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If Steve was being honest, he had no boiling clue on how it happened.
It being send back in time.
One moment he'd been celebrating with everyone else and the next he was back in his coven guard clothes, with mask on, standing at one of the many entrances of the castle. It's such an abrupt change in scenery and place that it doesn't quite register for him. He's even positioned differently and the change in clothes was not helping his confusion.
Except that this was the castle. The castle that was now suddenly whole again, and not ruins of an almost world ending battle. Okay, island ending not world ending battle, but it was pretty big and kind of his world that was ending so the analogy works.
He doesn't understand quite what happened. Not the first 5 minutes. Not the next 20 minutes either.
He just stands there. Guarding. Being a great coven member to a tyrannical ruler. And he was just some random guard. Doing his usual guarding duties that he's done since he got into the guarding position in the coven of the Emperor.
For a brief moment Steve even thinks he might've imagined everything, convinced himself that Emperor Belos was a evil being that sought to hunt all witches.
But Steve's imagination was not that good. Well maybe it is, but his imagination isn't that vivid. His thinking is far too literal and doesn't involve images in his head. Just his far too chaotic thinking.
Also, how would anyone imagine that much time in like seconds.
Maybe he's actually just dreaming about his time before everything went to shit and then got saved by the human.
Anyways, he doesn't notice he's back in time. He just idly stands there, wondering when the dream will end. Wondering if anything will happen or not.
It's his dream after all. So he stands there, imagining what he'll do when he wakes up. Maybe he can even make a joke about dreaming about his old job and how boring it was. It won't be that funny though, that would be kinda sad actually. Who dreams about working under a man that led an empire he wanted to burn to the ground? Steve, apparently.
Steve is a poor liar, especially to himself.
After the collective 30 minutes of trying and failing to believe this wasn't real he realized it probably maybe was.
Steve shuffled where he stood, glancing around. Hoping for a clue. Anything to tell him what the hells was going on.
Maybe some illusionist got him real bad. Maybe it was a fever dream. Maybe he just hit his head so hard that he's in a coma and this was all just some kind of weird coma dream to tell him some important message about himself.
It was getting closer to the hour mark, and he was still standing there. It was a good thing he was used to just standing around for such a long time. What wasn't good was that normally around the hour mark his replacement would show up. Guard rotations were pretty short so that guards would always be fully paying attention. Plus, it was really boring and no one wanted to do it for more than an hour.
Steve debated just leaving his post, just to see what would happen. He knows he was a bit, well, fanatical before. But he's not sure when this strange dream-like occurrence was being held. Also, what if it was a prank and he left and the person who pranked him made him walk into a tree?
He stays.
"What's going on Steve?" A familiar coven guard says. Not that Steve knew their name, they just had that distinct voice that Steve could vaguely recognize as that one guard.
There were a lot of 'that one guard' placements in Steve's head. Each with their own voice and ranked on their friendliness. It wasn't that Steve didn't try to remember their names, it was just that he was horrible at it. And he can't even see their faces either so he has to guess based on their voices. It's horrible. He mostly said you or avoided using names for people.
"Nothing much," Steve replied, knowing it's what he usually answers with. It was a pretty safe answer and it meant he didn't have to elaborate much on anything.
"What's up with you?" He asks, shuffling out of his place as the other guard takes his place.
The guard shrugs. "Nothing new. Hey, did you hear about that human appearing with the Owl Lady?"
Steve very carefully doesn't react at all. He tilts his head instead. "Human?"
The guard nods. "Yeah, there's a lot of rumors running in the mess hall about it."
Steve nods and walks off, knowing that's the end of the conversation and not wanting to linger there for no reason. The awkwardness would kill him.
Well, that's definitely not creepily the same as what happened before.
Maybe it was Luz playing a prank. Well, probably not. She wasn't that cruel. The guard wouldn't either, Steve doesn't know them that well. They probably wouldn't prank him.
Steve traces the same steps he did when this was all actually happening. Going towards the mess hall for more information.
_______________
It was almost like Deja Vu really, everything was exactly the same. Details Steve hadn't even remembered were the same. The conversations in the mess hall, the chaos, his old room.
The castle's flawless interior, the marching, the silence. Everything was the same.
It felt suffocating.
Steve never realized it before, how oppressive it really felt to walk these halls. To be a coven guard. He had an inkling before, the revelations he had about his situation went more towards his happiness. But being back right in the midst of it all, in the height of Belos' power, it felt like he was clay that had to fit it's mold or lose it's parts.
It was heavy. It was annoying.
Steve wasn't quite sure what to do about it.
It felt so very real, that it felt impossible to be fake. Like it couldn't possibly be something that someone made or he came up with. It couldn't be.
That wasn't the biggest thing though.
He could use magic, just the same as before the whole mess. Before Belos did the draining spell. Before the Collector turned everyone into dolls and made it harder for Steve to focus on his magic.
It felt clear to him now, like it would come without a doubt if he asked. Like he knew it would come without a second of hesitation.
It had been difficult before, or after everything. It had felt harder, and Steve wasn't bad at magic, on the contrary, how else would he have gotten into the guard. He was good at magic, sure he was average compared to the rest of the guard, but that meant he was at least better at using magic than most of the population.
Now he felt like he could really feel why. The way his magic called for movement, for a spell. The way it came so much easier. Maybe this awareness was something he had never consciously thought about, but now he was.
It felt brilliant.
Steve needed to do something.
If this was real, if it was really real.
He had to.
He never wanted to have difficulty using his magic again, he never wanted everyone else to have to struggle to use their magic. He never wanted Belos to crush the spirits of the Isles because he was a cruel man that should never have been emperor.
He didn't want his friends to get hurt again. Not like that.
But how?
He didn't have a special role, he wasn't even close to the emperor at all. He was a distant foot man at best.
Maybe he should focus on another angle.
Maybe Eda could help? No, she was dealing with the curse. And she wouldn't trust him. Not like before.
Also chances were he'd get caught and Steve really doesn't want to know what happens to guards that disappear.
Well he has an idea but still.
This was going to need more thought.
_______________
Steve wasn't the best at coming up with ideas. He was a pretty laid back person most of the time, able to roll with the punches.
He doesn't know how he's supposed to roll with time travel but he thinks planning a murder isn't the worst reaction or solution to his particular situation.
It wasn't that Steve was particularly murderous or wanted to join the ranks of murderers, but it was the only solution he could think of that would mean that Belos would never hurt anyone again. Seeing as he is planning the man's demise. Which he feels is a bit above his pay grade, but whatever. It's not like he really gets paid besides the weekly stipend they give for living.
Honestly it's a wonder no one else went rogue and murdered Belos yet. Seriously, they were getting treated like dirt and thanking the man for it. It was very strange to see everything without the hero worship.
Well Hunter had mentioned something about the previous golden guards? But Steve is going to be honest when he says he wasn't paying that much attention. Sue him, he was just distracted by other life altering news. Like the fact you can make shirts with your name on it.
He needs to get another Steve shirt fast. It helped with not conforming to conformity. He needs to stand apart from the masses and re-find his identity. Or maybe not since he already did that. Damn, this was far too difficult to think about.
Anyways, murder.
Specifically the murder of the emperor. Now, Steve knows that Luz had an epic fight with Belos and then he got killed by the Collector and then again by the boiling rain. Steve's not sure about getting the Collector out, he doesn't want to be a doll again, but boiling rain could be a solution to his problem.
Maybe.
He doesn't know how he can just make it rain. Maybe he can push the Emperor into the boiling sea instead.
Or maybe not. The man can teleport, he would not react well to getting pushed into the boiling sea. He might push Steve in instead.
That's not ideal.
Maybe he should get the Collector involved. It wouldn't be impossible to talk to the kid, right?
_______________
He regrets everything.
How hard could it be? He thought. He just had to talk to an Immortal kid! Forgetting that said kid had zero morals. And was also locked into some kind of weird round prison that Belos kept close.
Great, awesome. What the boils.
First he had to get close enough to Belos to figure out where he kept the round prison disk thing.
Not great but doable. No one really questions when Steve hangs around. Most people avoid him actually. Mostly because he tries to be as annoying as possible and people just try their best not to notice him so he doesn't talk to them. It's great.
He's practically invisible.
So he starts sneaking around. Looking around. Kikimora almost blew him up four times because he was breathing. She did not like him even when he wasn't actively planning treason.
Whatever. She was just missing out on his great presence.
Lilith was still there, which came as such a surprise. Steve forgot she used to be a fanatic follower too. Should he make sure she gets out too? Nah, he's sure she'll figure it out. Probably.
Hells.
His plan kept getting more details.
He'll figure it out.
So, Collector searching.
The basement left no clear answer besides the fact that there were a lot of dead golden guards. Steve likes to forget that part of his explorations. The portal wasn't there so it was just an empty space. Which sucked. He kinda hated that he had no clear information on where things were. He also found a creepy graveyard-like room, he's pretty sure Belos grew people in there. Steve never wanted to forget something as badly as that.
Why on Titan the man hadn't locked his damn doors was beyond Steve. Did he really think no one would snoop? Did he think he'd know if someone did? Belos hadn't caught Steve yet. So clearly the man wasn't omnipotent, just creepy.
So Steve started looking in places he technically shouldn't look. This is how Hunter almost pushed him off 3 different flights of stairs. Not as funny as it sounds, his heart can only take so much.
"I mean you were just standing there," Hunter said, his head tilted just so. It was the head tilt he used to do when he was trying to get on someone's nerves.
Steve knows this because he's pretty sure he taught the kid it. Going through multiple traumatic experiences together really meant they bonded a little bit at least. He didn't consciously teach him it, he's pretty sure the kid just picked it up from him.
Maybe he had always been a bit of an annoying guy, on purpose. Sometimes. Look, sometimes he got bored, there were only so many times he could talk about how cool the Emperor was before he sounded creepy and someone called a superior on him.
His friendship with Lilith came later, and he didn't rant about how cool she was that much either because she got made a public enemy very fast. Not that he didn't try but well, he got shoved off a cliff on purpose for it.
Maybe he should really rethink his career options, he gets shoved off a lot of things. It's kinda weird. That wasn't in his job description.
"I was looming, menacingly." He told Hunter, rolling his aching shoulder. He had to grab a bannister this time to avoid rolling down the stairs and he's pretty sure he dislocated his shoulder for a second. He's glad it popped back in because he knows for sure Hunter would feel extremely guilty if he knew that Steve dislocated his shoulder because of the kid.
"No, you were awkwardly standing there," Hunter said, sounding very sure of himself.
Steve made a face at the kid, glad no one could see it under his mask. But he hoped the kid could feel the– what did Luz call it? Vibes of it.
"I was doing my guardly duties and you just decided I deserved to roll off the stairs," he told the kid.
Hunter snickered, the kid's shoulders shaking with it. "I was just saying hello."
It was nice to see the kid so expressive. Should he feel guilty he's planning the death of the man that raised the kid? Nah, Belos did try to kill him. But Hunter doesn't know that. Should Steve tell Hunter his uncle wanted to kill him? Maybe he shouldn't. He's pretty sure the kid still worship's the ground the man walks on.
"You are a evil evil child," Steve whispered at him.
Hunter shrugged.
Yeah, Steve shouldn't re traumatize the kid. Maybe if he killed Belos discreetly the kid can continue thinking his uncle loved him. He wouldn't have to go through the angst. But then again, the kid never settled in his skin like when he finally found out the truth and found people that accepted him.
Steve really really wasn't made for this kind of thinking. Murder was easy, the consequences of his actions were not. This was horrible. Why was he the one that was here. He's sure if anyone else got send back in time they'd already solved everything and be on their merry way.
"So what are you doing here?" He asks the kid.
Hunter shrugs. "I don't have a mission so I was going to go to the library to see if I could find any more useful information."
What a nerd.
"Nerd," said Steve.
Hunter shoved him, luckily it was the opposite shoulder that ached so instead of bursting into tears Steve dramatically collapsed and called the kid a traitor.
But instead of the high pitched laugher he was expecting he heard absolutely nothing. When he looked up Hunter stood at attention, back straight and stuff. When Steve turned his head the other way he saw Belos, menacingly standing over him.
Now, most people would panic. Instead Steve debated just continuing laying there and pretending he died. Okay maybe he is most people and he is panicking.
Belos made eye contact with him, or Steve assumes it's eye contact except the man was wearing a mask so it was kinda hard to guess.
He got up, slowly. Hoping that if he didn't move too fast the man wouldn't say anything.
He absolutely didn't know what to say.
What would past him say?
He would be too embarrassed to say anything in front of his idol. Mortification would have made him frozen.
So silence it is.
They stood in silence.
Steve wondered if the ground could swallow him whole.
"You are standing outside of my chambers," the man finally said, voice almost bored but somehow still icy. Steve was kind of jealous at the man's ability to express so much contempt and none at all at the same time.
They were in front of the man's room. Oh Titan that was horrible. Well it would explain how the man just appeared there without them noticing. But still, he never thought he would know this information. He regrets everything.
"You are both far too loud for the time of day," the emporer added. Standing there menacingly. Or not menacingly, maybe he was bored and annoyed at them for being so loud. Steve couldn't guess.
Was it that late though? Steve went out at around the evening. Maybe he lost track of time. Well, all crimes did get committed at night. Except when Belos committed them, he would definitely commit crime during the day. He just had those, uh, vibes.
"I'm sorry uncle," Hunter immediately said.
Steve stiffly nodded. "Sorry Emporer," he echoed, pitching his voice higher in the hopes it would read as embarrassment.
He kinda was embarrassed, the man he planned to murder just caught him goofing around. That was kinda embarrassing.
"No matter, Hunter show the guard the way out. And don't let it happen again," the man said.
Okay, it wasn't the gloom and doom response Steve expected. That was good.
Hunter frantically nodded and then immediately turned around. Practically sprinting away.
Steve hesitated, bowed his head, and scrambled after the kid.
He could swear on the titan he heard the man chuckle menacingly at him. Maybe the man was haunted. Or he liked people running away in fear of him.
Either way that's another accident Steve tries to forget.
_______________
Steve stared morosely at the stupid moon disk that held the Collector.
In the end it was really really easy to find. Way too easy. It had not been worth all the effort, the blood, the tears, the broken bones, the explosions and the very high pitched screaming.
Steve had a very stressful last few, days? Weeks? Month?
It hadn't been great. He swears he can find a couple of grey hairs even. It's horrible. He's going to go grey before he's supposed to! How is he going to be the cool older brother when he has gray hair streaks. They'll think he's an uncle! Or worse, a grandpa.
No, absolutely not, he's going to dye his hair. That way no one will know the stress grey hairs. Least of all Matt. He has an image to maintain, and since he's going to get rid of Belos early he can have some actual quality time with his younger step brother.
Anyways.
Multiple stairs, cliffs, bad encounters with beings he will never name and a horrible terrifying chair later, he's finally found the thing.
It had been placed, and no one would believe it, in the room behind the throne room.
What a stupid place. Also very much impossible to get into since the Emporer was almost always in the throne room. So he had a hard time getting in there without you know, the Emporer catching him.
He only found it because when he and Hunter were playing catch around the heart of the Titan the Emporer got out of that room and Steve caught a glimpse of it.
The Emporer also had another silent staredown with them before telling them to scram. Steve was going two for two on not dying because he was doing something stupid while the Emporer was standing right there. He felt kind of lucky, regardless of the other horrible things that happened to him he will not name.
He finally got that chance to rob the disk when the Emporer had some kind of meeting with the coven heads, Steve didn't stick around to find the details. He was busy being a thief and a liar.
Anyways, stupid disk.
It was covered in some kind of canvas, now Steve could just carry it out but he's kind of sure the Collector has a telepathic link with the Emporer and he's not sure how the kid would react if he just, grabbed the disk and carried somewhere else.
So instead he took off his glove and mask, took of the canvas and touched the thing.
Immediately some kind of small shadow grew out of it.
"Hello! Who are you? Wanna play? Oh, better than that, get me out of here!" The Collector's high pitched voice immediately started speaking.
Steve grinned without his mask it felt great to actually smile at someone. "Hi Collector! I travelled back in time so I'm here to get you out of there. I'm Steve, how do I get you out?"
The Collector's shadowy print froze, face switched between happy and sad and then settling into something that Steve could almost say was confusion.
"You're really here to get me out?" The kid almost whispers.
Steve tilts his head. "Well yeah, Belos isn't gonna do it but you don't deserve to be stuck there. Sounds boring either way. But you gotta promise to listen to me because the last time you hurt a lot of people."
The Collector's image did a kind of wiggle like thing. "I pinky promise! Now please get me out?"
The shadow hand got into the disk and there was a tiny hand with a pinky in its reflection.
Steve kind of pressed his hand against it, hooking their pinkies and then pulled the kid out.
The Collector was small. Smaller than Steve remembered.
The sleep clothes and wide eyes did not help with that.
Oh Titan, he could feel the older brother instincts kicking in.
He crouched down, smiling at the kid. Trying to keep himself non threathening.
"Okay kid, we gotta get out of here. But we gotta be super careful. Do you want to hide under my cloak and be extremely silent so we can fool everyone?" He keeps his tone light, hoping it would come across as more of a game instead of making the kid feel like he was being told what to do.
The tiny kid nodded their head frantically, practically beaming at Steve. "Yes! Like a game! I'm the best at games. I'll be the quietest ever."
Steve nodded, standing up and then opening his cloak. The kid floated under it, small giggles escaped them. Steve was dying, tiny children were his weakness. There was a reason he took King on a tour to help the kid. There was a reason he made sure to mess around with Hunter. Boils, he would murder an Emperor so he could spend more time with his little brother.
His one weakness, none of it was his fault.
They slowly got out of the back room, Steve decided to be extra careful and put an illusion around them, which was stolen from Luz, to make them invisible.
It took a bit for the kid to understand how to float without getting out of the cloak, but they sounded like they had a great time so Steve said absolutely nothing about it.
They weren't the quietest but then again, the halls were mostly deserted so it wasn't like anyone would know.
Now he just had to get the kid to Luz, watch her do her friendship thingy and the world would be healed. Sorta. Maybe.
He should make better plans. That didn't rely on children. But it worked the last time, so maybe it'll work again.
Kindness was magic. For sure. How else would Luz do all the things she did?
It was nerve wrecking but they made it out of the castle, which was way more than Steve expected. Kikimora did turn around and stare at where they were standing for a full minute before she went away. Creepy being that she was. But they made it out.
He took the kid to where he stored his motorcycle, cancelled the spell and then removed his mask again.
"We're good!" He told the kid.
The Collector immediately darted out from the cloak, spun around in the air and cheered. "Look! I was the quietest and we won the game," the kid laughed.
Steve nodded, removing his cloak and storing it in the compartment of his motorcycle.
The kid floated closer and looked at it. "What's that?" They asked.
Steve grinned, deciding to sit on it and put in his helmet. He beckoned the kid closer and put a smaller helmet on the kid's head. It was Matt's but he's sure his brother wouldn't mind that the kid used it.
It looked a bit silly, with the sleep cap under the slightly too big helmet, but safety came first. Even for immortal children.
"This is my motorcycle, it helps me travel really fast. This thing next to it is for passengers, you can sit in it as I drive," he explained patiently.
The kid floated down and sat in the passenger car. Steve leaned forward and buckled the kid in.
"Now I know you're immortal and you can't get hurt, but I prefer you wearing the helmet and being buckled, it lets me know you're safe." Steve patted the kid's helmet.
The kid looked at him with big eyes and nodded. "Okay!"
Steve then turned on his motorcycle.
Time to ride.
_______________
Turns out riding a motorcycle was the greatest thing the Collector ever did. According to the kid.
The kid was practically vibrating out of their skin when they stopped. A really wide smile that hurt to look at because Steve could never smile that wide without hurting his cheeks.
But it was good, seeing the kid happy.
Steve took the kid's hand, and they walked towards the Owl House.
Hoort, immediately shot towards them when they got into view.
"Visitors!" Hooty screamed, the voice wasn't necessarily grating but it was way too loud.
Before Hooty got too close the door swung open, causing Hooty to slam into a tree instead of them.
The kid just watched it with wide eyes. Steve didn't know if he should laugh about the familair antics of the Owl House or not.
Eda stood in the door opening, her arms crossed and eye brow raised.
Steve grinned, swinging the arm that was holding hands with the kid for fun. It caused the kid to giggle so he took it as a win.
"Hello! I'm Steve, I time travelled. Wanna cause some chaos?" He asked.
Eda's face indicated she absolutely didn't believe him.
"Aren't you part of the Emporer's coven?" She asked.
Steve shrugged. "I mean I'm pretty sure he's gonna throw me out when he learns I'm planning his demise. Or that I let out this kid from their prison."
The Collector shrugged, swinging their interlocked hands themselves this time. Steve smiled at the action and used his other hand to pat the helmet the kid was still wearing.
"Absolutely not, go away." Eda said, being a responsible witch.
Unfortunately for her King and Luz launched themselves out of the house with wide eyes.
King rolled out and then struck a pose. "As the king of Demons I vote we get rid of the Emporer so I can take his place!" The kid exclaimed.
Luz laughed, tickling him. "I would follow this tiny terrifying king."
The Collector's attention was completely captuered by King.
"You're a titan!" The kid exclaimed, pointing at King.
King tilted his head. Luz did the same. Heck, Eda did it too.
Hooty was floating? Standing? Too close to Steve and breathing loudly. Man, Steve really missed the strange eltritch being that was Eda's house. He patted Hooty on the head. The owl thing let out a weird chirp like noise.
"A titan?" Luz asked. "But he's so small?"
The Collector let go of Steve's hand and floated towards King, circling the other kid with a big smile.
"That's because he's still young! But he looks just like his dad." The Collector said.
"Weh?" The confusion in King's voice was mirrored by the kid's body language. Head tilted and eyes big.
The Collector nodded. "Yeah! The big Titan," and then they pointed at the skull of the island.
The silence that fell could be counted as awkward. Steve counted it as very awkward. Way to go Collector, tell the kid they're all living on the kid's parent.
"Yeah, I found them like that," Steve felt the need to explain.
Eda snorted.
"Anyways, planning a dethroning, maybe even a murder. Who's in?" Steve asked.
Eda's look was very dry.
The Collector giggled. Steve fully knew the kid didn't know what death meant so the kid got a free pass. Hooty, who was very creepily giggling, had no such explanation. Besides being Hooty.
"Who are you?" Luz asked, excitement dripping off her.
"Steve," Steve replied. Then pointed at the floating immortal kid. "And that's The Collector."
"Oh! A title like me!" King cheered, clapping his hands together.
The Collector nodded.
"And you already know who we are?" Eda asked, planting a hand on her hip.
"Absolutely, Eda the Owl Lady, King the Titan, Luz the Human witch–" Steve counted them with his fingers, shot a look at Hooty and added another finger. "And Hooty, the Owl House."
Hooty cheered while wiggling his entire body. It was midly disturbing.
"So, time travel?" Eda asked. She was being surprisingly responsible.
Maybe Steve just never noticed because he was used to chasing after her while she cackled about never being caught alive. Oh well.
"I have no clue how it happened but it sure happened." He admits.
The kids seem to have bonded in the five seconds Steve had been thinking about everything that had happened. Somehow their binding involved chasing each other around. Steve is just glad the Collector hadn't broken out the very powerful powers.
They were just being kids.
"So," Eda said. "Plan is to get rid of the Emporer? Why?"
Steve turned to her with the eyes of a man that had seen too much. It was the look he had whenever he had to deal with, what Luz described as, a Karen. It wasn't because he was dealing with one, it was just his soul dying as he remembers the things that happened.
_______________
Explaining things was surprisingly easy.
Getting things to repeat was the hard part. Steve wasn't so sure on when things were going to go down exactly. The people still had their own lifes to live.
So assassinating the Emporer was more of a Steve job than a them job.
When he did explain to Luz that they should be very careful with the portal door, especially since the Emporer wanted it, Eda had confiscated it.
She also told the kid that if she wanted to go home that would be fine and that she can always come back.
That was pretty sweet.
The Collector had made a very strange friendship with King. It was strange mostly because the Collector was showing King how to Titan and King was menacingly cackling at everyone. The collateral damage was great, this glee was greater.
At least they had fun?
Definitely not the same as the last time, but Steve thinks it's a good difference. Nothing was hanging over their heads, they were just kids being kids.
The Collector also explained that they could still communicate with Belos, so the man wouldn't know anything was wrong. The kid delighted in the fact they could play a sneaky game. Steve was just glad no one would know of what happened.
Anyways, with that all solved Steve did have to return to the castle. Eda had told him he was free to crash at the Owl House if it was ever necessary, but Steve didn't think it would ever get that drastic.
But the most horrifying thing happened when Steve got back to the castle.
He got assigned Emporer guard duty.
Now, in the past this had never happened. Steve had always just been some guard.
Maybe he shouldn't have messed around so much with Hunter. But he feels like that was worth it.
Oh well.
Guard duty for the Emperor was basically standing still for about four hours while awkwardly pretending you hear nothing.
Which is how Steve accidentally saved the day.
By zoning out. And not being the best guard.
His great assassin planning things were unneeded in the end.
The Emperor tripled over the slightly uneven ground, caused by the Emperor so that's a bit ironic, and then somehow hit his head against something.
And now the man had amnesia. This was so wildly out of anything that Steve expected he kinda wanted to cry.
He's a tiny bit upset, he had so much effort and work and then bam. Now the man just didn't remember being an asshole.
Horrible. Awful.
"Thank you for helping me," Belos said, forgetting that he was an asshole and never thanked any of his guards before.
"No problem sir," Steve said with a shrug as he helped the man by fluffing up a pillow for his cot in the healing hall.
"Call me Belos," the man said kindly. Steve wanted to say absolutely not.
Instead he nodded. "Of course Emperor Belos."
How long did Steve plan only for it to fall apart by the Emperor's own hubris? Life was a curse and Steve's work was a joke. Clearly.
The man sighed. Good, maybe one day he'll know the exhaustion Steve went through. Traveling back in time and trying to kill him only for the man to get amnesia.
He can't do any murder related things now, he's not rude, he wouldn't do that kind of thing. Belos maybe would have. But Steve is a better person.
He's gotta tell Eda the murder plans are off.
What a shame.
Belos hums, shifting in the cot. Why was literally no one there? What was Steve supposed to do here? Stand in silence? With a man that lost his memories?
Boils this was awful.
"Do you— anything you want to know? I'm supposed to guard you for the next 3 hours so if you have any questions I can try to answer them?" Steve said, awkwardly shifting in place.
Belos' eyes were very intimidating, Steve found out. Especially when they were focused on you and the man was blankly staring at you. He's kind of glad the man doesn't remember shit about Steve.
"I have a nephew, right?" Belos asks, voice soft.
Steve nods. "Yeah, Hunter."
Belos smiles. "I remember him, I think? Doesn't he hang around you?"
Oh Titan, Belos remembered Steve's embarrassing moments. Why? Why Titan? Why must the universe hate him?
Steve's shoulders would be up at his ears if he had any less self control.
"Yeah, we uh, hang out sometimes." Steve tells the man.
Belos nods. "You seem like a reliable guard,"
The irony of everything isn't lost on Steve. This was horrible.
"I do my best?" He answers, hoping no one ever tells the man what he was planning. Maybe if he moves to the other side of the world he'll never have to deal with the consequences of his actions.
This was painful.
What had Steve ever done to deserve this? Planning a murder doesn't count, that happened afterwards.
That's when the door burst open and Hunter entered the room. Very dramatic. The kid was in near tears.
How did Steve leave without leaving. Could he go blind and deaf at the same time?
"Uncle!" Hunter said, teleporting next to the man. Eyes looking Belos over, probably looking for the injuries that caused the insomnia. Escept those were healed so nothing was really out of the ordinary.
Belos smiled at the kid. It was a very kind smile. Steve was debating drowning himself in the pond to escape the hellish word he created.
"Hunter," Belos said. "I've forgotten quite a bit, they said it was because I hit my head. Would you mind helping me in these trying times?"
Hunter immediately nodded. "Of course uncle!"
Well at least Hunter wouldn't cause the end of the world or something.
But Steve was still salty about his wasted work.
Whatever, the world was saved, he thinks?
He's going to nap and resign. Tour the Isles again maybe. Spend some time with his brother and then the other kids.
No one will stop him!