Chapter Text
Hunter ignores the blood that seeps and pools underneath the vines that seal him in the cramped, dimly lit room he crouches in. Wax and sweat drips and spatters onto the scattered pages in front of him as he mutters to himself.
Suddenly, his own dried, cracked blood-caked hands that had been fervently scratching down notes freeze. A manic grin curls his chapped lips upwards.
"Yes...yes!"
Unhinged laughter fills the tiny space as he frantically rearranges papers and scribbles a complicated pattern of glyphs.
His hair is a greasy mess and falls into his eyes, but he doesn't move to clear the blond locks away from his face. His face is sallow, his cheeks are hollow, his eyes are bloodshot and the bags underneath of them are darker than they've ever been.
But they shine.
His eyes shine.
Pain starts to radiate from his coven sigil, golden tendrils lighting up his veins. However, this only causes Hunter to laugh harder.
"I made it in time," he croaks to himself as he stares down at the glyphs in front of him, grin never leaving his face.
He levels a glare at the the floor eyes narrowed, lips still stretched into an unnerving smile.
"Screw you Belos."
Hunter slams down both of his hands in front of him and he vanishes in a flash of blinding white light.
~ * * * ~
Hunter springs awake with a gasp, chest heaving and sweat soaking through his night shirt and as he takes in his surroundings he falls victim to his own laughter once again.
No longer is he sealed in the corner of the rebel's stronghold in Latissa. The damp silence, replaced with the rustling of paper as a breeze flows through the room from the open window.
He takes in the cluttered bookshelf and the patchwork pillowcase, in the corner of the room hang a white cloak and a golden mask.
He's back in his old room at the castle.
Hunter's cackles grow louder as he curls in on himself, shoulders shaking as he can't find the power to stop.
"I did it... I did the impossible..."
Slowly, Hunter raises his head from between his knees, eyes wide and filled to the brim with tears that leak down his face. Manic laughter transforming into a disbelieving, stuttering chuckle.
He sniffs and before he knows it he's breaking down into tears.
Finally, finally letting the overdue sobs wrack his body as the dam bursts.
As he grips his sheets while the salty tears flow, a strangled whisper breaks free.
"We won."
~ * * * ~
After realizing that the red cardinal that was his palisman wasn't present, Hunter practically sprints down the hall towards Darius's room, only slowing down to evade the suspicions of patrolling coven scouts. It would seem out of place for the Golden Guard to be rushing around the castle without a shred of false bravado after all.
The mask and the cloak make him want to wretch and the towering stone walls of the castle instill a fear in him that makes his heart race and hands clammy. He wants to run screaming, laughing, crying as far away as he can away from the place that was more often than not the setting of the worst of his night terrors.
But he doesn't.
He can't.
Hunter is on a mission to save everything and everyone he's ever loved.
He can't run away. Not now. Not ever.
Not until they secure their fates.
Knocking fervently on Darius's door is the first step Hunter does in order to ensure that.
Darius swings open his door with more force than necessary, a frown on his face, and it takes Hunter all the will-power he can muster to keep himself from tackling the man in a hug.
Instead, Hunter chooses to push his way inside the room and close the door behind him, much to the shock of the Abominations Coven Head.
Incredulous and sputtering half-formed questions, Darius finds himself cornered by the Golden Guard in his own room. However before he can get any of his questions out, Hunter's interruption freezes the blood in his veins.
"Darius! Darius! I know about the rebellion!"
There, the sputtering stops and unnoticed by Hunter, Darius's eyes narrow, a flash of emotion is silenced, and a decision is made.
"Is that so?" asks Darius, voice even, a single eyebrow raised as he nonchalantly inspects his fingernails.
Hunter wildly gestures, waving his arms around, "Yeah! You're planning to take down Emperor Belos! You and Raine and Eberwol-"
Unfortunately Hunter is cut off by a spike of abomination goo piercing through his shoulder.
He stares at it for a moment and wondering if it's all in his head, takes a moment to tentatively wiggle his shoulder to test his theory. His own involuntary hiss of pain disproves that instantly.
He feels his mind clouding as he turns his head at a snail's pace to face his aggressor, a small and confused "Wuh?" falling from his mouth as he does so.
Cold eyes glare into his own, all previous posturing abandoned in favour of an icy quiet malice. There's not a shred of recognition nor warmth within them as Darius looms over the startled teen.
Thoughts as fast as chilled molasses and feet frozen in place. The only warm thing in the room is the blood running from Hunter's shoulder in rivulets, a red stain steadily spreading across his cloak as his life drip, drip, drips onto the floor.
In a split second Hunter is transported back, a different all-consuming dripping holding him captive.
The dripping of candle wax. Pencil scratching. Papers shuffling. Pencil scratching. The growling of his own stomach. Pencil scratching. Time passing. Pencil scratching. A determined huff.
Tears dripping down his face. Shouts growing distant. Vines sealing him in. He's pushed into the corner. The adults are subdued. There's too many of them.
The dripping of sweat. He fights endless coven scouts with his friends.
The dripping of water among the baffled quiet and silent questions of 'how'. The rebellion has been found out, they've been ambushed. There's a knocking at the door.
The last drops of juice dripping into his glass as he chats amicably with his friends. Willow and Gus arrive and greet him with wide smiles. He eats a meal with the other rebellion members. He crawls out of bed after a nightmare. He sleeps over at Latissa.
The dripping of fuel into the airship's tank. Darius is bringing him along. Darius was worried about him. Darius wraps him in a hug. Darius sees him and Hunter doesn't know what to expect.
Snapped back to the present so fast he feels whiplash, Hunter realizes distantly how his vision blurs and darkness encroaches, but all he can focus on is Darius.
"Oh don't be so dramatic Little Prince. You've survived worse than this," sneers the man as he prowls towards Hunter.
He has. He knows he has, but this feels different.
"I'm just lucky that you chose to confront me first before reporting to Belos or else I'd already be dead," nothing but contempt laces his voice as that hate-filled gaze burns him. He burns, and yet he shivers too, an icy cold continuing to leach through him.
Hunter doesn't understand. Why is Darius looking at him like that? Why-
"Dizzy at the sight of your own blood Golden Brat? "
Ah, that's why... Hunter's an idiot.
It takes him a moment to realize that the shaky hand removing the golden guard mask is his own, but it doesn't matter now. All he can do is muster the strength to meet Darius's shocked gaze as he reintroduces himself, managing to rasp one last phrase before losing consciousness.
"It's... Hunter."
It's strange... Hunter wonders distantly about what causes the sudden change in Darius's attitude when the Coven Head gasps and leaps towards him, multiple mirror images following seconds behind. For a moment he thinks he can hear a concerned voice through the cotton in his ears, but everything is muffled and it wouldn't make any sense anyways. This Darius hates him after all.
This Darius will have killed him.
The mask falls clinking on the ground as Hunter slumps, limp.
..
...
....
A shocked and appalled gasp, "Darius! What did you do!"
"He's survived worse, it's not like he's gonna die." False bravado. A voice trembling with uncertainty.
"Don't look so worried. Lie him down over there and help me fix the poor kid up." Shaken, but a confidence that everything will be okay.
..
...
....
Fear.
"Raine? Why aren't the healing spells working?"
"I- I don't know."
..
...
....
Anger.
"You said you could fix him!"
"I'm sor-"
"He's just a kid!"
"Then why did you stab him!?"
..
...
....
"Shaking him won't do any good..."
A frustrated growl.
"I know you didn't mean for this to happen."
"Don't-"
"Darius-"
"Don't!"
"Darius, the Golden Guard is gone."
A strangled sob escapes involuntarily as the dead boy's bloodied, cooling body is held close.
~ * * * ~
Hunter springs awake with a gasp, chest heaving and sweat soaking through his nightshirt as his hands claw frantically at the shoulder where he'd been impaled. Ripping open the fabric from the collar reveals a fresh scar, angry and red, but fully healed.
His hand drops from the torn fabric as he stares wide-eyed at the injury.
He really did do the impossible...
As he drags his shaking body out of bed, Hunter decides to really think things through this time. Bracing himself against his bed frame as he goes, Hunter slowly wobbles his way towards his desk to create his list.
The first thing he needs to do?
Find out exactly when in time he is.
As long as that's done, he decides that the next items can be completed in any order:
Namely reuniting with flapjack, allying himself with Luz and his friends, and finding out how to stop the Day of Unity.
Oh and also not dying. That would be nice...
Nice, but not mandatory apparently. After all, Hunter is fully aware that he would be willing to die again and again in order to stop Belos and keep his loved ones safe.
It's all up to him now.
And he will not fail.