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An Unhappy Tale

After such a long delay here is another story for the Stoneheart AU! Hope you all enjoy it! I will upload this chapter to A03 when I get home from work ^^;

It was when Hunter had reached the age equivalent of a 14-year-old that he was officially introduced as a full member of the Emperor’s Coven.

Of course, he’d been undergoing training for several years at that point directly from both his father and Kikimora. During those years it hadn’t taken long to discover that Hunter was just as bad as his father was when it came to using magic… namely he was oddly terrible at it, even by gargoyle standards. It had been almost physically painful watching the boy try so hard to do any magic at all, only to fail time and time again. This was an observation Belos had even voiced out loud on several occasions.

Words that had cut deep into his son’s heart, even if that had not been his intention.

He had never hidden his disappointment at his son’s lack of abilities, even though this disappointment was more directed towards Hunters bad luck in being his biological son. As Belos himself was the source of the boys blood, and the problems he faced were due to this. Sadly this distinction was never actually made clear to Hunter.

Still, there came a point where it was so profoundly obvious that Hunter would never be able to learn ANY magic... a depressing development, yet it was one that Belos had grown to expect after watching his son struggle for so long. So the dark Emperor of the Boiling Isles pivoted to his backup plan and he crafted a specialized staff for Hunter, one that used the same artificial magic as his own. Once he was given this staff everything changed, and from that point on the boy excelled. Hunter learned quickly, his desire to prove himself to his father quickly becoming the driving force behind everything he accomplished, and once Belos was certain that he was ready, the boy joined the ranks of the Emperors Coven.

Hunters introduction to the Coven was… interesting. Considering that he had never truly interacted with anyone outside of Belos and Kikimora, he still did surprisingly well when it came to talking and working with the members of the Coven. That was not to say his people skills were actually good, no, but they were still considerably better than his fathers. Of course, that being said Belos never made any efforts at all to improve his people skills, whereas Hunter actually tried to get along with others.

Lilith however took a near instantaneous disliking to the young boy. No surprise there, given that she had boasted her status as the ‘only gargoyle’ who was skilled enough to be allowed to join the prestigious Emperors Coven. Lilith loved to use that analogy; she was proud of herself and the hard work she put in to reach her position. But that pride led to arrogance, and Hunters acceptance into the Coven at such an abnormally young age must have been a terrific blow to her oversized ego…

Truth be told, Belos never liked Lilith, although he could not deny she was nothing if not efficient in managing the affairs of his coven. This allowed Kikimora a little bit of a break from her usual micromanaging ways, even if only somewhat. But what had really cemented his disdain for the female gargoyle was when she had approached him and asked him to heal her cursed sister. That request had gotten his attention for obvious reasons, and he had none too gently inquired how her sister had been cursed to begin with. He hadn't accepted Lilith saying she didn’t know, as he could tell instantly that she was lying. Applying only the slightest bit of pressure made the woman relent and explain how she had initially laid the curse on her sister, betraying her own blood… although she had not intended for it to go quite the way it had. She had hastily started to explain away her reasons and how if Eda could ever be healed, she could become an invaluable addition to his Coven. Belos had never been more grateful for the mask hiding his face, because he doubted that he could have hidden the luck of total disgust he shot her at that moment.

It was from that moment on he loathed Lilith…

Still, she was useful to him… and his personal feelings on the subject aside, as long as he could make use of her he would. So the Emperor promised that if she could capture her sister and bring her before him, he would heal her curse and she would join his Coven. It was such a shame that liars couldn’t detect lies as easily as they could spin them, because Lilith was so elated at this promise she couldn’t tell that it was his turn to lie… and he felt no guilt in lying to her whatsoever. She had made her choices, so she could deal with the fallout later. It wasn’t his problem.

He needed Lilith on his side…

For now…

But far more importantly, he needed something that was in the Owl Lady’s possession…

It had been years since he had last heard the Titans voice, since he been given his marching orders… But after succeeding in bringing the Savage Ages to a screeching halt and forging order from the hellish chaos that had covered the land. It was on one dark night when he had been by himself in his workshop, that he had heard the great beings voice again. It was unmistakable as it spoke within his mind, its voice silencing his every thought as it gave him new orders. Explaining in vivid details for something which the Titan referred to as the Day of Unity. The plan was impressive, even incorporating his Coven system and the siphoning away of magic he’d developed when creating it… a side effect with a potent use. The Titan had even praised his ingenuity, sounding so very pleased with his work. But there had been something else… As the Titan spoke it was as though it had stirred something within Belos’s own dark heart. Whatever it was, it had whispered in perfect unison with the voice of the Titan… some part of him that seemed completely separate from the rest of his being.

Something that was filled with an old awful rage.

But returning to far more recent events... It should be noted that for the most part while Hunter interacted well enough with members of the Coven, there was one person in particular whom he got along with moreso than the others. Someone whom the boy had grown to call an actual friend, a Coven Scout by the name of Steve. Indeed, the very same scout who had created the map Belos had used all those years ago on Hunter’s eighth birthday.

Steve had always been one of the most upbeat and jovial members of the normally dignified and reserved group, as he frequently joked around and made his cohorts laugh. But when it came to Hunter, Steve had just sensed that the young gargoyle was in over his head. Being so young and already thrown into an elite Coven and burdened with all of the duties and responsibilities that came with it… not to mention the teenagers obvious subpar people skills… Steve had just wanted to help the kid get adjusted, but over time he and Hunter had become very good friends. Not to mention that he often coached the young gargoyle on how to better interact with people both within and outside of the Coven.

He’d even aided Hunter with pulling a few innocent pranks on Lilith…

Seeing the uptight Clawthorne lose her normally impeccable demeanor was amusing especially to Kikimora, and on a very rare occasion had even gotten a chuckle out of Belos himself. Overall, Steve was the friend that Hunter needed… and getting out and actually talking to others had helped the boy grow and mature as a person. Becoming adept at finishing any tasks he was given and eventually even gaining the respect of the other more senior Coven members. Yet in spite of the teenagers personal growth, there was still no denying that Hunter’s upbringing had been deeply sheltered especially to things related to the outside world… Which had led to the current situation which had come to pass in just this last week.

Frequently when Steve was working with Hunter or just chatting with him during a break, he’d tell the young gargoyle about how he loved the outdoors and relayed tales about his past excursions into the forests and mountains on the innumerable trips he had taken over the years. Not to mention all of the various activities he had planned for his latest trip, one that he would be taking in the coming days. Hunter had been entranced by Steve’s stories, commenting how he had never actually done anything like that before and how it sounded like so much fun. True to his good nature, Steve had promptly invited Hunter to come along with him, provided he had enough time that he could take off from his duties at the Coven. And if it was ok with his family. Hunters ears had twitched a little before drooping as he’d thought about it. As he did technically have enough time off that he could go with Steve… But getting permission from his father would be a different issue altogether. An issue he didn’t expect would ultimately end in his favor.

When Hunter had asked Belos if he could go with Steve, the Emperor had been… hesitant… to put it mildly. Stating how such an outing was frivolous and unproductive and that Hunter should consider different activities to make use of his free time. Visibly crestfallen, the teen had simply nodded before turning and leaving his fathers quarters. But as he was leaving the private wing, he ran into Kikimora, who could immediately pick up on the teenagers’ unhappiness and demanded an explanation.

Needless to say, upon hearing Hunters story she had the polar opposite reaction to Belos.

She had openly encouraged him to go, despite what his father had said. Naturally Hunter considered the subject to be dropped and not be brought up again. Of course, Kiki had other plans… and this had led to an argument between the Emperor and the house demon where Kikimora did what she did best, stated the cold hard truth.

“You can’t control everything he does Belos!” She had growled with a particular stress and irritation in her voice that wasn’t usually there. “Your son needs to be able to actually live a life of his own. Even if it means doing things you don’t agree with!” Belos had growled at her when she said this, a blue glow emanated from his eyes and seemed particularly off-putting... Not at all how a normal gargoyles eyes would glow, as males eyes would normally produce an eerie white shine whereas a females eyes would glow a hellish red. Just another biological anomaly that Belos had which was not seen in any other members of his species. But Kiki did not back down, nor taken this warning to heart… rather in agitation she reacted similarly, as her hand-like hair standing on end and exposing her normally concealed heterochromatic eyes as she glared right back at him. While she was willing to let some of Belos bad decisions go unchallenged, as he’d have to learn the hard way later, this was one hill she wasn’t willing to back off of.

There was a rather tense moment where to an outside spectator it looked like the two would come to blows, but before that could happen, Belos sighed… as Kikimoras words had echoed around in his head long enough to finally ring true… The glow of his eyes receding into blackness before the illuminated blue rings became more evident, as they did from time to time particularly when he became stressed. The house demon relaxed as well, as she always knew that she was never in any kind of physical danger from the Emperor… a flareup from his curse being the only exception… but it was rare that they had an argument that resulted in either of them doing an involuntary threat display, but they did occur. Still, Belos said nothing as he turned and left his chambers and retreated to some other part of the castle.

Kikimora later informed Hunter that he was given permission to go with Steve on the camping trip. The House demoness needed to inform him of this as Belos didn’t approach his son at all following his earlier conversation with him.

On the morning of this trip Kiki produced a heavy camping bag and had filled it with some of the basic necessities Hunter would need. Canteen, sleeping bag, blanket, first-aid kit, emergency granola bar etc. Hunter was out of his uniform, wearing a simple black tee shirt with a red-long sleeved shirt beneath it and black pants. Although he still wore his white cloak which was designed to lay in such a way that the majority of the fabric was on the left side, allowing for the exposure of his only wing on the right. Cleverly making it appear that half of the cloak was normal and the other half was covered in feathers… he hefted the heavy bag Kiki had given him over his shoulder his eyes were shining with excitement and he gave Kiki a hug before running to meet up with Steve who was out of his Coven Scout uniform and waiting for him at the opposite end of the castle’s mechanical walkway.

Physically Steve looked about as harmless as his upbeat voice often indicated he was. His skin was paler than normal, which was not very surprising given that every scout wore clothing that prevented even a drop of sunlight from touching their skin. His eyes were a rich jade color, while his chocolate brown hair always looked to be somewhat disheveled even though he had clearly made an effort to brush it down and he had a bit of stubble on his chin which was clearly a failing attempt at growing a beard. His clothes were average, a nice green tunic shirt with a forest green vest that had tons of pockets, rugged dark grey pants and black hiking boots.

As the two left Hunter spared a glance back at the castle, searching quickly if he could see his fathers form watching him go… which he did not see. He felt a pang at this, although he had doubted his father would be there to see him off as he departed. After all, for appearances sake the Emperor couldn’t be seen giving him more attention than he already did… But in his heart the teenager had an unpleasant feeling that his father not seeing him off surely meant that he still disapproved of him going on the trip. Hunter forced himself return his attention to Steve and following him away from the castle.

What Hunter had not noticed was that Belos had indeed watched him leave; he’d stood as still as statue atop the castle, not immediately distinguishable from the ornamental stonework that was across all of the exterior walkways. To the elder gargoyle the whole situation he was not quite as simple as Kikimora had made it out to be… although a part of him knew it SHOULD have been… It wasn’t as though he didn’t know that Kiki was right, hell she usually was… but it was difficult beyond words for him to let go, even if in some part of his being he knew he had too. Naturally he was worried about Hunters safety, as this trip would be the longest he was on his own. Even if he wasn’t actually alone; prior to this the longest Coven-related business he’d been on had only taken three days and he had gone with Lilith… his personal feelings about the woman aside he knew that she wouldn’t intentionally put another Coven member in danger. But that was not the reason why he had been so reluctant to let his son go… the real reason he could not even bring himself to say out loud should Hunter be close enough to hear him.

And it was something he desperately did NOT want Hunter to hear him say…

So with this in mind it wasn’t so surprising that in the following days, Emperor Belos seemed to be in a far worse mood than he usually was. Yet in spite of the tense atmosphere in the castle, Kikimora remained completely unfazed and the small demoness treated each day no differently than the rest. Her dark sense of humor remaining unchanged as business as usual carried on through the rest of castle, seemingly unaware of the fear that gripped the guards and the other Coven members down to their souls as their Emperors anger could be felt like the fire of a thousand suns as he glared at anyone who dared approach him for any reason at all. Disregarding Belos's awful attitude, his house demon advised him to at least attempt to take his mind off of worrying about his son and do something constructive with his time rather than bask in his own misery. Something she pointed out he was becoming far too proficient at…

Admittedly he had attempted to take her advice. Retreating to his workshop where he began trying to craft a second staff for himself… just in case anything ever happened to his primary staff and he was in need of a suitable backup. But try as he might, he was unable to completely focus on his work and not wanting to end up with a staff that would catastrophically fail on him because he didn’t wire the damn thing right, he put it to the side and opted to finish it at a later time.

But it was on the fifth day of Hunter and Steve’s trip that things took a bit of an unexpected turn…

The day had been normal for the most part with Belos continuing to be in a foul mood, although that as was to be expected at this time. Kiki had just entered the throne room holding a golden tray with a steaming teapot and a teacup. Hoping to give his grumpiness some nice calming tea and hopefully force him into being in a better mood. But no sooner had she made her way over to his throne did she notice Belos’s head perk up. His full attention suddenly drawn to the grand doorway at the opposite end of the room. Kiki barely had the time to register that something was wrong, before the doors were blown off their hinges by a massive fireball.

And five Wild Witches stormed into the room ready for battle.

It was actually impressive that they had made it this far. As there was only one point in the entire day where the throne room had no guards present inside of it and that was during a specific shift change towards the evening. This lot must have been working out the plan from months, observing his castle and the guards rotation schedules. Also selecting a day when Lilith and an entourage from his Coven would be out giving a speech on Belos’s behalf, leaving fewer obstacles in the castle overall to complicate their attack strategy. They truly had narrowed everything down to a single opportune moment to strike. The Emperor had to give them credit for how much planning must have gone into this endeavor.

Of course, it was all irrelevant…

Because no sooner had the leader of the group of these five foolish souls started speaking; something along the lines of ‘Your reign of tyranny and he ends now, blah blah blah blah…’ Belos stood from his throne, audibly cracking the bones in his neck and spine as the massive heart above his throne began to rapidly quicken its pace… and from behind the golden mask the blue rings of his eyes suddenly illuminated themselves from the darkness and he smiled a maniacal grin that bore his razor sharp fangs.

And that was when all hell broke loose…

Clearly none of these fools had truly grasped just what kind of opponent they were about to go up against because Belos didn’t wait for the idle chatter to finish before pulling out his staff and unleashing his magic like a plague throughout the entire throne room. A wave of blood red tendrils erupting from the ground as though a damned gateway to hell itself had suddenly been thrown open. The five witches managed to dodge the first wave he unleashed… Using their staves and palismans to go over his initial attack and again their leader was the first one to counterattack with a fireball spell as they fanned out, preparing to hit him from every angle no matter which direction he dodged. But Belos didn’t dodge… and the fireball hit him straight in the chest. Of course it did no damage beyond faintly scorching the fabric of his witch’s wool robes. However, before the other four members of this little group could begin their own attacks, the sea of tendrils suddenly quivered for a moment and went still before exploding open. Unleashing a torrent of scorching hot blood… and thousands of sharpened bones suddenly flew upwards like missiles.

It could be easily surmised that when Belos was in a fight and he wasn’t taking anything seriously, the clawed tendrils and waves of stone were often enough to overwhelm most opponents… Occasionally he’d even throw in a golem, a mindless amalgamation of flesh and bone often bearing some similarities to bug demons. He would do this with no other intention accept to unnerve his adversaries.

But if he was being serious, flesh tendrils were the least of his enemies worries…

So this fight really was over before it started…

Two of the wild witches were immediately impaled by multiple bones shards in their chests, whilst a third caught one right in the forehead. They and their staves fell down into the awaiting gory mess of boiling blood and flesh on the floor below. One of the last remaining two, upon watching his friends die gruesomely, panicked and abandoned whatever plan his leader had come up with. Screaming bloody murder, turning tail and attempting to fly back out through the damaged doorway. Only he was consumed with so much fear he hadn’t noticed the fleshy tendrils climbing up the sides of the destroyed doorway and forming hundreds of razor sharp teeth along the sides as they went. And no sooner had he reached the doorway did these proverbial jaws suddenly clamp closed cutting both him and his staff in half… He made a sound, a disturbing mix between a scream, a whimper and a gurgle as the two halves fell onto the floor with a sickening splat… he lingered for a few moments. Although severed in half at his abdomen his top half had still cleared the doorway and he tried in vain to crawl with his arms away from the nightmare behind him. But Belos clearly could care less he most likely only had a few seconds left, so he willed the jaws to open and then sent a fresh wave of scalding hot blood, erupting out from the throne room and washing the dying witch further down the hallway. Assuring their last moments were as agonizing as possible…

Only one remained, the ringleader and probable mastermind of this ill-conceived endeavor. It took the man a minute to register that all of the friends he had set out with were now dead. But rather than begin to mentally collapse, like so many others before him had, he screamed in rage and dove at the Emperor creating multiple spell circles and undoubtedly unleashed every offensive spell he had in his arsenal.

Not that it really did in much good; Belos seemed to melt out of the way just as the witch leapt off his staff actually attempted to stab him with a knife he pulled from his belt. He barely had time to register that all of his spells had missed their mark before Belos caught him by the neck and held him in a seemingly unbreakable grip. The young man flailed for a moment before he regained himself enough and sank the knife straight into the Emperor’s collarbone… Belos didn’t even flinch as the knife cut through muscle and embedded into the bone. The only thing that happened was that suddenly he growled so deep and low it could be felt more than heard. Now forced to stare into the burning blue rings of the Emperors eyes, the man found himself gripped with so much fear that he may as well have been paralyzed. There was a loud mechanical creaking as Belos is prosthetic wings adjusted themselves as he suddenly adjusted his grip on this witch whilst his staff disappeared… And with a sickening ease he brought his now free hand back and punched it straight through this mans chest and spine. His clawed hand protruding from his back covered in blood, innards and meat.

A long silence fell over the room like a burial shroud. Nothing moved, spare the continual beating of the Titans heart. But even then it almost seemed like the air had stopped moving, allowing for the putrid stench of death to permeate every nook and cranny of the grand room. But throughout this entire ordeal, Kikimora had not moved at all from where she stood next to the Emperor’s throne. Still holding the platter with the teapot and still warm tea as she had watched this entire event take place in under five minutes…

“Feel better?” She questioned finally deciding to break the uncomfortable silence. No doubt it sounded comical, but judging by her tone she was being completely serious.

“Actually… no.” Belos muttered as he pushed the now lifeless corpse of the Wild Witch off of his arm. Leaving a trail of gore across his gauntlet as he did so. “But the distraction was welcome. I cannot remember the last time I had to deal with intruders like this personally.” He was interrupted by a tiny terrified squeak which suddenly snapped both Belos and Kiki’s attention back towards the now open doorway. Where there now stood Lilith and her entourage, having apparently returned early from giving her speech. Only to be greeted with the sight of such overwhelming carnage in the throne room and heaven only knows the disturbing sight they had seen as they had made their way down the blood-flooded halls to check on their leader. Now only to be greeted with the sight of blood and gore dripping from Belos, all while he still had a knife still lodged firmly in his collarbone. One that was rapidly staining his majestic robes crimson with his lifeblood. Clearly Lilith was the one making the squeaks, undoubtedly torn between wanting to ask what had just happened and wanting to comment about the blade still lodged in his torso… Honestly, he had almost forgotten about the knife until the firelight glittering off the ornate handle reminded the Emperor that it was still there. And with all the difficulty of turning the page in a book, Belos gripped it and tore the blade free before letting it letting it clatter to the floor.

“Clean this up… I don’t want to see a trace of blood left in the throne room.” He said before motioning for Kiki to follow him. But not before the house demon shifted the tray into one clawed hand before quickly drawing spell circle. Generously leaving multiple mops and buckets of water for the still bewildered Lilith and company to use during what would undoubtedly be a very, very long night… Still even if it didn’t make him feel better, it appeared to calm Belos’s bad mood down at least somewhat. Not to mention added a few extra palisman to their supply.

That being said, in spite of his still grumpy mood, on the day Hunter would be returning from his trip, he actually found a task that managed to distract him throughout the latter part of the day. Nothing grand, just doing some basic maintenance on his primary set of prosthetic wings. A task he did every now and again to ensure their continued function. All machines require maintenance and his prosthetics were no exception to this rule. This kind of work didn’t require the detailed focus making a new staff would, so if his concentration faltered there was considerably less chance of something going to blow up on him. As he had often joked to Kiki that he could do maintenance work on his machines in his sleep. It would be the ideal way to burn away the last few hours until Hunter would return home. Kikimora in turn, informed Lilith that neither she nor anyone else was to bother the Emperor for the remainder of this day… Even when he finished the maintenance work, he had opted to spend a little bit of time cleaning up his workshop as he rarely got the opportunity to do so. And given all the ash from his forge, small metal pieces and shavings that had a habit of getting everywhere, not to mention the occasional spill of some oil… the place really did need a good cleaning.

It was only when he deemed that it was cleaned to his standards, that he walked up the stairs and returned to his bedroom. Walking over to one of the shelves on a bookcase and picking up a pipe and a jar that contained a small amount of pipe tobacco… Kiki was not a fan of this particular bad habit of his, but fortunately she didn’t have to deal with it often. As tobacco was notoriously difficult to grow on the Isles and what crops there were, were usually not big and thus they were quite expensive. Belos himself could only obtain enough tobacco that he could smoke maybe two or three times in as many months. He chose a pipe because he was never a fan of the cigarettes… and some deep part of him found this to be almost familiar. He didn’t know why, it was just more comfortable for him. Still no sooner had he filled the pipe with the tobacco and struck a match, did he notice the door to his balcony was slightly ajar… And standing outside and looking over the edge of his private balcony was Hunter.

Internally Belos swore as he hastily extinguished the match and put the unlit pipe and matches down on his nightstand, having suddenly lost any interest he had in smoking it. “I didn’t expect you back so quickly.” He said catching his Hunter’s attention and noting how Hunter looked a bit disheveled. His hair was messy, but the dark bags under his eyes that had developed since his initiation into the Coven seemed much less noticeable.

“It’s okay dad, I kinda snuck back in. I also heard Kiki and Lilith having one heck of an argument. So, I don’t think she’s even aware I’m back.” He explained rubbing the back of his head somewhat sheepishly.

“Did you not have a good time?” Belos inquired straightforwardly. “You’re back early… is something wrong?”

“No no no, everything’s fine, I had a really great time.” Hunter said suddenly smiling a huge broad smile up at his father. “It was a lot of fun; we just came back early because it looked like a rainstorm wasn’t too far off. And I figured it was better to be early rather than late.”

The boy wasn’t wrong, looking out over the castle’s walls, it wasn’t hard to see the roiling clouds slowly making their way across the sky. Indeed, a bad storm was going to come, as was evidenced by the low rumbles of thunder and the occasional burst of lightning arcing between the clouds. “A wise decision.” Belos said with a slight nod. “If you had been delayed amidst a boiling rainstorm… I might’ve come looking for you.”

“That’s what I thought…” Hunter admitted. “And I really didn’t want you to worry.”

“Hunter, I will never not worry about you. But may I suggest we move this conversation inside?” Belos stated as he and Hunter left the balcony just as a particularly loud crack of lightning resounded from directly overhead. Back in his room Belos picked up his previously discarded pipe and another match, hastily lighting it before putting it in the side of his mouth and inhaling deeply as he sat down on the side of his bed and indicated for Hunter to sit next to him. “Now tell me all about this trip of yours. I want to hear it all… every detail.” Hunter nodded as he sat down next to his father, just as the first droplets of scalding rain started to make their way down from the heavens.

Admittedly watching how animated Hunter became as he explained how the camping trip had gone brought a calming serenity to the elder gargoyles soul. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen such life and energy shining within his son’s ruby eyes. Listening as he explained the long hike up into the mountains to where Steve’s favorite camping spot was, learning how to fish, roasting marshmallows under clear sky filled with more stars than he could count… Actually getting a few nights of sleep where he didn’t have nightmares… Clearly the boy had enjoyed himself to say the least. Although Belos could not bite his tongue on a singular question that was burning in the back of his mind, one that had certainly contributed a great deal to his concern of his son going on this little trip.

“Hunter… How did-” He paused for a moment trying to find the right way to phrase this… “I know you were wearing your cloak when you left and how you usually keep your wing concealed within it. But did he see that you only had one wing?”

Hunter blinked once in surprise at the question. “Umm, yeah he did. It was kinda warm out when we were fishing so I took it off…” The boy paused as the memory of something he had not given an overabundance of thought to returned to him. “He asked if I lost my wing when I got my scars. You know…” He said while pointing to the cut in his ear and the scar ever present on his cheek. Something which made Belos’s heart painfully throb with guilt for a moment, knowing all too well that he was responsible for those scars. “I told him no, I was just was born without one. After I explained that it didn’t come up again. We just talked about other things… Mostly our families.”

Belos inhaled deeply smoke from his pipe and sighed feeling a knot untangle itself from within his chest. “That’s good.” He commented lowly. “I had been worried that the topic may not have been so easily dismissed.” He was only telling a half-truth but in reality, he had been so concerned about that particular topic… that was the real reason he didn’t want Hunter to go, but he just couldn’t bring himself to say it in front of Hunter or even Kikimora. He couldn’t bring himself to outright say he didn’t want him to go because he didn’t want one of the scouts to see that his Golden Guard, his son, was crippled.

He was so wrapped up in his own thoughts he didn’t notice how Hunter had turned away from him and was now staring straight ahead, as the joy that had been in his face slowly faded away as something else clearly began to occupy the teenagers mind. But after a moment or so Belos did take note of this change in his sons demeanor. “Is something troubling you?”

“Not really, it’s just…” Hunter paused looking back at his father with an equal parts nervous and questioning look. “We talked a lot about our families and Steve explained how his dad had worked for your Coven before him and his mom… Well, she was sickly and he learned how to do some basic healing spells in order to help take care of her. But when he asked about my parents-”

“You did not reveal that I was your father, did you?” Belos inquired, maybe a little sharper than he intended to, but Hunter quickly shook his head.

“No dad, I-I didn’t, I wouldn’t do that! But…” The boy trailed off again no longer looking at his father as he let his eyes lock onto the rain now pelting against the glass of the balcony doors. “Dad… Who was my mom?”

Oh hell…

Belos felt his body go rigid at the question. Just as a wave of memories crashed over him, very few of them pleasant. Yet still Hunter continued on… “I mean you never mention her. I doubt you mentioned her even once when I was growing up. And… I know that I’ve never really thought about it until this last week. But… who was she?”

“Hunter…” Belos said as he took the pipe out of his mouth and he focused his full attention on his son. “I understand why you’re asking me this, and know that I have never lied to you before when you asked me questions about the past. But this is a story you’re not going to like. I don’t want to tell it… unless sure absolutely sure that you want to hear it.”

Hunter looked more than a little unnerved at his fathers words. He swallowed painfully as his ears drooped. “I figured it wouldn’t be a happy story but… I really want to know.”

“As you wish…” Belos said as all of the emotion drained out of his voice. He looked away from his son as the young boy’s eyes locked on him. “Now, I’ve told you some stories about the Skull Clan and what they were like. Do you remember those stories?” Hunter flinched as he no doubt recalled some of the things his father had undoubtedly told him about his long dead adopted clan and how they had treated him. But the boy nodded wordlessly and after a moment Belos continued. “The clan followed the olden ways, the ‘Gargoyle Way’ if you will. Which meant they communally raise their children and tried to stick to a more traditional breeding schedule. With no one allowed to have children outside of what was considered to be the ‘traditional’ 20-year intervals. Although I doubt it had something to do with tradition and had more to do with not wanting the clan’s population to become too numerous to support. But I digress… the time had come for the clan to reproduce. Yet there was a problem, since there were sixty-one mated pairs in the clan, it meant that there would be only sixty-one eggs…”

“Only sixty-one?!” Hunter repeated more than a little stunned. “I mean sixty-one eggs is a lot of kids to be born at once.”

“Yes well, it may have seemed that way… but in this clan’s tradition, and by that I mean true tradition and not their bastardized version of the gargoyle way… They must do everything in their power to have an even number of eggs in the rookery. As foolish as it was, this hoped to assure each child had a potential mate in their own generation.”

“But…” Hunter started but stopped as Belos gave him an annoyed look at his repeated interrupting. Although hesitant, Hunter continued with his question. “But they had no way of knowing what the genders of all those eggs would be… So why did they try so hard to keep an even number?”

“As I said before, it was tradition. And that was all they needed to know, even if it didn’t make sense.” The Emperor explained in a warning tone that indicated he did not want Hunter to interrupt him again. “Still… there were sixty-one pairs, but there were two gargoyles in the clan who didn’t have mates. Myself… and your mother.” He sighed and as he put the pipe back in his mouth and took a particularly deep inhale from it, before breathing it out very slowly.

“Your mothers name was Mera. Her skin was as white as a pearl and her hair the color of gold… She had two curved horns on either side of her head, much like yours. Only hers had a singular point rather than the two prongs you have. And her eyes were as red as blood. You inherited those eyes.” Belos paused for a long moment… long enough to make Hunter wonder if he was going to continue talking. Just as he was about to risk saying something, his father finally continued. “We were told that we were to be mates, at least for this cycle… and there was no questioning it.” He took a moment to cast a glance over to Hunter, whose eyes had not only gone wider, but it appeared that he had paled a bit. Still, not wanting to drag this out for any longer than he had to and really just wanting to get this story over with Belos continued... “I didn’t really know Mera well at all. But I doubt anyone did. She was the clans archivist, in charge of the vast wealth of information that was stored away in the castles library. I don’t think she ever left that place unless she absolutely had to. She chose not to socialize with anyone, and that is why she never found a mate. Mera preferred the company books to the company of the rest of the clan. So… reluctantly… we spent a night together and you were conceived.” He concluded. “I did try to, at the very least, befriend Mera. Perhaps make an attempt to be real mates… only she had no interest in that. But unlike everyone else in the clan who despised me for no reason, she actually explained why… and it was not because of my feathered wings, nor was it even my fault. It was because she simply wanted to be alone, it was just how she was. She also didn’t-”

“She didn’t want me.” Hunter concluded, his voice barely louder than whisper.

“No… no, she did not.” Belos muttered. “She didn’t want to be rookery mother at all. Mera only went along with it because she feared what would happen if she refused. Don’t judge her to harshly Hunter, she was just different.”

A long unpleasant silence fell between the father and son. Hunter looked particularly dejected, as though most of the joy he felt from his trip had just bled out of his body. He stared at the floor and Belos could tell he was doing everything he could to try and force this new knowledge into the back of his mind, to hopefully never think of it again. But that was easier said than done, and Belos knew that all too well. “I warned you that you wouldn’t like this story.” He said solemnly.

Hunter didn’t say anything right away… He just kept his gaze on the floor as something, a particular thought, forced its way to the surface from the darkest reaches of his mind. A thought that Hunter had contemplated many times but he had always pushed it away… only now it came back with a ferocity that rivaled the storm raging just outside the castle’s walls. “Dad… would you have been happier if I was never born?”

Belos’s tail went up and swatted Hunter across the side of the head…

He didn’t hit him particularly hard, just hard enough to get his point across. Hunter yelped in surprise, but before he could say anything Belos reached out and put an arm around his sons shoulders and pulled him close in a loose hug.

“Your mother may have never wanted to be a mother, I never said that I didn’t want to be a father.” He stated firmly. “Hunter, you are my son… whether you had been my child through blood or not, it wouldn’t have changed a thing. I would still love you… Just as I would have loved your rookery brothers and sisters if any of them had survived.” Once again a silence fell between the father and son as Hunter let his head rest against his father’s chest and sighed.

“I’m sorry dad…”

“Don’t be. I’m not…” Belos paused to take the pipe out of his mouth again as he looked down at his son. “Hunter, you know that the Day of Unity is approaching?” He didn’t receive a verbal answer, just felt the boy nod against his chest before looking up at him with those deep crimson eyes. “Did I ever tell you that the Titan has special plans for you?”

“For… for me?”

“Why yes my boy, indeed you.” Belos said with a small smile appearing on his features. “I don’t know what it plans for you. But know that you are special. Not only that, your birth was not a hindrance nor burden upon either me or this world. It was a gift. Never think that I don’t love you or that I would be happier without you. You’re destined for great things… However,” he reached down and plucked the golden stone that was Hunters sun talisman off of the boys collarbone. As it had been recently configured from being attached to a chain, to just attaching like the ornamental gems most witches wore. “I think that you should have one last day of decent sleep before you return to your duties. I will give you your talisman back tomorrow night. For now, you will sleep when the sun comes up.”

Hunter didn’t get a chance to react before he turned to stone right there, still sitting on the side of his father’s bed. Surprising Belos to learn that they had been talking all night. Still, without so much as a word, Belos unsheathed his staff and cloaked the stone form of his son in a red light and carefully levitating him from where he had been sitting on the side of his bed, into a different chair that the room contained. Yet no sooner had he done this, was he suddenly aware of the feeling of a new set of eyes upon him. He groaned a little bit realizing he was not alone in this room.

“How long have you been there Kiki?” Belos grumbled as a slight chuckle escaped the house demon who had been quietly listening to the entire conversation that had played out between the father and son.

“I arrived about midway through Hunter’s story regarding what he did on his trip.” She admitted as she walked over to him and sat next to him on the bed in the same place that Hunter had been previously occupying. “I must admit, I hadn’t expected what I heard…” She said as she glanced up at the Emperor with an inquisitive glitter in her when visible eye. “You didn’t want him to go with Steve because you didn’t want it to get out that he only had one wing… That was your big concern? Why?”

Belos exhaled and annoyed breath before he took the now extinguished pipe out of his mouth and a red glow formed around it and placed it back were Belos had originally taken it from in an ashtray on his bookshelf. “I didn’t want him to be seen as weak… especially not by some lowly scout. I didn’t… I didn’t want anyone to think Hunter was weak because he-”

“Has a disability?” Kikimora finished. “Belos, I fear that you are judging your son more than anyone else will.” Her words earned her an icy glare. But this was normal for Kiki and she didn’t pay it any mind. “He has a staff for artificial magic, and you can always make him a prosthetic wing to allow him to glide. I don’t know what the problem is.”

“I tried Kiki.” He said in a voice surprisingly devoid of emotions. “I’ve tried to create a functional prosthetic wing for Hunter, but it isn’t the same as mine. I already knew how to glide before I lost my real wings. I knew how to feel the subtle differences in the air currents and how to adjust to them. Hunter doesn’t know how to do that. Not to mention that he barely has any bone protruding from his shoulder where the wing should be for me to attach a prosthetic to. It’s a different situation and I can’t seem make one that would function properly. I’ve tried… and even if I was able to make one, Hunter still wouldn’t know how to use it… and I don’t think I can teach him.”

“So? He’s made it this far without it…” The house demon retorted. “He’s actually doing very well in the Coven, considering how sheltered he’s been. And even though you may not like it, that scout is helping him learn to be more social. For Titan’s sake, I think that he’s already got better people skills than you!”

Belos growled a little bit before allowing himself to recline on his bed a little bit more… “So, you think that I’m overthinking it then?”

“I don’t think… I know you’re overthinking it.” She stated flatly. “You’re afraid that Hunter will have to go through the same hell you went through. Clearly that’s not going to happen. Try to give him some space, let him grow on his own. He’s doing okay for now… We’ll address any problem when they actually arise. Needn’t look too far into the future Belos or you will kill yourself with worry before the Day of Unity arrives.”

“Or my curse will.” He said with a roll of his eyes. Belos then shifted to fully lay his head back onto the pillow and stared straight up at the ceiling. Internally hoping that Kikimora would take the hint and leave. As he was feeling more drained than he usually did and while he still had little hope of getting any sleep, he was going to try and at least rest for a few hours before he had to return to his duties as Emperor.

Only Kiki didn’t leave…

In fact she stood on his bed walked up and actually sat on his abdomen causing him to look at her funny. But there was an unusual look in her eye. One that if he had to guess might have been mischievousness; something he rarely saw her display, even rarer was it directed towards him. “Yes?” He asked honestly not sure where this was going to go.

“You know what else occurred to me as I listened to you two talk?” She questioned with almost a singsong tone to her voice. “You never had a true mate.” Belos stared at her like she had just grown an additional head…

“Who are you and what have you done with my Kikimora?!”

“I’m serious.” She said with a slightly restrained laugh. “You have never been in love, nor felt love in return. You’re missing out something terrible.”

“Kiki, listen to yourself… I think you’re finally drunk.” He stated flatly mildly concerned that this wasn’t actually his house demon, rather some imposter. Of course, the unamused glare he received immediately afterwards reaffirmed that it was indeed actually her. Didn’t make the weirdness of this conversation any easier to accept though. “Besides I have no interest in looking for something like that. I accepted a long time ago that there is no such thing as a ‘mate’ for me. Nor am I ever going to look for someone to fill that role… I am happy with my life exactly the way it is.”

“You say that, but it’s not exactly true is it? Come now Belos… Are you meaning to tell me that you wouldn’t like to find someone who would love you? Who you also loved in return?”

“I’m too old for such nonsense Kiki… I really am not interested-”

“You look older than you actually are… your curse has worn you down and you also refuse to use chapstick, which would simply lift years from your exhausted ass.” The house demon huffed. Before all of the mischievousness left her face and instead was replaced by a sadness Belos was far too familiar with seeing. “I just… hearing about you and Hunter’s mother… I already knew that there was no love between you, but hearing that story. You deserve to find a mate who would love you.”

“There are an uncountable number of people who never find someone meant for them Kiki.” Belos said returning his gaze to the ceiling and closing his eyes.

“I’m not their house demon!” She snipped at him. “And I’m aware of that; just as I’m also aware that of the likelihood of you finding someone who can tolerate your obnoxious tush is very very low… But I want you to be open to it in the event that it ever truly becomes an option.”

Without opening his eyes to look at her, Belos shook his head. "I have no interest in it… I am content with just you and Hunter in my life. What more could I possibly need?”

“You say that, but I know for a fact that it’s the people who are not looking for love, that love tends to find…” She paused as she waited for a comeback that never came. It would appear against all odds that Belos had fallen asleep. With a sigh, Kikimora hopped off of his stomach and created a small spell circle which levitated one of the heavier blankets at the foot of the Emperors bed… carefully draping it over his now sleeping form.

“You deserve love… But that doesn’t mean you’ll find it.” She muttered as she walked out the door and quietly closed it behind her. “But not wanting to find it, doesn’t mean it won’t come to you... I just pray to the Titan, that if it does find you…

“You’ll accept it…

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