Hunter's Perspective
I awoke early in the morning as always to the repeated feeling of Rascal pecking my cheek, alerting me that the time was six and my day had begun. I groaned and shifted onto my side, attempting to swat away the pesky bird. "Not now-! I'm so tired Rascal- please-." I pleaded with the vibrant bird, though I tell him every night to wake me up at six. Rascal tweeted angrily and continued pecking me, pulling on strands of my blonde hair as well. "Ow- ow-! Okay- okay I'm awake!" I exclaimed and the determined cardinal calmed down, sitting on my nightstand. He started pruning his feathers as if nothing had happened and I grumbled. "Stupid bird-." I muttered tiredly and rubbed my face. I pushed back the warm sheets on my bed and got up, not enjoying how cold the floor felt to my feet.
I stretched and got a satisfying pop from my back, along with about ten unsatisfying slow-burns from my aching joints. Ugh. I opened up my closet and flitted through the different uniforms that were the same to any other eye. They had their own markings from missions that made them unique to me. I pulled off my night clothes and dropped them into the hamper in the corner of the colorless closet, taking a uniform at random and changing into it. It's not the best, but it's what my uncle wanted me to wear, and I respected that. After pulling on my cloak, I debated whether or not to put on my mask. It didn't seem to matter much, nobody respected me either way. Everyone already knew I was just a useless teen that isn't good enough for them. But hey, I'm good enough for my uncle. I think.
I pulled on some socks and form-fitting shoes that I enjoyed wearing. After that, I picked up my recently gifted satchel from beside my bed and pulled out my scroll, checking for a new message from Willow. She would sometimes message me or send me pictures of her plants. I liked that she's calmer than Luz with a lot of things, and doesn't try so hard with everything. She's very understanding and kind for her age. It seemed she did indeed send me a new message, it was a picture of an old yearbook group photo. Right, I had asked about what Hexside looked like when it was younger. I stared at the picture for a while, soaking in all of the details of the different demons and witches. There was even the younger blight in the photo, with similar looking older siblings.
I've never actually seen what they look like before. I was curious as to how old they were now. I was also curious as to why Willow was even up before six in the morning. I left the picture and asked her while looking for my artificial staff, which Rascal always hid because he hated it. "Oh Titan- Rascal I swear- wear could you have even put it? There's only so many places in this small room-." I groaned and glanced at my scroll to see if Willow responded. She had, only a minute ago. "Oh I'm just awake early because I went to bed early last night. So now I'm watering my plants and doing some last minute homework. And the twins are 16, by the way." She explained in her message and I looked up when my hand felt the familiar surface of my staff hid deep in my closet. I pulled out my luminous staff and shot a glare at the bird who was watching me with clear discontent.
"You always find new ways to annoy me-. But you're also a good companion, so I'll allow it." I said in a haughty voice and the bird chirped as if it was laughing. I cracked a tired smile and approached the bird, holding out a finger for him to perch on. He hopped on and I guided him to my shoulder, where he got comfy very easily. He enjoyed my shoulder guard. I fixed the cloak around my shoulders once more and glanced down at my scroll. Sixteen huh? I wonder if they're in covens yet. So, I asked. I could ask Willow anything, and she'd be nice enough to answer if she was comfortable with it. I watched her little bubble before she responded. "No, he and his twin Emira are stubborn about actually devoting themselves to their coven. Why do you ask? You aren't thinking of asking them to join are you?" She suspected and I got visibly distressed. I knew she couldn't see me, but I still tried to hide it.
I typed quickly so she wouldn't think I was hesitating to answer. "Well- Maybe, I don't even know how powerful they are. It's almost time for our official "Emperor's Coven Competition Day" though- I might pick them out in your school, it's part of my duties." I typed messily, spelling check having a ball with my blubbering butt. I hit send and covered my face in embarrassment. Titan kill me now. And today Belos told me to meet him during my breakfast period, so I guess I'm skipping it. I hesitantly looked down at my scroll, noticing that my favorite cardinal friend was reading my private messages. I didn't care much, he knew of my life. He looked over to me before tweeting melodically, and my mind processed it as words even though my ears didn't.
"You must alert the human before it happens, or the guards will see her." Rascal said before going back to tweeting in regular song. He pruned his flaming red feathers and I blinked for a moment. I'm still not entirely used to how that works. "Right- I guess I should, but surely Willow can do it. She'll take care of it." I brushed off his warning and Rascal glanced at me with narrowed eyes before going back to picking at loose feathers. I noticed that Willow had responded again, and read it immediately. "Oh right! You aren't going to pick Amity are you? I know she's a promising student, but she's sort of Luz's girlfriend and that would be a problem-!" She exclaimed and I rolled my eyes. Oh, her. Yeah, like I'd pick her. "No, I can just blacklist her for a minor misdemeanor against the castle. It won't get her in trouble, they just won't pick her." I explained and tensed up once I heard knocking on my door. I quickly hid Rascal in my satchel and tossed my scroll in. I could hear Rascal adjusting and pushing the scroll under his little talons. I opened the door to face whoever it was, only for it to be a head of the covens. Raine. They looked sort of sickly and pale, and lost. "Oh, would you like to come in sir?" I asked and opened the door more.
Important note: Sir is somewhat accepted in culture as gender neutral, and is much more pleasant to hear than mx or mxs to people who aren't as sensitive to lgbtq+. I'll be using that, and I'm not trying to be offensive. Sorry for the interruption.
The tired witch looked up at me dazed and blinked before looking into my room. "Oh- yes, yes please." They spoke with a certain exhaustion and walked into my room. I turned around the chair at my desk for them and closed the door. "Are you alright sir?" I asked worriedly and sat on my bed. They made a clumsy beeline towards my chair and sat down, practically collapsing. "Oh yes- I just feel quite faint. I'm probably just tired is all." They told me and laid back in the provided chair. "Is there anything I can get you? Tea?" I offered and they thought about it for a moment. They looked so tired and pale, almost like they had a fever. "Ah... Mint tea, if you wouldn't mind." They muttered with half-closed eyes. Do they even know what room they're in? I don't think I should leave them alone like this.
I hesitantly walked out of my room and looked around for the nearest guard, which wasn't that hard to find since they were swarming the place like mosquitoes. Once I got their attention, I told them of the errand and sent them off. It was simple, and quite honestly anyone would be happy to be relieved of their station. A chance to leave eight hours of nonstop standing and waiting for anything to happen. Then you get a break for dinner, and get back to it until you're unable to function. At least I'm not stuck on guard duty anymore. I went back to Raine, noticing that they had fallen asleep on my chair. I turned on the lampshade on my desk and turned off the room lights so that they could sleep better. They must have gotten back from a mission or something, poor bard was so exhausted. Normally I would just get a guard to escort/carry them to their room, but I didn't bother. They seemed so anxious lately, maybe they came to me for a reason? They've never done it before like this, after all.
Oh shoot- my meeting with Bellos. I looked over to the clock on my desk and saw that it was only six thirty seven. I had until seven for my breakfast period, I had some time to play with. I decided it was best for Raine's spine if I helped them onto my bed, and they seemed more comfortable on there anyways. They hugged one of my pillows tightly and buried their face in it, knocking their glasses loose. I carefully removed the glasses from their face and set them on my nightstand. Well, they didn't need the mint tea anymore, but I could drink it if I wanted to. Nah... I'll probably just leave it for them when I get it. I should really get something to drink though, basic necessities and all that. I took a last glance at the sleeping witch before leaving the room to get some sort of sustenance before my meeting with Belos.
I could hear my little Rascal shifting around in my back as I walked, but he didn't complain because he knew of the repercussions. I walked through the silent halls and down a flight of stairs towards the dining room, which Belos and the higher ups usually only used. My uncle permitted me to use it though, so I did. I let Rascal eat the sunflower seed snacks in the pantry of the kitchen whenever I bothered to show up. Of course, Breakfast Period hadn't begun, so nobody was here aside from me. I let Rascal out to find his snacks and began cooking my own meal with the limited knowledge I did have of it, which was eggs and toast. Simple, but effective. I buttered my toast and got out a bowl of soul-berries, which I remember Willow telling me were a type of blackberries. I never knew that they were related to human plants before. I was ripped out of my memories by a voice.
"Oh Hunter, it's nice to see you up so early. Not that I expected anything less." Darius spoke from behind me. It took all of my will to not jump and drop the food I was holding. I whipped around and looked up at the tall coven head. "Hello Sir." I said quite meekly and respectfully. Darius is nice, but very powerful and feared. He narrowed his eyes slightly and shook his head, reaching down to push back my messy hair. "You don't even bother to have a complexion, do you?" He remarked and I cringed at that reality. I didn't bother to answer. "Ah, I better leave you to your own little duties. You should come by my room some time, if I'm available." He mentioned and backed off of me. My body immediately relaxed and I grabbed a meal tray, sorting my dishes so that I could also put a glass of milk on the tray. I liked being orderly that way, even if it was a little thing that didn't matter.
I heard Darius laugh and looked up to see Rascal tweeting happily and giving him affectionate nuzzles. I didn't want to interrupt, but I also needed to leave to eat in the dining room. I whistled a certain tone and opened my satchel, catching my palisman's attention. He flew into my satchel and got comfy before I closed it. "That's a pretty neat trick hm? Like a summoning whistle, but you did it yourself." Darius commented and I glanced up at him as I picked up my tray. "Yeah. I'll be going now, have a nice day." I said politely and Darius smiled nicely. "You as well Hunter." Hu hummed as I left the kitchen. I ate my meal quietly by myself, checking the time continuously to make sure I wouldn't be late. Once I was finished, I put my dishes in the kitchen sink and quickly made my way towards the throne room.
Once I arrived at the grand doors of the throne room, I took a moment to catch my breath. I had gotten so sweaty, and my hair so oily. Though truthfully, I got like this every day despite showering. I fixed my posture and attempted to salvage my messy hair, though it was previously in poor condition. Seeming as I didn't have much time, I went through the doors and looked to the throne for my uncle. He was indeed there already, though barely awake it seemed by his posture. He sat up fully once he noticed me and I approached the throne at a moderate pace. I stopped a ways away and kept my hands behind my back. I knelt down on one knee respectfully and began speaking. "You wanted me, sir?" I asked and the powerful witch clasped his hands together. He spoke coldly as always.
"Yes, Hunter. It's become apparent to me that your public appearance is.. Poor at best, and only used as a draw for kids you've age who've never even heard of you. That is why I've arranged for a sort of.. Makeover, if you know what I mean. Just a few events to boost your image, but first a literal image booster is in order. I'm sure you've become familiar with Darius as your superior, but he also has an art degree in fashion design. I'll be trusting him with this task, and you'll be seeing him at one exactly. He's a busy man, so don't keep him waiting Hunter. Meet him at the palace steps when the time comes." Belos commanded me and I nodded, staying in place a moment more. I knew better then to get up before dismissal. "You may go. And don't disappoint me." He spoke harshly and I got up, leaving quietly.
If I misgendered at all during this chapter point it out to me and I'll fix it- I already accidentally had to correct every masculine to a neutral for Raine because I forgot to use they/them/their while writing it the first time through-. Aside from that tell me how you like it, and if you're not hooked on the first chapter you should see it through to the other ones. It gets more exciting I promise.