Chapter 04 - An unusual invitation
"Turn left, then go up the stairs and you'll see another hallway, the fifth room on the right is Agatha's quarters," Darius, the head of the Abomination Coven, said, leaning lazily in the doorway of his room as he filed his nails.
"Thank you, Darius," said Hunter. "And I'm sorry to bother you at this time in the afternoon."
"No need to thank or apologize, kid. You are a kid, right? At least your voice sounds like one. Coven Heads must help each other. But if you really want to thank me..."
Hunter gulped, wondering what the trap might be.
"Come to the slumber party I'm throwing for my younger siblings on Monday."
"Huh?" Hunter blurted out thinking he hadn't heard it right. "Sorry, I don't think I heard it right… Did you say slumber party?"
"Yep, but it's not reeeeeally a party, because other than you I only invited two other brats, I mean kids, who are also the age of my siblings (just like you) and Lance, Agatha and Eberwolf so I wouldn't be alone in the middle of a bunch of teenagers. But yeah, it's a slumber party and yes I'm inviting you to a party, actually summoning you since you owe me a favor now."
"Okay, I understand I owe it to you… But… Are you sure? We don't even know each other very well... How are you sure I'll be good company for your siblings?"
"Because you look like a nice kid, boy. Your manner is very reminiscent of my younger brother Dominic, even this nerdy cute voice of yours reminds me of his," Darius said with a playful smile.
"My voice isn't cute!" Hunter screamed red in embarrassment, inwardly thanking his mask for hiding his face this time. "Neither a nerd's one!"
"Sure..." Darius said wryly. "In any case, I think you would get along fine... Do you like Amphibia?"
"I love it! I mean, it's kind of a good distraction," Hunter tried to hide his excitement, blushing of embarrassment, once again he thanked the Titan inwardly for be wearing a mask.
"Excellent! Marathoning all Amphibia episodes will be one of the party's activities! There will also be board games and karaoke."
"Look… I don't know if I can go…"
'I can't leave the castle for the next three months…' Hunter thought. 'Damn punishment!'
"Oh, relax, it will be here in my quarters" Darius said.
"What?! But what about the Emperor?!"
"He doesn't mind, duh. Of course I wouldn't do something like that without his permission. That would be a dumb way to die."
"But how…?"
"Since Raine Whispers's attack on me and Eberwolf, the Emperor has been very concerned about the safety of the Coven Heads. The Emperor even arranged a private meeting with each Coven Head and in all of that meetings, at the end of the praise and/or criticism session, he ended up insinuating that he would be 'very pleased' if we lived temporarily here in the castle until the Day of Unity and not to take any risks, saying that it would be better if we left the castle only when strictly necessary like show up at the Coven Day Parade or on such occasions… Well, as they say, 'a word to the wise is sufficient', isn't it?" Darius started to explain. "Anyway, as he wants us to feel like guests, not prisoners, he allowed one, at most two, of our relatives or friends to come here whenever they wanted to visit us (we just had to put their names on a list) and he also said that we could do whatever we want in our rooms, as long as we repair any damage done in those places. In other words, the party is allowed!"
Hunter was shocked to hear that. So he wasn't the only one trapped in the castle, the heads of the Main Nine Covens were too. So maybe his situation wasn't the worst there...
'Yes, my situation is the worst. The other Coven Heads will at least still be able to participate in the Parade, while I'll be grounded at home…' Hunter thought crestfallen.
"Speaking of which, how was it for you?" Darius asked curiously. "Did the order to not leave the castle come in the form of a suggestion with praise or did it come with harsh criticism?"
'Harsh criticism and a punishment. I probably won't even be able to see the Parade' Hunter replied in thought. 'But I'll not say that to the other Coven Heads.'
"Of course, it was in the form of compliments and suggestions," the boy said, lying blatantly.
"Of course, I don't even know why I asked, I'm talking to the teen prodigy after all," Darius said, not noticing the lie. "Anyway, back to the main topic, as we can't leave the castle for the next three months, my siblings are coming to visit me on Monday, so I'll throw a surprise slumber party for them, to introduce them to other kids their age who aren't studying at Glandus High."
"What's the problem with Glandus?" Hunter asked curiously.
"Nothing much," Darius replied in a tone ironic enough to be noticed even by a three-year-old. "Just certain pests bullying students with weaker magic and students who follow the illusion track. Since my siblings are from the illusion track, even though they are quite powerful, they are bullied a lot and they don't have any friends there."
"Titan!" Hunter exclaimed, empathizing with Darius's siblings. "What a horrible situation! It's not fair what these jerks from Glandus do to students in the illusion track and to the weaker students! This kind of shameful behavior is not worthy of a true subject of the Emperor!"
"Exactly, boy! And that's why I'm making this little surprise party for my siblings. My goal is to make sure they find as many kids their age who aren't mean on Monday in hopes that they make at least one friend. So far, with you, I've managed to find three kids. Thank Titan the other two have already confirmed their presence."
"Who are they?"
"Peony's granddaughter and Paracelsus's son."
"Do they also have a free pass to enter the castle?" Hunter asked.
"Of course, otherwise I couldn't have invited them," Darius replied. "So, are you going to attend?"
"Yes."
"Excellent! See you Monday, shorty. Don't even think about being a no-show!"
"OK. Byeeee!"
And the head of the Emperor's Coven used his staff of artificial magic to teleport to the hallway where Darius had said Agatha's chambers were.
"Who are Lance, Eberwolf, Peony and Paracelsus?" a bird chirping from his cloak pocket asked.
"Winter!" Hunter complained in a whisper. "What did I tell you about chirping outside our bedroom?"
"Sorry, I'm curious," Winter said, still inside Hunter's pocket. "I just wanted to know who my witch's future new friends are! I'm so excited! I can't believe we're going to be part of a crew!"
"I doubt we'll be part of a crew."
"Why?"
"Because it's just a party, Winter. And I'm going just because I owe it to Darius. I doubt that we can become 'best friends forever' of strangers in a single night" Hunter said, throwing cold water on Winter's hopes. "Especially because it doesn't look like a bunch of talented teenagers like those would be interested in being friends with a powerless witch like me. Besides, no one can see you! If someone finds out that you live here in the keep and tell it to my uncle we will have to start digging two graves, one for you and another for me!"
"HEY! It's not true! You are an amazing witch and it is a privilege to be your friend, Hunter!" Winter said irritably. "Anyone can see it, even teenagers!"
"Wow... Uh... Thanks," Hunter replied, embarrassed.
"Ok, I understand that I can't be seen by your sinister uncle, so I won't try to talk to anyone at the party. But… Can you at least tell me who are all these people Darius mentioned? I'm still curious."
"Okay. I ended up forgetting the names of Darius's siblings now, but I remember the others because they're all Coven Heads."
"Really?"
"Yep. Lance is the head of the Illusion Coven, Eberwolf is the head of the Beast Keeping Coven, Peony is the head of the Plant Coven and Paracelsus is the head of the Potions Coven. I would advise to stay away from them."
"Why? Are they bad people?" Winter asked worriedly.
"No, they're not bad people. Actually they are strangely endearing, but they are dangerous too, very dangerous, just like Raine Whispers," Hunter replied. "And just like Raine Whispers, they are very friendly and nice people… at least until they decide that you can be more useful for their cause if you are dead."
"Really?!" Winter asked, swallowing hard.
"Yep," Hunter replied. "And that's another reason for you to be very quiet and hide, pretending you don't exist until we get back to the bedroom. What if one of them, or worse, Kikimora shows up and-"
"And what, Golden Guard?" The voice of said person was heard behind the boy, making the young head of the Emperor's Coven jump in fright.
"What a scare, Kiki!" Hunter said, leaning against one of the corridor walls to compose himself. "I almost had a heart attack now!"
"Too bad it was just almost..." Kikimora murmured to herself.
"What?" Hunter asked, arching an eyebrow (which couldn't be seen because he was wearing a mask).
"Nothing," Kikimora said with a smile. "Most importantly… Who were you talking to now, Gold Guard?"
"Noone."
"Are you sure? It looked to me like you were talking to someone..." Kikimora spoke suspiciously. "And was that a bird's chirping I heard coming from the hallway?"
Hunter froze and responded by making up a lie quickly:
"I-it was from my scroll! I lied, I was talking to a friend on the scroll and this friend of mine has a pet bird!"
"Hard to believe you could have friends or even a scroll," Kikimora remarked spitefully. "Poor boy… So young and already delusional… I knew the role of Coven Head would be too heavy for a little boy…"
"I'm not a little boy!" Hunter blurted out furious and red with embarrassment, his mask was definitely a blessing. "I'm not delusional and I have friends and a scroll! And my scroll is an amazing, top-of-the-line scroll! My uncle gave it to me for my birthday last year! And it was the best, most modern and most expensive scroll model made last year!" The Golden Guard completed taking the scroll from his pocket and showing it to Kikimora, almost rubbing it in her face.
"Wow… I don't know if I'm glad you finally got a scroll or sorry that the emperor gave you your first scroll just last year… Even ten-year-olds get scrolls these days… The emperor mustn't find you there very responsible, isn't it?"
"This isn't my first scroll," Hunter lied, speaking in low tone, his voice dripping with hatred. "And you can be sure, Kiki, that the emperor finds me far more responsible than you! After all, he preferred to replace Lilith with a 'little boy' than to replace her with his 'esteemed assistant', didn't he?"
This time it was Kikimora's turn to have to hold back to not start a witches duel in the middle of one of the castle's corridors.
"Look, unlike what seems to be your case, I'm jammed with tasks to be completed today, so if you'll excuse me… Byeeee!"
At the same moment Hunter used his staff of artificial magic to teleport himself in front of the fifth-room door in that hallway. The boy knocked on the door and waited until Agatha opened the door and let him in.
- x -
"So Agatha healed my wounds and told me to get more sleep and eat more vegetables and that was it," Hunter said, concluding his report.
'She also gave me a lollipop for being "a brave boy", argh… So humiliating! No way I would tell someone that!' Hunter thought.
The boy was sitting on a bench facing the emperor's workbench in the underground laboratory where the portal was being repaired. The young head of the Emperor's Coven was unmasked at his uncle's request.
"Interesting… I'm glad your condition wasn't as bad as it looked," Belos, who was also unmasked, said calmly, no apparent emotion in his voice, more focused on Hunter's staff of artificial magic (which he was currently honing using tools from the top of his workbench) than in his nephew's report. "I confess I was worried."
Hunter blushed and smiled, ducking his head to try to hide his face as much as possible, with a mixed feeling of shame and happiness as he heard his uncle admit that he had worried about him. Shame because if he hadn't been so incompetent at Lake Eclipse his uncle wouldn't have had to worry about him so he wouldn't be grounded right now. Happiness because if your uncle had worried about him it was because he loved him, right?
"Eh… So… Since I didn't get hurt that much at Lake Eclipse and learned my lesson at the last meeting-"
"Your punishment is still alive and kicking, Hunter," Belos said, changing pieces and testing that staff for even a minute, remorselessly throwing cold water on his nephew's hopes.
"But-"
"Just because the worst hasn't happened it doesn't mean you're not in trouble, young man," Belos said, still making alterations on the boy's staff.
"But, uncle, I can't be locked up here for three months! I am the head of the Emperor's Coven! I have a lot of responsibility-"
"Which you can fulfill right here in the castle," Belos interrupted, finally stopping what he was doing to look at Hunter. "Speaking of which, have you finished catching up on all the reports, inquiries, forms, in short, all the bureaucratic documentation that Lilith let her accumulate in the last few months of her work to fulfill the mission of capturing her sister?"
"No…" Hunter replied softly, ducking his head, feeling embarrassed.
"See? That's an excellent task you can do right here in the castle," Belo replied with a tiny but confident smile.
"Yeah…" Hunter said in defeat. "But, uncle…"
"What?" Belos asked, arching an eyebrow.
"How will the recruitment of new members for the Coven be made? Recruitment is usually through a witches duel held in a public arena between candidates for the vacancy or between candidates and one or more recruiters, depending on the number of vacancies offered in that year. Such an event has to be held in a public arena and-"
"This year's recruitment can be done without a problem in the castle's scout training camp."
"But wouldn't that be dangerous? This is a public event! Usually the ENTIRE Islands fight to get places to watch," Hunter said worriedly. "What if the human or the Owl Woman uses this event to attack the castle?"
"Great! It would be an excellent opportunity to capture these fugitives. We can even lower the minimum age to participate in the selection from sixteen to fourteen, so the human will definitely try to infiltrate and make a surprise attack. We will place undercover scouts among the audience pretending to be just part of the audience and then the two will have no way out."
"I don't know… It still feels risky."
"It's either that or postpone recruiting for next year. It's your choice."
"No way!" Hunter exclaimed in alarm.
'I can't be the first Emperor's Coven Head to cancel a recruitment! Not when everyone else before me has managed to make recruitment annually! Not having a recruitment this year would be basically admitting to the ENTIRE Islands that something is wrong in the Coven and everyone knows that if a Coven doesn't do well it's its Head's fault, which means everyone would see me as a failure! A failure!' Hunter thought desperately. 'And I can't be seen as a failure! I can't be a failure! Kiki would spend eternity pestering me reminding me of it if that ever happened!'
"No way what?" Belos asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Sorry, sir. I was saying I accept your suggestion to do the recruitment from the castle training grounds, my liege…"
"Excellent. You made the right choice, Hunter. Now, is there something else bothering you?"
"Well... Yes, there is. It's about the Coven Day Parade."
"What about it?"
"It's next week, on Wednesday. All Coven Heads must participate, right?"
"All Coven Heads but you and Raine Whispers."
"I see…" Hunter replied crestfallen.
"I'm sorry, Hunter, but you were the one who put yourself in this situation," Belos said. "I don't feel any little bit of happyness about punishing you, but it's necessary so that you can learn from your mistakes."
"I know…" Hunter said, crestfallen. "It's just… Never mind."
"Even if you weren't grounded, we still wouldn't be able to spend this holiday together sneaking out to see the Parade and the fireworks like we did until last year," Belos said, realizing what the boy really wanted to ask, but he didn't dare. "After all, all Coven Heads must be part of the Parade, each one must be on a float representing their Coven, waving to the crowd. And you are a Coven Head now."
"I…"
"Hadn't thought about it yet, right?"
Hunter nodded, embarrassed. Yes, the penny hadn't dropped to the boy yet. The young Head of the Emperor's Coven still had indeed a iota of hope of spending the holiday with his uncle, but the harsh reality was that, punishment or no punishment, he could no longer spend his favorite holiday with his uncle, not this year nor in the next ones.
"So… what are you going to do so that no one notices my absence?" the boy asked in defeat.
"A pretty simple solution, actually," Belos replied, going back to completing the modifications to the artificial magic staff. "I spoke to Lance and he'll make an illusion to replace you at the Parade. Since he's the Head of the Illusion Coven, creating a perfect Illusion copy of you and keeping it for a whole day is child's play for him… At least it's what he guaranteed. Well, if he has any love for his own life, no one will notice your absence there. The same solution will be applied to Raine Whispers's case."
"I understood."
"Excellent. Are there any other Coven Head roles that you think will keep you from staying in the castle?"
"No, there aren't…"
"Perfect," Belos said, completing the modifications to the technological magic staff. "I think we can consider closed these foolish attempts of yours to find excuses to escape punishment."
'They weren't excuses…' Hunter thought, lowering his head, crestfallen.
Belos, not noticing or pretending not to notice the dismay that befell his nephew, handed the modified staff to the boy, saying:
"Test it."
Hunter nodded, taking the staff at once. Then he got up and walked away from the bench, heading for the center of the lab. There he began to perform fighting blows with his staff. The first thing he noticed was…
"Wow! It's lighter!" The boy exclaimed in amazement. "Much lighter."
"Try a spell now," Belos suggested.
Hunter nodded and concentrated, performing a spell that made him disappear and reappear on the side of the maintenance portal.
"The teleport is perfect!" The boy spoke, impressed. "Much easier to accomplish than before this update."
"Did you like it?"
"Yes!" Hunter replied excitedly, perking up again.
"Play with it some more, use your favorite spells," Belos said smiling when he saw the boy's reaction. "Test your staff thoroughly before leaving the laboratory."
"Ok!" Hunter replied with a huge smile performing another spell.
- x -
"I'm exhausted!" Hunter exclaimed as he reached his room, flopping onto his bed, so exhausted he didn't even bother to lock the bedroom door.
The boy had just taken a shower and was wearing Sprig pajamas from Amphibia.
"No wonder, it's already past midnight! It's almost one in the morning," Winter exclaimed, flying to the bedroom door to lock it himself.
"Already? I didn't even notice."
"Of course you didn't notice, you've been too busy playing with this thing!" Winter complained, pointing angrily at his staff, "and helping your uncle in the lab until now! The only break you guys had was for dinner!"
"Hey! First, it's not a thing, it's the staff Uncle Belos built for me," Hunter said, offended. "And secondly, it was a surprise Uncle Belos decided to upgrade my staff today. After our last meeting I figured he would just want to see if my wounds were healed and then avoid me for a whole week or so. I wasn't expecting us to spend so much time together today," the boy completed with a smile. "I loved spending all this time in the lab. It's rare for him to give me so much attention! Too bad it's over..."
"Look, I understand it and I'm happy for you, Hunter. Really! But I still don't think you needed to exaggerate so much… It's late… You were supposed to be sleeping hours ago… You have to go to sleep! Now!" Winter said. "Tomorrow you're going to have a full day writing reports."
"Argh… Don't even remind me…" Hunter said taking his favorite stuffed animal (the Sprig one), hugging it, getting ready for bed. "Ok, you won. Good night, Winter."
"Good night, Hunter," Winter replied, leaning against Hunter. "Sweet dreams, my little angel."
"Angel? What is it?"
"I don't know, but my old witch used to say it to me when he wished me a quiet night with good dreams."
"Okay, so I will say it for you too. Sweet dreams, my little angel."
"Thanks."
And they two fell asleep.