Seeing in Shades of Heat

Prologue (TW)

TW: Descriptions of violence, abuse, and eye trauma

It always played out the same way.

Hunter was 12 and his hair had just reached below his shoulders. He had been sent on a mission to retrieve a chimera tail. The child didn't bother questioning why his uncle wanted the venom as doing so only earned him more scars. Unfortunately, the beast had proven to be too much for his squad and he was forced to drive the beast away to protect everyone. Despite the praise they gave him, dread settled in his stomach when reality hit him.

He failed Belos.

He willingly failed Belos.

And he would have to explain.

The scene changes to the throne room, Belos standing in front of him. His form is shifting, flesh pulsating under the armor. Hunter can feel himself shrinking under the glowing eyes. The blonde knew what was coming, what would happen.

He barely flinches when he feels the claws on his shoulder. He tries to keep his head bowed while the goop starts to burn- he doesn't want to see his Uncle like this. He feels the claws tear through his armor with ease and the hot blood running down his back. A coppery taste starts to fill his mouth as the Golden Guard bites down to keep from crying out at the pain.

It's not him, this is just the curse. Hunter keeps repeating the same mantra in his head as his hand shifts and grabs him by the same shoulder and lifts him up. He does cry out this time when he hits a nearby pillar. The world starts to spin as he looks up to see Belos bearing down at him, claws rearing back. Suddenly half the world goes dark as the claws bare down on him. Then there's the screaming, raw and deafening in his ears.

Hunter doesn't realize it's coming from him until he sees the mangled remains of his eye dangling from the claws.

***

Hunter wakes up with a jolt, a scream building in his throat. His hand frantically reached for his face to feel for the goop from his dream. His breathing didn't calm down until he felt the familiar scars across the left side of his face. The four claw marks started from the bottom of his cheek and ended above the eyebrows he had gotten from that chimera. The wounds had scarred over, turning the same shade of pink as the scar on his other cheek. But no amount of time would ever replace his lost eye.

The blonde teen forced himself up once he realized why the copper taste followed him from his dream. He stumbled over to his bathroom, stubbing his toes on everything in his sleepy state. Upon quick inspection, it was obvious he had bit his tongue in his sleep. Again. As he started to clean out his mouth, his gaze flickered to his hollow socket.

His uncle said that the chimera wasn't alone and had overtaken him and his squad. He was the only one to survive. Hunter didn't even remember most of the fight, having lost them to a concussion. Though he had nightmares about that mission for months afterward, the scenes were different from what he knew was true. But Hunter knew it was just his overactive imagination latching onto anything familiar. There was no way his uncle would lie to him, not about something as serious as this.

Right?