Stumbling backward, away from the reflection and further into the dark, grimwalker stares at the awful, ugly truth of it–and the ugly truth stares back. There is no staff gripped in his hands, here, nothing for him to grab hold of and ground himself with–nothing, save the cold, terrible gaze of his–his–
“You’re not real,” he gasps. “This isn’t real.”
( the first step, denial, even as his feet march forward and his eyes burn blue. hunter is aware, vaguely, of that awful reality. he refuses to accept it. )
Another stumbling step backward, like that of a newborn deer–uncertain and unsteady as creation puts distance between creator. It’s just a bad dream, or a flashback, or some trauma-induced hallucination–but it feels as flimsy an excuse as hiding beneath the blankets from night-time monsters, nothing but a thin sheet and wavering faith keeping the nightmares and pain at bay.
“Get away from me,” Hunter spits, as saltwater begins to pour in around the ankles.
“ real ? you wish for a REALITY CHECK ? ”
claws dig into charred earth beneath corrupted cryptid , lunacy prominent on features as the water below begins its treacherous march up his calves. deep, sinking, the pools below begin to swallow him whole, just like how belos' own mind had done once to him before. ah, but it's never that easy to escape your demons.
hand is thrown out , branch - vine appendage latching grip taut to half - sunken ankle and RIPS its stuckage from the muck to drag hunter towards himself , elder's wry grin turning sour the closer he brings nephew. closer , closer yet still , never close enough . philip can FEEL the fragment of his brother deep within the grimwalker shudder at his very touch . oh how it ANGERS him .
“ what’s REAL is that you threw away the ONLY GOOD THING in this world , all that made you whole ! you aren’t him , you never were - that was the problem . a failure , MY failure . NOT GOOD ENOUGH . but don’t you worry . ”
sickly twisted features crack in a perverted angle of neck bending far too out of place as creepy grin crawls along wrinkled smile .
“ we’ll get to fixing you RIGHT . NOW . ”