Authors Before Note

Yep, another chapter : ). And a longer /

Had to get this written out before I leave to a week trip with /

Thanks for those who took the time to read and leave a comment : )

Chapter 5

Hunter and Vee sat in the kitchen, with fresh hot cocoa in their own mugs, freshly served.

Both teenagers had stayed behind at home while the rest went back to the old, abandoned house deep in the woods.

Hunter decided he couldn't go with the others. He couldn't face Belos again. At least… not yet.

He had asked himself what the point was. He couldn't find the courage to talk to his 'uncle' the day before. Instead of facing his fears, he had run off back to Luz's home, and had just hidden himself under the covers in his current room, down in the basement with Gus, like a coward…

So, Vee stayed back with Hunter in their current home, with a drink that was relaxing Hunter, comforting him a bit when he sipped on it. He really needed something to distract him, since he was nervous at the thought of what the others were doing with Belos. Flapjack, his red cardinal partner, sat on top of his head, eyes closed as he rested.

The night before, after he had fled from his 'uncle', Willow had suggested that Gus should investigate Belos' memories in order to find out how they could return to the Boiling Isles.

Hunter honestly didn't think the plan was a great idea. He didn't want Gus looking into what was inside Belo's twisted mind, but unfortunately Luz insisted they should at least try. And since Luz was stubborn to follow through with Willow's plan, everyone ended up agreeing.

At least… Hunter was glad he had told everyone what he and Luz had found out about his true nature… How he was a grimwalker, a clone created by Belos and how Belos used to be a witch hunter. He was glad to have told everyone the truth and was so relieved that everyone, instead of rejecting him, had comforted him and assured him he was their friend and no matter what, they would accept and would be there for him.

They cared for him…

Unlike…

Hunter gave his head a shake, to snap out of his tormented thoughts before taking a small sip of his hot cocoa; it was still too hot, so he was careful not to burn his mouth.

"This is really good, Vee," Hunter said to the girl who sat across from him at the round table.

She smiled with a slight warmth in her eyes.

"I tried to follow exactly how Camila does it," she said, rubbing her thumbs against her own red mug. "It didn't really come out tasting the same as hers though…"

"Well, I think it's delicious." Hunter offered her a grin. "And between you and me, this is better than anything I've tasted from the Boiling Isles," he said with amusement.

Vee giggled with a hand over her mouth.

Their peaceful moment was interrupted when the door to the house slammed open. Their friends rushed into the living room, with Camila ushering a very pale Gus to the couch. Luz shut the door behind while the other two teenage girls ran to the windows around the house to make sure they were locked. They also shut the curtains.

"It's okay, Gus, I got you," Camila said gently as she sat next to the boy, holding him as she rubbed his back in a circular motion.

The boy hugged his legs tightly against his chest, hiding his face on his knees. His talisman, Emmiline, was nudging her head against his side to comfort him.

Hunter pulled away from his chocolate wonder. Flapjack jumped off his head, flapping his wings to stay up in the air before landing on the table.

"What happened?" Hunter asked with a mix of panic and demand. He directly looked at Luz, who hesitantly met his gaze. To him, she seemed very nervous.

When he didn't get an immediate response, he went over to Gus.

"What did he do to you?" Hunter asked the younger boy softly, hands slightly hovering over the young boy. He was unsure if he should touch him yet.

The earlier anxiety he had for Belos was gone at the moment. Instead, Hunter felt the powerful urge to protect Gus.

"I'm o-kay…" Gus said with a muffled voice, not looking up at Hunter.

Not believing him, Hunter glanced back at Luz, frowning at her.

Luz was quiet, looking down as if she was lost. Willow and Amity came back from the other rooms after making sure the other windows were secure.

"Belos escaped," Amity revealed.

Hunter's eyes widened in disbelief, staring at them for a whole second.

"What?!" he exclaimed in shock. "How did that happen?!" he panicked, as the worst-case scenarios played in his head.

"Gus was looking through his memories as we had planned," Amity explained. "But we had to pull Gus out because…" she rubbed her arm, not wanting to share with Hunter the way Gus was screaming, with his hands on his shaking head with a desperation to stop the link he had with Belos. "Anyways, once we stopped the connection, Belos woke up and broke free."

"We tried stopping him, but somehow he got so much stronger since yesterday," Willow said.

"This is bad, this is really bad." Hunter paced back and forth in the living room, hands tugging on his hair. "We have to hide somewhere far from here before he kills us!"

"I think we should be okay," Camila spoke up to the teenagers, hoping to calm Hunter down. "He ran the opposite direction from this house."

Camila's revelation stopped Hunter from his pacing.

"But he can still find us," he said in a serious tone.

"I think we should be more worried that he goes into one of the towns or the city," Camila said. "Who knows how much damage he can cause."

Hunter rubbed his tired eyes before looking at Luz.

"I told you this was a terrible idea," he said, annoyed.

Luz frowned at him.

"We had no choice," she said, matching his tone. "He's the only one that may have a clue on how we can go back."

"And did you find out how?" Hunter challenged.

Luz just looked back down at the carpet floor, mouth twisting to the side with frustration.

"Guys, we don't have time to argue about this," Amity stepped, especially to defend her girlfriend. "We need to stop Belos before he hurts anyone else."

Hunter and Luz looked at one another before they sighed in resignation, pushing away their current aggravation they had for one another at the moment.

"Alright, but it won't be so easy now that he has all his strength back," Hunter said.

"Maybe I can help?" Vee asked as she joined the group.

She received confused looks from them.

"Yesterday, I could feel the magic more coming from him," she explained. "Maybe if I can absorb some of that magic, I can weaken him."

"And we can capture him again," Luz said.

"Maybe we should work on making a better cage first," Amity suggested.

"Great idea," Willow agreed.

"And I think some of us should be out there keeping Belos from hurting others," Luz added. "We need to keep him occupied and keep track of him till we can lock him back up."

Hunter wanted to object to Luz's idea, as he knew he was going to be the one to hunt him down… But he knew leaving Belos to roam around free was a terrible idea.

"I guess… I'll handle Belos…" Hunter let out with uncertainty.

"I'll go too," Vee offered. "I can see if I can absorb some of his magic."

"I'll come as well," Luz said.

"No, you're not," Amity said, receiving a confused look from Luz. "Luz, you don't have magic. You can't really defend yourself against Belos."

"But this is my mess," Luz tried to argue. "I can't let Hunter and Vee handle that monster alone."

"Mija…" Camila spoke up with worry.

"No, mama, I have to fix this," Luz argued, a bit too desperately.

"I am not comfortable with any of you kids going after this Belos," her mom said. "I know I can't really stop you kids and I will do my best to help, but if Amity feels that you going with Hunter and Vee is too dangerous, then I can't let you go with them."

"Pero, mama. I must do something. I can't just stay behind and do nothing."

"You aren't doing nothing," Amity said gently, placing her hand on Luz's arm in assurance. "We need that brain of yours to help us make a better cage."

"Amity is right," Willow smiled at Luz. "I think you're better off with us than out there."

"But Belos is too strong for the two of them," Luz argued still.

"They won't be alone." The group looked down with confusion when Gus spoke up. He finally pulled his legs down, wiped his eyes with his sleeved arm. He looked up with red-rimmed eyes.

Camila released her hold on him, noticing how he looked less pale now, but she still looked at him with concern.

"I'll go with Hunter and Vee," the boy said. "I can distract him with his memories so Vee can weaken him, and Hunter can lead him back to you guys."

"Oh, no you're not," Hunter said. "Whatever you saw in that demented head of his messed you up. I don't want his memories to cause you more damage."

Gus closed his eyes for a moment, took a deep breath before looking back at Hunter with a determined face.

"I can do it," he said. "And we should hurry before something bad happens."

The group observed him. Some wanted to tell him he should probably stay behind and let Hunter and Vee handle things with Belos, but they didn't, as they knew they needed all the help they could get.

"Alright…" Luz sighed, trying to ignore the guilt that has been eating her heart for the past months. "Vee, let's make sure you share your location with me on your phone in case." she pulled out her phone from her back pocket as Vee did the same. "Text us when you guys find him and call us if anything happens."

"Sure thing, Luz," Vee said.

Gus got off the couch and Emmiline jumped up in the air and turned into a staff for him to hold with both hands.

Hunter went downstairs to the basement for a second to retrieve a yellow hoodie after Camile told him it was cold outside. Flapjack had turned into a staff for him to wield as well.

Luz shoved materials into a backpack and packed other things to take to the abandoned house so she, Amity, and Willow could plan out how to make the new cage tougher so Belos couldn't break out next time.

"Please be careful," Camila hugged Vee who returned the embrace.

"Don't worry, I will be," Vee assured her softly.

The group left the house and walked together back to the abandoned house with the night lit up thanks to the full moon.

Amity pointed to Hunter in the direction where Belos had run off to once they arrived near the abandoned house.

Hunter stared at the darkness between the trees.

The fear he had for Belos crept back up, but taking a good look at his friends, especially at Gus, who was still a bit pale, made him shove down the hesitation. He had to stop Belos from hurting someone else.

So, after receiving nods from Vee and Gus, Hunter got on his staff, with Vee sitting right behind him. Gus got on his own staff with his usual unique style.

"Let's do this…" Hunter mumbled to himself before the three flew deep into the forest.

While Hunter was arguing with Luz back at home, miles away, Jim, a trucker, was chatting with his wife on the phone as he drummed his thick fingers against the steering wheel of the freight truck as he drove down the road, between the forest.

Jim didn't love nor hate his job. He drove across the country, taking loads to different states, depending on what his dispatcher could attain for him, because he was paid well.

The pay was good enough to give his family a decent life, which was what mattered to him the most.

Jim was tired, and he couldn't wait to reach the next rest stop so he could have a goodnight sleep.

To keep him awake, his wife was talking to him through his Bluetooth. She was telling him how their son was doing well in his second month of elementary school.

He continued to drive down the familiar route he sometimes took when he suddenly noticed something massive was standing down the road 10 feet in front of him.

Jim cursed as he instinctually hit the brake, but he still slammed into the mass object.

Hunter, Gus, and Vee were standing near the riverbank. They were following the trail of enormous foot and handprints that Belos had left behind till they came across the river; Gus had called to Hunter to stop for some reason.

Hunter and Vee observed Gus with confusion as he stood by the riverbank, looking down at the river.

Hunter rubbed the back of his neck before walking over to Gus.

"Hey, hum… Gus?" he began, unsure how to approach the boy. He guessed Gus was suffering from the impact that Belo's memories had left behind.

Hunter couldn't blame Gus for being shaken up for what he might have seen in those memories. Heck, Hunter was and probably won't ever be over what he and Luz saw when they were inside of Belo's mind months ago.

There were moments that he still got very anxious and had nightmares in his sleep. Thus, why he couldn't even… look at Belos…

Thus, why he had simply run away the day before…

"You know, I'm here if you want to talk about things, right?" Hunter said, feeling awkward. He still lacked practice with comforting others. "Of course, you don't have to tell me what you saw, but… just… well, if you want to tell me you can… I just want you to know you don't have to endure things by yourself."

"I used to think humans were so amazing," Gus said in a very quiet voice, crouching down as he stared at his reflection reflected by the river. "I was so obsessed with them, I even made a club back at school called "Human Appreciation Society"," he let out a small laugh.

Hunter blinked at him with confusion but let the younger one continue.

"I thought it was so cool how they looked almost like us, yet they didn't need magic to create all the things they created. To progress… Meeting Luz was one of the best moments of my life. Not going to lie, when we first got stuck here, yeah, I was so worried about my dad, King, Eda, and everyone else in the Boiling Isles, yet…" he bit his lower lip, hands clutching his knees hard. "I was also excited we were in the human world…" Gus looked up at Hunter, his eyebrows furrowed. "When you told us how Belos used to be a witch hunter from the human world, I thought, well, it was probably just him, who was probably just jealous of us having magic, or maybe he was the only one that misunderstood us. But… I did research about witch hunters through Luz's computer and… I found out the town, Gravesfield, was filled with humans who were against witches too. They would chase people out of town, or even…" he looked back down. "They killed them…"

Hunter's eyes widened at the revelation.

"They killed people they believed were witches when they probably weren't even one," Gus continued. "And then I found out humans didn't just hate or killed people for being witches… they did the same to others because of the color of their skin, what they believed in, who they loved… or just because they were different…"

Hunter and Vee stared at the boy as they processed his words.

"Well… sometimes humans still do that…" Gus shook his head with a disappointed sigh. "I read that this country especially did terrible things to people that had the color of my skin, like… very terrible things… and yeah, I was shocked. Shocked that I used to look up to those humans so much, that I thought they were such amazing living beings. I just can't understand why they would do such terrible things to innocent people… I just can't wrap my head around it… I'm still shocked, you know, but I guess… I didn't feel it hit me that badly yet till…"

"Till what…?" Hunter asked quietly, encouraging the boy to continue.

"Gus' lips pressed into a shaky, thin line. Tears gathered in his eyes as he hugged himself with his arms.

"Till I saw…" the boy choked out, shutting his eyes tightly. "Till I saw with my own eyes how… people from Gravesfield had hurt people because they had believed they were witches… till I saw how Belos whipped a woman… till I saw… How he burned another one to death…."

"Oh, Gus," Vee went to him, throwing her arms around him.

"It was terrible…" Gus said sadly, burying his face into vee's shoulder. "She begged for them to stop, but everyone in that town just cheered…"

Hunter felt his stomach drop at what Gus admitted to seeing in Belo's memories.

A woman burned to death… just imagining it made Hunter feel sick, and he couldn't help but feel angry as well that Gus had to have seen such an awful thing.

Belos burning a woman… No one deserved such a terrible end.

Yet… he wasn't shocked that Belos would have done such a thing, especially since the man had planned to annihilate everyone from the Boiling Isles, man, women, and children… Heck, Belos had killed countless of his brother's clones…

The man was just disgustingly cruel.

While Vee comforted Gus, who was letting tears stream down his tender cheeks, Hunter began to ask himself, why did he continue to be on Belo's good side? Why was he so afraid of Belo's rejection?

Did he really want the approval of a monster?

Was he that pathetic?

Yes… his 'uncle' in the past would compliment him at times if he did something correctly. His uncle made sure the right people had raised him, had trained him to be the strongest he could be. The moments Belos would even lay a hand on him was when Belos seemed to have lost control of his cursed form, when Belos momentarily let his emotions consume him. Then again… Belos never once apologized for any of those 'accidentally' incidents. He felt bad when he left a bruise or a scar on Hunter's body.

Hunter's heart tightened up as he felt anger continue to rise in him.

His hands turned into tight fists.

Gus pulled away from Vee, giving her a tired smile. He was grateful for her always providing support and comfort to the group.

"We really need to capture him before he can hurt anyone else…" Hunter said coldly, gathering Gus' and Vee's attention. "And once we find out from him how we can go back to the Boiling Isles, then…" He closed his eyes, struggling to say the next words. "We need to make sure we get rid of him for good."

Gus looked at him with confusion.

Hunter opened his eyes and met his friend's gaze. "Belos has hurt and killed too many people for centuries," he admitted, ignoring the mix of emotions he was feeling at the thought of wanting to get rid of Belos. "He's a terrible man who doesn't care who he hurts. He's a monster, and… he's never going to stop hurting others." Hunter's voice wavered for a second before he continued. "So… we have to stop him for good, no matter what."

"Hunter…" Gus felt his own heart tug at the thought of how much his friend was hurting. He knew Hunter still cared for Belos. And honestly… something else that he had seen in Belos' memories had disturbed him badly. "There… was something else that I saw that is bothering," he said, but before he had the chance to continue, the three teenagers heard a loud roar far in the distance.

Vee and Gus jumped back to their feet.

"That's him," Vee said.

"Yeah, it is," Hunter said as he got on his staff. "Let's go before we lose him."

Gus was hesitant as he got on his staff. He wanted to tell Hunter about everything he had seen in Belo's memories, especially now that Hunter brought up how they should kill Belos.

The boy, though, decided he would bring things up once they had Belos back in a cage. Little steps at a time, after all...

So, once Vee was secure behind Hunter, Gus put his serious face on and flew with Hunter in the direction they had heard the roar from.

They flew fast through the forest, avoiding the trees and branches.

The plan was simple; they had planned after flying from the rest of the group.

Once they found Belos, Gus would use the amplifier tool to trap Belos into his own memories. Once Belos was immobilized, Vee would jump in and suck as much magic energy as she could from him, to weaken him. Then Hunter would do his best to either use his magic to keep Belos in the forest, or away from town, or get Belos to chase after them back to the abandoned warehouse.

"Damn it…" Gus heard Hunter say when they arrived at a shocking scene on the road.

The three jumped off from the staffs to come face to face with a huge freight truck turned to the side, light illuminating slightly its surroundings. The front of the truck was somewhat crushed. On the other side of the truck from them was Belos, growling as he limply moved along the side of the truck. Gus took notice that Belos was sniffing the truck like a dog would do.

"We need to make sure the driver is okay," Gus said as Hunter and Vee nodded in agreement.

"Alright, do your thing, Gus," Hunter said as the younger boy pulled out his amplifier tool. Both the tool and his eyes glowed as he targeted Belos straight on.

Belos stopped what he was doing and turned to them with empty black eye sockets.

The creature let out a growl at them, which made Hunter confused.

The boy turned to Gus and saw the glow emanating from Gus' eyes and from the tool.

"Hum… Gus?" Hunter brought his staff up as Belos kept growling in their direction. "Any time now."

Gus frowned; lips parted out of confusion.

"I'm trying to," he responded, eyebrows furrowing as he focused more on Belos.

"Gus…" Vee stuttered as she slowly moved back behind the two boys, feeling vulnerable as Belos began to crawl to them on all four.

"This doesn't make any sense," Gus said, his eyes still glowing brightly. "There's nothing there…"

"What do you mean, there's nothing there?" Hunter stepped back, taking a defensive position now.

"I mean… all I'm seeing is complete darkness!" Gus revealed, panicking now. "I can't find any of his memories."

"Is he blocking you?"

"No, it's nothing like that." the glow from Gus' eyes vanished, and he brought his own staff up. Belos stopped moving, teeth clenched hard as he growled darkly. "It's as if his memories are not there. Like, they're completely gone!"

"How's that possible?" Hunter asked, completely lost at the fact Gus could tap into Belos' memories before and now there was nothing?

"I don't know," Gus admitted, his heart pounding in his ears as he stared at Belos, at the empty eye sockets, and the lack of blue glow to them. A mortifying thought crossed his mind. "It's like… he's not there…" Gus said, making Hunter more confused.

Then the three teenagers winced as a flash of blue and red lights they didn't even notice had approached the area.

Gus, with an arm over his eyes, peeked out to see two cars that he identified as police cars.

"Oh, no…" Gus let out as four people in uniform got out of the cars slowly, with wide eyes as they stared at the beast that stood before the children.

Belos had lost interest in the kids and was looking right at the cops the second they arrived.

"What… the hell is that…?" one cop stuttered, while the other three cops had their mouths hanging open. The words were stuck in their throats.

Belos slowly stood up, still facing the cops.

"No," Gus panicked more, taking a step forward. "Run!" he yelled at the cops, but he was too late.

Belos let out a screeching roar before lunging at his new prey.

Author's After Note

While writing this chapter... for some reason I forgot to spell blue... god... I was panicking so badly... Like, I know I am so rusty on my writing skills, but come on... :(.

Also, if anyone wants to be my beta reader, please notify me. I don't always catch, for some reason, the mistakes I make, like missing words, etc..

Again, thank you so much for the comments/kudos/subscriptions!

Welp, Belos is having a moment huh? And so much is trouble Gus...

Also poor Hunter...

What do you guys think of the current events and what do you think is happening to Belos? :)

Please review/comment~