It was hard not to notice the change in his demeanor. He was not as obedient as he once was, but that was to be expected of a boy his age. As long as he still kept up with his work, came to the Throne when asked, and gave those little unexpected but welcomed surprises, Belos was more than happy to let Hunter run off to play his little 'love game'. Perhaps in the long run it will either teach Hunter a valuable lesson or can be used to better...tame the teen.
Belos was hesitant to use the key Hunter had brought to him, the titan blood inside too valuable and hard to replace like a lot of other aspects in The Day of Unity. From the Coven Leaders, to the door, to the heart, to Hunter himself, everything needed to be in the right place and order when the time came. And it will be arriving very soon… Belos could feel it in his very bones. The sacrifices he would have to make in the future, though painful, would be well worth it in the end.
Thinking of the boy… Belos turned his head away from the portal, pondering on where his right-hand was. Hunter had left on patrols earlier in the day yesterday, but seemingly was caught in the boiling rains that started in the early evening that lasted well into the morning. But the rain had stopped now, and he had yet to report in… Perhaps he was trying to catch up on duties? Or at worse he was playing hookie and was with this little friend he had been seeing. Belos lowered his journal, rubbing his chin in thought.
'Perhaps I should have a chat with Hunter, make sure he hasn't grown too attached to this person he is sneaking out to see…' Belos closed his eyes in thought. He had control over the boy, so a little chat will do him well to keep him in line.
'Or you can let the teenager be a teenager for once in his titandamn life…' A voice forced itself into the back of his brain, making Belos growl and turn back to the portal. What did he know anyway?
Willow starred in half bafflement, half amusement at the sight before her. Hunter, disgruntled as he was, had his arms outstretched as all of the palisman perched on him and looked him over. Shimmer hung off his right arm, Clover was on his head, Lil' Rascal on his left hand, Ghost had made their way to his shoulders, and Owlbert was even resting on his left elbow. Luz was circling him, holding her phone up and taking a lot of pictures.
"I see today is a day to test my patience." Hunter commented, narrowing his eyes at Gus and Amity who were all he could really turn to glare at, since Luz was now behind him.
"Hey! I want in on the torment!" King ran up, pouncing up to land on Hunter's chest, clinging on to the shirt of the stumbling teen who, surprisingly, didn't lose or shift one palisman.
"What am I, a tree?!" Hunter was annoyed, but it was obvious to Willow that deep down Hunter was as amused as everyone else, his ears flicking around with a slight tint of red.
"I wonder what else we can stack on him…" Gus rubbed his chin, receiving a glare from Hunter.
"I heard that!" Hunter tried to put on an annoyed scowl, but it was hard to keep his facade when he had to fight his own face in an attempt not to smile. King scampered up, trying to take his rightful place on Hunter's shoulders but the cat palisman was not backing down, hissing and batting at the skull demon.
"Stop that!" King whined, batting at Ghost back. " I am your King, and you will obey me!" The palisman growled back, shifting to better cling onto Hunter's shoulders. He knew that the cat had probably dug their claws into him, but he couldn't feel any pain so he wasn't worried. "Amiiittyyyyy!" King whined, looking back at the purple haired witch, who laughed into her hand.
"Ok, ok, that's enough, Ghost. Come back here." Amity ordered, the palisman fixed a look on King before gracefully jumping off Hunter's shoulders and trotting over to Amity, electing to perch on her instead as King wrapped himself around the teenage boy's neck.
"Yes! This is my ride now! Ha!" King mocked Ghost. Owlbert and Shimmer soon left Hunter, as well, going to Luz and Gus, leaving only Lil' Rascal and Clover left on the blonde. Lil' Rascal chirped, joining Clover on the top of Hunter's head to finally give the freedom of both hands back to his witch. Willow covered her mouth, trying to hide the smile she still had as she looked over Hunter. It was...a bit surprising that he was even allowing King to remain on his shoulders. Luz now appeared in front of Hunter, taking a few more pictures with her phone as he fixed her with his glare.
" So other than testing my patience, may I ask why I was brought out here?" Hunter folded his arms over his chest. He knew he had to return to the castle soon, else his workload would just keep getting bigger and bigger, but how could he refuse to come and see the group after how nice they had been?
"We wanted to invite you to the amusement park!" Gus looked excited. " They have a new attraction that opened, and it would be great to bring you with us!"
"Amusement park?" Hunter repeated, unable to stop a small frown from appearing on his face.
"Yeah, man! They say this new attraction is like a house of mirrors, but one of the mirrors will actually show what you will look like in the future! I bet I am going to have a really cool beard!" Gus rubbed at his chin as he thought of the beard. Hunter gave an amused snort, but still had the frown.
"I-I don't think I'd be able to go today, guys." Hunter admitted, going to rub his neck but finding King's head instead. Without thinking he just started to pet the top of the demon's skull. " I have been out of the castle for too long as it is...My uncle will be wondering where I am."
" Aww man!" Gus slouched, Amity reached over to pat the younger teen on the shoulder.
" Well, no one said we HAVE to go today or never." Luz reminded the group, putting her phone in her pocket. " Maybe next weekend, Hunter?" She looked at the boy, who hummed and gave a small shrug.
"I can't really confirm or deny anything scheduling wise. The Golden Guard duties can be...fickle at times." Hunter shrugged, feeling a bit strange that he was talking about his role so openly to the group. " T-though I can certainly try! But don't feel like you guys have to wait for me."
"Nah, man! We are definitely going to wait for you! After all, it will be loads more fun with you there!" Gus gave Hunter a double thumbs up, smiling at the older teen.
" Also Gus has been wanting to nonstop talk to you about the human realm." Amity spoke up, smirking as Gus glared over at her. Willow had moved to Hunter's side, taking his arm gently in his and smiling up at him in the way, he noticed, she only did to him.
" We can play it by ear like we do when meeting up in the grove." She said, moving to pick up Clover off his head. Lil' Rascal gave a few chirps, looking down at his witch.
"Yeah...let's do that, then. I look forward to it." Hunter replied, forcing himself to look away from Willow and to the others, " But, Lil' Rascal is right. I need to get back to the castle before Belos sends someone to find me."
" Awww! But you are so much taller than everyone else!" King whined as Luz moved to pick him off Hunter's shoulders.
"Next time, Bud." Luz sat King on her head, before stepping back from Hunter. " Don't be a stranger, either! If you wanna swing by the Owl House I told Hooty not to attack you on sight."
"Wow, I feel special." Hunter snorted, before giving a small laugh. He turned to give Willow a quick kiss on her cheek without thinking about it, before standing straight. 'I really need to check with her first before I do these things...titan I am an idiot.'
"Stay safe, ok?" Willow said up to him, still holding onto his arm, not willing to let him go just yet. Hunter looked back down at her, giving her a smile and nod as he patted one of her hands with his. He was doing his best to ignore the human's squealing… Why does she do that? Hunter didn't have time to fix Luz with a glare before Willow stood on her toes to give him a quick peck on the lips and finally let his arm go. Hunter stood there baffled for a few moments, before Lil' Rascal's chirps alerted him that he needed to go, not stay here being awestruck by Willow. Hunter cleared his throat loudly, finally turning away from the group, making it a point not to look at anyone.
"A-Anyway! I will see you guys later!" Hunter held his hand out to summon The Golden Staff, making his retreat. Before he left their sight, however, he took a quick look back to Willow, smiling to himself as he watched, her eyes still on him, disappearing out of his sight under the tree cover.
" You two are so cute together!" Luz squealed over at Willow, who gave a small laugh into her hand as she turned to the other three.
"So, with Hunter out, what would you guys like to do today?" She asked the others, walking over to join them in their circle.
"Shoot…" Amity snapped her fingers before turning to look where Hunter disappeared. " I meant to ask Hunter if he knew about Darius' uh… invitations."
"Invitations?" Luz tilted her head as she looked at Amity.
" Yeah...every year Darius, the leader of the Abomination Coven, holds this grand party on his birthday. Every year he invites The Blights, mostly out of obligation I think, and Edric, Emira, and I are forced to go whether we like it or not." Amity shrugged before sighing, " Well… this year Darius made it a point to include a 'Special Guest'..."
"Let me guess…" Willow sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose, " 'The Golden Guard'?"
" Eeyup…" Amity confirmed.
The Golden Guard walked down the hallway with purpose, having caught up with his duties surprisingly quickly and with little to no interruptions. He was on the way to check up on the last thing on his to-do list, the Beast-Stables at the castle that he liked to make sure were in perfect condition. It was important to him that the magical beasts that were part of The Emperor's Coven were well treated, and if his reports held true there would be a very interesting new arrival appearing in the next couple of weeks.
'I wonder if I will be able to head back out of the castle after this...probably not. I shouldn't push my luck.' Hunter thought to himself, though his duties were important to him, he longed for nothing more than to be at the amusement park with his...friends. They where his friends? Weird… He had friends now? Friends his age? This was definitely strange.
"Hehehe!" The familiar snarling laughter of a demon sounded from next to The Golden Guard, making him stop and turn to look.
"Eberwolf." Hunter regarded the coven head, giving them a nod. The demon jumped down from the ledge they were on, snarling and sniffing at him. " I take it you are here to look over needed changes at the beast stables for our new beast?" They gave a few nods, turning to walk with The Golden Guard to the stables.
Out of all the Coven Heads, Eberwolf was one of the few that The Golden Guard was on more friendly terms with. They did their job, did it well, and were not as stuck up and snobbish as some of the others. If Hunter had to rank them, they would be in top three behind The Healing Coven head, and Raine Whispers...though they had not been seen in a while. Maybe he should update the list to put the Potion or Plant head on it?
Eberwolf let out a few snarls and snorts, their form of speech.
" I have not...please, do inform me." The Golden Guard sighed slightly, half dreading what Eber was about to tell him. In a few more snarls, then a laugh, The Golden Guard couldn't help but give a louder and more audible groan. " Of course he did… Perhaps I need to have a word with Darius, then. I will not be making any speech on his behalf."
As the two entered the stables, Hunter quickly looked around as Eber gave a few more of their words. The Golden Guard couldn't help but give a small snort. They were right, just because Lilith played the 'public figure' game didn't mean he had to, even more so when he was being forced to the party.
" Well, thank you for informing me, Eberwolf. I'll let you get back to your duties." The Golden Guard dismissed the coven head, who turned to scurry off to the back end of the stables where a mix of Emperor's, Construction, Beastkeeper, Illusionist, and a few Healer coven members gathered, going about building the large enclosure. Hunter folded his arms behind his back as he went through a mental checklist, looking over first the stables to his left carefully to see the conditions of the pen, how the beast reacted to being looked at, and eyeing its general health.
After going through each pen slowly, he found himself in front of the new addition, still empty but almost ready for when the creature would arrive. They were obviously expecting it to struggle a lot. The pen, though more appropriately he should call it a cage, was lined with extra metal and steel. From what he could tell they were enchanted to help keep the creature subdued.
"So, do you know what they are throwing in there?" An Emperor's scout asked another, quietly but The Golden Guard could still hear her.
"I heard it was some sort of snake or something?" The other scout shrugged, looking up and over the cage. " It must be a pretty big guy if we need something this big."
The Golden Guard refrained from speaking up, he knew what was going in the cage and deep down...he didn't agree with it. The cage was too small for the creature as well, purposely built that way so it had less room to cause havoc and better break its spirit. But, how could he fight Belos against keeping such a creature? Instead, he turned to start his checklist with the rest of the pens. About half-way through being interrupted by a familiar voice.
"Golden Guard." Captain Magz saluted him. " Emperor Belos is asking for your company in the Throne Room."
"Very well, Captain. Thank you." He couldn't help but feel a bubble of dread as he went to leave the stable. As Hunter kept his pace to the throne he couldn't help but wonder what his uncle was going to need of him this time.
_AN_
Thank you guys so much for reading, again! Remember to leave a comment, I thrive off seeing what your thoughts are! So...I want to warn you guys before the next chapter comes out... The start of the new arch is going to be diving into some heavy matter, and will be upsetting for some people to read. There will be a BIG warning for when the new chapter drops. As always I love you guys!