Chapter Text
Hurried footsteps echoed the halls. They weren’t the normal pitter patter heard from scouts marching to their positions or coven heads making their rounds. They were running…
“Oh titan! She got away, of course she got away. When Belos finds out she’s escaped capture again he’s going to kill me” He muttered under his breath as he ran
After running for what felt like hours, the boy had finally arrived at Belos’s chamber. The chamber itself had a golden monochromatic theme, and was mostly bare aside from two large pillars and two smaller pillars that comprised the furthest walls of the room. The larger pillars were draped with ornate flags of equal size while the smaller pillars, surrounding the main attraction of the room, were etched with decadent symbols and markings. Of course, the real appeal of this room, however, was its main centerpiece, a large rose gold throne with a giant green-tinted beating heart suspended above it. There the ominous silhouette sat hidden by the flickering light of dimly lit candles.
“Ah, Hunter, there you are! How did your mission go?” the voice spoke with earnest
The sound of his voice sent a sharp jolt down Hunter’s spine. He could almost swear his uncle already knew the answer and was simply giving him a chance to confess first. Before Hunter could utter a word though, his uncle continued, as if a reply had already been given.
“You know I only want what's best for you. The Titan has big plans for you Hunter, but you must prove your devotion. There are expectations of you, yet you’ve come back empty handed on your first major mission.”
Despite his fear, Hunter resolved to maintain a straight face as to avoid provoking his uncle’s curse.
"I’m sorry, uncle, but if you would just understand. We had the owl lady in our custody but when the guards were interrogating her she managed to use wild magic to escape. There were many scouts injured after she fled capture and I know it’s not what the mission was for but we still have some of her confiscated belongings.”
“What have I told you about referring to me as ‘Uncle’ when on duty? When you don your uniform, you shall refer to me exclusively as Sir or Emperor Belos. Or do you need another lesson to help you remember?” Belos stated with ire
“N-no, sir. My apologies, I will not make that mistake again” Hunter bowed his head in submission
“The Titan did not task you with collecting worthless trinkets. You were to capture the owl lady and bring her to me.” His voice now boomed throughout the empty room
“If you would be so generous as to extend me grace, I promise I will not let you down again, sir. Please, just give me a chance to make it up to you!”
He slowly and carefully pulled out a small bag labeled “Owl Lady Junk” but before he could expose its contents Belos extended a long green tendril, fast like whip, and grabbed the bag from Hunter’s now shaking hands.
“I shall take a look at the 'junk' you obtained from her myself, then I'll decide what punishment befits you."
Belos swiftly poured out the contents of the small bag onto his hand. Among the items was a ball of slime, a few teeth, and half a snail. Nothing particularly extraordinary had caught his attention. That is, until he uncovered a key. A key! Now, THAT was truly an extraordinary find! Perhaps Hunter’s purpose had not yet reached its end after all.
Hunter stared cautiously at Belos who had now become fully entranced by his discovery of the key. Still shaken from the outburst, he hoped, perhaps naively, that Belos might show him mercy. Plagued with the knowledge Belos was not a merciful man. He was left trembling from the thought of what punishment could await him. His sunset eyes began to fill with tears as he recalled how unrelenting his last lesson was. Yet, he remained determined to hide the fear on his face, quickly wiping his watery eyes and forcing his quiver into a steadfast grimace.
Despite his expectations of an especially grueling punishment, Belos simply looked up once more before quickly saying “Leave now”
“You aren’t going to punish me? Aren’t you still upset that I failed to deliver the owl lady to you?”
Why did I say that? Why did I say that? Maybe he changed his mind and I just challenged him? Titan, I am such an idiot. Idiot, idiot, IDIOT!
“Leave at once, child. Hurry now!” Belos, said with a now commanding if not downright threatening growl in his voice
Upon hearing those words, Hunter chose to not question Belos any further and hurriedly exited the room. And he ran, oh how he ran! He ran like his legs were on fire, like if he stopped now the world would simply end. Through the many halls of that unwavering, emotionless castle. Had he been allowed he’d probably have broken the sound barrier just to get to his room. However, while on his mission to be the fastest witch to ever go to their room, he was stopped in his tracks by none other than Kikimora. Kikimora. He never understood why she seemed to hate him so much, as he hadn’t done anything to spite her as far as he could recall. For as long as he could remember she always acted cruel and cold towards him even when he was just a helpless kid. Well, he was still just a kid, just not a helpless one he had thought.
“Well if it isn’t the Golden Guard. Did Belos find out about your little failed mission to capture the owl lady? Judging by that pathetic teary eyed face of yours, he did. Oh, I bet he’s gonna punish you big time for this one.” she spoke with such joy it was sickening
Although Hunter was usually not one to back down from a fight, especially when it was Kikimora on the other end, he found himself unable to look up, let alone speak to her. Instead all he could muster up was an exhausted glare before quickly speeding up once more, this time to a much smaller degree towards his room.
Finally he arrived at his bedroom door, though it certainly felt more like a cage than a room. He slowly twisted the knob to his door as if whatever awaited him on the other side would jump out at him once it was open. Now, he stared, eyes glazed over, into a completely bare room that was “decorated”, if you could call it that with a scrappy bed, bedside dresser, and a completely barren shelf. He slowly entered the room while trying to steady himself from the panic he had just felt. He softly plopped down onto his bed and found himself staring at one of the many blank walls in his room defeated. He couldn’t stop himself from questioning why his Belos had chosen to withdraw his punishment, as he tried to calm his tremors. He had done everything wrong, he knew his Belos should have punished him. Soon his thoughts were filled with cruel ideas of what it all meant. Was this his punishment, being sent away without a chance to redeem himself? Not allowed to help his Belos who he was so desperate to. But, amidst those spiraling thoughts, he was hit with a brief moment of clarity.
The key! That was what uncle had been so fixated on before sending me away! Why did he care so much about that key that he revoked my punishment?
“I have to figure this out, clearly that key is very important. Maybe it has something to do with his curse. Maybe I can use it to heal his curse and then he’ll let me be around him again!”
However there was one major issue: where would Belos be keeping the key? If the key was as important as he had made it seem, there's no way he’d keep it in the evidence room. Hunter took a moment to think about where the key might be stored. Then it hit him- something that important to Belos would never leave his side. He was probably keeping it in his pocket.
How will I get that key now?
Hunter found himself once again lost in thought, wondering how he’d achieve his new mission. But soon it came to him, Belos was holding a special meeting with the coven heads later in the day, that he wasn’t invited to. He was sure, in order to prepare, Belos would leave his outfit unattended if only for a few minutes. That’s it, he just needs to wait for Belos to prepare himself for the meeting then he’d be able to sneak in and snatch the key, easy! Now, he just had to wait for the right time.
Less than an hour remained until the meeting, this is the moment Hunter had awaited. Swiftly, he left his room, and headed towards Belos’s chamber. As he neared the door, unfamiliar voices reached his ears, his uncle's authoritative tone speaking to an unknown, higher-pitched voice that carried an unsettling blend of childlike innocence and sinister amusement. That was until it laughed, its laugh was more malevolant like that of a hyenas. Hunter was conflicted, on one hand he wanted to just leave and wait for a better time to strike, on the other hand he wanted to stay and listen for curiosity's sake. He was about to make like a tree and leave until he heard the new voice say "What about that blonde-haired one? I really thought you were going to go all blagaghaha on that kid."
He decided to listen just a little longer as he heard his uncles voice begin to echo out
“Not as long as does what he’s told. Though lately he has been acting out of line, letting the owl lady escape while aiding injured scouts, and speaking out of turn. Another misstep like those, and I might have to sooner find a replacement. It would be unfortunate to lose one so young. Their defiance seems to be manifesting at increasingly tender ages."
“Hehehe, you’re gonna break him like the others! Oooh! How are you gonna destroy it this time? Are you gonna tear its head off or burn it like the others? I love hearing their laughter when they are on fire!”
Hunter felt his heart sink upon hearing those words. Titan, he really is going to kill me. What do I do?
“Collector! We are not destroying anything. As long as he remains obedient, there's potential to work with him. After all, we cannot afford to keep replacing them, and we're ahead of schedule."
Hunter felt mildly relieved to hear that. At least he wasn’t dead yet. Hunter then decided to take a peek inside the chamber and caught sight of Belos brandishing the key.
“Now that I have the portal key, I will be able to return to the human realm. Making my mission much easier.”
Hunter was not only sick to his stomach but more intrigued and doubtful of his uncle’s righteousness. He could feel his stomach churning from the comments Belos made about him. He wanted to scream, cry, and throw up at the same time. He once again ran to his room this time with little restraint on the tears coming down his face. The world spun around him as his thoughts became muffled pleas of fear. He couldn’t tell up from down, left from right, all he knew was that if he messed up one more time…
He refused to think about that, he couldn’t bear the thought that he had let Belos down. That he had let the titan down. If he was killed for his mistakes he’d have deserved it for being such a failure. He laid on his bed as he pleaded to the titan, wherever he was, if he could even hear him at all, to give him a second chance at life. He was so sorry, for failing his mission, for speaking out of turn. He was sorry for existing as a powerless witch, knowing that just being one was a burden to his uncle who had so kindly and selflessly taken him in.
None of this matters now, I have to make this right because if I don’t… Gah! I will make this right! It must’ve been the titan’s will for me to hear my unc- Belos say those things. The titan was just trying to prevent me from messing up again!
His wishful thinking soothed him, from his fear of the much worse reality. That Belos had chosen to hurt him, that it wasn’t necessary. Oh, little Hunter would much sooner believe that his suffering was earned from the mistakes he made than believe, his uncle, the only family he had ever known, didn’t actually care for him. Even though a part of him doubted it was true, he chose to make believe. And with those thoughts, he was able to fall asleep.
The next morning, around 5:30 am, he was awoken by a soft knock to his door. He jumped up in panic thinking he had slept in. He got himself ready, careful to make sure his mask was on as Belos did not like others seeing him. As he opened the door, he found a coven scout standing on the other side, holding an envelope in his hand. Hunter quickly snatched it from the scouts hands, then slammed the door.
The note read “Hunter, due to your lack of success during your first mission, I would normally assign you a punishment. However, I am feeling generous, so instead I am giving you a second chance to prove your loyalty. I am tasking you with feeding our captive basilisks. Unfortunately, even corrupted creatures like those must eat. Successfully complete this mission and I shall expunge you of your past misdeeds. - Belos”
Hunter nodded at the paper as if to tell it he was done reading. He had to admit he was a little relieved not only for the fact that he hadn’t mistakenly slept in but that he was also not being punished.
Basilisk feeding duty, I can do that. I won’t mess it up this time! And maybe if I do the job really really well unc- I mean Belos will let me help again!
This was his chance at redemption, or at least, to him, it was. So, following those orders, he moved quickly, making his way to the basilisk cells. Along the way, he stopped by the castle’s kitchen, where he grabbed some stale bread and a small assortment of overripe fruit, which he then shoved into the bindle he was carrying. After that, the journey was relatively short—just down the 30 flights of stairs in the prison to the very bottom. Past the rightmost door, down a series of corridors, until he reached the basilisk room. There, he stood, with fear in his heart upon the sight that layed in front him. Behind cages, in chains, wallowing and wailing in pain. He’d be mortified if training hadn’t braced him for what he’d see, teaching him that basilisks were monsters that lived only to eat the magic of every witch with no discrimination. With the display in front him, however, he had a hard time seeing the brutality of these creatures. There was no shouting or slashing of claws but there was screaming. Though these weren’t screams of anger, no. They were screams of anguish!
How can these be the magic-hungry creatures I was told about? They aren’t supposed to be scared. They aren’t supposed to feel pain.
Hunter’s thoughts raced with the pain of a million fairy bites or stings of crab apples. His heart began to grow heavy at the possibilities.
Are these experiments hurting these creatures? Does Belos know this is happening? Is this what he intends to do?
The thoughts get louder, engulfing his entire mind. Now, they are racing and vibrating throughout his skull. Filled with fear, his body starts shaking, tears filling his eyes. He is left with only one thought remaining.
Are these creatures innocent?
Nonetheless he must continue, he has a mission of which to do. Powering through his disgust he made his way into the room. The room was monotonous with cracks spanning the dirtied grey walls it had. The floors looked as if they were originally meant to shine but were now resigned to a fate of dullness due to the smudging of footprints and bile. Covered in blood, it was vile. He saw basilisks of all shapes, sizes, and ages. Looking around at all the sullen sunken faces, some filled with tears, some noticed him too. Hands still shaking he made his way into the bag carrying their food. Filled with regret for choosing such rotten food, of anything he could’ve taken. He could hardly bear to look into their unsteady eyes as they would beg and plead to be freed.
“Please, we beg of you, free us! They are torturing us, they are killing us! Our children! Please, don’t let them hurt them too! It’s cold in here and we’re bleeding out! Please, don’t let them kill us! We’ll do anything, just end our suffering. FREE US! ”
Hunter’s heart ached with each step he took. Hearing desperate pleas from every corner in that room. With every voice that echoed out he found himself drawing near the locks of the cells. He resisted the temptation filling his chest, knowing if Belos knew. He’d be dead too.
Cautious with every step he took, he now reached the back of the room. Looking into the final cell, he saw a different scene unlike the others so far. There in the cell sat a child, only a couple years younger than him. He reached into his bag finding it empty, he hadn’t brought enough food.
Oh titan, Oh titan! Of course I didn’t bring enough food! Especially for the basilisk who seems to need it most. I can’t even get this right! Of course, I would mess up such a simple mission. How does Belos even manage to deal with me?
As these new thoughts began to cloud his mind, he heard a distinct voice that stood out from the rest of the cacophony, behind him.
“Please, I know you have a job to do. But, please. Even if you can’t free the rest of us, spare the child. You’re young as well, right? We’re used to suffering, poked and prodded, electrocuted, and starved but she is only a kid. She deserves a better life, one outside of here. How would you feel if this was you? Take her out of here, take her far away! Do whatever you need to do to get her out of here. Please, I beg of you!”
Hunter stared with a blank face, no longer able to form words. He was only 10 years old, given a choice of life or death and he wasn’t sure whose. She’d die in these cells but if he was caught he’d die a traitor to the only family he ever knew.