Hunter moaned and tossed and turned as sweat began to drip from his face as he was having a sleep inducing hallucination. In his dream, he saw a man and a woman sitting underneath of a tree together. Hunter saw that the man looked a lot like him, but he was a human, seeing that his ears were rounded, not pointed like a witch's. He had short blond hair, and he was wearing very strange clothes that looked like from a different time period. The man's eyes were also a different color. Instead, a pinkish red, like Hunter's, they were dark blue. The woman sitting next to him, had long lime green hair tied in a braided pony tail, dark tan skin, she was wearing a long white robe with dark blue linings, and white witch's hat. Hunter eyes widened when he noticed that her eyes were an familiar color. They were emerald green, like Azara's. The woman was making a crown made out of flowers with plant magic. As she finished, she placed the crown on the man's head, but he didn't seem to notice it as his attention was elsewhere.
As Hunter approached, getting closer to them, he saw that the man had something in his lap as he was writing something down. Hunter looked closer and saw that it was a book. A journal perhaps? Hunter wondered as he watched the two. The woman let out a bored sigh and turned her head towards the man, who was not paying her any mind.
"When are you going to put that down?" Hunter heard the woman asked. The man didn't look at her, his eyes still glued to the book as he wrote in it.
"I have to record everything in this strange world as a guide for my brother and I, and anyone who come across this and read this." he told her. The woman pouted, puffing her cheeks out, getting annoyed. Then she decided enough was enough and reached over and plucked the book right out of his hands.
"Azura!" the man shouted as he tried to grab it back from her. Hunter's eyes widened in shock. Azura? As in the good witch Azura?! Why was he having a dream about her? And what did she have to do with this man? He watched as he saw Azura held the book away as she pushed him back, placing her hand on his chest, while he tried to grab it. "Give it back!"
"You need to take a break," Azura told him. "You've been writing in this thing day and night ever since you and your brother came here."
"I've gotten plenty of sleep, thank you very much," the man denied. He practically had dark circles underneath of his eyes from the lack of sleep.
"You liar." Azura frowned, dismissing him. "You're still not getting this back."
Suddenly, the man lunged forward, grabbing the book, and two fell backwards, as they lost their balance. Azura laid on the ground on her back, while the man hovered over her, looking down at her. The two stared at each other with shocked looks, their faces turned completely red, blushing. The man quickly got off of her and Azura sat up.
"That was unexpected," she replied. "Very bold coming from you."
"I'm sorry," The man stammered, nervously, still embarrassed. Azura laughed, making the man blush even more and let out a frustrated growl.
"How cute," Azura teased. "I didn't know that humans can turn this red."
"Well, who's fault was that!?" The man sputtered.
"Well, you wouldn't listen," Azura argued. "I had to get your attention somehow." The man said nothing and she continued. "Can you at least take a five minute breather? It wouldn't hurt you. Please, for me?" She asked. The man stared at her for a few seconds before giving in and sighed.
"Fine," He replied. "But, only for five minutes." Azura reached out and pulled him down so that he was now lying down with his head on her lap. He then began to close his eyes while Azura began to run her fingers through his hair then soon enough a fell asleep.
"You're such a weirdo." Azura smiled softly, watching him as he slept and snored.
Suddenly, Hunter stirred as he felt something brushing through his hair, softly. He groaned and slowly opened his eyes to see emerald green eyes staring back down at his.
"Welcome back," Azara said, smiling. Hunter noticed that he was lying down in her lap and blushed, his cheeks and the tips of his ears turned red. He quickly sat up only to instantly regret it when he felt a sharp pain in the middle of his back. He looked around and saw that he was lying on a bed. He noticed the portal key was sitting on a small desk next to the bed. Okay, he hadn't lost the portal key. That's good! Much to his embarrassment, Hunter also saw that he was half naked, seeing that his shirt was gone and there was a large bandage wrapped around his torso, but he still had his pants on, his boots were sitting in a corner near the door.
"Where am I?" He asked.
"The owl house," Azara answered him.
"The owl lady's house?" Hunter murmured to himself. The last thing that he remembered was getting away from Belos then he was flying with Orion. His eyes widened. Orion! Hunter quickly began to look around wildly for the little palisman until he heard a small chirp and looked down to see Lil rascal at his foot.
"Your little bird has been by your side the entire time since you were brought here." Azara explained. Hunter sighed in relief seeing that the palisman was alright and picked it up, cradling it in his hands.
"You're okay," Hunter said, happy to see the red cardinal. Lil Rascal chirped in response, it sounded a little angry.
"You scared me, passing out like that! I didn't know what to do!" Then the little bird decided to pull on Hunter's long strand of hair as revenge.
"I'm sorry," Hunter stammered before smiling sadly. "Seems like all I ever do is cause you trouble." Lil Rascal stared at Hunter for a minute before flying up to his shoulder and nuzzling against his scarred cheek.
"Wait, you can understand him?" Azara asked. Hunter nodded.
"Yes, when a witch bonds with a palisman they can talk with them and understand them," Hunter explained. Azara hummed, interested. She began to grow excited thinking about it more as she wondered if she would get a palisman of her own one day. A cute little friend to sit around, have adventures, and talk to all day. Hunter looked outside the window seeing that the sun was going down, it was in the afternoon. "How long was I out?" Hunter asked.
"A year," Azara told him.
"A year?!" Hunter exclaimed. Azara chuckled, seeing his cute reaction.
"I'm kidding!" she reassured him. "You've only been out for two days."
"What happened to you?" Hunter frowned looking down at the floor, silently.
Hunter looked down at the sheets, thinking. Two days...That's a long time that he's been away from the castle, since ever. His uncle probably had sent some scouts to retrieve and capture him. He never wanted to go back there again. For the first time, Hunter was completely lost. He didn't know what to do.
"I'm guessing that you found out the truth," Azara pointed out. "What was he going to do to you?"
"He was going to use me as a new body for himself, which is failing," Hunter told her. "He's slowly dying." Hunter sighed. "I just can't believe that he would do this to me! I dedicated my entire life to him! I know that I should be angry at him but, I can't. He's the only thing that I have that's close to family. Without him, I'm nothing."
"Hunter your not-"
"What am I going to do now?" Hunter interrupted her. Azara stared at him as he continued. "I have no where else to go. I don't even know who I am!"
"Don't be silly. You know who you are, you're Hunter," Azara answered him.
"I know that!" Hunter replied, frustrated. "But, what am I? Who am I a clone of? That's who I want to know. Why was they so important for me for Belos for to make me a clone of them? Why he did he hate them so much?"
"Well, when the time comes and when you find your answers," Azara answered him, placing her hand on top of his. "I'll help you." Lil Rascal made a chirp making Azara and Hunter look down to see the cardinal staring at them. "We'll help you." Azara smiled. "You're not alone in this."
"I'd like that." Hunter made a small smile. Suddenly, the door swung open, bashing against the wall, hard. Hunter and Azara both jumped, startled, and turned their heads to see Luz, Eda, King and John standing at the door.
"Oh, good you're up!" Luz smiled. "How are you feeling?" Eda walked over to the two, but her eyes were focused on Hunter. Hunter could feel his heart pounding with each step that she took. What was she going to do to him? Interrogate and beat him for answers? Curse him with wild magic like it did with his uncle? Hunter began to panic as he saw the owl lady was now right at his side. She placed her hand on top of Hunter's head, making him look at her, then she bent down her face leveled with his.
"Now, I can get some answers from you."
"We're you listening in on us the entire time?!" Azara shouted a little angry and annoyed. Eda ignored her still looking at Hunter.
"I don't fully trust you since you were one of the emperor's stooges," she said. "You're going to have to prove it to us that you completely left them." She stepped back, releasing Hunter, crossing her arms.
"What do I have to do?" Hunter asked. "I'll do anything!" Eda had a determined look in her eyes.
"Where's Raine?"