Belos sat on the stairs in front of the throne, staring at the mask in his hands... Kikimora shifted from foot to foot in nervous anticipation. She never had seen Belos without his mask, and...this was a lot happening in a short amount of time. She never felt these kinds of emotions before, but...should she? She hated The Golden Guard but...did he really deserve that kind of death?
"...and you are sure you saw it eat him?" Belos asked, his dead eyes moving from the mask to the demon.
"...y-yes." Kikimora replied. She knew Belos knew of her attempt on The Golden Guard's life, and was nervous that he would believe she caused this but...He had attacked her emperor! She was clearly in the right for trying to...stop him? Belos turned his eyes back down to the mask, his thumb tracing the edge of one of the eye holes. He tried to reach out, trying to sense that Hunter was alive through the curse, but...the curse wasn't responding anymore...The Beast wasn't responding anymore. Belos closed his eyes, hanging his head. He hated to show this kind of emotion around one of his subordinates, but he didn't care at that moment.
"...make the announcement." Belos started. " The Golden Guard perished in this attack against The Emperor's Coven...Rebellious forces had released the Quetzalcoatl, who in turn devoured him as he tried to make sure the rest of the beast and coven members were safe. Mention how young he was...put on a show on how he evacuated the stables knowing it would save his coven...make it appear he died a valorous hero instead of a traitor."
"...very well, sir." Kikimora nodded, about to turn to go.
"And congratulations on the promotion to leadership, Kiki." Belos stood, turning to put his own mask on as he walked behind the throne, no longer interested in keeping here, and even more so uninterested in seeing Kikimora pause with wide-eyes, trying to hide the smile at those words, before she turned and briskly walked off to give the news of The Golden Guard's death.
Belos found his way to The Door Chamber, closing the door behind him and walking to the center before he collapsed to his knees in defeat. He coughed, violently spitting up the black-tar into his mask. Oh what a cruel reminder...With Hunter having allowed himself to die to the Quetzalcoatl's hunger, The Beast inside him died as well. Now Belos only had a small amount of his curse...enough to be annoying, a stinging reminder of how he failed to keep Hunter in line.
Now what? Was he really to wait another 16 years, probably even longer, for The Day of Unity? Hunter was supposed to be the catalyst! He can't just make another half-human again! Why...why did this have to happen? Would he even live another year without The Beast keeping this failing body alive?
'You are seriously not going to mourn for him?' The spirit in the corner of the room asked. Belos bowed his head more…he felt tears stinging his eyes that he was trying to ignore.
"Of course I will." Belos growled in response, allowing his tears to go. " I still cared for him!" he growled.
'If that's what you call it…' The spirit scoffed, turning before disappearing. Belos turned his head to see where he vanished, before shifting to fall onto his side, rolling to his back as he stared up at the ceiling…
He wanted nothing more than to just give up.
It has been hours since the news broke. Willow now paced in circles in the living room of The Owl House. Eun had come with her, he wanted to be around if Hunter arrived like Willow said he would. He sat in one of the chairs next to the couch, leg bouncing in nervous anxiety, eyes on the crystal ball. Willow had faith he wasn't dead like the news reports were guessing. He couldn't be! It just wasn't possible! Right?
Eda had long moved the plants out of her home, Willow felt bad she couldn't control her emotions, but Eda knew and understood...the woman herself was on edge just as much. Hunter was a smart kid, but was he really smart enough to escape something like this? She knew that Quetzalcoatl are not to be messed with...if they held a grudge against you they would trick you and kill you faster than you would ever see coming.
Amity had her arms around Luz, who was staring intently at the crystal ball, her own arms around King who was holding Francois tightly to him. Gus was on the floor, watching the image of his father onscreen with the same intense look. The four of them were so silent, just praying to Titan that this had to be wrong.
"GHAAAHAAA!" Hooty's voice cut through the tense air before his door SLAMMED opened, the bird worm flailing around, " SOMETHING IS TOUCHING ME! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF! HOOT! HOOOOOOOT!"
"Hooty! Calm down!" Eda joggled over before she waved her hands around, trying to find what was harassing Hooty. " There is nothing here hoot-'' She felt her hand whack against something before the sound of a jingling thud was heard. Looking down, they saw an invisible bag had opened, and above it was the Cardinal who dropped it.
"Rascal!" Willow called out, running over and lifting her hands for the palisman to land in them. He chirped happily, rubbing his head on her hand. Willow let a few tears slide down her cheek, bringing the palisman to her head in relief. If he was alive, and brought a bag...the plan had to have worked, right?
"But if Lil' Rascal is here, where is Hunter?" Gus asked, having stood to look out the door expecting to see the blonde. Lil' Rascal chirped, fluttering up before swooping down and landing in front of the bag. He chirped again, reaching his talon out to touch the bag before disappearing again, then reappearing when he brought his talon back. "Has he...disappeared?" Gus asked, starting to flail his arms around infront of him in an attempt to find the teen. Eda furrowed her brow before kneeling, moving the bag as she disappeared herself. After a moment she found what she was looking for, pulling the scale off the fabric and dispelling the illusion.
"A Quetzalcoatl scale…" she stood, looking it over. Eun stood up, looking over the scale in the woman's hand before looking down at the bag. Lil' Rascal pecked at it, then looked up at Willow expecingly. Willow finally knelt down and opened the bag up, seeing what Lil' Rascal had been motioning to. She picked the piece of paper out, reading the text over.
'You get this letter, I am alive. Back soon.- Hunter.'
Earlier…
He coughed, trying to hold in the pain. He was focusing so much on trying to keep what was happening at bay until he could finish tying the items off and hand them to his palisman. The Quetzalcoatl, who put an illusion over them using a pair of her wings, was waiting so patiently. He liked her...He hoped in the future he could see her again.
"O-Ok, I think that's the r-REST-" Hunter grabbed his side, groaning before spitting out black. "...rest of it…" He stood up, offering the bag to Lil Rascal. " Y-you know what to do." The cardinal hesitated before taking the bag with his talons, looking at the teen in worry.
"I-Its ok, bud." Hunter smiled up at the bird. " W-we just need a little time to-" Hunter swallowed, more pain shooting through him. He could feel The Beast inside moving, trying to keep what was happening at bay for just a little longer, but even it was struggling against its own curse. " We just need a little time to let it run its course…" Hunter finally got out. Lil' Rascal chirped, swooping down to rub his head against Hunter's.
The Quetzalcoatl breathed out, then shifted. She moved her head to a spot on her side, rubbing her nose against her scales until a few fell out. Her eyes flashed, one scale floating up before flinging to the bag and sticking to it. In a flash, Lil' Rascal disappeared, the bird chirped in confusion, before understanding.
"G-go now. I'll see you soon, bud." Hunter said to the air his palisman was. With a few final chirps, Lil' Rascal hesitantly flew off. Hunter smiled, watching the air for a few moments...he could practically smell Lil' Rascal leaving...that was odd. The teen turned to look up at his new scaled friend, smiling up at her. " I cannot thank you enough for your help...with hope they will believe I am dead."
The Quetzalcoatl bowed her head, her eyes a gentle green...kind of like Willows...hu. She moved to head back again, her eyes flashing to the scales that were left on the ground before they floated up and over to Hunter. She gurgled, spitting out a bit of thick string she must have somehow gotten from the Golden Guard clothing he asked her to devour. In a few motions, the string threaded through appearing holes in the scales before tying itself around Hunter's neck.
"A-are you sure?" Hunter asked up at her before grunting himself, holding his stomach as more pain shot through him. The Quetzalcoatl nodded, smiling at him. "I-...thank you. I look forward to seeing you again." He smiled up at her. The Quetzalcoatl gave him a nod back, lifting her head as she looked around quietly for any beast-keepers before she unfurled her wings.
"Remember, they will expect you to go to your last island. Please stay safe." Hunter said to her. She gave a nod down to him, before snorting and flicking her tongue. She had most of everyone's scent in The Emperor's Coven...they will have an even harder time capturing her twice. Hunter smiled, stepping back slightly as he watched the great serpent shimmer, then disappeared herself. He felt the wind around her wings lash around wildly as she lifted off the ground, taking flight to find a new home.
Hunter smiled, closing his eyes as he enjoyed his first few moments alone...and free. He breathed in deeply, before looking up at the sky, it was starting to turn dark, the sun dipping behind Titan's skull. He felt...amazing, despite the horrific pain in his guts. He was free...his plan worked! He finally sighed out, before nodding.
"Ok...let's see how this works." Hunter said to the beast, before he felt his vision go blurry and a roar escape his mouth.
The End
Of Balanced Stones
_AN_
This is it...50 Chapters for what was only going to be a three chapter story...And now I will finally announce I can't tell you guys when I will start posting the second story, but more than likely it will either be next week or the week after. I look forward to sharing it with you all! Though I was the writer, you guys helped me made Of Balanced Stones into what it became now. I have been truly blessed to find myself in a community that supports my writing and encourages me to keep at it. Without you all, I wouldn't have gotten this far. I would like to especially thank everyone in the Huntlow Discord for their support, as well as my dear friends Therma and who where there since the start. There are so many other people I'd like to thank, as well. Bogz, Seb, Loosescrewslefty, Skel, Matt, Court, Dasha, East, Bun, Hbokio, Dweeb, and Sal where big supporters through out the writing and posting of this fic. I love you all so much, thank you for everything. Hunter and Willow will return in... 'Broken Cage, Binding Chains'