Hunter felt terrible for having to skip dinner with the Parks when he said he would be there, but felt he should still at least say goodbye instead of just avoiding them. Eun was disappointed, but understood that he had duties at the castle that were difficult to avoid. Gilbert on the other hand…
"Here we go! This should keep the food warm until you can eat it!" He passed a tupperware container over to Hunter, who took it with surprise. They really wanted to make sure he was fed, hu?
"A-aah, thank you! I'll make sure to get the tupperware back to you soon." Hunter smiled.
"Stay safe now. Remember you are always welcomed here." Eun reminded, wrapping his arm around Gilbert's waist.
"Absolutely, I will see you all later." Hunter smiled, turning to Willow who smiled and went to walk him out of the living room.
"Don't you want to get your bag?" She whispered, making sure not to alert her fathers about the forgotten items in the guest room.
"I figured it would be best to leave it here." Hunter summoned Lil' Rascal as they stepped into the street in front of the home, tucking the tupperware under his arm. He looked up at the sky, dread creeping into his heart. He had no plan on how to talk to Belos once he was at the castle, maybe he should try to wait?
" Please message me often." Willow whispered, putting her hands on his shoulders as she looked up at him. Hunter smiled down at her, giving her a nod.
"Of course. I'll keep you in the know of everything." He knew her fathers were probably watching them, but at this point he didn't care. He leaned down to give her a quick kiss on the lips before straightening again, " You be safe as well. I know how dangerous hanging around Luz can be." Willow gave a giggle, her cheeks having a lovely rose tint to them. It made Hunter's heart flutter a bit as he watched her. "Alright, I should really get going. I need to pick up the potions from the grove and change after all."
"Right." Willow squeezed his shoulders lovingly before letting him go. " I love you, be safe." The words fell out of her mouth before she realized what she even said. Hunter was in the process of turning before pausing and looking back at her as well. They have said they loved each other before, but not so casually. Willow smiled at Hunter, the realization still not dawning on her.
" I love you, too." Hunter smiled. Lil' Rascal's eyes flared to life, yanking Hunter slightly to keep the two from just awkwardly standing there again. " Alright, Alright, Lil' Rascal! I'm coming!" Hunter gave a last nod to Willow before going to mount the staff. He turned his head to watch her disappear behind the roofs of her street, smiling even bigger to himself.
Willow blinked a few times to herself as she realized not only did they just casually traid 'I love you's', but he kissed her with their fathers looking at them. She rubbed at her cheeks quickly before turning to head inside, ignoring the look of amusement from Eun and the one of surprise from Gilbert as she walked past them. " I am gonna get changed before dinner and tend to my plants!" She announced, not wanting to face the eventual teasing she was going to get from Eun in particular.
"...So, I guess that step one fell through as well." Gilbert said quietly after hearing Willow's door shut. Eun sighed with him, turning to close the door. He had already called the Doctor to cancel while Gilbert was getting Hunter's fish and chips ready.
" Did you notice how he was really careful with those glasses over his eyes?" Eun said quietly, looking to the ground as he furrowed his brow. "Last night Willow did say something about his eyes 'going back to normal'?" Eun felt like he was connecting the dots. He looked up the stairs, thinning his lips in thought.
"Maybe you should go talk to her?" Gilbert asked, looking up the stairs as well. He knew Willow had an easier time talking about heavier stuff to Eun. He wasn't mad about it, though, he was sort of thankful. As much as he loved his daughter, he knew he stressed about her too easily and wouldn't be as helpful as his husband in these kinds of situations.
"I will after dinner… you know how she can get when she is interrupted while tending her garden." Eun said with half amusement.
The Golden Guard walked down the halls of the castle with a brisk pace. He needed to deliver his 'findings' on the wild witch to the proper officials. He wrote up a usual report, stating what he heard from 'locals', locations he was at, and the small details that he learned to add over the years. It startled him how good he was at fabricating a fake report. He ended it with the conclusion the wild witch they were speaking of caught onto being hunted and moved locations. At least then this fake wild witch could provide him a perfect cover to sneak out for a weekend, again.
The halls were noticeably emptier than usual… If Kikimora and Eberwolf were successful, The Quetzalcoatl was more than likely on its way to the castle now if Hunter's estimates were correct. By the end of the night, the stable's newest addition will have been locked away and ready to be...broken.
"Golden Guard." The voice of a newer coven member spoke up from his side, he took pause and turn and address them. " Emperor Belos requests your presence in the Door Chamber."
"Very good. Mind delivering this to Assistant Crossward for me?" The Golden Guard held his document of papers out, the scout hesitated before taking it.
"Of course, Sir." The scout replied before turning to complete their new mission. The Golden Guard changed his path, now heading to the 'Door Chamber' as it had been called now. In the back of his mind he wondered if this would be the opportunity to talk to Belos about his lack of bile-sac, or if Belos had found out again that Hunter had been lying, or something else entirely.
The Golden Guard paused outside the door to the chamber, steeling his nerves to ready himself for whatever would come, before opening the door and stepping inside. He looked up at the gateway first, seeing his Uncle standing in front of the stairs leading up to the gate without his mask, reading over a book he had in his hands. That gave Hunter a bit of comfort...without his mask, Belos was a lot...kinder? He walked into the room, folding his hands behind his back as he waited for his uncle to address him.
"You know you do not have to be so formal with me when I have my mask off, Hunter." Belos reminded the teen, smiling at him as he closed the book and sat it down.
"Force of habit." Hunter replied, letting his stance relax some-what, but he still felt on edge. Belos let an amused scoff as he turned and looked up at the door.
"As I expected, we will need more titan's blood to be able to open the door properly. However, knowing it is harder to come by, I pondered how to go about requiring more." Belos started, stepping to the front of the stairs as if he was about to walk up them before turning to look back at Hunter. " So, I would ask you to attend to this task once more in secret."
"Very well, Uncle. I will start researching and planning to see where my task force-"
"Alone, Hunter." Belos cut him off. Hunter tilted his head slightly, his look of confusion being hidden by his mask. " I rather you go about this little task alone, given that the more people in on it will mean the more likely rebellious parties will try to stop you." Hunter felt his throat go dry, does that mean that Belos knows about Amity and Eda? " I still have yet to figure out who the rebellious scout in the cave was. And of course the addition of The Owl Lady did not help with manners."
Hunter felt his stomach lurch, Kikimora must have finally told Belos, but why were they not sent to apprehend Amity, Eda, and King? Were there more eyes on the Owl House that he didn't know about? Would he eventually be discovered? Oh titan, please do not start coughing. DO NOT START COUGHING!
" S-sir, did you want me to apprehend the Owl Lady?" Hunter forced himself to ask. He wanted to make sure that if this was something Belos wanted, he could warn Eda and Amity before the coven made a move.
"Not necessary, Hunter." Belos smirked slightly in amusement as he looked up at the ceiling. " As infuriating as it is that The Owl Lady works against us, she is of no importance. In fact, this actually provided a little boon for putting Kikimora back in line." Belos turned and faced the portal once more. " You will be able to find the start of a trail near the skull if my predictions are correct. I know you will not disappoint me."
" I will make for it at once." The Golden Guard turned on his heel, but then felt a hand clasp down on his shoulder. How did this Uncle move so fast to stop him?
" Not so fast, Hunter." Belos still spoke with amusement. Turning back to face the emperor, Hunter was met with a smirk on the man's face. " Do not think I haven't noticed you have been avoiding me."
"U-uhh…" Hunter felt his heart lurch again. Was he going to be able to get out of this? Or was this the chance he needed to get answers? Hunter turned to slowly face Belos, his head down but eyes still on his uncle under the mask.
" Tell me what the matter is, Hunter. I would not stand for my nephew continuing this." Belos warned, squeezing his shoulder roughly. Well… guess this is happening. Hunter hesitated before slowly reaching his hands to his mask. He swallowed deeply, before taking it off. He kept his black eyes forward, not wanting to look at Belos. He heard his uncle gasp, his hand retracting away from his shoulder.
"No…" Belos uttered. Hunter could feel his heart sinking.
_AN_
Cliffhangers...so many cliffhangers...I apologize (But not really) Tomorrow chapter will be a VERY extra long chapter! Mostly because if I did split it into 2 then the chapter count for this fic would be 51 and...50 is just a really nice number... As always thank you guys, I love you, leave a comment, buy gold, BYYEEEEEE~