Throughout the remainder of the ride back it was mainly spent just talking to Hunter. This trip really did help you get to know him better and it definitely has made you both really comfortable and more connected.
I mean you guys even shared a bed on the way back from the island and had no problems both of those nights.
What you were beginning to dread was coming back. You didn't wanna leave Hunter and you're sure he didn't wanna leave you either.
You were approaching the emperors coven meaning you had to change into a fake uniform, Hunter was already in his golden guard uniform.
"Your wound okay?" He asks.
"It's all healed." You smile.
"Check it out, I got a cool scar now." You grin and lift up your shirt exposing your side.
"Tch, a cool scar? Really?" He smiles.
"Yeah! Doesn't that make me badass?" You smile and tuck your shirt back in and slap the coven mask on.
"Sure." He folds his arms.
"So we're approaching the doc, I'll help get you back to the city. Then I'll need to return to the castle." Hunter says.
"Or you could come with me." You say.
"I'm not coming with you." He says.
"...I don't want you getting hurt." You say.
Hunter paused and scratches the back of his head.
"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine." Hunter smiles nervously.
"I don't wanna see you again with another scar." You say.
"...that won't happen." He says.
"And if it does?" You say.
"Then... im sorry I lied that it wouldn't happen." Hunter smiles awkwardly.
You sigh.
"Just... call me, if you need anything. You can talk to me. I don't want you to feel like you have to go through that alone." You say.
"You can meet up with me somewhere...I could sneak in and go to you, now that I have this uniform..." you say.
"Just... don't be alone with your thoughts." You say.
Hunter blushes and scratches his cheek.
"Call me tonight. If you don't I'll call you, and you better answer." You say resting your hands on his shoulders.
Hunter smiles sheepishly.
"And if you don't answer I'll sneak in." You smirk.
"Okay okay, I get it." He smiles.
The ship thuds against the doc and you and Hunter prepare to get off. You put the flower in your bag and Hunter grabs your hand and meads you off the ship.
There's no one at the docs so he takes this opportunity to hold your hand tightly. You hold his just as tightly. He leads you to the exit as quickly and carefully as he can.
Some doors on the side open and some coven scouts enter and he immediately drops his hand at his side and clenches it.
"Golden guard! Where are you headed? Belos has been quite eager to see you." One of the scouts say.
"...I just returned. I'll be with him shortly." Hunter nods, continuing to escort you out.
"Ahem! Um... actually..." a higher pitched voice says grin behind the guards.
"Emperor Belos is quite eager for your arrival. He'd like to see you as soon as possible." A smaller woman says.
She has dark red skin and red pupils with yellow scleras instead of white ones. Her hair is blue and looks like a claw and her uniform is covering her mouth. You know her, this is Kikimora, Steve has complained to you about her before.
"And who's this scout you have with you?" She asks approaching you.
"I'd like to see their scout number." Kiki smiles and holds out her hand.
You freeze up, and glance at Hunter.
"She's new." Hunter says coldly and steps in front of you.
"It seems she got lost and I happened to run into her when I arrived, she must have mistook where registration was." Hunter says.
Kiki glares at Hunter and folds her arms.
"Well then..." Kiki smirks and approaches you again.
She grabs your wrist, and your eyes slightly widen.
"Why don't I take her off your hands and finish setting her up? In the meantime you can make your way to the throne ro-" Kiki gets cut off.
Hunter swats her hand off of you.
"That won't be necessary. She's mine." Hunter says coldly and grabs your wrist instead.
You're so glad you have a mask on because hearing that made you so red faced.
"Golden Guard, may I remind you that Emperor Belos is eagerly awaiting your ar-"
"And Kiki, may I remind you who it is you're talking to?" Hunter says scornfully.
"Who is it who's 2nd in like to the throne?" Hunter smirks.
Kiki clenches her fists.
"That would be you." She grumbles.
"Exactly, so why don't you run along... and maybe... oh I don't know.. know your place...?" Hunter smirks.
Kiki clenches her fists even more.
"Belos will be expecting you." She grumbles and walks away.
You and Hunter watch as she stomps off. The doors shut and he holds your wrist tightly and walks off with you.
"Don't pay any mind to her she's a nuisance." Hunter scoffs and walks through the halls with you.
"Steve's told me about her. I can already tell just by the sound of her voice." You say.
"Very soothing isn't it?" He jokes.
"Indeed." You laugh.
Hunter brings you back to Latissa and goes to a nearby alleyway to talk to you.
"Okay, I think you're good on your own here." He says.
"There's a restaurant over there, just go in their restroom and change and then head back home, because you don't want to be wandering alone as a scout or you'll be questioned." He says.
"I got it." You say.
"We can plan something maybe in a few days to test if that flower will work or not." You say.
"Don't loose it." He says.
"I won't." You say.
You guys go silent and you look up at him and put your hands on his shoulders. He blinks a few times.
"...Let me know what happens." You say.
"...I will." He says.
"...and don't let anything he says get under your skin. It's not true. Nothing he says is true you know that right?" You grip his shoulders tightly.
He frowns, and gently holds your waist. You stare at each other for some time and you gently take his mask off to look him in the eyes.
His eyes shimmer and stare at you calmly.
"It's not too late to change your mind and come with me you know." You hold his cheek.
He closes his eyes and leans his head against your hand.
"...because you can... right now." You say.
"I need to go." He says gently, taking your hand off his cheek.
"I love you." You tell him.
He looks at you sadly and his ears go pink. He nods and pulls you into a hug.
You both hold each other tightly. Titan you don't want to let go you don't want to let go no matter what. Everything feels perfect when he's with you.
You look around to double check if anyone's nearby. Hunter confused looks around because you're looking around too.
You both look back at each other and then you kiss his lips.
He melts.
"I need to go." He says softly pulling away.
"One more." You smile and kiss him again.
He gently sighs in the kiss and holds your cheek. Damn it this only makes him want to stay more.
You pull away and kiss his cheek quickly.
"Call me." You whisper in his ear.
He blushes and nods. You smile and run off.
He watches you go off and then slowly puts his mask back on and walks off himself. He puts his hands in his pockets.
When you get home Vineys already there.
"Y/N!!!! I MISSED YOU!" She says and runs up to hug you.
You smile brightly and hug Viney tightly.
"So did you get it??? The flower you told me about?? You guys think it'll work???" Viney asks.
"Yeah I have it." You grin and pull it out if your bag.
You place it gently on the counter. Viney goes over and looks at it.
"Woah..." she says.
"When should we test it?" she asks.
"I'm not sure, I'll have to see when Hunters available next." You say.
"My guess would be in the next day or two." You nod.
"Speaking of him, how was the trip with himmmmm~~~?" She nudges you.
You blush and smile a lot. She starts giggling as soon as your face changes.
"Tell me everything, absolutely everything, I wanna know." She grins and holds your hands.
"W-well.... Uhm.... It was normal all of it, but then the second night... um..." You blush.
"NIGHT?? OHHH SHIT." She squeals.
"I-it wasn't anything too much! It was just um.... Um... really... heheh." You blush and rub your arm.
"UHHH DETAILS?" She asks.
"We made out, um... a lot." You blush.
"Tongue?" She asks.
"SHUSH!" You blush madly.
"YOU SO DID." She squeals.
"AND HOW WAS IT? WAS IT NICE? OH MY TITAN HOW LONG WAS THIS SESSION FOR?" She asks.
"I-it was nice... um... we oh Titan I don't know how long it lasted... this is embarrassing." You blush.
"Was he handsy?" She asks.
"Viney!" You blush.
"What? Were you?" She asks.
"I-I don't know." You blush.
"Okay okay, what else?" She asks.
"When we were on the island we found out it's actually the same island Hexside got grom from." You say.
"Wait what really?" she asks.
"Did you guys have to fight it?" She asks.
"Yeah, I got a scar from it." You say.
"What?? Where?" She asks.
You pull up your shirt and expose your side to show her. Her eyes widen and she holds a hand against her mouth.
"Holy mother of titan Y/n that's huge... are you okay?" She asks.
"It's healed now. Hunter had the proper potions for it, he helped me." You say.
"Thank Titan he did, that looks like it hurt, what happened?" She says tracing her fingers on it.
"...it wasn't really good..." you say.
"It was Hunters fear." You say.
"He wasn't prepared and it was gonna hurt him... so I jumped in." You say.
"...and... what was it? It's gotta be something bad if it gave you that." She asks.
"...it was Belos." You say.
Viney and you go quiet. Viney frowns and stares at you for a moment. She doesn't know what to say.
"He... should get out of that coven then shouldn't he?" She says.
"I want him to but he won't." You say.
"He's afraid to leave." You say.
"And... I don't blame him either because I would be too if I were him... because who knows what Belos would do if he got his hands on him." You say.
Viney nods.
"I wish there was a way... to make him be able to come here, I want him to leave knowing he will be safe." You say.
"I don't know how to ensure his safety here." You say.
"Fake his death, Belos won't come looking for him." Viney says.
"...you know I actually thought of that." You smile.
"But... that also would not be good because if that thing about him being a grimwalker is true wouldn't he just make another one?" You ask.
"I wouldn't want faking his death to only bring pain to another being." You say.
"That's true." Viney says.
"If I could find out where... he makes them... then... that would be perfect." You say.
"I could prevent him from making any more." You say.
"It's got to be somewhere hidden. I doubt it would even be in the castle because that's too obvious, especially if that's Belos's little secret." Viney says.
"...if Hunter knew that he's a clone... maybe he'd wanna get away from there?" You say.
"How would he figure that out though on his own?" She asks.
"I don't know! That's the problem... I can't tell him because that would throw him off guard!" You say.
"I don't even know if it's true. It's just something Steve heard Darius and Eberwolf say." You say.
"You should do some research on it." Viney says.
"Maybe find a book about it, do some research see if he matches any of the characteristics." Viney says.
"I might..." you say.
"I'm surprised Hunter hasn't read about this, he reads a lot." You say.
"Probably nothing of interest." Viney shrugs.
"Or maybe it's an ancient subject." You say.
"I have to go to work later today, but the pantry and stuff is all filled and stuff so you should be able to make yourself something." She says.
"I will." You smile.
"I'm glad you're back in one piece." She smiles.
Later that night you were watching TV and doing pretty much nothing. You haven't gotten a call from Hunter yet and it's been making you worried.
It's around 9:30pm. You really hope nothing bad has happened to him. Shouldn't he have called you by now?
You sigh and stand up and grab your crow. He answered immediately.
"Hunter." You say.
"...You don't need to call." He whispers.
"Well I was waiting and I didn't get anything from you, have you been by your crow this entire time?" You ask.
"I can't stay awake... face hurts." His voice shakes.
"Are you okay?" You ask.
"...It'll be better... tomorrow." He says shakily.
"What will be better?" You ask.
"...mm.. Doesn't matter... it's fine...." He whispers.
"It matters to me- Hunter what hap-"
Theres a loud falling noise on the other side of the line and your pull your ear away from the crow.
He must have dropped it. He dropped his crow on the ground.
"Hunter!" You say.
It's silent on the other line and there's no answer. You start getting nervous.
Then you hear a tweet on the other side of the line.
"Flapjack is that you?" You ask.
Flapjack tweets.
"Is he okay?" You ask.
Flapjack chirps a few times.
"He passed out? Like.. he fell?? Or passed out like he's asleep?" You say nervously.
Flapjack chirps.
"Okay... okay good..he's just tired." You sigh.
"Take care of him okay?" You say.
Flapjack tweets.
"Goodnight." You smile and hang up.
...you're so nervous as to what happened that just made him pass out like that.