Note: this is being written before the end of Season Two
Life has continued rather smoothly since the escape. Hunter stayed out mostly during the day, while wearing some sort of disguise. But he'd go home through Edrics window because clearly that's very normal.
Amity had accepted Hunter's existence, while Luz was constantly asking him about the Emperor's plans, despite the fact that Hunter actually had no idea. Emperor Belos had stopped talking to him openly a long time ago. All his missions were at a lack of context, usually just him going out and hunting things for the Emperor.
Hunter still lacked closure. Sure, everyone thought he was dead, no strings attached from his previous life, great, right?
Well, Hunter was grateful for Edric's help, but he desperately wanted closure.
Edric, meanwhile was getting really comfortable with Hunter. During the weeks he'd head of to school in the morning, Hunter would wear a disguise and go out to the library, and then when Edric would return from school, Hunter would be there to greet him. Each time he came home, Hunter would greet him by practically tackling him onto the ground with a tight hug.
So, safe to say things were going smoothly for them.
Meanwhile, this was a sharp contrast to what was happening at the Emperor's Coven. With the loss of Lilith and then The Golden Guard, a lot of changes were being made. Kikimora was trying her best as coven head, but soon found that she was easily overwhelmed by the responsibilities.
And Emperor Belos...
Nobody knew what was going on with him. Since the finalization of Hunter's death, he locked himself away into the throne room. No one had gone in or come out in days. Emperor Belos left most duties up to Darius and the rest of the coven heads.
Emperor Belos paced back and forth in the throne room. He was breathing heavily. On the table sat instructions for the creation of a Grimwalker.
(This is my AU, since I know this probably isn't canon, but I need to further the story.)
For over four hundreds years had Emperor Belos cheated death. Belos was living off of practically nothing but the Palestrum wood, and he was running out of time. He needed Hunter for the day of unity.
Hunter was his sacrifice.
On the day of unity, the titan called for a sacrifice, one that would be thrown into the burning flames of death, only the titan knowing what terrible fate bestow upon them. And Hunter was going to be that sacrifice. Emperor Belos had created Hunter to be...his hunter. He'd hunt the tools used for his own demise.
But now, Hunter was dead. He was gone. He had no sacrifice. He needed a new sacrifice. But who? But who?
The titan called for a meaningful sacrifice, so someone as pathetic as Kikimora, or as inferior as Steve wouldn't do. Not as spiteful as Darius. And not as catty as Terra. Not as gentle as Raine.
What about the owl lady?
She doesn't have magic...Hunter didn't have magic, so that was a parallel, but with what happened at the petrification ceremony, could he really try and get away with that again?
Belos growled in frustration.
Who else could he sacrifice without drawing all to many eyes in his direction?
Then, the idea dawned on him.
The human.
The human didn't have magic.
The human was the reason he failed the petrification of Edalyn.
The human was the reason the door was destroyed.
The human was the reason.
The human was the perfect sacrifice.
But how would he get ahold of the human?
Oh. He was always two steps ahead.
Two.
Steps.
Ahead.
Amity and Hunter had gotten to know each other. Hunter found that Amity was not always as violent as she was at Eclipse Lake. And Amity found Hunter was not as insufferable as she had predicted.
Amity and Emira were sitting on the couch. Amity was texting Luz, but then again, when wasn't she? Emira was doing whatever she does.
And meanwhile, Hunter and Edric were out doing something. Not really doing anything. Just goofing off and wasting time. But they were wasting time together.
Hunter was wearing a cloak with his hood up, hiding his face from most people.
The two of them were giggling like young children and walking through the crowded shopping center. There was a really big crowd.
The two were having a hard time staying together without loosing each other through the said crowd. And at some point, they began to unconsciously hold hands, gripping onto each others hands like they'd die if they let go. And Edric pulled Hunter through the crowds of demons and creatures.
They soon made it out of the crowd.
"Edric!" Hunter shouted as he only narrowly avoided running into people as Edric pulled him.
They had finally escaped the crowd.
"Edric! Why were you pulling so hard, geez!" Hunter whined. Edric scoffed just a little. Despite being out of the crowd, the two still had their hands locked together.
"Because! Look! It's where we first met. A new poetry book just dropped and I wanted to come and read it with you!" Edric explained, making a few happy gestured with his free hand.
"Oh! Really?" Hunter mumbled, slightly blushing at how thoughtful Edric was. They stood outside of the library.
"That was really thoughtful..." Hunter muttered.
"Hm?" Edric asked, asking for him to repeat what he said.
"I said that was really thoughtful of you." Hunter repeated, being a little more bratty than usual. Edric had heard him the first time but just wanted to hear it again.
"Awe~, thanks blondie." Edric said with a wink. "Now come on! Let's go." He added before pulling Hunter into the library by his hand.
The two slightly giggled to themselves, even though nothing seemed funny. They went into the poetry isle. It was way on the top shelf. Way to high for either of them to reach it.
"Do you see it?" Edric asked, Hunter on his shoulders.
"I'm-" Hunter grunted in the middle of his sentence to try and not fall, as he stood in Edric's shoulders, reaching for the book.
"I'm getting it!" Hunter finished his previous sentence and grabbed the book from the top shelf.
"Woah!" He called out, falling off of Edric's shoulders, Edric falling with him.
The two of them landed on the ground with a loud 'thump!'
The two of them groaned in pain, but they soon turned to quiet giggled as they sat on the ground of the library together, the book sitting in front of them.
"Lemme see! Lemme see!" Edric whisper-shouted and opened the book in front of them.
The two of them looked over the prologue together. Then they began to read some of the poetry together. Something about lavender and violets, and something about pink triangles..? Neither of the two were really interpreting the stuff, just reading the poetry together, enjoying spending the time with one another.
The book was shorter than anticipated. Or did they just spend so much time together that it passed fast? Neither of them really knew but they were just happy to be together.
Hunter was putting the book back, climbing on a library latter this time, instead of Edric's shoulders. They respected the organization of the library, okay?
But, once again. The latter slipped from under his feet, the rug pulled from beneath him, metaphorically, and he fell down.
He fell down into Edric's arms. Edric caught him before he hit the ground.
With Hunter in his arms, Edric suddenly realized how homo-romantic this was. And how gay he was for Hunter. It took him long enough to realize. But it took him literally holding him in his arms to realize it. It just suddenly clicked. And he realized what was going on.
"Edric, put me down." Hunter whispered, not able to make eye contact with him.
"I will do that now." Edric said casually as he put Hunter down.
Or hey, maybe they were just really good friends! But this wasn't the feeling of mutual friendship, was it?
No.
"Thanks for catching me." Hunter whispered.
"What was that?" Edric asked him to repeat himself, which he found himself usually doing.
"I said thank you for catching me!" Hunter shouted this time, his face was bright red, a deep blush covering his face. Edric slightly giggled.
"You're welcome." Edric replied.
"Sooo, I've been meaning to ask. Are we ever going to address what happened back at the window, in the castle?" Edric asked.
Hunter slowly looked at Edric.
"My life has been...sort of a mess, lately. Suddenly being thrown out of the life I've known...has...messed with me." Hunter began. Edric's eyes lightened understandingly.
"I don't think I'm ready for something like that right now." Hunter explained.
"Oh."
"Let me think about it...okay?" He muttered.
Edric nodded.
"That's cool. Anyways, let's hit it." Edric said before looking to the door.
Eventually, they decided it was best for them to head home. On the way back, Edric had come to terms with how gay he actually was. He had already realized this but he didn't expect himself to like Hunter of all people. Edric wasn't one to deny and quickly accepted this. He wanted to pursue this as soon as possible...but he didn't want to break Hunters trust. So he'd just respect what he said, and leave it at that.
"Hit it?" Hunter questioned. "There's...nothing to hit." He added.
"We should probably hurry back. I'll go in through the front door and you go in through the window." Edric said
Hunter sighed. Though he did blush lightly at the nickname.
"We can't keep this up for much longer." Hunter said.
"What'd you mean?" Edric asked turning to look at Hunter, his happy smiling wavering just a little.
"I can just hide in your closet for the rest of my life, and I don't want to be a burden to you." Hunter explained. He was being as honest as he could be. He was making an effort to be a better person.
"Hunter, don't be stupid, you're not a burden to me." Edric said and put his arm around Hunter. He had found doing this calmed him down, in a way.
"Why?" Hunter asked.
"Because I care about you! Obviously." Edric explained.
Hunter found himself giggling. Edric did things without really thinking, just doing what he wanted because he cared to. Which is why he had saved Hunter. Because he cared about him, and cared for his happiness and well-being.
Hunter stopped feeling that need for closure about Emperor Belos. He was perfectly happy with not knowing now that he wasn't alone. He had places to move on to. People to move on for.
"Thanks Edric." Hunter replied.
The walk back to the house was quiet. It wasn't awkward silence, but instead a peaceful quietness.
Also, the neither of them realized that they were still holding hands. Well, Hunter realized that they were holding hands and felt like he was going to have a seizure, but didn't say anything. Edric meanwhile just figured it normal and rolled with it.
"Edric, I may be oblivious sometimes, but I'm not stupid. You've been acting...I don't even know the word! But you've been acting strange towards me all night. What's wrong?" Hunter said. Edric quickly looked at him. They were only a little bit away from the house.
"Heh, I guess it was obvious, wasn't it?" Edric muttered. Hunter titled his head. Edric took a deep breath.
"Hunter, there's something I feel like I've been meaning to tell you. It's something that took even me a little while to realize." Edric began to say.
Oh god...
What if he messed it up? He messed everything up. All of the time! What if he messed everything up here to? What if he losses Hunter just because of how incompetent he was?
Hunter noticed how Edric hesitated and how his smile faded.
"Edric, you can tell me. No matter what it is, I'll still be here for you." Hunter said and carefully put his hand on Edric's shoulder. Edric smiled.
"Thanks, Blondie." He replied. He took a deep breath.
"I still want to respect your boundaries and all that, but have I gotten across the point that I..."
"I think that I..." He stopped. If he was doing this, he had to go all in.
"Edric! Hunter! Get out of here!" Amity shouted as she burst out of the front door.
"...what?" Edric muttered. Once he finally had built up the courage to say it, the rug was pulled from under him.
Hunter felt his heart drop. Abomitons, ones purchased by the Emperors Coven, were there. They had Emira trapped, as the three of the abominations emerged from inside the house.
They had come to collect their hostages.
"Go!" She shouted as she ran past them, aggressively gesturing for them to follow her. Hunter quickly followed. Edric however, while he was on the smart side, he was...a little slow.
He didn't realize his situation before it was to late.
"Edric!" Hunter shouted. He ran to turn back. Amity grabbed his hand.
"We can save them later, but for now we need to get out of here!" Amity said and pulled Hunter away. Hunter didn't want to leave him. But Amity was right. Hunter, with hesitation, and while looking back, ran away from the Abomiton Solider.
It didn't matter.
They'd be seeing them again soon.
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Rose_Vinex, ready for battle!
Haha, I did a bad thing. This is future Rose, when after this book has been finished. A did a plot error. I wrote this chapter and the chapter before this a significant amount of time after Golden Blood. Soooo I maybe sorta made a couple plot errors, but I think I fixed it up a little. Ok, back to past Rose.
Anywho anyhow, next update will probably be next weekend. That's how I've been trying to do these updates so you all don't end up waiting over two months again like last time. It's either I update super early or I just never get it done.
I clearly know how to manage time.
And, alas, next chapter I must reunite with my long lost enemy...fight sequences.
So yeah! That's about it,
Thanks for reading!
Bye, Readers!