'It can't go on like this.' The man said as he stared across the bubbling lake. He had a thoughtful, yet frustrated, look in his face. 'You know it as much as I do, Hunter.'
The teen lowered his head slightly, he felt something on his head shift, Lil' Rascal probably? Hunter just shrugged as he sighed through his nose, looking back over the lake again as he thought about what the man said.
" I know you want to help him, but there comes a point that helping someone who doesn't want it becomes self destructive. You have someone else to care about now, many people, and they care about you as well." The man turned his eyes to the boy next to him. " So, why keep living in the cage?"
"Belos would hunt me down." Hunter said, simply, finally looking at the man next to him. The man sighed, giving a small nod.
"That he would...but you are smart. Smarter than Belos, I dare say. Use what you have and I am sure you can not only escape from Belos, but take someone with you that needs to escape him, as well." Hunter tilted his head in confusion.
"The Quetzalcoatl?" Hunter asked. The man smiled, making an amused grunt.
" Two things…You will find out in due time, my boy." The man went to stand, looking behind him to the edge of the shifting forest. "Technically, you already have a part of him…" Hunter raised his brow at the man as he also stood, turning to look into the woods. A strange dark figure shifted around, before it turned and ran off on all fours.
"What was-" Hunter suddenly felt a stinging pain on the back of head, he smacked his hands to it before he turned to face whatever just hit him. The creature stood on its hindlegs, a dark figure that stared holes down into his soul. It let out a growl, lurching forward as it roared.
"N̵͈͘į̸̙̀ḁ̸͝ĥ̵͕͖̾c̸͓̈̆ ̵̧̲̈y̵̤̆ḿ̷̪̻̕ ̵̛̙̓ẹ̷͌ḱ̸̢a̴̮͚͘m̷̤͈͒̀ ̸̳͕̎l̷̢͉̆l̴̘͘à̵͇͇̚h̵̢͋ś̵̠ ̶͉̊I̷͚̕ ̶̮̹̌l̸͕̕͜ù̸̺̻́ỏ̶͙̥̑ș̷̃ ̸̨́r̶̖͑ȍ̴͔̉u̸̫͈̔y̸͇̠͋̑ ̴͈͍̃n̶̢͚̈́͘ȉ̶͖̭ ̵̯͛d̸̳͠n̷̖͛̓ă̵͕̹,̷͈̣̒̈
̶͇͝N̴̯̮͐̇i̶̱̐̊ȧ̴͙p̶͎͙̈́ ̶̯͑s̶̯̏͜i̴͔͒h̴̜͋͘͜ ̷̖̐̈́h̶͎͐t̴̩͈͘i̷̩͗w̴̝͕̃ ̴̦́n̵͉̦̓̀į̷͂̈́ ̴̫̐͛ͅe̸̡̓ͅr̷̩͗à̷̯ͅh̵̘̱̿s̸̐̑ͅ ̶̛̰o̸̟͊̅t̵͈͔̿ ̴̧̛͉l̶̰͂͜l̵̡̳̋e̵̖̒̚ͅp̸̘̖̎s̶̯̞̚ ̶̜̋e̶͉̎̕h̵͕͎͑t̶̺͋ ̴͓̖̄k̷̩̞͘a̶̭̦̾e̵͔̜̿̏ṕ̵̬͚͝s̸̝̋,̴̧͚̊̃
Hunter jolted up, gasping as he felt sweat fling itself off his brow. He shook, crossing his arms over his chest as he closed his eyes and swallowed. What..what was that? Lil' Rascal chirped in concern, fluttering to land on his knee as a loud knock came from the door. Before Hunter could respond it opened, Willow poking her head in looking wide-eyed with concern.
"W-what?" Hunter looked at her, feeling a bit overwhelmed as his mind still tried to wake him up. Willow had moved over to the side of the bed, a hand gently tilting Hunter's head toward her as she looked over him with concern. "...What?" Hunter asked again, even more confused than before. Willow swallowed, the look of concern on her face growing as she stood back up straight.
"Hunter, your-..." Willow started, biting her lower lip as she hesitated, " Your eyes are back to black." Hunter froze, then leaned over to look at the small mirror on the wall. Like she said, the black eyes with glowing magenta pupils stared back at him. " Y-you let out a … scream … a- a roarlike something had...had hurt you!" Willow took his hands in hers, forcing Hunter to look back at her.
"I-I...I h-had a...dream?" Hunter furrowed his brow, trying to remember what he dreamt, but the memory was fading fast. He closed his eyes as he rubbed his head, his hand going to where he felt like he was having a splitting…head…ache… no. No it was one of the scars on the back of his head that was hurting so much, long forgotten but…
"Hunter?" Willow's gentle voice broke through, the girl having sat down, leaning over slightly to make eye contact with him. He thinned his lips as he looked at her, he knew he was probably as pale as she was.
"I-I...I don't know what's-" Hunter rubbed his face, trying to keep the panic and anxiety of the situation from overtaking him like it did in the castle. He felt Willow's arms wrapping around his shoulders before she pulled him into her. He leaned against her, almost falling into her really as he shifted to better rest, not realizing that his head was now in her lap as he felt tears starting to stream down his face. Willow ran her fingers lovingly against his skull, gently brushing his hair.
"Do you want me to call for someone?" Willow asked, " Eda might know how to...how to help?"
"E-Eda?" Hunter questioned, furrowing his brow slightly in confusion.
"I-I…" Willow let her sentence fall before she pinched her lips, closing her eyes, and forced herself to speak. " I think this...this might actually be a curse, Hunter…" She looked down at him for his reaction, feeling him stiffen as he furrowed his brow more.
"...y-yeah…" he breathed out, nodding lightly as he moved to press his face into her leg, screwing his eyes shut. "I-I can blame my bile-sac all I want but…" he sighed, the painful realization of her words hitting him. " I don't know...I have a lot of enemies so it could be a curse." He moved to rub his face again. " Maybe tomorrow we can...go see Eda? Ugh...it feels so weird saying that." Willow gave a small laugh.
" I am sure it does, Golden Guard...But, she knows a lot. If this is a curse, she can help, I am sure." Willow said, resting one of her hands on his shoulder as she continued to brush his hair. " The last time this happened, though, it went away after we talked...is there something on your chest you want to get off?"
"I uh…" Hunter thinned his lips, going through what could be on his mind, and his thoughts went to one particular event. "...you know how Matt was talking about the beast stables at the castle?"
"I do…" Willow tilted her head slightly, watching as Hunter glanced up at her with an appearing frown before he looked back to the wall.
"...I really don't want that creature being trapped in that cage." Hunter admitted, narrowing his eyes as he thought how small that cage was. " I mean-" Hunter shifted so he was laying on his back, but refused to let his head leave Willow's lap. " I don't understand whywe need her in the first place! All Belos will tell me is that we need this creature for the Day of Unity and that's why we are capturing it…" Hunter sighed.
"So you know what kind of creature is going in?" Willow asked, unable to keep her curiosity from her voice. Hunter nodded, his frown deepening. He sighed as he closed his eyes, not wanting to see how she would react.
"It will be a...a Queztacoatl… Our beast keepers had been tracking her down for years now, and found her home resting on an island a few miles out from The Skull…" Hunter let out a deeper sigh, rubbing his face again. " She is still an adolescent, though. She might very well be one of the last of her kind and we are going to shove her into a cage she wouldn't be able to fit in." Hunter threw his hands to the side, the bubbling anger in him rising. " How are we supposed to even train her to trust us if we are not doing our best for her?! All our other beast are treated with the utmost and professional care, but the rarest beast we will have is being treated like-"
Hunter stopped himself as his eyes widened, he shot up, covering his mouth with his hands as he started coughing. Willow quickly drew a magic circle, a plant in the corner of the room flung a small, unused, trash can to her which she then quickly placed in front of him. Hunter lurched over it, allowing the sludge and tar to escape his mouth. After a few more coughs he sighed, resting his head on the edge of the can. "...sorry…"
"Don't apologize." Willow rested her hand on his back, rubbing gentle circles between his shoulder blades. " Your eyes are back to normal." Hunter flicked his ears, sitting up slightly to look at Willow, then down at the bucket. He sighed through his nose, setting the bin to the side before flopping back onto her. She smiled softly, her hands going back to his hair.
"... I have half a mind to try to tag along with the mission to sabotage it." Hunter admitted, shifting as he wrapped his arms around her waist. " Belos would definitely kill me then, though…"
" I am sure we can figure out some-"
"No." Hunter cut her off, looking up at Willow with a furrowed brow. " I am not going to let you do anything of the sort."
"Hunter, you know I can-"
"No." Hunter stared at her, watching as Willow flicked her ears and tilted her head. There was a first for everything, but she was unsure how to proceed with this conversation. Hunter sighed, shifting to sit up so the two were eye level. " Willow," he moved to rest his hand against her cheek, staring deeply into her with those magnificent magenta eyes. " I can't allow you to put yourself in danger over something like this. I...I honestly fear everyday what would happen if The Emperor's Coven found out about you…" Hunter thinned his lips before he moved to take her hands, rubbing his fingers over her knuckles. " Let me worry about the Quetzalcoatl...but, promise me that you will never even think about going near the castle, ok?" Hunter looked back up at her, pleading eyes. Willow frowned, before giving a small nod to him.
"A-alright…" She agreed. " Just promise me, too, that you will always come back to me, ok?" Hunter smirked at her, shifting to place a kiss on her cheek.
" You already know I made that promise a long time ago." He whispered, smiling down at her. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders again, pulling him into her to return the kiss on his own cheek. " You know you should probably go before your parents come home."
" You just woke up screaming. I am not going anywhere." Willow argued, shifting to more comfortably sit while pulling him back down onto her lap. His face lit up in deep red as he stared up at her.
" Wouldn't they-"
" Let them be. I am not leaving." Willow smiled down at him. Hunter flicked his ears, smiling in return before relaxing in defeat. He snuggled against her, closing his eyes as he sighed in content.
" Thank you, Willow." He finally said, feeling her fingers return to his hair.
"Shh...sleep now." Willow prompted, gently brushing through his hair. Soon she felt him relax more, a gentle snore accompanying his dive into sleep. She leaned back against the bed frame, glad that the guest bed had more than enough pillows that she wasn't uncomfortable sitting there. She should return to her own room...but she didn't have the heart to leave him, even more so since he wrapped his arms around her waist again. She smiled to herself as she allowed herself to relax into the pillows, closing her eyes, unaware of her fathers standing just outside the door.
Eun and Gilbert exchanged looks before quietly turning to leave the guest room door. They both felt bad for eavesdropping, even more so after hearing things they probably shouldn't have heard. As they made their way into their own bedroom, Eun shutting the door behind them, Gilbert went to sit on the edge of the bed, rubbing his head as he tried to wrap his head over what they heard.
"Did...Did Willow really just call Hunter 'Golden Guard'?" Gilbert looked to Eun in concern.
"I...I think she did." Eun sighed as he went to join Gilbert on the bed, resting one of his hands on his husband's leg. The two sat in silence for a while, processing still. " I...guess our plan to get Hunter out of his uncle's grasp will not work… If he is The Golden Guard."
"Maybe we can convince him to step down? At least until he is older? I am sure Emperor Belos knows how crazy it is that a child is in charge of his coven, right?" Gilbert tried to reason. Eun closed his eyes, some pieces of the puzzle still missing but enough of a picture showing that was painful to think of.
" I think...tomorrow when they come home from seeing Eda we can go with the first part of our plan." Eun looked at Gilbert. " I can talk to Willow while Hunter talks to Doctor Convla."
_AN_
Oh sh*t, bois! ITS STARTING! This is officially the beginning of the end! Thank you all so much for staying with me, again. I am nervous about branching really off from canon and going into AU territory, but I hope you all still like what I have to offer and will see this through to the end, and stay with me when the few fanfic begins! As always please leave a comment, and I love you!
Edit: So apparently the dream speak is not fully showing here... I recommend you guys go to Ao3 for the full part of what the dream speak is (If you can read it, that is)