As Hunter stood, arms folded behind his back in two fists, Steve on his right, Diyanna on his left, he was chewing on his lower lip to prevent him from coughing. The dread he was feeling deep in his heart was something he never had been used to. The party had been going on for a good hour now, and The Golden Guard stated he was going to leave in a half-hour to attend to his coven business.

So far, at least, no one had approached him but Darius, who gave a pleading attempt to have The Golden Guard make a speech, which he politely refused and instead offered Steve to make one. Darius was a fool to let Steve anywhere near the mic, but the crowd honestly ate up everything Steve had said. The man would definitely make a great comedian.

Hunter's stomach churned again as he spotted Amity in the crowd, who for the most part, was trying not to stare at him with recognition. She had given him a friendly wave, which he was unable to return, instead he found himself just slightly nodding to her. He was sure tomorrow morning she was either going to be first to kill him or resurrect him to kill him again. What bothered him the most was Amity's knowing smirk on the occasions she couldn't help but look at him. Like she was in on a secret that he didn't know about. To be fair, she probably was.

Willow had said she had a surprise, but Hunter forced himself not to think about it. It would just make what he had to do a lot more painful...soon enough Hunter had begun to force himself to stare at the ceiling as time moved dreadfully along.

Occasionally he would hear people commenting on his attire, how nice he looked in his 'formal gear', a golden vest with a black long sleeved undershirt, and a bright red tie he had picked out. His cape in this outfit was a lot shorter, ending with a short golden frill at the bottom, and had a nicer shoulder-brace than his usual one. He kept his hair hidden under the cloak, still, and of course the mask, the fabric he had on the inside keeping his still glowing eyes from alerting at a deeper problem.

Soon enough Hunter heard the chiming of a loud clock, alerting him...it's time. Hunter closed his eyes for a moment, before moving to look to his sides at his guards. "Alright, I need to head out now. You two enjoy yourselves if you wish to stay, if not I will see you both at the castle soon." Hunter dropped his arms, turning on his heel to head out. Steve and Diyanna saluted, before the two turned to each other to chat. Hunter didn't try to figure out their words, he was...on a mission now after all.

He was glad that as he left he had no one try to stop and chat with him. Darius had been distracted in his own conversations, Amity was on her little round toy thing, probably messaging Luz, and anyone else knew better than to try to approach The Golden Guard as he summoned his staff to his hand. He mounted and set off, flying as quickly as he could away from the mansion, but going to a crawl after it had left his sight…

He didn't want to do this...he really didn't want to do this.

'It will be ok, Hunter.' His subconscious spoke. It sure has been speaking up a lot more lately… Hunter took a deep breath in, pulling his hood off his head but leaving his mask on as he picked up the pace to The Grove. No more hiding...he had to be brave...he had to make his sacrifices and if Willow ended up doing to him what she almost did to Boscha well…

He would accept that fate.

Soon Hunter was just above the grove, staring down at it as he felt the bubbles of pain and fear rising in his stomach again. The field was dark, no sign of any life...maybe Willow had left before he arrived? He knew that he wasn't as lucky… He swallowed deep, trying to steel his nerves before diving down and gently landing in the middle of the grove.

As his feet made contact with the dirt, he put the staff away and looked around for the raven-haired girl. The darkness of the next-to-moonless night made it even harder for him to see through the felt. But as he turned, he saw spells starting to activate on the towers, dozens and dozens of glowing orbs rising up into the air from all around. New plant life, from grass, to flowers whose petals glowed and let off tiny orbs of their own glowing pollen, to mushrooms that surrounded the area had illuminated in different colors, adding to the atmosphere. Hunter turned slowly, his heart unable to stop feeling like it was fluttering before he finally saw her…

Willow stepped forward from where she had hidden behind a nearby tree, illuminated so amazingly by the lights she had created. She was wearing a beautiful green gown that ended just above her knees, a few flowers pinned her hair out of her face, and it appeared she was wearing a small amount of lipstick as she smiled at Hunter, a deepening red blush on her cheeks.

'Oh no…' Was the only thought that Hunter had as he stared at her from under his mask, awestruck, burning fire in his heart but...so much pain. He was glad he knew better than to take his mask off, he was pretty sure he bit his lower lip so hard it was bleeding, and he knew he definitely now was crying. There was no way he could do this… No way in the skies, realms, or anywhere…

" Hey…" Willow spoke up, shyly as she stepped closer to him, pushing her hair back. She still had that beautiful smile on her face, the red in her cheeks only adding to her charm. It made Hunter hurt so much...too much. " I-I uh...I remember what you said once about not having a ballroom partner and…" She let her words fall off, looking away from his as she twirled a finger in her hair.

'Oh no no no no no, Willow, noo…" Hunter felt his face contorting under the mask, he was trying so hard to keep from shaking.

"Well...I wanted to surprise you….so…" Willow looked back up at him, that damn heart stopping smile still on her. " Will you teach me?"

Those were the magic words… Hunter was unable to keep his facade. He shook visibly before he choked back a sob and collapsed to his knees in front of her. It was too much! Way too much! How could Belos possibly be right?! How could she ever hurt him?! How could- His thoughts were cut short by two concerned hands on his shoulders, Willow pushing him up slightly to look at him.

"Hunter?!" She looked almost horrified, but not by him. " W-was this too much? I-I am so sorry! I should have asked first and I was just so caught up in the moment with-" Hunter couldn't stand it, she was panicking and he didn't know what to do other than move to wrap his arms around her and pull her in tightly. After a moment he felt her hug him back. " Hunter?" She asked, more gentle this time, but concern was still in her voice. Hunter just couldn't stop himself...he let out a sob as he turned to dig the mask into her shoulder.

"I-I can't...I just…" He whispered out, his voice hoarse again as he tried to force a sentence out. Willow moved her hand to the back of his head, petting it as she gave a small shushing sound.

"You don't have to teach me, it's ok. We can just spend the night here instead, yeah?"

'Ooh Willow…' Hunter couldn't help but tighten his grip around her, afraid that if he let go she would disappear. How could he possibly go about explaining what he was actually here to do? Hunter sniffled, unable to finally keep it down. He pulled back from her suddenly, forgetting about his mask as he started a coughing fit , his hands going to his mouth but finding metal as black-sluge split from his mouth and down his chin. Willow's face dropped as she paled, watching the thick dripping black escape from under Hunter's mask.

Hunter couldn't stop, he just kept coughing, causing more black to spill from his throat. He screwed his eyes shut, trying to focus on controlling himself, but being unable to. He didn't notice as Willow took his hands away from his mouth and started to raise his mask from his face.

"NO!" Hunter was able to get out before retracting back from her. Willow's eyes widened in concern.

"Hunter!" She said, pleading in her voice as she shifted, moving to grab his hands by force and move them to her collarbone. She stared at him, keeping her death grip on both his hands, but only using one of hers. She was too strong for him to try to break free as she moved her free hand to his mask again. " Please, let me take off your mask, Hunter." She whispered, he felt her fingers on the edge of it, but she didn't move to remove it yet. Hunter made a weak whine, unable to say anything as another cough silenced him...instead he lowered his head into her hand in defeat…

Willow thinned her lips as she removed the Golden Mask, frowning as she looked over the face of the boy in front of her. He kept his eyes screwed shut, unable to look at her, but his face expression was one of pain. Willow felt her own tears starting to prick at the edges of her eyes as she moved to gently wipe Hunter's chin with her hand. Hunter's breath hitched in surprise, feeling the skin contact. Was she really using her hand?

"Hunter, please...talk to me." Willow pleaded in a whisper, he felt her nose touch his, but he couldn't flinch away. Instead he moved to press his head into hers as he felt his lips quiver. His coughing had ceased, but the pain he felt was still too much...He breathed in slowly, trying to calm himself to speak before slowly uttering,

"P-please don't...don't freak out." He swallowed, sighing out after he spoke. Willow furrowed her brow in worry before she shifted to give a kiss to his head and move back, cupping his face in her hands now.

"Ok? I promise." She whispered. Hunter gave a small nod, before he slowly opened his eyes to look up at her.

_AN_

Y'all why was Walmart playing the Sonic The Hedgehog Green Hill Zone song at 2 in the morning? I am losing my mind... Please make sure to leave a comment! I love reading them. I love you, too!