Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He could feel it. Despite the pain, he was in, the pounding of his heart, and the trembling of his limbs; Hunter felt it as Flapjack faded away. Then he felt it as himself started to fade away. Distantly he could hear his friends, he could hear them calling out to him, begging him to wake up.

…He doesn't want to wake up. Not now, not after what he just did to them. There are hands on him, he can feel someone lifting his head, but soon those fade away along with the voices.

The next time he's able to focus on his surroundings, the first thing he notices is how hot it is. He can feel how sweaty he is and it's hot enough to make his skin itch. Which is odd, it was nighttime and fairly cool out the last time he was aware. His eyes snap open, immediately darting around, taking in the room he was in. A very familiar room… how? Why was he in his old bedroom back at the castle? In his struggle to sit up, somehow his blanket ended up wrapped around his legs, and Hunter falls off his bed, slamming into the floor. He doesn't bother with getting up, not right away. He's too busy trying his best not to start panicking.

He shouldn't be here. In the castle, this room, or even this realm. He's supposed to be in the human realm with the others—

The others! Hunter scrambles to his feet, he needs to find the others. Maybe they'll know what's going on. First things first, he needs to get out of here. Being in the castle again, it felt horrible. Like he was drowning on land.

It's not hard sneaking past the scouts, what he's more worried about is anyone else, a higher up seeing him, or realizing he was gone.

He doesn't know how any of this is possible, but everything looks so… normal. It's like the day of unity, and everything with the Collector never happened. None of this seems real, he hoped it wasn't, yet a part of him couldn't help but believe this to be his reality. Hunter keeps his head down, as much as he hates it due to the memories attached to it once he found his cloak and one of the Scout masks in his room he had put them on. Pushing aside the tainted memories, he couldn't help but feel relieved to have his face covered. He liked having his face hidden, it was just as comforting as it was unbearable.

He needs to hurry. Belos is— he's gone, but being back in a perfectly intact castle is messing with him.

Hunter starts his search by going to places he's been with the others before. The school, the derby practice fields, he walks throughout town, and he only tries going to each of their houses, and the Owl House once he's certain they aren't anywhere public.

The longer he goes without finding them, the more he starts to panic.

He doesn't truly lose hope until he gets to the Captain, to Willow's house. He doesn't try knocking or ringing the doorbell, he does his best to stay hidden as he makes his way toward the nearest window. At first, he doesn't see anything, the second one though has a curtain covering it, but the third one though… The third one shows him two men, who he knows to be Willow's dads. They're sitting on the ground, smiling, and laughing.

There's a child between them, gesturing around wildly and grinning.

A child, who looks nearly identical to the Captain.

Oh, Titan, this can't be real. 

Hunter stumbles back, wheezing as he trips over his own feet and falls onto his back. That was– that was Willow. It had to be her, the similarities were uncanny, and she never mentioned having a younger sister. If that indeed was Willow, why was she so-so small? So young? This can't be happening. They were in the human realm, he— no. No, don't think about that. The Collector wasn't there, so how is any of this possible?

He's not fully aware of it as he rushes away from the house, not wanting to see it anymore.

He should stop by the other's houses, see if they were all younger as well. Only, he can't bring himself to do it. Not to forget, it would be hard trying to sneak past Hooty to check on the owl house. Plus, if this isn't some trick, if this isn't a spell gone wrong, if he's actually in the past then— then that means Luz isn't here. She'd still be in the human realm, with her mom. Wait, wait, what about Vee? Vee definitely isn't in the human realm at this moment, but does she… does she even exist right now? Did Belos bring her kind back already? How was he supposed to figure that out? It's not like he can just start traveling around, calling out for Vee, and expecting a response.

Right now he's… he's the Golden Guard. None of them would trust him, hell, none of them would even like him up on seeing him.

It's frustrating how his eyes sting with tears despite his best efforts not to cry.

He's just wandering around with nowhere to go… no. That's not right, he has the castle, he needs to get back there before anyone realizes he's gone. It'll only end badly if Bel—

Belos. He would still be alive. 

Oh my, Titan, he's going to have to see him again.

At that moment, he doesn't care where he is or if anyone could see him, he drops to the ground. Curled up as much as he can, his hands sneak under his hood, gloved fingers tangling themselves in his hair and yanking at it.

It hurts, but the pain is keeping him from spiraling.

He misses the others, and it hurts thinking about how none of them know who he is, how Luz isn't even in the Demon realm yet.

He doesn't want to stay here, he doesn't want to wear this stupid uniform. He definitely doesn't want to go back and see Belos. He doesn't want to be anywhere near him.

It doesn't matter what he wants, Hunter knows what he needs to do.

He'll stay in the shadows, drawing less attention to himself. He'll stay by his un-by Belos, and ensure that he never suspects Hunter of treason. He'll keep his mask on, no matter where he is, separating Hunter from the Golden Guard is his best bet. If he doesn't… he might actually snap.

He just needs to figure out exactly what happened, at what point in time he is because Willow looked really young, and he needs to plan for a lot of things. Mainly how to stop his un- damn it. How to stop Belos.

.

.

.

He made it back to the castle without alerting anyone. He hated how easy it was to slip back into the mindset of being the Golden Guard, even if technically he wasn't assigned that specific position just yet– if he guessed the year correctly. He absolutely loathes how quickly he could go back to pretending that he was still just Belos's nephew.

It takes him two days of sneaking around the castle and forgoing sleep to find out that he's currently 7 years old. That and he nearly had a heart attack upon seeing his reflection just to see all the new scars. It wasn't just that, what really freaked him out was his eyes. They're not magenta anymore, if he had to try and name the color then he would have to say they were some mix of amber and golden. They weren't his eyes, he doesn't know where the scars or the sudden change of eye color came from, but it's likely that it's connected to him waking up in the body of his past self.

Or would this be more like merging with his past self?

He definitely needs to keep the mask on now, he doesn't know how long he'll be able to keep it on around Belos, but hopefully, he'll find some way to turn his eyes back to normal before Belos notices anything was wrong with him.

Chapter Text

He has a few years before he's assigned as the Golden Guard, he can't really recall his childhood, nothing before the age of 12 when he received both his staff and the 'honor' of becoming the Golden Guard. Thankfully, his younger self must have been just as paranoid of failing that he had a small stack of papers on his desk, weighed down by his box of healing supplies. The papers have most of his schedule for the next few months, training, tutoring, and days to be spent with Belos are all that's written. Luckily, today had been one of his rare days off. According to the schedule he wouldn't have another day off for three more months.

He'd forgotten that he was granted more days off when he was younger, a day off every three months seems foreign to him now. 

As the Golden Guard, he had an abundance of duties to carry out, missing out on sleep wasn't enough to ensure that he completed everything. His rare days off were spread out to once every six months, and then as he got older to half a day every seven months.

He has five years before he's promoted, it'll be five years and two weeks before he's introduced to the current coven heads. The last time he'd seen any of them… their coven marks were draining them. They way everyone was just lying there it— Hunter squeezed his eyes shut. Another thing he's not going to think about, not now. Hopefully, not ever, he won't let the draining or the day of unity happen again. He'll make sure that everyone says safe this time. In order to do all that, he needs to get stronger. That and he needs to gather information, for far too long he's been left in the dark about everything that's been going on.

He doesn't have his scroll. His first and only school had been given to him by Darius, he's pretty sure that Belos not allowing him one was a method to control him. After all, he didn't truly start to rebel until after he received his scroll… maybe he can see about finding some way to acquire one for himself. It'd make things so much easier to have it early on.

It feels weird being here again, seeing all of the Scouts, and knowing that Belos was more than likely sitting in the throne room at this very moment. Hunter squashed the thought of how a part of him had actually missed this.

Because he didn't miss any of this, why would he?

One thing that he's not sure how to feel about is that thing where he sort of just… takes a step away from anything before him.

It happened the morning after his day off, a Scout had knocked on his door and informed him that "Emperor Belos requires your presence" before leaving Hunter alone. He doesn't want to see him, he's not ready to see him. Belos is manipulative, he always has been, Hunter can't think of a time when Belos said something without it having a double meaning or being used to convince him of something.

He is practically an anxious mess by the time he gets to the throne room, but he's had enough practice by now to learn how to keep that hidden. He barely remembers to address Belos as Emperor Belos as he kneels before him.

"At ease, my dear nephew, it is just the two of us here."

It's funny how the same sentence said to him just a few months ago would have filled him with relief. Now? Now it just makes him wary of what could happen with no witnesses for Belos to put on an act for. He doesn't want to be near him, he knows just how replaceable he is to Belos. Being in his mind… seeing what was essentially the graveyard of the previous guards… Hunter never forgot what he saw. It's all he could think about most days. It's gotten to the point where he's not sure if he's remembering it correctly or if he's just tricking himself into thinking he's remembering it right.

Hunter's pretty sure there had been at least fifty masks there. 

He thinks about it often enough that it's practically ingrained in his mind. Seeing Belos in person again makes everything worse. The paintings in all of those masks in Belos's mind, who's to say that was all of them? What if it was just the ones who made some sort of lasting impression? Would he ever learn how many Golden Guards were created and died by Belos's hands? Did he want to learn?

"It's a shame I could not see you yesterday, however my curse was acting up and I felt horrible. Will you forgive me? I know we were to work on your training, the other Coven Scouts have done nothing but sing your praises lately."

Coven Scouts. Right. Despite wearing the uniform and mask, he had forgotten that he was technically a Coven Scout at this point in time.

"...Are you paying attention?"

Hunter's head snapped up, "O-Of course! My apologies, I do forgive you, Emperor Belos, however there is nothing to forgive."

"As I said, it is just the two of us, you may call me Uncle, or Uncle Belos." Hunter stiffened as Belos stepped closer, his hand dropping down into his shoulder, "Come, tell me about your day off."

What? He wanted him to stay here?

This is so stupid! How the hell is he supposed to protect anyone when he is still so terrified of Belos? He can't even stand being in the same room with him! Flapjack shouldn't— Flapjack shouldn't have saved him. She should've just let him die. At least then she could have lived. He doesn't even know what he's supposed to tell Belos, he can't remember this far back, it's like his life began the moment he became the Golden Guard, it's hard for him to remember anything that came before that. Although Hunter knows that it's always been a rule that he can't leave the castle alone, he wasn't granted that permission until after he was promoted. Even then he kept screwing things up—

No. No, it was good that he was always failing. As much as it bothered him and led to his reprimanding, it also made it easier for the rebellion and his friends to plot against Belos.

He can't say anything about what he actually did but… but maybe he could just make something up? It's not like he was seen sneaking out. He needs to avoid certain topics, especially anything related to Wild Magic. Belos doesn't want him looking into anything like that, now that he thinks about it, it's probably because he was afraid Hunter would have figured it out sooner that it wasn't Wild Magic that killed the other guards.

That killed their family.

.

.

.

Belos lets him leave after the first ten minutes have passed. Hunter was just saying random nonsense about training and what else he'd like to learn, but Belos kept… he kept yawning and staring at the wall. Hunter was boring him, and he wasn't even pretending to be interested. Once he must have had enough of him, Belos shooed him away, wishing him a good night and reminding him about his training with a few of the Scouts later.

At least with training he'll be able to focus solely on that and not anything else.

He wants to go back to his room, he needs at least a few minutes to compose himself before he goes to meet up with the Scouts.

He can't help the way he speeds up as he hears footsteps not belonging to him echoing down the corridor, a part of him believing it was Belos following him.

His room is nearby, outright running would just look suspicious, but surely there's nothing wrong with walking just a tad faster? He speeds up, just enough to get further down the hall so he can hide behind one of the columns. He peeks around the corner, waiting, whoever it is they sound like they're getting closer.

Hunter presses against the column, hoping that he's out of sight.

It's… Warden Wrath? Shit. He's coming this way.

He can make it to his room if he runs down the hall, it's unlikely Warden Wrath will see him right away. Most people have a hard time knowing where he is thanks to how quietly he can move around.

He can't waste time waiting around, if he wants to get out of here and avoid any type of confrontation then he needs to move now.

Hunter runs, and he keeps running until he makes it to his room.

Hunter slid down with his back to the door.

Warden Wrath. He should be at the Conformatorium, not wandering through the castle's halls. Then again, it's not like Hunter ever made an effort to know the schedule of all those under Belos's rule. Didn't… When they were in the human realm, and neither he nor Luz could sleep, she started telling him about when she first arrived in the boiling isles. Didn't she say something about how the Warden wanted to date the Owl Lady? She also looked genuinely mad talking about some prisoners he apparently had, how they were just weirdos who didn't fit in, how the Warden refused to take no for an answer after Eda refused to date him. Hunter scowled, thankful that his mask at least hid his facial expressions.

Only… does any of that technically still count? It's years before any of it happens, Hunter's not sure if the warden even has any prisoners in the tower.

What is he thinking, it's not like he can just go help them all escape… Can he?

Chapter Text

The sun is up, it has been for a few hours now and he's still laying in bed. His entire body is sore, he may have pushed himself harder than he should have during training. Even the select few Scouts he was given permission to interact with had even tried getting him to take a break, not that he could. He needs to get stronger so he can keep everyone safe. Not just physically, he may not be a witch, and he may not technically have magic, but he should be able to use glyphs just like Luz.

He needs to practice drawing them, and work on his reaction time. He's too used to fighting without magic on his side.

Luz said she started with learning the glyph for the light spell, although she never explained why she chose to start with that one, but it makes sense to start with something easy.

He's lucky that he could remember the ones she showed him. He should write them down, ensure that they are all correct before he starts training and experiments with them. He never realized just how often he was confined to the castle until now. On weekends he was allowed to leave the castle for missions, but there's not a lot of missions he's trusted with while this young.

He's not allowed to leave by himself to go purchase some notebooks, and he already knows that he won't be getting the permission to find an escort to leave with him. The coven Scouts, and the coven heads all lived in the castle but not all of them stayed there. From what he remembers, the ones who barely ever stayed at the castle were Darius, Eber, and maybe a few others. He's not entirely certain, because while he would often see quite a few of them in the halls or during meetings, that was the extent of it. He's pretty sure the Coven heads all avoided him. Belos always told him he wasn't allowed to interact with the Scouts either. The only person he's truly able to see often is… Belos. Day to day his schedule consists of training, being stuck in the room with Belos for anywhere from 10 minutes to a couple of hours, mealtime, and then a few minutes of free time before bed. It's all very… suffocating, but it is providing a welcome distraction to help time pass by quicker. He doesn't know what he's supposed to do to be able to help anyone when he's so tiny.

What he doesn't understand is what happened to him the first time he tried to write down a glyph.

He was safely, as safe as he can be, locked in his room at the end of the day. Truthfully he should have been to bed hours ago, but once he remembered that there technically was another way to learn and practice Magic despite not being a witch, he was too eager to get started than to sleep.

Glyphs are powered by the isles, by the Titan. Using glyphs here is a guaranteed success, not like it was in the human realm.

Hunter was just planning on writing down which ones he remembered, he wasn't even planning on using any of them. He can recall how he had spread out papers on his bed, a pencil in hand, prepared to start. The moment he pictured the glyph in his mind, briefly taking a moment to ensure that it's the right glyph for what he wants, something happened. He felt something within him, tugging at his chest. He felt like it was all happening relatively slowly, it felt like there was something building up.

Only, in reality only a few seconds had passed. He thought of the glyph for the light spell, and nearly blinded himself as a ball of light manifested right in front of him.

He'd frozen, staring at the spot the light had been long after it faded away.

That shouldn't have been possible. There's no way he could have done Magic, especially without even writing a glyph! He knows he can't do magic the normal way, it's impossible since he doesn't have a magic bile sac attached to his heart. Witches derive their magic from that sac, it's why they can draw a circle in the air, why people can create and control abominations… he's never been able to do that, despite how much he trained and practiced. His frustration at not being able to use magic was one of the reasons why Belos created that staff for him.

The fact that he just did Magic without either of the two ways to perform it… it's mind boggling.

There's a part of him that wants to do it again, just to make sure he really saw that happen.

It's also kind of scary because this is just another thing he didn't know about himself, and it's something that's obviously changed since waking up in the past. Because he's thought about glyphs before and never had this happen. So, there must be something more to it than just waking in the past.

Is this Wild Magic?

No, no that wouldn't make any sense. How would he be able to use Wild Magic? He shouldn't be able to use any magic, he's never heard of anyone being able to use Magic just by thinking of it.

He needs to be careful, even if it was just a one-time thing, you need to make sure that no one finds out. Especially not Belos, who knows what he'd do if he found out Hunter could do magic.

.

.

.

He finds books on Wild Magic at the Night market.

Of course it wasn't easy, it actually took him a few different nights to find someone who wasn't just trying to scam him. He also has to be careful not to do anything that can connect him to the Golden Guard. That and he knows that his age would make him a target… There's also the fact that he's been forgoing sleep to sneak out of the castle while everyone else remains unaware of it. He wouldn't have done something that reckless if not for the fact that he already read all of the books he could find throughout the castle that's so much as hinted at Wild Magic. He needed something new, not stuff he's already memorized before.

His head is pounding from the lack of sleep, an ache behind his eyes that refuses to go away.

As loath as he is to admit it, a part of him had missed this. Living in the Castle again, going to training, tutoring, having a schedule to get lost in. Pushing himself past his limits… He missed all of it, even if he knew that it was for the best that he fled from the Emperor's Coven. A part of him, far bigger than it has any right to be, missed Belos. Missed his Uncle. Hunter had almost thrown up the first time he realized it. It felt like he was betraying his friends by admitting that. He shouldn't miss him, he shouldn't find any sort of relief in being back here with the person who hurt him the most. Yet, he did. Does. He still misses him, even now that he can see him again. He misses the image of a loving uncle he has crafted for Belos over the years, he misses being unaware of what his pain meant.

Now, he sees Belos everyday, he's the only constant person in Hunter's life.

It's hard, reminding himself that Belos is a bad person, that he has hurt Hunter, tried to kill him… This Belos doesn't know that Hunter betrayed him. This Belos looks at him and sees his nephew, sees Caleb in him. He can see why he thought Belos loved him. Belos is still encouraging him to call him uncle, he doesn't accept Hunter's excuse of wanting to get used to calling him Emperor for when he goes on more public missions. He hasn't had any fits yet, and there hasn't been anytime to disappoint him. Hunter has forgotten that there used to be this side to Belos, a side where he sat quietly with Hunter, where he told him stories, had helped him with his lessons, etcetera.

It felt like they were just an uncle and his nephew, not some Witch Hunter and his Grimwalker…

Chapter Text

Whenever he went to the Night market, he didn't need to look in a mirror.

He stole a black cowl hood, and had made sure to wear black clothing that covered his arms and legs. He's always wearing his gloves, and it wasn't hard to find a black mask that was on affiliated with any Coven. Going to the Night market dressed like that made it easier to fit in and get around unnoticed. It wasn't flashy, like the outfit of the Golden Guard. He was able to get dressed for the day without seeing his reflection, it's not like he needed it to do his hair or anything like that.

He's lucky that he hasn't been caught out of uniform or told to take his mask off by Belos.

He's been in the past for almost two weeks now, and he never realized that his appearance has changed. Not until today, that is. He'd taken a hit to the head during training, nothing serious, but he could feel the bruise forming and wanted to know how bad it was. That's why he looked at his reflection. Hunter had yelped, startled by how his reflection looking back at him had looked nothing like him. Well, no that's not true, it did look like him. Sort of.

His hair was longer than he thought, and there were definitely more scars on his skin than there should have been for this age. He'd flung his shirt off upon realizing the new scars stretched past his collar. The one coming up across his cheek and a bit onto the bridge of his nose was the most noticeable. There were more, one on his ear, his other cheek, down the side of his neck, and spread out in lines across his chest… he's always had a lot of scars. From training, missions, little accidents like the time when he had tripped while running in the castle and smashed his arm on the way down. There was a tiny scar where the bone peeked out. He also had scars up and down his arms, from weapons training, and from moments where he'd risen his arms in front of him to block a blow. Most of the time it was to block a hit from Belos. He's still missing a chunk of his ear, but when he was younger he can just barely remember how Belos told him it was because he wasn't careful while playing… Hunter doesn't believe him, now he's second-guessing everything Belos ever told him.

He doesn't think about the scars on his hands, those are the ones he can remember the origin of each one. At least with his other scars he barely remembers where they came from, most are so common that he can only guess what caused them.

What stands out the most to him is how his eyes have changed. 

He knows what color he was born, er, made to have, what color they've been all his life. The color that all grimwalker's have. He knows how sometimes his eyes would even glow a bit in the dark, and Belos would tell him to put his mask on whenever he felt annoyed seeing his face. He always thought it was because his glowing eyes must have been unnerving, but now he knows it's because he looks the most like Caleb. His eye color was rare, the only people he can think of having the same color would be the previous Golden Guards and the Bat Queen. He's not sure why the Bat Queen has that eye color, he's pretty sure she's not some type of Grimwalker…

Right now, his eyes aren't magenta. In certain lightings they would look either red or purple, but they don't even look like that right now.

They're more of a… a brownish gold, like Flapjack's— oh. 

Oh.

Eyes wide, Hunter's hands clenched into fists, unable to drag his gaze away from his reflection. He didn't see Belos, Philip, Caleb, or even himself. All he could focus on was his eyes. They were the last thing he saw as his vision soon grew to be too blurry to make anything out.

.

.

.

He avoids looking at his reflection again, and he makes you promise to himself to keep his mask on, no matter what.

That wasn't the first time he passed out while panicking, but it's not something he wants to repeat.

The next time he goes to the Night market, he spends some time wandering around, to see about getting himself a purple scroll. For everything he plans to get involved in it would be best to make sure he has the means of contacting and staying in contact with others. For now he'll settle for getting a purple scroll, but he wants to see about finding a way to get a crystal ball and a crow phone.

He thinks his friends are all too young to have a purple scroll, let alone a Penstagram. 

He didn't get his first purple scroll until he was sixteen, and that's just because Darius gave him one. The others are definitely younger than sixteen, but… they were younger than him when he got his, and they already had theirs. He's pretty sure they had theirs for a while, it's why he wants to get a purple scroll now. Just in case there is a chance his friends own one at this age. Plus, it would definitely help him with information gathering.

He wants to see about finding more information on the beast curse.

He doubts that he'd be able to find anything Eda and Lilith haven't already known about, but he still wants to try. At least Eda's curse is something that he wants to focus on, he's not going to pretend that he cares about healing Belos. From what he can remember, the beast curse isn't like other curses, it's one of the strongest ones out there. He knows that Eda form some sort of agreement with the beast, but that's in the future, at the moment she's still suffering.

She was like a mother to Luz, he just wants to repay her for everything she's done for the human. Helping her with her curse is just the start.

.

.

.

He needs to pull himself together.

He's lucky that he hadn't slipped up sooner, he's managed to avoid taking his mask off, and Belos seemed to accept his excuse of wanting to fit in with the other scouts. Although he did remind Hunter that he isn't allowed to go near them, that he'd just get in the way of their work and keep them from carrying out their duties. But he had slipped up while roaming the halls, he didn't have any current assignments to go on and Belos had yet to request his presence in the throne room. It was on his way back to his room that he saw her.

He saw Lilith.

He'd forgotten that she was a part of the Coven since she was a teenager herself. He wasn't expecting to see her, nor for her to see him. She'd taken one look at him ànd sneered before turning her head and taking off in the opposite direction. That had… hurt. He forgot how much she hated him. He never learned what he did to make her hate him so much, in the future anytime they happened to see each other she would just ignore him, or make some weird face before leaving the room. He wants to try and get in her good graces, but he's not sure how, and just him being near her would be an annoyance.

Maybe it would be for the best if he kept his distance.

Although he doesn't want to admit it, he's too scared to run into anyone else he may know, so he goes back to his room and sits with his back to the door. Despite his best intentions, his room is just as messy as it always is. Books piled up, pages of notes and sketches spread out, his attempts at woodcarving take up his shelves. Random bits of fabric he's been collecting and using to make himself better pillows are piled up in the corner. His first aid kit from the healers coven is open, but thankfully still stocked. 

He's made a few mistakes before where he forgot to restock it after each use. The first time that happened was when he was around 12 years old, it was also what led to him meeting Steve. Hunter blinks, smiling faintly at the memory.

He had returned to his bedroom, intent on treating his injuries from a mission gone wrong, only to realize that he didn't have enough bandages. He left his room to go pick some up from the healing ward of the castle when he just so happened to cross paths with Steve. 

Steve, who took one look at Hunter, saw him bleeding and panicked.

He still feels a bit embarrassed about the whole thing, specifically how Steve had immediately picked him up in the bridal carry and ran to find a healer. Of course, once word got around about what happened he later on got in trouble with Belos for seeing a healer without his permission, but Hunter never told Steve that. Steve was just trying to help, and Hunter noticed how after that day, Steve would check up on him whenever he could.

It was nice.

Hunter was drifting, but he didn't mind it. It happens often enough that he can at least realize what's happening as it happens.

Chapter Text

After the whole fiasco of getting trapped in the Emperor's mind, while he was hiding out at the school he read as much as he could on grimwalker's. He's certain that his constitution is different from those who live in the isles, but he doesn't think it's similar to a human's either. He's made up of so many different creatures, and things that he's not entirely sure what he can and cannot do.

There are a few things that he knows for certain.

Like, how the boiling sea and the rain doesn't burn him. There have been a few incidents when he was younger where it should have hurt him, it probably should have killed him, but it didn't. Instead he would just feel a bit warmer than usual, steam coming off of him, and depending on how long he was in the rain or the sea, his skin would tingle. He knows that magenta eyes are a shared trait amongst grimwalker's, and although his aren't… that color anymore, he still had them. They sometimes glowed in the dark and he's pretty sure he could see better at night than he should have.

The only time he's fallen asleep around someone else was in the human realm, and even then he fell asleep after everyone and woke up before them all. So he's not sure if his stonesleeper lungs do anything to him. He doesn't know what the Palistrom wood or the Galdorstone does for him besides fulfilling the role of Keratin and a power source/heart. 

He wasn't exactly keen on experimenting with himself to see just how different he was from his friends.

Although, he knows that it could be important to know everything just in case something happens. All of the books and scrolls he's found on grimwalker's are so old that they describe them as myths. As something to be feared… The majority of information assured reader's that grimwalker's were extinct.

He didn't know how to feel about that, so he chose not to focus on it.

He doesn't want to think about how everything that made up a grimwalker was something that could be used as a conductor for Magic— how Belos nearly drove species to extinction just to try and make some-some clone of someone he once knew.

.

.

.

Hunter is physically nine years old when he meets the Bat Queen.

He'd gotten lost while going through the forest, searching for specific plants to make some healing potions. He's running low and Belos hasn't given him permission to get more. It'd be too much of a risk to try and steal some, so he settled for making them. He's made them before, often enough that he has the ingredients memorized. It's harder getting ahold of the ingredients since he's a kid with no power or social standing to back him up, and there's only so much he can get at the Night Market. He should have been paying more attention to his surroundings, but he was distracted by the knowledge that the Owl House was relatively close by. He's thankful that he's not wearing his Scout uniform, he's pretty sure that the Bat Queen would have attacked him outright if she knew he was with the Emperor's Coven.

Instead, for some reason, she takes one look at him and lets out some sort of weird cooing noise before trying to guide him further into her cave.

Oh dear Titan, please don't tell him she's about to eat him.

Only— that doesn't happen, once they reached what she designed to be their designation, she briefly disappeared only to come back with a pile of leaves. Leaves that she told him to sit on. He does so reluctantly, not wanting to anger her but also not wanting to do exactly as she says. This would be so much easier if she could just tell him what she was planning on doing with him.

He can hear other creatures running around but he can't see them, and she doesn't let him wander around her cave. She guides him over to some large opening, there's multiple stone slabs in the middle of the space, a bunch of roots, and trees throughout the area. There's also a ridiculously large amount of spider webs, the Moon seems to be shining directly in from an opening in the top of the cave. She has him settled down on one of the slabs, and then just stands there, head tilted as she stares him down.

It's unnerving.

He shivers slightly, despite practicing with sewing he's still not entirely good at it. He had tried making his cowl longer since he started outgrowing it a year ago, but it still is ill-fitting and the material too thin to keep him warm.

It'd be easier if he could ask Darius for help, but Hunter knows the abomination head hates him. He barely tolerates him in the future.

He's not sure why he does it, but the silence was starting to get to him and he just wanted to break it. He wasn't thinking about what he was going to say until he already went and blurted out his question.

"Have you heard of grimwalker's?"

The bat Queen freezes, a dark look coming over her face before vanishing as she frowns at him. Shit. Shit, he messed up. He shouldn't have said anything—

"I have seen and heard of them, young one." The Bat Queen settled down near him, "I have been around for thousands of years, they were not always extinct."

Technically, they're not extinct at all, but it's not like he can just come out and say that. Although… There is something that's been bothering him for a while now. It's not like an opportunity like this will present itself to him again. He's not sure why the Bat Queen has decided not to hurt him, and it might be dumb to try pushing her buttons but he can't help but want to ask her… 

"Are you—" His voice cracked, Hunter took a moment to clear his throat before trying again, "Are you a… a grimwalker?"

This is the first time he's seen her shocked.

"No. No, I am not a grimwalker. Why would I be?"

"I-It's just… your eyes. They're magenta, and that's the eye color that grimwalker's have…"

It was quiet for a couple of minutes, Hunter couldn't help the instinctive lunch back as the Bat Queen suddenly lifted her foot toward him. For some reason, she seems sad as he looks back at her after realizing she wasn't about to hit him. There, there was an interlock on her foot. An interlock that he knew only Palisman had to ensure that they could not be used on anyone else's staff, only to the one their bonded.

The Bat Queen is a Palisman?!

He's… he's not sure if he's relieved or disappointed. He wasn't even aware there was a part of him that had been hoping she would be a grimwalker. He's glad that there's no one else out there who had tried to bring back a loved one, but he kind of wishes he wasn't the only grimwalker alive. It would be so much easier learning about himself, about who he was, if he just had someone to talk to.

The Bat Queen tilts her head at him, the next moment Hunter finds himself swept up in an awkward hug that's more like being squished against her then the hugs he's had before.

"Rest now young one, you are safe. Your maker cannot find you here."

Maker. Belos made him. She knows what he is? How can she–? His eyes aren't magenta anymore, he never said anything about it, how did she figure it out?!

"Shh, sleep. We can talk later."

Despite how awkward and terrified he feels about all of this, he is exhausted. He hasn't had a good night's sleep since arriving in the past. Before that he barely even slept in the human realm, too busy worrying about how they were going to get home, whether or not everyone was okay… he may or may not have also been worrying about what comes next for him. Honestly, the last time he got a decent night's sleep was the night after Darius gave him a scroll. He had fallen asleep after staying up for a few hours checking in with the Emerald Entrails on what he now knows was called a group chat. For some reason they were all worried that he was in trouble, he doesn't know why they were worried after what he did.

His exhaustion wins out, it's not exactly comfortable but the warmth from the Bat Queen was lulling him to sleep.

Chapter Text

Hunter isn't fully aware of it as he caves and tells the Bat Queen the truth, he's shaking and his vision is kind of blurry but he doesn't focus on any of that.

He tells her that he's a grimwalker. He says how Belos, and he stops to quickly explain how he knew the Emperor; it was just as nauseating as he expected it to be. Hunter quietly says how Belos had been stealing Palistrom wood for decades to create grimwalkers. To make the Golden Guards. In a fit of desperation, he tells her how Belos needs the Palisman, how he basically consumes their life force to keep his curse at bay. Hunter pleads with her to keep them hidden, to keep them safe from the Emperor's Coven. To keep them safe from him. It's his fault so many of them were killed, he didn't even stop to think about what he was doing. Belos told him that they were wild magic and he just went along with it, only focusing on how they were helping his uncle. Of course, those Palisman he had led to their deaths were all still alive now, and if he has any say in it, Belos will never get his hands on a Palisman again.

He'd die before letting that happen.

She's angry, and he can understand why, he tries to stay still but his body is not listening to him and he keeps flinching every time she moves. He's heard of her strength. He knows that she's more than capable of killing him with just a single hit. Rather than strike him, the Bat Queen moves away from him, there's sunlight pouring into the cave now and he's not sure how long he'd been talking or how long he slept. She takes a deep breath in and holds it, long enough that he was starting to get worried before she releases it and gazes at him.

She thanks him, thanks him. The Bat Queen tells him that now she knows to keep a closer eye on those under her protection. She says that she will protect what Palistrom wood she can find.

No, no, no. That's not– that's not how she's supposed to react. She's supposed to be angry at him, she's supposed to hate him! Hunter stumbled back as she tried wrapping a wing around him. He doesn't want her comfort. He doesn't deserve it, why can't she see that? So many Palisman died because of him. Because he was too foolish to see what was in front of him all along. They may be alive now, but what about in a few years? He should have known what Belos was planning, he was the one who helped him the most after all. In the end, he even helped Belos kill Flapjack. Hunter chokes back a sob, unwilling to lose his composure.

She doesn't want to let him leave, especially not when he reluctantly admits that he's planning on going back to the castle.

Only, he can't let her stop him. It's far too early to start any type of rebellion, and he needs to stay on Belos's good side so he can keep an eye on him. That, and he wants to stay in the castle, at least for now. He wants to keep an eye on the Coven Heads, the Scouts, and Belos's ongoing projects in the labs, and even those locked in the Conformatorium. He can't do all that if he does run away. If he stays here, he’ll become known as a wanted criminal because, despite his age, Hunter doubts Belos would claim he was kidnapped. Unless he tries to tell the public that it was wild witches who took him because then he might use Hunter's disappearance to gain the favor of the people. More than he already has. Every attempt at leaving leaves him winded as the Bat Queen either blocks the entrance or she flys over him, snatches him up, and drops him back on the slab. He's pretty sure she doesn't realize how rough she's being... It's– irritating, especially because he's noticed dozens of Palisman hidden throughout the trees and within the cave, all just watching this go on.

Just as he's about to restart his argument, he's interrupted by the sound of a bird chirping at him. Softly, but steadily growing louder. Growing frantic.

Great. Just what he needs, an annoyed Palisman practically screaming in his ears while he's trying to convince the Bat Queen to let him leave.

He can't tell what direction it's coming from or which Palisman. Only that it seems to be getting louder the longer he argues with the Bat Queen. It's only grating on his nerves because it's all he can focus on, the Bat Queen isn't even trying to argue back with him. He hates how she's just standing there, letting him yell at her. He snaps his mouth shut, cutting himself off as her eyes suddenly glow, just to fade as quickly as they started. Hunter stays quiet, staring at the Bat Queen as she frowns at him before sighing softly and hopping back a few steps.

“I am glad he found you.”

“What?”

“He’s been searching for his witch for many years… grimwalker or not, he chose you.”

Hunter yelps as something comes straight at him, moving too fast to make it out. Whatever it is, it slams into his chin, and he falls onto his back as the- the thing keeps pushing at him.

“My boy. My boy! Safe. Safe, promise. Miss you! Love you!”

…That’s not possible. It- That can’t be what he thinks it is.

His hands are shaking, he tries grabbing at the… at what’s nuzzling under his chin but he can’t. It’s like all his strength has been sapped out of him, be can’t even get his hands to curl enough to fit around… around the thing. This isn’t funny. He doesn’t know what the Bat Queen or the Palismans’ goal is here, but it’s not funny. There’s chirping, frantic and loud, whatever it is that’s making that noise, it moves away from his throat and flies up to his face. Hunter jerks his head back, eyes stinging as he takes in the red cardinal a few inches away from him.

“...F-Flapjack?”

Flapjack’s here, safe and alive.

There was a part of him that knew that Flapjack was okay, that the past version of his first friend was still out there somewhere, far away from Hunter and the trouble he brings. He knew that Flapjack had been with the Bat Queen for years from now, but he never expected Flapjack stayed with her this early on. Hunter doesn’t try to stop his tears, nor does he care about all the dirt sticking to him as he curls up then and there. He ignores the cold of the ground seeping through his clothes as he hunches over Flapjack. Cradling him oh so carefully to his chest, Hunter bites his lip as a sob threatens to slip out. Flapjack. Oh, Titan.

“I-I’m sorry, I’m so-so sorry…”

He killed him, he promised Flapjack that he’d keep him safe, that he wouldn’t let Belos touch him, and he failed. He hurt Flapjack and he was so useless against Belos that Flapjack had to sacrifice himself just to make up for it. Hunter will never forgive himself for that. He’d almost killed the others too, all because he was too weak.