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They were finally in the castle. All they had to do was find the Collector and King. And, Belos. Hunter was most keen in finding them. He just wanted to get rid of Belos. He just wanted to see him dead. At all costs. He matched further and further into the magical looking place. It looked like it came out of a fairy tale. He walked and walked, his hand clenched into fists. The more he thought about it, the more angry it made him. That was when he saw where they were holding the people who got turned into puppets. The teenager slightly glanced at them, turning away to continue walking, but that's when he saw a familiar face. Darius. Hunter stopped. He looked at him in disbelief. Why was he just standing there? What was he doing there? His heart started to beat faster and faster that it felt like he couldn't breathe. His hand made its way to his chest, his shirt crumpling up in his hand. He looked at the others, all of their faces looking the same. They must've been in some sort of sleep mode. Willow walked up to him and put her hand on his shoulder, giving him a worried look.
“..Hunter? Are you okay..?”
“Y-Yeah, I just.. I need a second.. I'll catch up in a minute.”
“Are you sure? I can stay with you if you want.”
“No! I- it's okay, I promise.”
The blonde told her, giving her a smile, that she could tell he was forcing on. Willow took her hand off Hunter's shoulder, nodding. She told them others to come along and they left him, giving him some space. Once he saw no one in sight, he stumbled forward, almost running towards Darius. Tears rolled down his eyes, staining his cheeks. He hugged the man in front of him, crying and begging him to wake up or to move. To do *something*. But he didn't. He stood there, with a smile on his face. Hunter hugged him tighter, this time shaking him a bit. “Darius, please! Please just do something! Please, please move!” he cried, shaking him even more now. Nothing happened. Hunter slid to his knees, hyperventilating as he sobbed. That was when Willow came back to check on him. She immediately ran to his side. “Hunter! Hunter!” she said, going into panic mode. “Hunter, we have to go.” she said, but Hunter wouldn't let go. “I.. I can't leave him.. I can't..” Hunter managed to say between cries, sniffling, squeezing his parental figure tighter.
“Hunter, breathe with me.” Willow said with a tender voice. She breathes in, counting to three with her fingers, before breathing out, doing the same. She did this for a few times before Hunter started doing it, gradually letting go of the puppet. They did this for a minute or two, Hunter finally calming down enough. “I know you miss him, I miss my dad's, too, but the sooner we defeat him and Belos, the sooner we get to see them again.” she held out her hand. Hunter looked at her hand, taking it. She stood up, bringing him up along with herself. Hunter let go of Willow's hand, hugging Darius once again. He didn't want to leave him. He didn't. But if they just stayed here then he would stay like this forever. And so would everyone else. He let go of him and returned back to Willow, her still holding out his hand. He accepted it, starting to follow her, giving Darius one last look. When he turned away, though, something strange happened. Tears started to flow down Darius's face, his fingers twitching slightly.