"So after all that planning and years of work, you failed."

Silence sat between them. He sighed.

"I get why you're upset. Everything you worked so hard for was ruined in one day. And what makes it worse for you is you lost to a bunch of kids. And to some childlike god that they released. Well, helped to release; that little cat, dog thing released it."

The silence that came from him was cold and deafening. He was unwilling to answer as he sulked. His companion looked at the stubborn fool before him. He sighed again as a melancholic smile crossed his lips.

"Yeah, I know. You did all this work for nothing. Years of careful planning wasted. You must be really upset about it."

His cheeks turned a shade of red before losing their color. The silence remained between them. As his companions' tone shifted from understanding to jovial.

"But it's not so bad losing everything you worked for. I know that better than anyone. After all, you took everything from me."

The words stabbed into his heart, the familiar voice, somehow warm and cold. Reminding him of simpler times, times when the grass was green, the sky a light blue, the nights were quiet and the rain was cold. Philip finally looked at the familiar figure, Hunter. No, not Hunter, he reminded himself, it was Caleb, his brother. Caleb's crystal blue eyes, perfect teeth, perfect round ears, long blonde hair, this was his brother, not some fake thing he made. Caleb was still dressed in his plain light brown shirt, dark overalls and brown boots. The clothes he had seen him in last when he had killed him. However, something wasn't right, his eyes were dull and cold. The warmth they once held was long gone. Philip didn't say anything, he couldn't. His throat was dry like he had swallowed a handful of cotton. His stomach twisted into knots, and somehow the rest of his guts crunched like waves on the ocean. His heart ached again like the knife was ripped out and plunged back in. The pain radiated out to his lungs, burning them with fire. As his blood ran cold through his veins chilling him to the bone. His skin crawled, breaking out into goosebumps. Caleb's smile fell, and his voice was cold as he asked.

"Philip, where did everything go wrong exactly? Was it when we came to the Boiling Isles? Or was it when you went off to travel alone for a while? Was it when you met my wife and found out I was having a child with her?"

That question got a reaction out of him. Caleb saw the hatred in Philip's eyes ignite. His jaw clenched tightly, as he balled his hands into fists. Philip looked at him, the anger burning in his eyes. His cheeks slightly pinkened by the blood rushing to his face.

"Caleb, you fell for an unholy beast. She spirited you away. Leading you into damnation. And that thing you wished to call my niece or nephew! Ha, a demon child waiting in the wings to end us both. An unholy beast created out of false love. I mean really, how could you!? You and I didn't belong there and yet you decided to stay with that witch! That monster! How could you go against our religion, our teachings our, our-."

He couldn't finish his rant, he was too angry. His blood was boiling over and rushing to his face. His face was completely red as he scowled at Caleb. Caleb was still smiling that cold unforgiving smile. Philip looked away from him, his insides burning. Philip hissed.

"Why did you betray me?"

The words were bitter as they sat between the two. Caleb didn't answer, he waited for Philip to calm down a bit but it didn't happen. Philip snapped at Caleb again.

"Why did you betray me, brother!? Why did you choose them over me!? Your flesh and blood! Your family! Why did you choose that unholy woman who led you astray!? Why did you choose that thing you called your child!? We never belonged here and yet you chose to stay here! You chose to fornicate with them, with it!? Why!? WHY!?"

Caleb closed his eyes searching for the answer to Philip's questions. Trying to find the best way to answer them. None of the answers he came to would appease Philip. Caleb breathed out, and finally answered.

"I never betrayed you, Philip. I just changed the way I saw things. I saw that witches and humans were the same. The only differences are ears, eye color and magical ability. They just lived their lives a little differently than ours. And had a different god than ours but we are the same, fundamentally. Besides, I always wanted a family of my own. I wanted more than just you and I. Mother and father died long before your eighth birthday and I had raised you to the best of my abilities but I longed for a family that was warmer than just us. A family that filled our table and gave us great joy. I always wanted a wife and child and longer for it. You were always going to be a part of my family whether it was in Gravesfeild or the Isles. I never chose them and I never chose you. I loved you all and wanted to be together with all of you, together as a family."

Philip's chest hurt. Caleb's words cut deep into his heart like the knife they were. Philip wanted to believe they were lies but they weren't. He knew how to lie better than anyone alive and could spot a liar a mile away. The best lies always had you fake the warmth in the words as you smiled lovingly at the person to whom you were lying to. However, Caleb's words were warmer than any lie he ever told and his smile was too innocent to be fake. He couldn't accept it, the words hurt too much. They were the truth, a truth he denied four hundred years ago. A truth he still couldn't accept, even though he knew they were both dead. Philip breathed in, his anger was slipping away, being replaced with despair. Needles pricked his throat as he waited a moment before speaking.

"I can't… I know what you're saying is true but I can't…. Because for once I was right about something. And I lost everything because I couldn't see past myself. I thought we were right, that we had been in danger. That our teachings were the correct ones. But I was wrong. The witches were… as you said…just like us… dangerous but so similar to humans. I just…. Thought I was doing what was right, no matter the consequences. I know that they're evil…. But I also know that what you said is true…. You're right, Caleb and I can't accept that."

Caleb hummed for a moment, thinking. He finally spoke, with a tone that Philip didn't recognize.

"I know. You did all of this for four hundred years. Doing what you thought was right for everyone back home…. Thing is you lost your home years ago. It changed since nothing stays the same forever. Gravesfeild may not even be there anymore."

He finally deciphered Caleb's tone, he was pitying him. Philip frowned, biting the inside of his cheek. He wanted to scream, his blood slowly boiling again. Caleb chuckled at him, his voice now bitter and cold.

"You also kept killing me over, and over again. Trying so hard to make me perfect, make me the way you wanted me to be for decades."

Philip flinched and stared at Caleb wide-eyed, horrified. His skin crawled as a chill ran down his spine, his blood started to freeze. Caleb just smiled back at him. That bone-chilling smile. Philip tried to ask how he could have known that, how he knew about the grimwalkers. He couldn't get his mouth to work as the words piled up in his throat, blocking his airway making it harder to breathe. Caleb tilted his head as he looked at Philip's horror-stricken face. Amusement danced in his eyes as he looked at Philip. He answered his unspoken question.

"Of course, I know about the grimwalkers. The Isles are unusual in terms of death…. I've been watching and following them around for decades. Every time you made a new one, I was attached to them. Not in control or even part of them, just attached watching them live…. Till you deemed them failures and killed them in cold blood. Killed them just like me."

Philip's breathing hitched, and something new was blooming in his chest. Something he hadn't felt in decades, panic. He hadn't panicked when the collector was freed or when he learned that three of the covens' heads' had betrayed him. He stayed calm and collected in the face of such setbacks. But this new information scared him. Shook him to his core. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, his voice trembled.

"Y-y-you were *gasp* watching… y-y-you were… there, with every one of those… things?"

Caleb's smile fell, and his amusement died as a deep sadness overtook his features. The coldness of his voice melted into a sad, emphatic tone.

"They weren't things, Philip, they were me…. No, not me…. They were my children, you made them with my bones. A part of me in every one of them, just like my child, whom I never got to meet. I watched you make and kill every single one of them… It hurt knowing I couldn't do anything to save them, having to watch them die…. Philip, you did awful things to them for decades, no matter how old or young they were. No matter how much they loved you and cared for you. You hurt them, without remorse."

Philip knew the empathy in his voice wasn't for him, it was for those things he made. The grimwalkers he had disposed of over the decades. Philip breathed in.

"Those things aren't your family. They never were… How could you say that?… How could you even think that those things are your children?"

Caleb didn't answer him. Panic was settling in, taking over Philips's mind. As he asked himself a million questions that would never be answered. Philip swallowed down a lump, his voice now a whisper.

"I didn't, I-I mean they… They weren't you… they never were. They didn't matter if they weren't you."

Caleb breathed in. That cold smile returned to his lips. Dread crept in, mixing with the panic Philip felt. Philip's skin was pricking with fear. Caleb's tone was jovial as he spoke.

"They were similar to me in appearance and that's it. None of them were like me, some liked sports, others fighting, some really liked to study and a few had a sweet tooth I never had. But they were never me and they never would be. I don't understand why you never saw that in them…. You know, I really liked Issac, Adam, and Theodore. They were strong, kind, intelligent and they figured out what was going on without anyone telling them. I guess they came the closest to me in terms of personality. But Hunter, he's nothing like me and I love him dearly. I mean he does look a lot like me but he's not me in any way. He likes magic and could go on about it for hours. He has a soft spot for birds and animals. I love that Flapjack, the pailsman I carved, found him and loves him. He also wants to learn how to sew, which Darius is teaching him. He likes bitter foods and hates spicy things. He tends to ramble and is a much better flyer than I ever could be. He asks too many questions which gets on people's nerves. He knows the entirety of the Boiling Isles history, well the parts you didn't change. And has studied every map of the Isles. Oh and thanks to you he's trained in combat and covered in scars."

Caleb's tone went cold as he reminded Philip of the scars Hunter had. Philip winced again. As Hunter came to mind, the most recent failure in a long line of grimwalkers. His red eyes, gapped teeth, hideous pointed ears, his left ear was chipped, and short blonde hair that was so similar to Caleb's. The scar on his right cheek, a pale pink color, and the purple eye bags that decorated his face all came into view. Philip had liked him more than the others and treated him better than most. He had made Hunter younger than all the others on purpose. He thought it would be easier to keep him on the right path if he started teaching him at a younger age. His plan seemed to work, all the lies convincing enough to make Hunter never question him. But it all crumbled when Hunter was put into his mind and he decided to test him. A test Hunter failed by asking about the other guards. Philip inhaled, claiming his nerves trying to make the boy disappear from his mind to no avail. His voice was shaky.

"Hunter was… the closest to you I ever got and I still hurt him. I don't think I ever loved him… cared for him but never loved him. I wish… I could have but… He's not you."

Philip frowned, that feeling of dread washed over him again. Caleb stared at him. Philip looked back afraid, Caleb had no expression on his face as he stared holes into him. His eyes were cold, his voice was colder as he hissed at him.

"I don't care about how you cared for him. I don't care how close you got to remaking me, Philip. The fact that you hurt him, over and over again for fourteen years is what bothers me. That you made him as a two-year-old, a toddler, on purpose is what bothers me. Toddlers don't fully understand the world around them or why adults do things. Hunter certainly didn't understand much at that age and yet you chose to hurt him. Hurt him for things that toddlers normally do like cry, laugh, and break things. And you kept hurting him for his whole life. Giving him that chip in his ear for asking you simple questions about the world. That scar on his cheek for breaking an artifact by accident. All because he ran by it while playing a game of tag. Choosing to force what you thought was right onto him, isolating him, training him, scarring him, making him feel worthless and useless without you. Making him think that no one else would ever love or want him since he basically has no magic… You hurt him over and over again for so many years, without any remorse. You hurt my son, Philip."

The last sentence dripped with venom. A deep hatred Philip had never heard from Caleb before. It terrified him, shaking him to his core as his blood turned to ice. Caleb continued.

"Everything I could have forgiven. The sigils, the lies, my life, the coven system, the scouts, Flapjack's eye, the pailsman but Hunter. I can not and will not forgive you for hurting him or any of the other grimwalkers. EVER! They never deserved the life you gave them. The life of harm, pain, cold love, or the title of failure. A title you named them to be. They didn't deserve to be left for dead. You always left them alone to die in the head of the Titan. To die in pain and agony. To die in a mass grave with their brothers. Their lifeless bodies decaying with no one to mourn them besides myself."

Philip bit his lip, bile climbing up his throat. He swallowed it back down, as a dizzy feeling pooled in his eyes. He squeezed them shut trying to remember Caleb with a smile and joy in his eyes to no avail. Only images of the dead grimwalkers appeared before him. He opened his eyes and looked at Caleb again. Caleb was livid, a burning anger consumed his eyes as a frown was painted upon his lips. A face that Philip wished to never see again. That expression Caleb made scared him. He had only seen it once before when he was nine and Caleb had aimed it at the Marshall brothers. They had bullied him and taken his bible, telling him that a witch was going to steal him away and eat him. Caleb had silenced both of them with his fists and that glare. But now that glare was turned on him, making him feel small and insignificant. Philip swallowed again.

"I'm sorry, Caleb."

His voice barely above a whisper, those words the only thing he could say. Caleb blinked, his smile returning to him. His tone was sickly sweet.

"No, you're not. Your apology isn't for what you did, it's for yourself. A lie to make me forgive you….But that's okay. Since I won't ever fall for your lies, not again."

Philip's mind raced as his heart sank. He blurted out.

"I'm sorry, I hurt Hunter! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to, it just happened. Please Caleb forgive me."

Calen tilted his head and looked at him. Philip looked pathetic under his gaze. Caleb smiled.

"If you want I can tell Hunter myself that you're sorry. After all, he's who I'm seeing next. He's the one you should truly apologize to, not me. You know I'm actually nervous to meet him. But maybe you've forgotten how that feels. Actually, I think you've forgotten a lot more than how to feel nervous. You've forgotten how to be human."

Caleb watched the dread bloom on Philip's face. Caleb sighed, he didn't want to keep arguing or insulting Philip. Caleb scratched the back of his neck.

"You know once Hunter falls asleep, I'm going to meet him, no matter what… Since, you know, you're not around to watch him anymore. Ah, I'm so nervous. I hope he likes me."

Philip's blood had to be frozen at this point from the dread that crept over his whole body. His stomach sank into a pit, his ears rang slightly as blood pooled behind his eyes forcing them to swirl with cold confusion. Just hearing and knowing that Caleb would never forgive him was the most horrible thing he could feel. He watched as Caleb's smile returned to his lips, a smile no longer meant for him. It was meant for the latest failure of the grimwalker family line. A line he wished he never made since every single one was a failure. A failure that didn't deserve the love Caleb obviously had for them. They were tools and yet Caleb loved them over him. Philip couldn't wrap his head around that thought, how could Caleb love those things?

"Well, I'm going ahead Philip. You can join me if you like but I know when Hunter falls asleep you can't come."

Philip was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of Caleb's voice. He looked down at his hands, they were trembling.

"I… I can't… not right now. I know I don't deserve your forgiveness for what I did to Hunter but I can't follow along with you because I don't deserve to. For now, I think I'll stay here and repent until I know I can follow you."

Caleb smiled at him, a cold, bitter look in his eye. Knowing that Philip would probably never leave that spot again. That Philip would never get what he wanted.

"Okay, brother. I'll see you later."