyes even tighter, trying to push the thought away, only for the darkness to multiply in a way to his demise, an army of dangerous creations in his mind continuing to assault him. Belos sighed, opening his tired eyes once more. He stared at his hands, open somewhat, resting on his legs near his knees. The dark army of thoughts then came together to form something familiar.
Belos knew this thought, this feeling..it wasn't the first time he thought it, and it probably wouldn't be the last.
Belos wouldn't do it. He couldn't. He had a whole kingdom, and he had Hunter; Belos couldn't do that to the poor kid. Not only that, he remembered being told that this temptation led to sin; thou shalt not kill, even if it was your own life you would take.
Or so his family had said. But temptation wasn't a sin, right? As long as he didn't do it, was there anything wrong with allowing himself a bit of…leniency?
Belos had self control. He had done this before. He came out of those times alive; he'd be okay now. It would make him feel better, maybe…maybe…
Belos held his left hand closer to his face, an all-too familiar spell forming in it, its blue light making Belos wince slightly, previously being blanketed in only the dark of his room, feeling a powerful magic encase his hand.
A death spell glowed brightly on the palm of his hand, warping with power. Belos' expression softened as the light reflected off of his eyes, and he felt his chest tighten. With this, he could easily take anyone's, or his own, life away. He lowered his head shamefully, only picking it back up when he felt the tight feeling in his chest suddenly turn into a burning pain. Gasping as he realized what was happening, he used his free hand to frantically search for hidden Palismen, only to come up empty-handed. Belos tried to diminish the death spell, but as if the universe itself was deciding to spite him, his curse only made it waver in strange ways as he tried to banish it, unsuccessful. Quickly giving up, Belos attempted to stand up and off of his bed in order to search the rest of his room, only for his injured legs to buckle beneath him, and then-
-
BANG
Hunter jumped, nearly dropping his artificial staff, fumbling with it and barely catching the thing. He let out a sigh of relief, before turning from some guards that he had previously been giving orders to, trying to figure out where that noise had come from. It was night, so there wasn't much to do at the given moment, other than do what they were usually ordered to do.
After a moment of thinking to himself, Hunter let out a small gasp. It sounded like it came from The Emperor's quarters! He started to panic, feeling a nervous knot form in his stomach.
Not bothering to look his sharpest, Hunter abandoned the guards and rushed towards his uncle's room. After yesterday's fiasco, he was surely still resting…right?
Hunter stood in front of the door for a moment, feeling the knot in his gut tighten. Oh Titan, what if he transformed again? What if he hurts himself, what if he hurts you-?
Hunter shook his head, as if to clear it. No, Belos would never hurt you. At least, not on purpose…
Hunter thought to himself as he pushed the door open slightly, just enough to peek inside. He took a grounding breath and kept his eyes averted to the ground, and his voice low, "Hey, Uncle, I know you probably don't want to see me after, uhm…nevermind. I heard something and wanted to make sure you're okay."
No reply.
Hunter finally looked upwards and forwards, slowly and carefully, towards where he last saw his Uncle resting, "Do you need me to fetch some palisme-?" Hunter found himself unable to finish his sentence, his voice and his body now suddenly frozen in fear at the sight before him.
Belos lay sprawled out on the floor, half transformed into his cursed form, and yet, half of his human form remained. His eyes were glazed over, dead, fresh blood pouring out of their edges. His jaw hung open slightly, just enough for blood to have trickled out, staining his clothing. A pool of blood had formed beneath him, his hair having become wet and sticky with the red substance.
Hunter instinctively covered his mouth as he let out a much louder gasp, his eyes widening, becoming misty, locked onto his uncle as he felt a warm, almost burning liquid crawl up his throat.
Hunter kneeled down as bile forced its way out of his mouth, making him enter a coughing fit as his throat and mouth was burned, and as if he reached his breaking point, finally allowing anguished sobs to escape him in between dry heaves and coughs.
Hunter shook violently as his body finished emptying itself, tears streaming down his face, dripping into a small puddle on the floor.
Flapjack flew through the hall with great haste, going to perch on Hunter's weak shoulder
"What's wrong–", it chirped, before it, too, was silenced by the sight in front of it. It could only then snuggle closer to Hunter, quiet, trying to comfort him.
Hunter hesitantly turned to face Belos again, a new wave of cries overcoming him as he did so, his vision once again becoming obstructed with tears. He shakily pushed himself back onto his feet, trembling as he carefully approached the unmoving body of his Uncle, like it was some sort of ticking time-bomb. Once he was right in front of him, Hunter felt himself begin to hyperventilate, his legs buckling from beneath him, and he hit the floor with a loud THUMP.
Hunter let an onslaught of sobs and cries escape him as he placed a hand on Belos' untransformed half face. It was cold. Hunter shook his head in disbelief, burrowing his face into his uncle's hair as he cried, his shoulders heaving with gasps.
After he had drained every last tear from his eyes, he weakfully pushed himself upright and off of Belos. He stared at Belos, still in utter disbelief. What could've done this…? Why would something do something like this? So effective, quick…Titan, just what just could've happened? As Hunter's mind raced, he took Belos' human hand, gripping it tightly despite its coldness. He sighed, wiping any remaining tears from his face. He inhaled sharply, scanning the room for anything to clean up this…mess. Once he was finished, he gently relocated Belos' body onto his bed, making sure to position him peacefully. Hunter stood over his uncle's unmoving form, lowering his head, clenching his fists and grinding his teeth as he allowed one last sob to escape him, before he fixed his clothing and hair. No, he couldn't be weak now; he needed to figure out what had happened. Hunter closed his eyes and, as painful as it was, pictured what he had seen in his mind. There was no evidence of any "brutal" type of attack; no burns from a fire spell, water from a melted ice spell, or any breaks in the building from a plant spell. A light spell probably wouldn't have the power to kill Belos alone, unless it was something more complicated…damnit! Unfortunately, the culprit of this crime was a bit more clever than Hunter would have liked them to be. As much as he hated to admit it, he would probably need help…orr he could do research in his room, and find it out by himself!
…Maybe Flapjack would help him decide. But Hunter couldn't let this just get out to the castle. It would cause mass panic.
Hunter sighed, tears threatening to fall from his eyes again as he caught another glimpse of his uncle's body. This spell must've been extremely effective, to lead almost no injuries…lists of spells that could do such a thing in such a way flashed through Hunter's mind, before he froze as one specific possibility came to mind. Hunter shook his head. No, that was ridiculous. Belos would have no reason to do such a thing, or even think it.
Flapjack nuzzled Hunter's cheek, cooing softly, successfully snapping Hunter out of his trance.
"Right…we..need to go", Hunter stated, his voice shaking, as he built up the strength to put one foot in front of the other, and walk out of his uncle's room, closing the door behind him, as if he had never seen anything at all.