You sit there silently with Steve, River, and Darius.
Steve seems lost in thought about something. River looks like he's trying not to fall asleep. Darius is silent with his arms folded.
Tom and Hunter have been talking in the room to eachother for almost an hour now. Most likely catching up.
It's been quiet while you all have been waiting.
You finally decide to talk.
"Steve, what exactly happened when Tom-"
"WE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" Steve exclaims.
River jolts slightly from being half asleep to Steve's sudden yelling.
You glance at River.
"...Sorry. I didn't mean to nod off." He mumbles.
"Maybe you should go home and sleep." You say.
"I can't. I need to run the healing wing." He says.
You frown and look back at Steve.
Steve's a little red in the face and he has his fists clenched.
"I was gonna ask what happened when Tom saved you from the whole candle thing. What happened?" You ask.
"Oh." Steve says.
He scratches the back of his head.
"I was setting up the candle and stuff and out of nowhere Kikimora shows up. Just out of absolutely nowhere. She recognizes the candle and what I was doing and she locked me in the throne room with the candle already lit." Steve explains.
"I could have died in there, but Tom happened to be nearby and he saved me before I did." Steve says.
"What about Kiki? You didn't let her get away did you?" You ask.
"Tom used an ice glyph on her, when he called River, Darius happened to be with him so Darius retrieved Kiki's frozen body, and is keeping her frozen underneath a tarp in the janitors closet. For now." Steve says.
"Pfft." You scoff.
"She needs to be locked away so she can't report Tom's presence here. Why was he even outside of the cellar anyway? I told him to stay there." Darius sighs.
"Yeah, I told him to go back there too but he wouldn't listen. He was following me while I was on my way to the throne room." Steve rolls his eyes.
"He's always been rebellious. Even in his childhood." Darius sighs.
"Oh yeah, you knew him before Hunter was created right?" You ask.
"Yes. He's quite the opposite of how he used to be back then. He was a lot more quiet and serious as golden guard. He kind of had a tough time back then so I don't blame him. It's good to see him in higher spirits though." Darius smiles.
"How'd he have a tough time?" Steve asks.
"Belos wasn't necessarily the kindest towards him. Believe it or not he's been a lot easier on Hunter than he was with Tom. Tom's punishments were a lot more severe and mental." Darius sighs.
Steve makes a concerned face. You frown.
"That's why I said it's good to see him in much higher spirits. Back then he was an entire different person. He was filled with a lot of anger and resentment. He wasn't exactly as kind as he is now. No mercy to scouts, or others besides the emperor that hurt him. It was shocking seeing how much his personality changed when I found him on the island. He never smiled as much as he does now." Darius says.
"Wow... I couldn't imagine that." You say.
"He's been so nice ever since I met him." You frown.
"I think it was Hunter who helped change him. He probably saw a younger version of himself and wanted to help him and provide the support that he never received back then." Darius sighs.
You frown a little.
"I'm glad they found eachother when they did." You say.
Steve nods.
You glance at River.
He's slumped up against the wall and you think he fell asleep.
"River." You nudge him.
"Huh-" he wakes up.
"You should go home." You say to him.
He blinks and rubs his eye.
"Mm. I can't." He shakes his head.
"Well... you're falling asleep here. Staying up probably isn't good for you right now." You say.
"Well I-"
The door to the room Tom and Hunter were in finally opens.
Your eyes widen and you peek down the hall and look over at them.
"Really?" Hunter asks.
"Yep, and then I- oh hey Y/n!" Tom smiles and waves at you.
"Hi!" You grin.
"Oh, Hunter your girlfriend is the sweetest by the way." Tom nudges him.
"Tom.." Hunter blushes and rolls his eyes.
"Okay, I'll leave you guys alone. I wanna talk to Steve." Tom squeezes Hunters shoulder and prances off.
"Uh.. why?" Hunter furrows his eyebrows.
Tom grins widely and giggles to himself and quickly runs off into the room Steve is in.
Hunter furrows his eyebrows and shakes it off and then goes over to you.
He pulls you into a hug. Your eyes widen and you gently hug him back.
"I really had nothing to worry about this entire time. I'm so sorry if me being all anxious and stressed over nothing irritated you..." Hunter mumbles.
"Oh Hunter it's fine... I understand why you would have thought of that. I'm just so glad you're okay now. And that you and Tom can finally see eachother again." You say.
"It... feels so much better now. I... you were right. Me wanting to be Emperor is such a stupid idea, I should have listened to you. I mean... even if he wasn't alive it probably wouldn't have been what he wanted of me." Hunter mutters into the hug.
"I get it... you were lost and stressed... you wanted him back. Hunter you went through so much." You say.
"It was a stupid idea. I'm so sorry." Hunter mutters and grips you a little tighter.
"You don't need to apologize. It's okay." You say gently.
Hunter gently lets go of you and smiles he holds your cheek in his hand and gently rubs his thumb up and down your cheek.
You smile sweetly at him.
He lets go of you and goes over to Darius.
Darius looks at Hunter and folds his arms and raises an eyebrow. Hunter looks down awkwardly and rubs his arm.
"Thank you. I... I'm sorry for being so skeptical. I didn't have any idea you were... trying to help." He says gently.
"Oh no need to apologize. You had so much on your plate." Darius smiles.
Hunter smiles a little too and then he glances at River. Rivers slightly dozing off again against the wall. Hunter walks over to him.
"Hey." Hunter says.
River jumps awake again and looks at him anxiously.
Hunter furrows his eyebrows and folds his arms.
"...what." River grumbles a little and folds his arms as well.
Hunter smiles awkwardly and scratches the back of his neck before gently placing his hand on Rivers shoulder.
"I was wrong about you. I'm sorry for treating you so rudely these couple months." Hunter says gently.
Rivers eyes widen slightly and his lips close.
"Um.." River sweats nervously and looks away.
"Tom told me he considers you his friend." Hunter says.
River blinks rapidly and nods anxiously. He scratches the back of his neck.
"You helped make him a room to stay in and you took in his toads too." Hunter says.
River nods.
"He's always complained about how he's never had friends, so... you must be important to him. And I mean... you obviously care if you built a room for him and took in his toads." Hunter says.
"It's nice seeing him happy, because he was really miserable not having anyone." Hunter gently squeezes Rivers shoulder.
"Um..." Hunter looks down awkwardly and then at Tom who's sitting talking to Steve in the other room.
Tom grins at Hunter and gives him a thumbs up. Hunter sighs.
What happened next really surprised you.
"U-uhm-" River whispers.
Rivers eyes widen even more and his face becomes beet red.
"W-whaaat is the purpose of thissss...???" He smiles anxiously, turning redder by the second.
Hunter pulls away and coughs awkwardly.
"Ahem, um.. I shouldn't have thought so badly of you. I thought that you were always purposefully trying to get on my nerves by always walking around whatever I was doing but I guess you're just clumsy." Hunter says.
Rivers blush fades as soon as he says that.
"..Clumsy........Gee...Thanks." River sighs.
"And Tom also said how you like this other girl anyway so-"
"Wait he said what." River says quickly.
"Yeah he-"
"TOM!" River walks over to the room he's in with Steve.
Tom's sitting on the edge of the bed looking like he was talking to Steve. Tom tilts his head and looks over at River.
"Yes?" Tom smiles.
"Why'd you tell him about you know what? That's private!" River blushes.
"Oh- I'm so sorry I didn't think about it at the time-" Tom sweats.
River rubs his eyes and sighs.
"It's fine... Titan... I'm so tired." River mumbles.
"Go home and sleep." Hunter says.
"Thanks. But... this is the 3rd time I said... I can't because no one will be here to operate the healing wing." River frowns.
"Oh, easy, as golden guard I'll make a note that we needed to close the healing wing today. That way you can go home." Hunter says.
River blinks.
"You don't have to do that." River rubs his arm.
"Oh, it's fine. You look like you need it." Hunter says.
"...are you sure..?" River frowns.
"Yeah, go ahead." Hunter nods.
River smiles a little and nods.
"Thanks. I'm sure it wouldn't have been as busy anyway... so I'll go home." River smiles.
"Feel better River." You say.
"Thanks. See you guys." River smiles and grabs his things.
After a minute he waves you guys off and exits the healing wing. Leaving the rest of you all there.
You look over at Hunter. He smiles a little.
"Tom was talking about a way to defeat the emperor." Hunter explains.
You tilt your head a little.
"Oh yes!" Tom says and stands up and walks over to you and Hunter.
"So during my time on the island I was experimenting with different glyph combinations...!" Tom grins and holds his hands together.
"Oh?" You ask.
"Mmhm. I often got serpents coming out of the sea and attacking some of the crops I made. So I experimented a little with glyph combos until I feel like I found one that could work." Tom explains.
"And... then one night I went out and drew some of those glyphs and then bam! Dead serpent the next morning..!" Tom grins.
"I bet it smelled awful." Steve says.
"Oh well it wasn't our for too long. I took it apart and used some of its meat as food for myself. Serpents actually taste quite good." Tom grins.
"Eugh.." Steve says.
"It beats eating fish for breakfast lunch and dinner, it has more flavor in it than just plain old fish." Tom says.
"I've never ate seafood ever since I returned home." Hunter says.
"Haha really?" Tom smiles.
"Yeah... because well, like you said, having it for breakfast lunch and dinner for so long really sucked when I was staying with you." Hunter says.
"Yep. Well... it was kind of an everyday for me. I mean there wasn't many other animals for meat sources. But I had a lot of fruit I planted and stuff." Tom grins.
"Wow, a farmer and his crops huh?" Steve says.
"Oh yeah, If I had some overalls and a hat that would be perfect." Tom says.
"I don't wanna imagine you in those." Hunter says.
"Oh come on, I'd look so cute...! Right Steve?" Tom smirks at him.
"Uh...sure-"
"Wait- I mean-"
"Aw gee thanks! Maybe I'll get some and see how I look!" Tom grins and winks at Steve.
Hunter furrows his eyebrows and looks at Steve and then at Tom.
He looks skeptical.
"Um... Anyway... when should we work on that glyph combo..? How do we format it? What's the plan?" Hunter asks.
"We should probably work on that soon considering we only have a few days." Tom sighs.
"Does anyone know how the day of unity is going to play out?" Tom asks.
"He's having all the coven heads stand in a circle up high on a pedastal, and is gonna be drawing a formation to help channel their energy for the eclipse." Darius explains.
"And... where will he be during that time?" Tom asks.
"He doesnt say, even us coven heads aren't sure but I think I know where we can get some information from." Darius says.
"Who?" Tom blinks.
"This little rat who is always listening in on his business in the throne room." Darius raises an eyebrow.
"Agh!" Kiki exclaims as Tom pours a bunch of water all over her.
She's tied up in a chair.
"Where's Belos gonna be during the day of unity?!" Both Hunter and Tom say at the same time.
They look at each other and furrow their eyebrows.
"Hunter I can do the interrogation part, you're supposed to stand behind me and look scary." Tom says.
"I thought you said I could interrogate them." Hunter says.
"No, I said that I'd do the interrogating." Tom says.
"I know how to interrogate too." Hunter says.
"I can do it better though cause I've been golden guard since before you." Tom raises an eyebrow.
"Trust me I have techniques. Just stand behind me and look intimidating." Tom smirks.
"Fine." Hunter says.
"Will you both just get to the point already?" Kiki glares at them.
"SILENT!" Tom exclaims.
"How are you even alive, I thought this one killed you." Kiki glares at Hunter.
"Upupup HEY!" Tom snaps.
"Don't look at him look at me." Tom glares.
"What is it you all want? Oh damn you! You kept that damn rat alive?!" Kiki glares at Steve in the background.
"I said look at me! And don't you dare talk to him like that!" Tom exclaims glaring heavily at Kiki.
"What do you want?" Kiki glares.
"I want to know Belos's plans for the day of unity. Where is he going to go?" Tom shines a light glyph in Kiki's face.
"Agh! Why should I tell you?" She scoffs.
"I don't know, maybe so you can live?" Tom raises an eyebrow.
"Hah." Steve laughs.
"Hush up brat." Kiki glares at Steve.
"HEY!" Tom yells.
Kiki flinches.
"This is the 3rd time! Eyes. On. Me." Tom scolds.
"You wouldn't kill me." Kiki scoffs.
"Have you forgotten my time as golden guard? I very much could." Tom glares.
"Here, how's this to jog your memory, remember the trip we made up in the palm stings 7 years ago?" Tom's eyes widen and he tilts his head.
...
"That soldier?" He continues.
"The fire pit?" He says coldly.
...
"Yeah, you liked that soldier didn't you? Too bad they were a pain in my ass." Tom says.
"You wouldn't." She glares.
"I would." Tom smirks.
"Good Titan Tom, what the hell did you do." Darius rubs his face.
"I was a different guy then, I'm better now. But that doesn't mean Im not capable of still doing it." Tom glances at Darius and then back at Kiki.
"...so speak up." Tom glares at Kiki.
Kiki stays silent and finally sighs.
"...he's gonna go to the titans skull. He has the portal... to the human realm there." Kiki says.
"Wait. How did he find Titans blood?" Tom asks.
Tom glances at Hunter.
"I'm... actually not sure." Hunter says.
"Idiot, it was that shift you asked me to cover about a week ago you said you had something important to attend so I took it. We ended up confiscating the portal key from the owl lady." Kiki scoffs.
"DAMMIT HUNTER! WHAT THE HELL?!" Steve yells at him.
"HEY! HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW?! I JUST THOUGHT IT WAS GONNA BE A CLASSIC CAPTURE THE OWL LADY MISSION WHICH WE ALWAYS FAIL!" Hunter exclaims.
"THE FUCK YOU CANCEL IT FOR?! TO GO FUCK AROUND WITH MY SISTER OR SOME SHIT?" Steve yells.
"Can you both cut it out?" You glare at them.
"SAYS YOU YOU'RE FUCKING AROUND WITH MY BROTHER! DONT THINK I HAVEN'T NOTICED YOU BOTH THESE LAST 2 HOURS!" Hunter exclaims back towards Steve.
"IM NOT FUCKING AROUND WITH HIM HE STARTED IT!" Steve yells back.
Tom goes infront of the both of them and pulls Hunter away.
"OKAY OKAY! HUNTER- STEVE- LETS CHILL." Tom moves away and grips Hunters shoulder.
"I seriously don't get payed enough for this." Kiki sighs.
"Oh no you get payed plenty I just like to steal from your paycheck." Hunter says.
"IT WAS YOU?!" Kiki yells.
"What's the day of unity for? You should know right? Is it just to help power up the portal?" Tom asks.
"...I'm not sure what it's used for... but... I've been hearing Belos talk with someone... and... from what I've been hearing the eclipse is gonna result in a draining spell." Kiki says
"Draining spell?" Tom tilts his head.
"...there's things I've heard about possibilities it's supposed to drain a witches magic... and... without a witches magic it could lead to death." Kiki says.
Everyone looks at eachother and then back at Kiki.
"I've been hearing rumors from townsfolk about that too... whenever I'm on missions... it's... just a rumor but... it's a big rumor, that's why I've been so paranoid." Hunter says.
"Okay okay. We... will make do of this, it'll be fine. We got what we needed to know. Now what do we do with her?" Tom asks.
"We keep her in the janitors closet." Darius shrugs.
"Okay." Tom pulls out an ice glyph.
"WAIT NONONO WAIT!!!" Kiki yells.
Slap!
And just like that Kiki's frozen
Tom looks at Kiki all frozen and looks back at everyone.
"I'll take care of her." Darius pulls a tarp over her and carrys her away using his abomination magic to slither her around the tile.
The door to the healing wing shuts.
...
"So here's a fun idea...!!! Do you guys wanna go on a double date???" Tom grins and looks over at everyone else.