Note: This is being written before the end of Season Two.
It was all falling apart.
No matter what Hunter did, he found himself right back where he started. At the mercy of Emperor Belos.
Amity and Hunter had escaped at the cost of Edric and Emira.
"Damnit!" Hunter punched the wall. "Can't I go more than a month without the Emperor ruining something for me?!" Hunter shouted as they stood in an alleyway.
"Hunter...they took my siblings for a reason. They were trying to take us too." Amity said. Amity was always the smartest, always the most observant.
"But they seem satisfied with just Emira and Edric..." Amity muttered. She was thinking.
"...it's a trap." Amity said.
"What?" Hunter questioned, not processing anything. The only thing that was on his mind was going to save Edric.
And Emira, yeah, whatever.
"They needed leverage. This is kidnapping! They must have needed us as some sort of leverage against someone." Amity explained.
"...hostages?" Hunter added. Amity snapped her fingers. "Exactly." She replied.
"But...hostages for who...?" Hunter muttered.
Amity and Hunter stood for a long silence.
"The Abomintons...if they needed us they would have targeted us specifically..." Amity mumbled. So the Emperor didn't know he was alive...right? How could he?
"Emperor Belos..." Hunter began. Amity's head perked up.
"He told about how one day he would need a sacrifice...a meaningful sacrifice." Hunter began.
"He never got into the specifics but..." Hunter sighed.
"Do you think that...he wants to sacrifice Edric and Emira?" Amity asked, fear drenching her voice.
"Why would he need two..? He told me he would need one sacrifice." Hunter explained.
"So they are hostages...but for who..?" Amity mumbled.
Amity, after hearing what had happened to Luz when she went back in time...
This was why Emperor Belos didn't kill Luz back at the petrification ceremony. He knew he'd need her later. Ever since that day over four hundreds years ago. He knew.
She knew what it meant.
"He needed a living sacrifice..." Amity began.
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"LUZ."
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Time went by in a blur. Edric and Emira were more confused than anything. But they soon found that they weren't alone. The Emperor spared no expenses in making sure that whoever he was trying to lure there came. Because when Edric and Emira were tossed into the cage, not only was the cage hung above a pit of flames, high in the air, but three other people were there.
The cage was settled over the flames for a moment.
"Leave me alone I AM A MINOR!" Edric shouted as he struggled against the Abomination, but soon being tossed in the cage alongside Emira.
Then the cage went back high into the air, farther away from the flames to where it would be able to hit the cage or heat it up, but close enough that if any of them tried to escape they'd be deep-fried.
Raine Whispers, head of the bard coven, was there as well. Along with Gus Porter and Willow Park.
"Gosh, are you two okay?" Raine asked as they quickly approached Edric and Emira, quickly checking on them.
"Yeah, we're okay." Emira replied, getting herself to her feet.
"What's going on?" Emira asked.
"This is kidnapping! This is illegal!" Edric shouted as he was still on the ground.
"We don't know! The Coven Scouts ordered us here. There wasn't a thing anyone could do about it." Willow explained.
Raine carefully helped Edric up, making sure he was okay.
Edric winced in pain as a very unsettling 'crunch' could be heard when he tried to take a step forward.
He called out in pain slightly as Raine caught him.
"Oh god, my ankle." Edric said, chocking back yelling.
"Ed!" Emira shouted.
"Here, let me help." Gus said as he helped Edric to one of the corners of the cage, setting him down. The cage uncomfortably rocked back and forth slightly.
"How'd that even happen? You seemed fine a minute ago." Emira said as she plopped down next to her brother.
"Oh I don't know, maybe when I was thrown onto the ground like a potato sack!" Edric answered rather aggressively. Edric quickly noticed this change of attitude and said,
"Gosh, sorry, just- where's Hunter, is he here? I'd like to talk to him." Edric explained.
"Do you always get this cranky without your boyfriend around?" Emira asked in a more joking manner.
"Ugh, shut up." Edric shouted and shoved her away.
"Hunter...Amity told me a little about him." Willow muttered. [In this timeline Follies at The Coven Day Parade did happen, as well as Elsewhere and Elsewhen, but nothing from Any Sport in The Storm and forward happens here.]
"No, he's not here." Emira said, "He and Amity got away. They'll come back for us." Emira added.
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.
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Amity, Hunter, Luz and Eda all stood together outside of the Emperor's castle.
"Blondie, you used to live here, what's the easiest way in?" Eda questioned. They were all wearing capes of some sort, good disguises.
"Hey- only Edric gets to address me by my hair color." Hunter replied in his usual, bratty tone.
"Yeah yeah, whatever." Eda replied.
"Eda! Come on, we haven't even started the mission yet, and we're already arguing." Luz said as she walked in between the two.
"Guys, please. Let's just hurry. We don't know what the Emperor is planning, but we need to get my siblings back." Amity said. Everyone nodded.
"There's a open vent in the kitchen that leads from outside. We can enter through there." Hunter explained.
The process of sneaking into the castle was fairly easy. Most of the guards just sat around playing Uno.
The group crawled through the vent.
"Ugh! Watch it, human! Your cape is getting tangled in mine!" Hunter said.
"It's not my fault! There's hardly any room in here!" Luz retorted.
"I knew it wasn't a good idea for us all to wear capes." Amity muttered.
"Stupid human—"
"Watch it." Amity cut Hunter off.
"Eda! Move! It's not getting any less cramped back here." Amity shouted.
"One second." Eda shouted back. Somehow, the guards couldn't hear all of there bickering.
"Patience is key to finding the patterns." Eda said as Luz peered over her shoulders. They were at the vent cap, a cluster of scouts sitting in the kitchen.
Hunter was a little afraid to look. Though it had only been like, what, two chapters? It felt like years. While in actual time it was a few months.
He had thought that he would be able to walk away from this place with Edric, and never have to look back.
But you can't run from your problems.
"Awe, screw it, let's just attack." Eda spat and kicked off the vent cap and emerging from the opening. The guards were a little slow. To slow to stop Eda from beating their brains out quickly and swiftly.
"All clear." Eda said and shook her hand around a little.
"Oh wow, you're...strong." Hunter muttered.
"Oh please, that was just a warm up." Eda replied.
Luz exited the vent, quickly followed by Amity, and then Hunter.
"Alright kiddos, you ready to commit treason?" Eda asked and did a funny-little hand gesture.
Luz and Amity pulled up their hoods. Hunter saw what they did and soon followed. They nodded in response.
"Okay, so what's next?" Amity asked and looked to Eda.
"We need to try and find the twins. So we're gonna split up." Eda explained.
"Hunter, the only reason you're here is because you insisted on coming so you could save your precious boyfriend or whatever—"
"What-" Hunter muttered slightly as Eda continued talking.
"But unfortunately, that's not happening. You and Ami will go and check the conformatorium for the twins. Me and Luz will deal with the Emperor." Eda said.
"Which reminds me...Hunter, why would you willingly come back here, after everything that happened?" Luz asked.
Hunter looked away as suddenly the attention was on him.
"This is my fault, really. I was supposed to be the sacrifice but...I was selfish and...now that I'm gone..." Hunter began to explain.
"Woah woah woah- what?!" Luz questioned, shocked by the sudden bombshell that was dropped.
"I didn't know until a little bit ago, but all the clues were there! I just didn't put them together. But now is my chance to try and make up for how selfish I was by helping in any way I can." Hunter said.
"Kid, not wanting to be treated like an object isn't being selfish. It's not your fault that Emperor Belos is a deranged lunatic who wanted to sacrifice you." Eda responded.
Hunter wasn't sure how to process this. He had a thing for just...running from his problems. But his friends saying this made him feel a little better.
"...Thanks...I...guess." He muttered.
And so, they parted ways. Amity and Hunter going through the vents again, while Luz and Eda ran through the halls towards the Emperors throne room.
Amity and Hunter crawled through the cramped vents.
"Which way is it?" Hunter asked in frustration.
"You lived here! Shouldn't you know?" Amity replied, her purple and fluffy hair bouncing a little.
"This place is way bigger than it needs to be, it's kind of hard to remember where anything is, really." Hunter explained.
Amity rolled her eyes.
"Whatever, just keep going. There has to be another vent cap around here somewhere." She said. Amity was always the most observant.
The two continued their venture through the vents. Before, they heard the echos of a child crying.
"Do you hear that...?" Hunter asked, a little creeped out.
"Yep..." Amity replied. The two froze for only a moment before crawling in the direction of the sound.
"Hurry! Before they stop crying." Amity shouted. The crying was probably coming from the conformatorium. Why else would there be a child, maybe pre-teen, crying here? The crying could lead them to the conformatorium.
"Augh- god that sounds so wrong." Hunter replied as he struggled to crawl faster.
But eventually, they made it to the room. The vent cap hung above the tall room. Cages and cages piling on top of each other. And in the corner of the room, sat the crying child. (FNaF flashbacks)
A tall and thin figure, one that looked just like one of the twins.
One that looked like Edric.
"...let's go." Hunter said suddenly as he kicked in the vent cap. It made a loud and abrupt clatter against the ground as it hit the cold stone.
Hunter in the least graceful fashion he could have, tumbled out of the vent and landed face-first onto the ground.
Amity however, using abomination magic, swiftly climbed down from the vent, jumping off, and landing onto some abomination goop, and the landing carefully onto the ground.
"You okay?" She asked simply, looking to Hunter. Hunter muffled a 'Yep' and gave a thumbs up, while still being face-down on the ground.
The crying had stopped, probably in shock of the sound from the two leaving the vent and the loud clatter of the cap.
They could, however, see the small figure in the distant lighting of one of the cells. They could hear them crying quietly in fear.
Hunter started walking to the cell in a far to bold manner, being to excited to see if it really was Edric.
Amity grabbed his wrist and gestured for him to be quiet.
"We don't know if that's either of my siblings." Amity whisper-shouted.
"We won't know unless we look, now let's go!" He replied in a quieted voice, pulling his wrist from her hand. The two walked towards the cell. The figure looked like an average sized teenager. They were in the corner of the room.
"Check the other cells." Hunter said. Amity nodded and swiftly went onto the other cells.
"Edric?" Hunter questioned as he got to the bars of the cage.
"Edric?" He asked again, a little louder this time. The figure flinched at this. He shoved his hand through the bars, offering his hand. He was trying to get the figure to come closer to just see...
"Edric...is that you?" He asked in a more gentle tone.
The figure slowly approached.
"Ed..?" He muttered as the figure came into the light.
The figure grabbed at his hand, trying to pull him through the bars, his head smacked against the bars at the pull.
"H-hey!" He shouted. The claws of the figure on the other end dug themself into his flesh, past the cloth of his shirt. Far enough to draw blood.
"Hey!" He shouted. They were a parasitic creature. Hunter couldn't see them through the dark, but from what he could see, the parasite had attached itself to the body of a adolescent teenager, the parasite pulsing on the outside of the teenagers head. Their face was half opened, and yet they still seemed to be conscious, but not in control.
He wanted to call out for help, but repeatedly, over and over again, as he tried to pull away, he was pulled back into the metal bars by the figure.
The guards quickly heard the noises. The loud clatter of bone against metal, and the angered cries of the creature. The pain from its claws digging into Hunters arm was quite painful to say the very least. The feeling of the sharp nails piercing past his skin.
Amity was on the floor above them. She saw the guards closing in.
He felt his heart thumping in his chest, fear consuming his thoughts, the adrenaline was pumping. He didn't want to go back! He really didn't. But this was all his fault. This whole situation was tied to him. All because he had wanted to go to the library that one night to try and find out more about wild magic. All because of the mistaking of Hunter for Amity. If the lights had been a little lighter in that room, none of this would have happened. That's why Hunter felt responsible. Like he had to go and try and help. Not just for himself, but for Edric. He cared about him so much. He was the first person to show him any real affection. Any affection that felt anywhere near organic and not completely artificial.
"Go find them without me!" He shouted, being as vague as possible so the guards wouldn't suspect he wasn't alone.
And so, he was caught once again. But this time, he wasn't alone. He wasn't the lone Golden Guard. He was Hunter. He was the boyf- best friend, best friend, of Edric. And companion of Luz. He was someone now. And he was someone more than just the Emperors pawn. He wasn't going to let him get away with this.
It wasn't just by coincidence that Hunter got involved again. It was due to his actions that triggered these events. He was part of the reason for this.
He was going to fix it. He was going to fix everything.
The guards were able to pull the parasite's claws out of his flesh.
He and Amity made eye contact one last time. Hunter smiled and nodded reassuringly. Amity nodded back. And with that, she left.
"The Emperor has been waiting for the rest of you intruders." One of the guards said.
Oh no.
-
Edric, Emira, Gus, Willow, and Raine all watched from above as the horrors below played out. The two below, Luz and Eda, couldn't hear them from so far away.
But the Emperor had explained his sick plan to them.
"I knew you'd come here, human. If I held your precious little girlfriends siblings, and your friends hostage, you'd have to come here." Emperor Belos said. His voice echoed across the throne room.
The doors to the throne room burst open. These guards were not as timid as any of the scouts. They weren't afraid of Emperor Belos. They threw Hunter into the room, closing the door as well. His hands were tied behind his back.
Eda was there as well.
"Kid!" She called.
"What...where's Amity?!" Luz questioned.
They were interrupted by Emperor Belos laughing lightly.
"I will admit, I was quite shocked to find the green haired-boy had brought home a friend...but I thought 'well, the more the merrier...'" Emperor Belos explained.
He used his magic, causing for a the owl lady, Eda, to be thrown to the side, hitting the wall with a loud thump.
"Eda!" Luz called.
"Well, I didn't expect this, no no no. But now I have two potential sacrificed on my hands." Emperor Belos said.
"So many choices, so many options." He added. Luz and Hunter stood together. The shadow of the Emperor loomed over them.
"What a predicament, wouldn't you agree...Hunter?" Emperor Belos said. Hunter could feel his heart dropping into his stomach. He still had his hood on. How could he have...?
"I knew that you all were close. You're little letters with your friend gave me all the information I needed to lure the human here...after your supposed 'death.'." The Emperor said.
"How did you know it was me...?" He muttered.
"I could recognize that scar miles away." Belos said. Though he didn't remember exactly when he gave it to Hunter. Well, the axe forgets. But the tree will never.
"However, I'll praise your creativity. I didn't quite expect you to still be alive. But this is all a domino effect of your actions, Hunter." Emperor Belos said, venom tainting his voice. The voice was so cold. It made both Luz and Hunter cower in fear.
"So I suppose you should have a say in the matter." He said.
"So how about this. I'll allow you to decide amongst yourselves." He began.
"The titan calls for the most meaningful sacrifice." He said.
"One of you two. In a battle to the finale. One will be sacrificed to the titan to commence the Day of Unity, and the other will live to see another day." Emperor Belos explained.
"You sicko!" Eda shouted as she finally got herself to her feet. She jumped in front of Luz and Hunter, using her body as a shield.
"If you want to hurt them, then you'll have to go through me." She yelled. She wasn't giving up. Never would.
The Emperor was silent for a short moment.
"Okay." He said.
"I'll play."
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Rose_Vinex, ready for battle!
What's that? You like these characters?
*pumps shotgun*
So yeah, next update next weekend. My parents unexpectedly dropped that we were moving houses, without any warning. So my free time has been consumed by all that. So the next chapter won't be as long, I don't think.
Hollow Mind, as of writing this, hasn't dropped yet. If it doesn't perfectly align with my fanfiction I will be very angry. THAT WAS A JOKE. That was a Gravity Falls reference don't take that seriously.
Anywho, anyhow, thank you all for reading! And I do hope you enjoyed!
Bye readers!