Some days pass. They were boring days. Viney was hanging out with Skara some leaving you a bit alone. You didn't have much to do.
However, it was around that time Hunter said he would be free to test the flower so you decided to call him.
You dial in his number and call him.
He picks up right away.
"Oh you actually answered." You say.
"Yeah." He says on the other line.
"You said you were free today? To check if the flower we got works?" You ask.
"Um.. yeah, we can. When would you wanna go?" He asks.
"We were thinking this afternoon." You say.
"Yeah I can do that." He says.
"Awesome! I'll see you then?" You smile.
"...yeah... um... by the way..." He says gently.
"What?" You ask.
"...I dont... um... look exactly the same... so... um..." He says nervously.
"What do you mean?" You furrow your eyebrows.
"I just don't look that great is all... um-! Nothing to worry about though, it's all perfect, everything's fine." Hunter laughs nervously.
"...what do you mean..?" You say.
"Just don't freak out. It's really nothing to worry over. It'll be fine." Hunter laughs.
"...should I be worried?" You say.
"No, please don't be. It's really not that bad." Hunter says.
"...okay... I'll see you then...?" You say sort of nervously.
"Yeah! I'll see you soon... um bye." He says softly and hangs up.
You put the crow down and ponder for a moment. What is he talking about? He said not to be worried but now you're extremely worried.
...Guess all you can do is wait.
That afternoon, you, Viney, and Steve make it back to the shed where the machine is.
"So what we did is replace the wires connected to the glove. We tested it on other sigils to see if it works better and I feel like it gives it a more softer calmer look rather than it looking like it's burnt to your wrist." Steve explains.
"They also don't look crusty." Viney holds up her finger.
"You brought the flower right?" Viney asks.
"I did." You say and pull it out of your bag.
"Let's see how it reacts to being connected." Viney says hooking the flower up to the machine.
A yellow wave goes through the wires and into the glove. There's no symbol for the cknecfuon it's just a white square symbol appearing in the glove screen. You glance at it.
You hear a sudden woosh noise outside and you look out the window of the shed. Hunters arrived, he seems nervous, and he has his head down.
"I'll be right back." You say and stand up.
You go out the door and turn the corner to see Hunter from afar. He has his head down, and he's not looking up, he gently looks up and notices you and puts his head back down.
You run over to him anxious to see him, you haven't seen his face in a while and you're worried about what he meant when he said he doesn't look the same.
You throw your arms out about to hug him.
He glances at you and his eyes widen and before he's even able to hold out his arms to prepare for your big you hug him right away.
"There you are. Showing up fashionably late are we?" You say and look up at him.
Your eyes widen in shock as soon as you see him.
He has a nasty scar over his eye and cheekbone. You stare at him speechless. Belos really have him a whole face scar all because of him not returning with Titan blood?
"Oh my Titan Hunter." You say concerned.
"It's fine. Just- please let's not pay any attention to it." He sighs.
"No no no- Hunter you can't go back there." You say worriedly and grab his shoulders.
"Y/n-! It's fine!" He says.
"You think this is fine?! Are you crazy??" You exclaim running your hands up to his face.
"Does it still hurt? Are you okay?" You say gently touching it.
"No, it's healed." He says.
"I'm not letting you go back there Hunter! Not after this! You need to stay at the guild with me!" You exclaim.
"Y/n I'll be fine-"
"Hell no you won't! You need to come home with me! Hunter that's not good!" You say.
"I can't! How many times do I have to tell you!?" He exclaims.
"Hunter you aren't SAFE you realize that right??" You say and grip him harder.
"I'm fine!" He says trying to pull you off of him.
Steve comes outside, hearing the two of you argue. He runs up and grabs your shoulder, and pulls you off of him. He glances at Hunter and his eyes widen as well.
"Dude- what the hell happened to you?" Steve says all concerned.
"It's nothing. Belos was just upset I didn't bring back Titan blood like I promised." Hunter says.
"Why does he even want it so bad?" You ask.
"He wants to open this portal to the human realm. He's obsessed with it." Hunter says.
"Why?" You ask.
Hunter sighs and shrugs.
"He won't tell me why. He just says it's the titans will." Hunter says.
"It's probably to invade I bet." You say.
Hunter shakes his head and shrugs.
"You can't just be his errand boy for something that doesn't even exist! He's giving you meaningless work, going out and looking for Titan blood!" You tell him.
"He's just slaving you away and every time you come back empty handed he's gonna use that as an excuse to hurt you!" You exclaim.
Hunter looks down and rubs his arm.
"It's abuse Hunter! He probably has already lost hold for Titan blood and knows that there's no more! But he pretended that he thinks there is as an excuse for you to return unsuccessful everytime! Just so he can continue to hurt you!" You exclaim.
"Y/n. Go back in the shed for me." Steve pats your shoulder.
"But it's so obvious that-"
"Y/n. Please?" Steve asks.
Hunter rubs his arm awkwardly, and glances at you and then at Steve. You frown.
"Fine." You grumble and go back in.
You begrudgingly go back into the shed leaving Hunter and Steve all alone. You sigh and sit back down on the floor.
"What's going on?" Viney asks, seeing you come in.
"He's not safe in that damn castle." You grumble.
Hunter POV
Steve looks at me and smiles. I feel bad that all just happened and over me too. I knew coming here was going to start something bad.
"You okay?" Steve asks.
"Fine." I nod.
"She's only angry because she cares about you I hope you know that." Steve smiles.
I nod and somewhat smile.
"She talked to you about leaving the emperors coven?" Steve asks.
"Yeah, she has. I just... don't know if it's the right thing to do or not.... Well... if it's the safe thing to do or not." I shrug.
"Let me tell you something." Steve says.
"I don't want you to freak out but I've talked to Eda about you. Good things, good things. Nothing bad." Steve says.
"Wait- what??" My eyes widen.
"She knows you're struggling, you've ran into her before in your teen years right?" Steve asks.
"I have, along with her human, and the humans girlfriend." I say.
"They all could tell you were struggling when they met you." Steve says.
"So when I told her about what you did for Y/n, and how you're helping. Her trust for you has gone up. She's choosing to trust you." Steve says.
"What are you saying?" I ask.
"I had the idea of maybe inviting you to the guild for free. You won't be registered, you don't have to permanently stay there. You can check it out see what it's like maybe get a feel for it, you know?" Steve smiles.
I look at him confused.
"Maybe seeing it and what it's like will help you determine if it's a safe environment for you to be in." Steve puts his hand on my shoulder.
"...I'd... be okay with that." I softly smile a little
"But... she really trusts me? Me the golden guard 2nd in like to the throne to know the whereabouts of your guild?" Hunter asks.
"She does have one condition though." Steve says.
"Which is?"
"She wants me to make an everlasting oath with you on her behalf " Steve says.
I blink a few times processing what that means. That means it's serious. I take a breath and look up at Steve more.
"What are the terms?" I fold my arms.
"If you don't speak of the guilds whereabouts, nothing happens to you. You can go about as you please." Steve says.
"But if you do spill it's whereabouts to anyone in the emperors coven, you loose your voice. Permanently." Steve says.
"My voice? I thought it would be id be killed or something." I say.
"The owl lady is no killer, but you get why she wouldn't want you telling anyone right?" Steve smiles
"Of course, I don't plan on it at all. I know how many peoples lives would be at stake if I did... I'm... not a monster." Hunter says.
"Alright then, what do you say? Sounds promising?" Steve holds out his hand.
I go quiet and think for a moment. I genuinely don't plan on ratting anything about this guild out, so it's not like I would loose my voice. I know if I did, all those peoples lives would be in my hands, and I wouldn't want that.
"Deal." I say.
"Alright then." Steve says summoning the spell circle around his palm.
"We shake on it." Steve says holding out his palm.
I look at it hesitantly and look back at the shed to make sure neither Y/n or Viney are looking. I sigh and take out my hand and shake Steve's.
The spell circle goes around my hand and a light beams around our hands. It zooms around us both and then it suddenly disappears.
We let go.
Steve smiles at me and folds his arms.
"You're a good man." He nods.
I don't know how to respond so I just nod.
"I think this would be a great start for you." Steve smiles.
"How about today? Are you free to come after we test this out today?" Steve asks.
I rub my arm and think for a moment. I'm hesitant, would doing all this today be okay?
I blink a few times and nod.
"Great! Let's tell the others!" Steve exclaims and we both walk over to the shed.
Your POV
"So Hunters gonna be coming to the guild after we test this out." Steve smiles.
You and Viney look at eachother and then back at Steve with your mouths half open. You're genuinely so confused.
"How the hell's did you just magically convince him?" You say sternly.
"I talked to Eda about Hunter while you both were out, Edas willing to trust him to take a look and come as he pleases. He won't be registered as an official member though" Steve says.
"That's.... I didn't think Eda would be okay with that... really?" You ask.
Steve nods.
"This is a great idea! You can get a feel around of the guild and see if you like it or not!" You grin excitedly.
You quickly stand up and grab Hunters shoulders and smile.
"I can show you where I stay, and we can show you where Steve stays. I could show you how the guild works and stuff that would be so fun!" You smile.
Hunter nods and smiles a little awkwardly. He's nervous about it... a lot but seeing you smile over it sort of puts him at ease.
"So today??? You can come today??" You ask.
"Um... I don't see why not." Hunter nods.
"Yes! Oh my gosh I'll show you my home! We can-"
"I know, but let's work on seeing if this flower we got works or not okay?" Hunter holds your shoulders.
You blush in embarrassment and nod. Viney smirks at you and you go and sit down near her.
Viney puts the glove on.
"Hold out your arm." She says.
"Shouldn't we test this on like a wood piece or something?" You ask.
"Well the thing is we don't know if it's a one time work type of thing so it's better to test it on you incase it doesn't work again." Hunter says.
You frown and nervously look at the glove. Viney looks up at you.
"You good to test it out?" She asks.
You nod. Hopefully this actually works.
Viney hooks up the flower more securely and holds your wrist close to her. You close your eyes and take a deep breath.
This is the moment of truth to see if the sigil will actually be gone or not.
Viney presses the glove against your wrist and you squeeze your eyes shut. Hunter and Steve lean in closer to you to get a better look.
...
Viney hesitantly looks up at you.
"What?" You say.
She removes the glove and you Steve and Hunter mean closer to get a better look.
The sigil is still there.
The only difference is that it's slightly faded.
You frown immediately. All those days you and Hunter spent just to get this flower? For nothing?
You lower your arm and stare at the ground.
"Oh Y/n." Viney frowns.
"...what do we do?" You say.
Everyone goes silent. You look at the ground. Are you going to have to live with a sigil like this forever?
"Well that leaves us no choice." Hunter says.
You look over at him.
"We need to find Titan blood, it's the only thing that will most likely be guaranteed to work." He says.
"But... the isles are dried out." You say.
"There has to be... a drop? Somewhere out here. At least a single drop." Hunter says.
"...We don't know that'." You say.
"There has to be some way, I'll think of something." Hunter says.
"And it could also be the wiring me and Viney will look more closely." Steve says.
Viney smiles sincerely.
You frown.
"There's literally nothing." You say.
Hunter, Viney and Steve all look at eachother and then back at you. Hunter kneels next to you and puts his hand on your shoulder.
"Why don't I check out the guild with you? Okay?" Hunter smiles.
You look at him and smile sadly.
"Okay." You say.
"Don't be so upset, we'll find a way." Hunter says.