It had been a few days since Hunter gave the note to Amity, and in the time he had been setting up for his escape perfectly. The Beast inside him helped a little, but for the most part it was just him having to figure out how to best go about this. He knew trying to leave with a large amount of items would cause suspicion, so reluctantly he sorted through his belongings to figure out which items were small enough for him to hide on his person or in the bag he was going to hide.
He made sure the bag had a large amount of snails, which gave him a bit of anxiety since if a coven scout came across it they would probably just pocket the snails for themselves and throw the rest of the bag away. He had to accept that possibility, though. No plan was without its flaws after all. He also put a few of the potions Eda gave him into the bag, dumping the rest down his sink so that when his room was cleaned and sorted through they wouldn't find one and trace it back to where Eda got it.
Hunter was careful to make sure there was no trace of his friends at all. He got rid of what he needed to, whether it had names or even mentions of them, and was even careful to get rid of the tupperware that carried the food The Parks gave him...he would replace it later. Soon enough, late at night, he made his move to hide his bag under his cloak and take it to The Quetzalcoatl. This late into the night, more than likely only the night crew who were in charge of just making sure the animals slept would be there. It was almost disturbing how easy it was for Hunter to smuggle the bag through the bars, the Quetzalcoatl quickly moving it under her before hiding it inside her mouth.
And now with the last mark in place, all Hunter had to do was wait for the perfect moment to...the thought gave him anxiety. He had no idea how he was going to pull off casting the spell on Belos he needed without magic, but The Beast had reassured him that as long as he touched his head to his Uncles it would work. But how would he even do something like that? He returned back to his room, and in the morning when he was in the middle of his duty list the answer to the question came.
"Golden Guard." Kikimora's voice rang out, a smug tone in her voice. " Emperor Belos wishes to speak to you in the Throne Room at once."
"Very good, Kikimora." The Golden Guard turned from where he was observing the troops training, more than glad to see Belos and wait for an opportunity to strike. He knew he could do this...He could take Belos on! The Beast was, for some reason, on his side after all. Belos wouldn't even know what hit him, right? Soon enough Hunter entered the throne room, taking a quick assessment of the room to see that the new usual was being upheld. No coven scouts, just Emperor Belos and the abomatons that now kept to Belos' side.
The Golden Guard went to kneel in front of the throne, per usual for when he met his Uncle in this room. Belos was breathing heavily, The Beast must be giving Belos a hard time. He stayed silent, waiting for The Emperor to speak first.
"H-how is your cur-RSE-" Belos held his side, groaning as a sharp pain shot through him before breathing in deeply. " Your curse...are you managing?" Belos asked, with...concern?
"...My eyes are still black." Hunter felt no need to hide this truth from him, the Beast didn't speak up either. " But, that is it. I have not spat up bile in a while."
"Good….good…" Belos sighed out in relief. He kept hold of his side, panting before he leaned back in the throne again. " If you are of able body, I grant you permission to head to The Skull for your most recent assignment." Hunter looked up slightly at Belos. He honestly didn't know how to feel right now. On the one hand, his Uncle was lying to him, manipulating him, and keeping a beautiful creature hostage in their stables...but on the other, Hunter still admired him, wanted to please him, do good by his Uncle.
"I-I'll...make it there at once." Hunter said. He felt The Beast shift in his soul, rumbling in concern.
"Hunter…" Belos shifted slightly again, his eyes on the teen. He stood up and took his mask off. The curse was making thick mud pour from the holes in his face, his eyes the same dark orbs that Hunter had, only with blue pupils. " You are thinking of going and trying to capture palismen, aren't you?" Hunter felt his body stiffen...he honestly was not thinking about that. If he said he was, would Belos actually be pleased? Would he be mad?
"I-I…" Hunter stuttered, unsure of how to respond. He watched as Belos stood, still holding his side as he walked forward, motioning Hunter to stand, the teen complied. Belos placed his hand on Hunter's shoulder, staring down at him with a dead but...loving look in his eyes.
"I have already ordered a few scouts to go about capturing wild palismen, do not worry. Soon, you will need to start consuming them as well." Belos said, still staring deep into Hunter despite the mask. The teen felt the beast shift wildly, rumbling.
"n̶̺͈͌e̴͉̹͘ẗ̵̻̝́̊ṫ̶͚̐o̵͉̦͛ģ̴͈̆ŕ̸͙̎ȏ̶̼͜f̸͙͑̄ ̵̭͕͊̿y̷̫̟̽͐ḻ̷͔̚é̷͇̈ũ̸̺̙̈́r̵̗͘t̵͎͆ ̸͕͂ĕ̷̡̛̝h̸̲̓ ̷̢̱̄̋s̵̪̽ă̴͚͚H̸̼̀!̵͍̔?̷̦̏͌" The beast yelled into Hunter's brain. Hunter wasn't able to stop himself as he winced, making a small groan and lifting his hand to his head. Why did the beast's yell hurt? Belos tensed, a frown appearing on his face.
" It spoke to you, didn't it?" Belos asked.
"I-It…" Hunter was unsure what to do. Could Belos hear it speak to him too? " I-I don't understand it." Belos sighed, his eyes full of calm anger as he rubbed his chin.
"Well...I was hoping we wouldn't have to do this until the future, but, it appears the curse is leaving us with no choice." Belos said. Hunter didn't have a moment to react as he felt his hood suddenly being ripped off his head...and a panicked chirp screaming out from next to his ear.
"N-NO!" Hunter reached his hand out, trying to grab for Lil' Rascal, but then felt a hand go around his throat. Belos stared holes into him, before in a swift movement he pulled the mask off his nephew's face, revealing the look of panic and horror as his eyes darted from his palisman to Belos. "U-Uncle please! I can explain! Just don't hurt-" A painful sting flashed across his face...Belos had slapped him?
"Hunter…" Belos gave a frustrated sigh before lowering his hand, but kept his tight grip on the bird. " I knew you were keeping this secret from me the moment it flew through your window… I am disappointed in you. However, I knew a day like this would come where you would need a palisman to keep your curse at bay." Hunter slowly stood back up straight, his hand going to where Belos had slapped him as he looked up at his uncle, feeling like a pebble looking up at a mountain.
"I-I…" Hunter tried to speak, his brain was on fire trying to figure out how to save Lil' Rascal, who chirped in pain, from Belos' hand.
"Enough, Hunter!" Belos snarled, before lowering and offering the palisman out to him. " They are just wood carvings, they are not actually ali-" Belos glanced down at the palisman then gasped, surprisingly letting go of Lil' Rascal who quickly recovered and went to fly before he hit the floor, quickly hiding on Hunter's shoulder. "...Where did you get that palisman?" Belos growled out. Hunter took a half step back, his hand going up to the cardinal protectively. His heart was racing as he kept stepping away from Belos.
"H-he is- I-" Hunter stuttered out.
" WHERE did you GET that Palisman, Hunter?!" Belos roared, his hand shooting out a spike of mud aimed to try and knock the Cardinal away, Hunter closed his eyes, moving to take the hit for his palisman but...no strike came? Wait… Hunter opened his eyes, he was now standing behind Belos. How did-
"Fight, my child! Now is our chance!" The Beast spoke so loud and clear into his mind. Hunter's fears melted away as a new determination filled his spirit. He grasped the staff of Lil' Rascal, who quickly formed just as Belos whipped around, rage and anger on his now morphing face. The Beast was starting to overtake him. He launched another spike of mud at Hunter, who flashed in a gold light to appear next to Belos. Hunter let out a small battle cry as he moved to kick the man in the ribs, sending Belos stumbling back before Hunter teleported away again.
Hunter reappeared at Belos' other side, swiftly delivering a hard jab with the end of Lil' Rascal's staff into his other side before disappearing again. Belos let out a roar of frustration, turning, his eyes wide as he saw Hunter appear, sending a pillar of stone in the shape of a fisr through one of the abomotons that had begun charging, disappear, then reappear again behind the second one to do the same. He aimed the mud, trying to call upon Titan to stop his nephews acting out. If he could grab Hunter by the feet, it will stop him long enough for his coven brand to activate-
"Y̷͚͉̽̚Ȯ̴̻̽U̴̲͈͝ ̷͈̊W̸͓̾I̵͇͊̓L̶̬̊L̴̻̥̂ ̸̯̹̎̐Ń̴͍͉͠Ȯ̷̪͔͘T̷͖̕ ̴̜̓Ĥ̷̻A̸̛̜̾R̴͇̳̔M̴̢̅ ̸̠̕H̸̡͙̐̓I̵̧͓͠͝M̷̩͔̀͆ ̵̦̓̈́À̷̫̅G̶͎̀͗Ȁ̸̩̣I̶̮̹̊̒N̵̼̖̊̈́,̷̤̹̃͂ ̷͓͑̿Ḅ̵͕̅͠E̶̦̋̎L̷̰̦̎O̴̰̐S̵̰͒!̸̣̾̊ ̴̯̉̂" The Beast roared in Belos' head, forcing the man to jerk, sending his spell too wide.
"I am doing this to protect you!" Belos yelled at Hunter.
" You never wanted to protect me!" Hunter yelled back as he launched a ball of energy into Belos' back. " If you wanted to protect me, WHY do I have more scars on my body from YOU than anything else?!" Belos let out another roar of frustration, now summoning his own staff to start battling against his nephew. The Beast was going to make this too difficult.
"Enough of this, Hunter! The Titan orders that you-"
"THE TITAN DOES NOT CONTROL ME!" Hunter reappeared above Belos' head, the older man quickly raised his staff up to counter, now holding the teen suspended for a few moments before a flash of red light hit Hunter in the face, causing him to fly back and tumble across the throne room. He quickly recovered, ignoring the blood that was now pouring from wounds over his eye, to now lift Lil' Rascal up to counter a strike from Belos.
"You were made for Titan's purpose, I will not have you throwing a wrench in my plans!" Belos lifted his staff, moving to strike again-
"With this spell declared, let the pain be shared!" Hunter was faster. And in a flash of yellow movement, he felt skull hit skull as he headbutted The Emperor of the Boiling Isles.
_AN_
I been waiting to share the head-butt scene since I wrote it! I AM SO HAPPY TO SHARE IT NOW! HAHAHA! How we feeling my friends?!