Hunter's Perspective
I was slowly guided into the house and immediately felt tense at the sight of familiar slime splattered all over the kitchen and house. My eyes followed a particularly thick cluster of goop towards what I assume used to be my uncle doing something. But now, his skin was torn open with huge dulled eyeballs and his body was ripped apart by what seemed like self harm. I approached the carnage slowly, taking breaths all the while. I kneeled down to his body and reached out to his paled, heavily destroyed face. I carefully caressed his ice cold cheek and jumped when the body twitched. There was a single gasp for air that escaped it, followed by a long silence. Then another terrifying attempt at breathing, but stronger than the last. I looked up at Raine, terrified by the idea that this mutilated thing was still trying to live. Raine got down on their knees beside me and squeezed my shoulder. "It's.. It's okay Hunter. Just breathe." They said in a quiet, calming tone. I nodded and watched worriedly as the body twitched again.
The blind eyes protruding from his skin began to move as well, some blinking in a broken way and others spasming strangely. I tensed up when his mouth gargled and moved in an attempt to communicate. I felt so uncomfortable watching this dysfunctional body try to stay alive and respond. "Here, hold still you weird little corpse thing.." Alador muttered and pulled out a bottle of abomination fluid, carefully shaping it onto his more messed up features. "It won't do much, but if it stays long enough it'll fuse to him and he'll be able to manipulate it." Alador explained and cringed at the sight of the twitching body. "Do you really think he's still alive?" I asked quietly and stared at the decimated corpse. His chest wasn't even moving, therefore I don't know how he could still be alive. "Only time will tell I suppose. But we can't exactly fetch a healing coven witch, everyone in this dimension would rather kill him than heal him." Alador pointed out and kneeled down beside me.
"... Maybe it would be better if we took him out of this body and found a new one?" I suggested and cringed at this oozing decaying form before me. "Souls are very delicate and picky, you can't shove them in just anything. We would need to find a creature without a soul that this soul is compatible with." Raine explained to me and sighed. "And soulless creatures are hard enough to find, because spirits love to take them at any opportunity." Raine continued and stared at the dimmed eyes on Belos' skin. "It looks so painful. Shouldn't we put him to rest?" Raine suggested and looked down at me for answers. Geez, was I really the only reason he was still alive anyways? "Er.. Well... Couldn't we wait a little longer?" I asked hopefully. I did feel bad for him, but I also didn't want to see him die. He should be able to pass on his own anyways. Raine simply nodded and rubbed my shoulder gently. "There is a way you could keep him alive, if you're so eager to." Edric stated and looked up at his dad. Alador cringed immediately and shook his head. "Oh please child, that shouldn't even be an option." He scoffed and looked at the body doubtfully.
Edric ignored his dad and pulled me aside. "You could keep his soul alive if you wanted for as long as you live, you would just need to let it rest in your mind." He told me and pushed back my messy hair. "Really? How do I do that?" I asked and moved closer to him. He glanced over at the suspicious adults who were watching and continued to talk to me. "All you have to do is swallow his soul, it's super easy." He explained and took my hands. I nervously fidgeted with his soft fingers and contemplated if I was willing to do that. "Would he.. have any control over me?" I asked curiously. That was an important thing to know if I wanted to follow through on this idea. "No not at all, you'd just be carrying him. Like... just as powerless as a thought in your head. A little puppy or something, I don't know." He told me and smiled reassuringly. He lightly squeezed my hands and rubbed them to calm my nerves. "Okay.. I do want to do that, so he will be fine until we find him a proper host." I decided and walked over to Belos with Edric in tow. "Are you sure about this Hunter? It might be a while until we can find a suitable candidate for him." Raine asked cautiously as I kneeled down. "I'm sure, I can do it." I said confidently and looked at Edric. "How do I.. Get it out of him?" I asked and smiled awkwardly.
Edric guided my hands to both sides of his face and took off his glasses. "You can practice on me, just focus on my eyes and imagine my mind coming out to you." He instructed me and leaned a little closer. I tried my best to focus on his golden crested eyes, and my worries dissolved as I matched his breathing. I watched as his eyes slowly shut and his skin turned almost white. All of the warmth in him seemed to focus in my hands, and I was shocked as a bright yellow orb emerged into my grasp. I carefully held the delicate orb in my hands and stared in awe. It was shimmering and shining so brightly, like a star in my palms. "Be very careful." Alador warned me and watched as I returned the soul to its owner. His eyes brightened up and life returned to his body, including his sweet smile and red cheeks. He put his glasses back on and took a deep breath. "It felt so free being outside of my body, it was so strange!" He exclaimed and looked at Alador who had been worried sick. "I'm okay dad I swear." He said and hugged his dad.
I turned my attention to Belos and reached out, placing my hands on both sides of his head. He twitched slightly and gasped, his eyes flying open rather violently. I fought against my instincts to pull away and looked into his eyes. They were already so dull and empty, did he even have a soul left so save? I started to pull at the warmth gathering on my fingertips, but nothing came out. I waited patiently with my fingers firmly on both sides of his head, waiting until the warmth wrapped around my fingertips. I could see fragments of his soul reaching out and grasping at my skin desperately. I carefully pulled out his soul, which was much smaller and dimmer than Edric's had been. It was a dark, stormy blue essence that felt almost runny in my grasp. I have to eat this? "You can do it Hunter, I believe in you." Raine cheered me on and patted my back. I smiled warmly and leaned on them, carefully shaping the liquid froth in my hands until it was securely shaped in my palms.
I looked at Raine for reassurance, and they continued to support me with gentle gestures of love. "You can do it." They told me and wrapped an arm around me. I nodded and hesitantly drank the flowing soul. I didn't really know what to think of the taste, it was like drinking pure lime juice. But the sensation was over quickly, and instead of traveling down to my stomach it dissipated in my throat. "What happens now?" I asked innocently and hugged Raine's side. "Now you have his soul reforming on yours, like a little parasitic twin. Except, without the physical damage that those tend to carry." Raine explained and kissed my forehead. "You're such a brave, caring boy." They praised and rubbed my back. I smiled and snuggled up to them. "So.. What do we do with the body now?" I asked and Alador pulled out a small vial. "I will get a sample of his blood so you two can find a compatible host easier." He said and carefully extracted a vial of blood from his veins using magic.
"Here." He said and handed Raine the vial. Raine thanked him and got up, bringing me as well. "I appreciate you coming out here, you should probably go back with your son." Raine said and offered their hand to shake. Alador smiled slightly, amused by this gesture of gratitude. He shook Raine's hand and lightly kissed the top of it. "Lovely seeing you, we should catch up when there aren't bodies involved." He said and grabbed his son, dragging the unwilling teen outside. I waved to Edric as he left, and looked around the wrecked house. "I wonder what could've happened to make such a mess." I pondered and stood up. Raine stood up with a groan and rubbed their back. "Well, I'm probably not going to clean this up because it's disgusting and I don't want to. So.. I'll get a cleaning crew in here by tomorrow, until then don't trip on anything." They told me and yawned. "Being old is so tiring-." They mumbled and pushed their glasses up on their tan nose. I snuggled with their fuzzy sweater covered arm and mimicked their yawn.
Raine smiled and ruffled my hair. "You are just too cute. Come on, let's at least see what he's done to my guest bedroom." They said and took my hand, stringing me along towards the end of the hallway. I was careful not to step on any of the grime tossed about the hall, which was quite difficult with how it was coated. Raine looked around the room and cringed in disgust. "It looks almost like he just... erupted from his spot, it's so gross." They commented and walked over to the extremely messy and unkempt bed. It had that slime shot out all about almost like a panic, and the pillows had been torn to pieces in a fit. "How peculiar it all is.." They mumbled and tossed the pillows into the trash. "I suppose once his soul reforms, you should ask him what happened to cause all of this. Though I'm not sure you should trust his answer." Raine told me, heeding caution. I nodded and looked at the clothes bag they were still holding. "Um.. Could we maybe have a chill night and try on my new clothes?" I requested and smiled brightly. Raine kissed my forehead and offered a hug.
I happily hugged them and closed my eyes. "Of course we can Hunter, we can do anything you want tonight." They told me and gave me more affectionate kisses. I giggled and blushed slightly, overwhelmed by all of the love I was given. "Can we make s'mores? The human told me all about them." I asked as I was brought into Raine's room. Luckily, this section of the house was unharmed because it had been locked shut. "Of course we can, you'll have to tell me what they are first.." Raine said with a laugh. I nodded happily and pulled out the red binder Raine had bought for me. "That would go great with those black skinny jeans you liked, I think." They suggested and sat down on their bed. I hummed in agreement and pushed the door closed with my foot. I kicked off my shoes and wriggled out of the sweater I had put on this morning, dropping the items beside me. "Mmm.. Could you look away?" I asked and Raine immediately turned away. "Of course, tell me when you're done." Raine hummed sweetly and fiddled with their sweater sleeve.
I took off the green shirt that had been given to me and stared at my bare skin for a little while. It was free of marks from abuse, but only because they had been whisked away by magic. I stared at the binder in my hands and tried to figure out how exactly it worked. It was just cloth, maybe I was supposed to unravel it? Hmm.. I don't want to ruin it, I have to ask Raine. I sat down beside them and lightly tugged on their sweater. "How do I put this on?" I asked and giggled when Raine covered their eyes. "You can look-." I told them and pried their hands off. They smiled and carefully took the silk binder from my hands. "Here. Can I help you put it on?" They asked and slowly loosened the binder until it was rather easy to slip on. "Sure." I responded and lifted up my arms. Raine carefully pulled the binder down onto my torso and tightened it. "It's a bit strange compared to most modern binders, but it does look gorgeous." They commented and fixed some of the droopy sections on the silky fabric. I adjusted the tight binder and curiously looked at myself, but my neck hurt after trying. "Here, use the mirror you goofball." They said and brought me over to the full body mirror mounted on their wall.
I stared at myself and twirled, trying to get the full picture. "It's kind of nice, I like this better than being shirtless. I'm kind of insecure about that." I admitted and hugged myself. Raine lightly rubbed my back and smiled reassuringly. "I think you look beautiful any way that you want to show yourself." They told me and offered their hand. I liked that they offered, and didn't force. That they asked, and didn't assume. That they gave me the choice of what to do today. I could have said sleep, they would have let me. It made me feel so safe to know I was in a better place. So why did I even save my uncle?