||~ 𝕲𝖔𝖑𝖉𝖊𝖓 𝕲𝖚𝖆𝖗𝖉 𝕾𝖈𝖊𝖓𝖆𝖗𝖎𝖔𝖘 ~||

• the endless castle × possessed hunter •

all possessed hunter oneshots are me attempting to write horror, they won't be romantic in any way
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in this oneshot, the au is that hunter becomes possessed every new moon. it is a rumor circulating around the castle, where you work as a servant.
enjoy!
••

The gates of the castle locked every day at five in the evening on the dot. The servant's sector of the castle was only accessable through a long twisted hallway with a door that automatically locked at six. Aside from a few scattered in the towers and rooms of the servants, there were no windows anywhere in the castle. It was always gloomy, the candles flickering in and out, creating blindspots of looming darkness.

The story spread first from the people who worked in the stables, handling the creatures. They warned of a deer like figure crawling around the courtyard, giggling to itself in the darkness the new moon brought. That morning, they couldn't find their palismen. It spooked almost everyone, who now hardly used their palismen to help with the castle workload.

After the death of Emperor Belos, rumors like these spread like wildfire. You, however, brushed them off as mere nothings. Yet, your supervisor, Steve, warned you of the horrors of the night. You brushed him off as paranoid, since he used to work under Belos. Whenever you told him how it was just misinformation, he'd shake his head and smile sadly and speak;

"The night takes as it pleases, y/n, I hope you never learn of it's horrors."

It was your foolishness to never have listened to him.

One simple day, you received the simple task to make sure the gate closes. It was close in distance to the servant sector, so you would've made in the hour before the door closed. Unfortunately, your curiosity got the better of you, and you walked around the courtyard, bored, watching the sunset and the light leaving the sky.

Unaware of your surroundings, it failed to occur to you that someone was standing next to you until he spoke up.

"I never see a servant out this late."

The words almost make you jump out of your skin, especially when you notice who was next to you.

The only surviving heir to the throne, Prince Hunter. He was heavily scarred, his hair grown out towards the middle of his neck, his eyes a striking red. Very rarely was he seen by anyone, so this was a once in a lifetime experience.

You look to him wide-eyed, and he catches on that you've startled him.

"Oh! I'm sorry to startle you. Everyday, though, I notice that the servants hole themselves up in their section of the castle. It's nice to see one out and about." He explained. "Speaking of which, are you free to help me?"

You nodded, and Hunter smiled.

"I lost a necklace in the shape of a cardinal out here, it'd take awhile to find it alone." He explained.

You nodded, and began searching for the necklace by description alone.

A whimper towards the treeline of the courtyard, near the fence, caught your attention. When you knelt down to investigate, you found the necklace, to say the least.

It was made out of wood, but the green shine on it, and the palisman next to it in obvious pain terrified you. That was when you realized you hadn't seen your palisman in quite some time.

Discreetly, you bandage the palisman and hide it away in your outfit. The minute you finish hiding it, you start to hear the branches and twigs behind you crack.

Hunter had found you, and now you were wishing you had listened to Steve's warnings.

The voice spoke from above you.

"Have you... found the necklace yet?" Asked Hunter.

You nodded, picking it up and quickly handing it to him so he'd just let you go. Then you realized you didn't wipe off the palisman blood on it.

You feel your heart beat faster, and you begin to sweat. After an antagonizing minute, Hunter spoke.

"I still need your help, servant. Look at me." He sounded cross, and you held your hands together tightly and faced him.

He had changed.

His eyes were no longer blood red, they were an ice cold blue that sent shivers up your spine. A good portion of him was covered in a strange substance, one that was black and green and horrifying. There were horns atop his head made of the substance.

He was the thing taking people's palismen. He was the deer creature that the people working on the stables had reported. How you wished you didn't brush off their accusations.

"There are at least three palismen I've seen tonight, find them, bring them here." He ordered, and you meekly nodded your head. "I'll be looking too."

Oh, you were going to find the other two before he did, and then you were going to escape. You had one.

You walked away from Hunter, and when you looked back to notice he was out of eyesight and earshot, you hummed a small tune. Your palisman came to you, and you hid it in a pocket. One more to find.

The anxiety was oppressing your ability to breathe, and all you thought about was finding the final palisman and escape. Sweet, beautiful escape.

Suddenly, you felt a short, stabbing pain at your ankle. You look down to see a cardinal, who turned to wood upon you looking at it.

The final palisman. You hid it with the other two and began plotting the escape that meant life or death to these palismen.

You began looking for a certain spot in the wall where there was a secret exit. Steve had told you how he and some other guards constructed it during the Emperor's rule in case anything got too out of hand. You knew of it's exact location from drills Steve had made you and other servants do.

But as soon as you were within reach of it, a twig snapped behind you. Your time was up.

You turned around to a smiling, evil Hunter.

"My search turned up empty, so," He paused and let his sharp claws trace your neck. "I followed you."

Your eyes widened. He didn't let you know how long he'd been following you for, so you could only hope it hadn't been too long. Hunter kept his claws at your neck, sighing, a smile on his face.

"Hand over the palisman you picked up." He only knew of one, but you couldn't let out a breath of relief just yet.

When you didn't move, his claws fell and found their way to the place where you hid all three. Then you got the strength to kick him away and run.

You made it to the secret door and hurled yourself through it, locking the outside as quickly as possible before Hunter could recover.

He clawed the door for a long time before finally giving up. However you stayed there, stayed still until sunrise. When the sun had fully risen, that was when you opened the door and let out a sigh of relief.

You found Steve immediately. Let him know the dumb move you made. He looked disappointed, but you handed him the two palismen you found, and his eyes became glossy. He was no doubt remembering when he lost his own. He returned one palisman back to you, the cardinal. That one didn't have an owner, he was considered a harbinger of the night. You decided to take care of the cardinal palisman.

When he walked off to go deliver the other palisman back to their owner, you found yourself sinking down into the sand, when a note crinkled under you.

You read it.

"Servant, you escape me once, shame on me. I'll find you again, and when I do, I won't be so easy on you."

You'd be counting down the days until you faced off the horrors of the night once more.

The night didn't take as it pleased, but you learned of the consequences. The next new moon you knew that you'd end this horror once and for all. You sighed. It was time to start preparing to fight against the evils of the night once more.