Meeting Caleb

"Oh, Flapjack." I said to myself, sitting and hugging my knees. "Everyone's on edge, and I don't know what to say." I buried my head in my lap. "I wish you were here." I then heard chirping. I looked and I saw… Flapjack! No, Hunter. This is all in your head. This isn't really Flapjack. Flapjack's gone, and he is never coming back. You better get used to it. This is a different red cardinal. But he chirped again and I saw the scar across his eye. I smiled. I knew it was him. How many red cardinals are there with scars over their eye?

"Flapjack!" I cried out with joy. "I thought I would never see you again!" I was about to grab him to give him a hug, but then I realized something. My hands went through him. I frowned. Of course. I was talking to a ghost and this is in my head!

"Hunter." I heard a voice speak up in a British accent. I looked up and I saw a man. Flapjack flew to him. I stood up.

"Who are you?" I wanted to know. "How do you know my name?"

"I've been watching over you, Hunter. We all have and we are really proud." I was more confused than ever.

"Wait, what? Watching over me? You and the others? What the heck are you talking about?"

"Take one long look at me and you'll understand." So I did, and I couldn't believe it. This man looked a lot like me. He was blonde, had a forelock and dark eye bags under his eyes. He didn't have any scars like I did though and no gap in his teeth. He also had rounded ears instead of pointed. He also had a ponytail. It was almost like looking into a mirror. The resemblance was uncanny!

"Wait, are you….are you Caleb Wittebane?" Caleb nodded.

"The one and only. Well, I'm sure there are more Caleb Wittebanes out there. But I am Philip's older brother, and you're my current clone." I still didn't believe it. This was all too much.

"How? You're dead. Your brother killed you, didn't he? Wait, wait, wait, you're a ghost, aren't you? You're not real. You are in my head, just like Flap." Then one by one, the previous golden guards appeared. "Y…you all are." Come on, Hunter! Wake up! This is a dream. You're dreaming! A woman walked up next to Caleb. I looked at her. She was a witch for her ears was pointed. "And you! You're Evelyn, aren't you?" Evelyn nodded.

"Correct." She replied and smiled. "My, you're smart."

"Thank you for taking care of Flapjack." I looked back at Caleb.

"So, you're Flap's previous owner? Oh, and yeah. Flap is Flapjack's nickname. I call him that sometimes for short. Maybe I should have mentioned that." He nodded.

"He's my wife's. Flapjack led me to Evelyn and he was my introduction to magic." Evelyn went to her husband, and wrapped her ghostly arm around him.

"Flapjack was always loyal and by our side through to the very end."

"Flapjack was the same for me." I told Caleb. "He took a liking to me." I then frowned. "I don't know why."

"Because Flapjack saw good potential in you." Caleb explained.

"But…why? I'm not that special."

"Flapjack doesn't think that. He is a good judge of character. He felt like you needed him."

"How?"

"You need to ask Flapjack that question." I looked at him. "Maybe he felt like you needed a friend." I smiled. I guess I did need a friend. I may not still understand why Flapjack chose me, but I'm sure glad he did. I looked back at Caleb.

"So, I'm your clone?" He nodded. I frowned. "I'm really sorry for what he did to you and your wife all of those years ago, and to the other guards. That wasn't right. My friends and I are going to defeat him, so the citizens of The Boiling Isles don't have to live in fear under his reign anymore. Don't you worry." I frowned again. "Gah, I'm so ashamed that I'm a copy of you, no offense. I hate being a grimwalker. I obeyed orders. I did hours of studying, I'm only sixteen for Titan's sake. Why me? What did I do to deserve this?"

"I'm not offended." Caleb said. "If I was in your position, I don't think I'd want to be a copy of a long dead brother that your maker murdered in a bloody and brutal way. And you're right. You didn't deserve this. No one does. But the world is cruel like that to everyone, not just you. But you are different from the others."

"How am I different?"

"Well, you're the first one who managed to successfully escape. You're choosing your own path in life. You now want to defeat my brother and put a stop to him."

"I do want that, but why is he so evil and you so nice?"

"Every witch and person is different. We were taught that witches were evil and to fear them. But when I came to know Evelyn, well, she made me see that not all witches are the same." He smiled at his wife.

"And that applies to humans too." Evelyn stated. "And I'm glad that's the case. I'm glad I met Caleb and married him. It was the best decision of my life."

"Me too." Caleb then changed the subject. "And you should never be ashamed of who you are, Hunter. You are your own person. You have your own likes and dislikes, your own interests. True, you're my clone, but you're so much more. You don't have to go down the same path as your creator. You can't help where you come from, but you can choose to be better than my brother. I know my brother, and unfortunately, I think he's too far gone to be changed."

"But I changed. When I was the Golden Guard, I wanted to serve his evil ways and tried to kill my friends. If I redeemed myself, why can't he?"

"Because he's not you. It would have been great to have him see the errors of his ways and change, but not every mind thinks in the same way. There are going to be evil and good people out there. You just have to accept that fact and live with it." I frowned with a sigh.

"I guess." I changed the subject. "So, why are you guys here?"

"To tell you how proud we are of you and to also tell you to keep going and never give up your goals in life. You're the first of my copies to survive. Now, we have been here long enough I say."

"Wait!" I looked at Flapjack. "Flapjack, I told you that I'd keep you safe from Belos. I failed in doing that. I'm so sorry. I'm a stupid idiot for doing that. I'm the worst palisman owner ever."

"Hunter, you did all you could. Flapjack knows that. You left the Emperor's Coven, you made friends, and you want to be a good person and choose your own future. You have come a long way. Flapjack was hurt when Belos injured him and tried to suck out his essence. So he would have died anyway due to his injuries. He was beyond repair. You were on the brink of death or dying. Flapjack knew that and chose to sacrifice himself to save you, proving how strong love can be."

"Yeah, but I wish I never did what I did to get Belos to possess me. If things went differently, Flapjack would still be with me. It's my fault he's dead. It's all my fault. I started the chain of events."

"We all wish that we'd done things differently with our lives sometimes, but once something happens, we can never go back, The damage is already done. We have to only go forward in life no matter how badly we want them to stay the same. And it's not your fault at all. It's my brother's.´

"I suppose you're right."

"Don't worry, Hunter. When the time comes, you'll find the power inside of yourself to get out of it."

"What does that mean?"

"You'll see soon enough. Come on, Flapjack. We have to go." Flapjack flew to Caleb, but not before chirping me a goodbye and telling me that he was and will always be with me, even if it's not physically.

"Wait, don't go!" I now had tears in my eyes. "That's not good enough. I don't care if I have powers or not. As long as I have you by my side, Flap, that's all I want. That's all I ever wanted. I still need you. Please, don't go. I want you back." But they disappeared one by one, Flapjack being the last to do so. "Flapjack!" I was once again alone. I frowned, fell to my knees and just cried, knowing that Flap can never come back, yet I said it again anyway. "I want you back." I then heard a scream, bringing me back to reality. I knew who the scream belonged to. Gus!