Chapter Text
Hunter had a very strict routine. He had everything down to the minute. He woke up at 4 am everyday, even though his duties did not start till 6:00. He liked to wake up two hours early. It left him with one hour to get ready, and another hour for him to finish any paperwork he had. If he finished his paperwork then he had an hour of free time. In which he would choose to mostly study, or read.
Today was Monday. On Mondays he had training in the mornings, then he would do a patrol in the afternoon. And in the evening he would stand next to the emperor while he had meetings, or listened to requests. It was steady and predictable. Just as Hunter liked it.
However as Hunter was sitting at his desk and reading there was a knock at the door. Hunter startled. He assumed it was his uncle, after all it was so early and not many knew where his room was. But just in case it was not his uncle he slipped his mask on and answered the door.
At the door was a simple scout. Good thing Hunter put his mask on, others were not allowed to see his face. For privacy Belos said.
“The emperor requests to see you in his study” The scout told Hunter then promptly left.
Hunter closed the door and went to his closet to get his cape. Uncle rarely called Hunter into his study this early in the morning. It must be important.
The emperor's study wasn't that far from Hunter's own room. Just a few hallways away. Hunter ran his hand over the wall as he walked. It was so peaceful in the mornings before duties officially started. It's quiet. Well as quiet as the isles can be. Hunter stopped in front of his uncle's door. He took a deep breath before knocking.
“Come in” Belo’s voice rang out.
Hunter opened the door and walked into the room, taking off his mask in the process. “You wanted to see me sir?”
Belos smiled at him and nodded. “Indeed, I have a request for you”
Hunter perked up. Over the years Hunter has gotten very good at reading his uncle's facial expressions and body language. He seemed relatively calm right now which was good. Maybe Belos wanted to send him on a mission! To make up since he failed his last one.
“There is a wild witch who specializes in abomination magic. They are using this magic to terrorize the isles. The people are scared. So I am implying you and Mr. Deamonne will investigate and track down the wild witch.” Belos explained, “I know normally we would wait until we knew were this witch resided but its causing public outrage so I need to find them fast. Understood?”
“Yes sir, I won’t fail you” Hunter promised.
“Im sure you won’t, after your training you are to report to mr deamonnes office.” Belos tells him.
“Yes sir”
“You are dismissed."
Hunter left his uncle's study and let out an annoyed sigh. Darius is great. Of course he had to be paired with him. Like the other coven heads Darius despised him. Thinking he only got the position because of pure nepotism. Even though he worked just as hard, if not harder! Than everyone else. But with Darius it felt more personal. Like Hunter had done something specifically to Darius to make the man hate him. But Hunter barely interacted with any of the coven heads outside of when he absolutely had too. Not only did he want to, he also wasn’t supposed to. Belos never forbade Hunter from doing so but Hunter knew it was bad. After all, bonds like that are distracting. They can make you weak.
Hunter will not be weak.
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Training went well today. Just some simple compact training, he was done just in time for lunch. He was starving, incredibly glad he didn't have to fast on Mondays. The food served in the mess hall wasn’t great. Just scout rations. But it was amazing when you hadn’t eaten for three days. Might as well be a five star gourmet meal.
Even though Hunter was incredibly hungry he got small portions. Just enough to get him through the day. That's all he needed. As Hunter got his lunch and sat down he glanced at the clock on the wall. 11:50, great. That gave him 4 minutes to eat and 6 minutes to get to Darius’s study. Which he was dreading.
Hunter finishes eating his small portions and throws away his tray. He then checks the time again, 11:54, perfect. Darius’s study was in the abomination wing which was thankfully not too far away from the cafeteria. Even so Hunter sped walk, so he would for sure be there on time.
Hunter rarely went to the abomination wing. He couldn't even do abomination magic with his staff without exhausting himself. So he rarely used it, never really had a need too, which begs the question on why belos put Hunter on his job. But Hunter knew better than to question the emperor. He had his reasons.
Hunter walked up to the abomination coven heads and knocked. It took a while before the door opened.
“Oh it's you. What do you want, little prince?” Darius asked with a sigh.
“We have been assigned to work together to find a witch who specializes in your kind of magic” Hunter states, “Were you not informed?”
“No i was, but i was also informed that we were to start in the afternoon-”
“It is the afternoon.” Hunter cuts in. “It’s 12 pm, when the afternoon starts”
“It’s lunch.” Darius said, already sounding irritated.
“That’s why I ate beforehand, so it wouldn't cut into work.” Hunter says, did Darius not do that?
Darius rolls his eyes and mumbles something under his breath. He lets Hunter in. “Well then, since you're so eager to start.” Darius walked to his desk and picked up the reports he was given on the coffee table. “Start sorting through those.”
Hunter nodded and sat down, picking up one of the reports to start reading.
“You can take off your mask, It’s a wonder how you see that thing.” Darius comments as he goes to get his lunch from the small refrigerator he has.
Hunter shakes his head. “I’m not allowed to show my face, also I can see just fine thank you” Hunter replied. It’s not like his face was important anyway. He didn't like looking at it so others probably won't either. They already don’t like his voice.
Hunter reads through the reports, Darius eventually joins him when he stops eating. The witch has been sending out abomination to trash stores, and terrorizing students. Shops are left ransacked and completely covered in abomination goo. As well as physically hurting students on their way to school. The targets chosen for these attacks are normally towards the potion coven.
“How do we know it’s a witch and not just someone in a coven who’s rebelling?” Darius says, setting down one of the reports.
“Becuase there’s also plant magic mixed into the abomination matter sometimes. Also it’s much easier to say it’s a wild witch instead of a rebel” Hunter tells him. “They seem to be targeting the potion coven.”
Darius nods, “They barely leave a trace once they're gone.”
Hunter nods, “so far five potion shops have been attacked in bonesborough. And ten students who are on the potion track.” Hunter picks up another report. A case on edric blight who was recently attacked.
As Hunter reads he also pays close attention to the clock. But before the evening starts Darius is ready to stop for the day. “I think that's enough for right now”
“What? But it's not five yet” Hunter says, shocked at why they're stopping so early.
“I have more work to do and a meeting to be at, at five so we can pick this up tomorrow” Darius starts to stack the reports together.
“But we're meant to work on this until the evening” Hunter does not like stopping things early. His routine is already messed up!
“Little prince, it's fine. Belos isn't going to kill us if we stop a little early” Darius waves him off and puts the reports in his drawer. “Now please leave ive had enough of you today”
Hunter huffs, but the last thing he wanted was an argument. So he left Darius’s study and the abomination wing. He didn't have anything scheduled till five so he supposes he could get a head start on his weekly paperwork. The sooner it gets done the better.
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Every day this week Hunter would go to Darius’s study to do research on this wild witch. Trying to get any hint on where she might be located. Hunter needed to do good on this. Maybe if he found her his uncle would be proud of him. And more and more reports come every day.
Today was Wednesday, which meant he didn't eat that day. So he got some extra training in before going to lunch. However the person that was sparring with him seemed to have a strong distaste for the golden guard. Hunter didn't know why, but then again everyone in this castle (except for his uncle) seemed to hate him for seemingly no reason. He’s learned to not let it get to him. He has Belos and that is more than enough.
It didn't bother him one bit that people he used to look up to hate his guts. It doesn't matter that everyone in this castle seemed to have almost no respect for him. And he was definitely not jealous seeing others who have close friendships with people. It didn't mean anything that this scout didn't like him. Just like it didn't mean anything that Darius didn't like him. Or anyone else for that matter.
During this match the scout decided it would be a good idea to send a spike directly through his side and arm. Luckily it missed bone and just went through fat and muscle. But damn it hurts. Hunter felt like screaming and busting out in tears. But that was childish. Hunter was a soldier, he would not cry over a small injury.
Hunter of course lost the match. Dropping his staff to put pressure on his bleeding wounds. He gives a quick glance at the clock. 11:59, shit. He was going to be late. He didn't have time to go all the way up to his room and bandage these up.
Hunter gets an idea and stumbles his way to the bathroom. He goes into the stalls and gets toilet paper to wrap around the wounds. He had to do it quickly because he was already running late. He put the make-shift bandages tightly around his wounds and then put his clothes back over them. He was still bleeding but it slowed down. He just hoped that it wouldn't bleed through his clothes and stain them.
Hunter makes his way to Dariu’s room. Ignoring the way the gashes ache and burn. He was so grateful for his mask. Because it would be incredibly hard to hide just how much pain he’s in right now.
Hunter knocks on the door and as soon as the door opens he says. “I am very sorry for being late, I promise it won’t happen again”
Darius just shrugs and lets him in.
He didn't seem angry, good. Hunter watches as he sets the new and old reports on the table for them to go through. Hunter is having a hard time focusing. His wounds are aching, it's incredibly hot in this room and his mask feels a bit too close to his face at the moment. Hunter uses two fingers to push the mask outward to give him more air.
Midway into their research Darius clears his throat. “Little prince, your side”
Hunter looks down at his side where the gash is. Apparently the toilet paper hadn't been enough and it bled through it. Onto his clothes that were already ripped. Great. “I got slightly injured during training.”
“And you didn't get it patched before coming here?!” Darius responds, sounding shocked.
“I didn't have time. I was already running late, I didn't have time to run to my room and-”
“Go to a healer!”
“I'm not allowed unless it's an emergency!” Hunter nearly shouts. Frustrated, hurt and hot and getting a headache.
“You're not allowed?” Darius repeats.
Hunter nods. “Yes, I tried to patch it with toilet paper but I guess it didn't work”
Darius rubs his temples. “You really are incompetent.” Darius groans and goes to get the first aid kit. He hands it over to Hunter. “I’m not going to have you bleed out on my floor”
Hunter shoots him a glare even though Darius couldn't see it. He snatches the first aid kit from him and mumbles a ‘thank you’. Hunter starts on his arm first and rolls up his sleeve. Removing the old diy bandage and applying an actual one. That stops the bleeding. Then the hunter pushes up his shirt to get to the gash on his side.
“Do you ever eat? You're practically skin and bone.” Darius comments.
“I eat enough.” Hunter responds, doing the bandage as fast as possible. Then giving the kit back to Darius.
They go back to doing their research on the witch. “Why don’t we set up a sting operation?” Hunter suggests.
“What do you mean?” Darius looks up at him.
“We set up someone from the potions coven to have a shop in town and wait till the witch comes to destroy it” Hunter explains. “I could suggest the idea to belos"
“Whatever ends this as quickly as possible” Darius says, agreeing to Hunter's idea.