Hunter watched in disbelief as his palisman flew away. Here he was, having an existential crisis, and the cardinal just left. So this was it, huh? Lil' Rascal finally got sick of him. Hunter knew it was only a matter of time before it happened.

It was probably better this way. Without Rascal here...Well, he wouldn't have to worry about Belos finding out about him, right? Rascal would be safe. He'd find a better witch to bond with. Hunter wasn't meant to have any wild magic in the first place. Things were...Things were better this way.

Or at least, that's what he tried to tell himself. Lil' Rascal had been his first real friend. No matter how he tried to look at this situation, the fact stood that he was alone again. Completely alone. And that knowledge was devastating.

"Things just keep getting worse and worse, huh?" the teen muttered to himself. Then he shook his head and stood up. "No, no, no, nope! There's nothing to be upset about. Everything is fine…" He stared out of the window. The red cardinal was out of sight now. He was long gone. "...Just fine."

Amity carefully followed Lil' Rascal. The closer they got to wherever the palisman was taking them, the more she thought about how bad of an idea this was. What if this was a trap? What if the Golden Guard really was hurt or something, but he attacked them instead of letting them help? That already happened once. She'd just have to remember that he was dangerous, no matter how beat up or tired he was looking.

Beat up and tired...He was in a bad state yesterday. What if this had to do with that? Did exhaustion and his injuries finally catch up to him?

"Luz...Are you sure about this? I mean...Really sure?"

"What do you mean? I thought we already agreed to help him."

"I know, but...I just don't want this to put you in any danger. Even if we help him, who's to say he doesn't turn on us again?"

Luz sighed. "He might, but if he does, I know we can defend ourselves. I think helping him is the right thing to do, and if worst comes to worst, then we'll deal with that when the time comes."

That was the thing. Amity didn't want to have to face him again. There was always the chance that he'd use Luz against her, and even though she knew her girlfriend was perfectly capable of defending herself, she didn't want to take any risks.

The worried look on her face must have been showing because Luz gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. If things get too crazy, we don't have to get involved. Let's...Just go to wherever Rascal is taking us and see what's going on."

"...Okay," Amity replied hesitantly. "If you're sure."

Luz nodded. "I am. But seriously, we can back out at any time. You already went through so much trouble for me yesterday, and I don't want you to have to go through anymore."

Amity felt her heart flutter. It was so sweet of Luz to be concerned for her. She felt too flustered to say anything at the moment, so she simply nodded in reply.

Kikimora was furious. And that was putting it lightly.

If there was one thing that she hated the most, it was people who showed her up and made her look bad. Especially when that person was a snot-nosed brat with an annoying voice. She knew he was going to crash her mission (literally) and take all of the credit. She had no doubt that that infuriating child had managed to find some titans blood and brought it back to show Belos already, and that thought only made her angrier. She'd spent all night looking for some titan's blood, and now she returned to the castle with absolutely nothing to show for it.

Kikimora's suspicions were proven to be true when she entered the throne room to give her report. And what a disastrous report it was. But before she even finished, Emperor Belos held up a hand to silence her.

"You failed me again, Kikimora."

"Emperor, I-"

"Silence! I'm very disappointed in you. I do not take failures lightly. However, the Golden Guard has managed to bring me some titan's blood, so we're not at a total loss."

Her eyes narrowed. She grit her teeth. She knew it, she knew it! The impudent little brat ruined everything for her; he took the glory which was rightfully hers!

The emperor continued. "I'd be much more careful in the future. one more...mishap will lead to your demotion." His eyes seemed to flash beneath his mask. "It would be troublesome to replace you now. Don't let it come to that."

"Y-yes sire," Kikimora replied, eyes wide with fear. She couldn't be demoted. Not now. Not after all the pain it took to get here. She couldn't fail him. Not again. And she definitely wouldn't come in second place to the Golden Guard again.

The Golden Guard...Hmm…

"Now, if that's all you have to report, leave. This meeting is over."

Kikimora stood up, but suddenly, an idea popped into her head. She almost forgot; how could she have forgotten? She knew something-a secret that could utterly destroy the trust Belos had in his precious nephew. A secret that, by comparison, would make her look much, much better. That night that she tried to steal the palismen...Her vision had been blurry, but it wasn't too much later that she realised he was the one that fought her. It was because of him that the palismen got away! The emperor would not take kindly to that once he found out the Golden Guard purposely hindered and failed a mission.

A wicked smile came to her face. "I do have one more thing to report."

There was only so long that a person could go without sleeping. Hunter was pretty sure he held the record, and even though he should have been too distracted by his thoughts to sleep, he was so exhausted that he started to doze off while still sitting by his window. That was good; he definitely needed some rest. But he'd only just barely closed his eyes when a very loud pounding sounded from his door (he just couldn't catch a break).

At once, Hunter jumped up and quickly ran his fingers through his hair in an attempt to straighten his appearance. "Who is it now?' he muttered grumpily, as he trudged to the door. He straightened up as he opened it though, and saw one of Belos' attendants waiting there. They visibly flinched when they saw Hunter. Right, he probably looked ghastly right now.

"The emperor would like to meet with you," they said in a slightly startled-sounding voice.

Meet with him? Normally that would mean Belos had a mission for him, but he just ordered Hunter to stay within the castle walls for the time being, so that couldn't be it.

"Now," they said after a few seconds had passed with Hunter just standing there, staring at the attendant.

"R-right. I'm coming. I'll be down in a second." He closed the door and quickly ran to his bathroom. He looked at himself in the mirror. Yep, he was definitely a mess. Dried blood was smeared on his face. Even though he tried to fix his hair just barely, it was still all over the place and was pretty gross looking too. He was also significantly paler than usual, which only made his heavy eyebags stand out more.

"Great," he mumbled to himself. "Just great. I can't see Belos like this." But Belos wouldn't be happy if Hunter was late. He sighed. A super quick clean up would just have to do for now. He turned on the sink, splashed some water in his face, and spent the next minute cleaning his face up and getting as much abomination gunk out of his hair as he possibly could. Frankly, he still looked like a walking disaster, but this was better. He didn't look entirely like a zombie now.

Okay, he was ready now. Time to go meet Belos for...Whatever it was he wanted to talk about. He shouldn't keep his uncle waiting any longer.

But the closer Hunter got to his door, the more his legs started to shake. The more his breaths started to quicken. Before he even got to his door to leave his room, he felt himself freeze up. He was too terrified to move.

Now, Hunter had always feared Belos, but he'd always respected and admired him as well. He'd always needed to please Belos, and that had always won over his fear.

But it wasn't until now, at this very moment, when he realised just how deep that fear of Belos went. Hunter couldn't move. A terrible feeling of dread passed through him, and he realised then just how much he truly was afraid of his uncle.

"Move, move. Come on, move!" he said angrily to himself. "I-I can't keep him waiting. I can't." Yep. He was definitely panicking now. It was so stupid, he didn't even know what Belos wanted, and he was already panicking about it. He was fine yesterday morning (well, not fine, but you know), but ever since he'd come back from the caves...Ever since he found that stupid page in that stupid book…

Ever since that talk with Belos last night…

"Stupid. Stupid, its fine," he whispered. "Everything's fine." And that was the biggest lie of the century. But he took a deep breath anyway, squared his shoulders, and walked towards Belos' throne room once again.