It's a Long Way To Dearest Gravesfield

Chapter 25: Belos

Hunter reaches the castle and circles it slowly, searching for any signs Belos is there. He lands, tucks Clover under his clothes, and hides in the shadow of a building near the wall. He can see no movement inside; he whispers to Clover, "Can you take me to my window?"

Clover takes on her staff form and Hunter sits before pressing an invisibility glyph to his body. She flies him to the window and he opens it, hopping into the room. He looks around – the dust is disturbed, as though someone has recently been in it. He sighs and sits at the foot of the bed, dreading the idea of searching all the rooms.

"Well...it's not like I have a choice," he says to himself.

"Who are you?" a young voice asks.

Startled, Hunter looks up to find the Collector standing near the door, "Oh my Titan, I'm sorry! I'll leave!"

"Nah, it's OK. My friend's off on a mission. Do you want to play?"

Hunter thinks for a moment before cautiously saying, "I can't. I'm on a mission, too."

"Ooo, what's yours?"

"It's kinda a secret. Can you promise not to tell anybody who isn't on the same mission?"

The Collector nods, "I'll pinky swear."

"OK," Hunter says, shaking pinkies with them, "Well, I'm looking for Belos. My friends are coming to fight him and I need to find him first."

The Collector's face brightens, "My friend's on the same mission! King went to tell a bunch of people who are going to fight him where he is!"

Hunter smiles, "Yeah! I'm one of those people."

The Collector studies his face, "I remember you, but we haven't played before, have we? People kinda look the same...."

"No, we haven't. But we met – when King let you free. I was one of the kids on the bridge who Belos was trying to kill."

"Ohhh!" The Collector said, "You were one of the people who said I should try playing Owl House and you're the Golden Guard!"

"Not anymore, I'm not. And yeah, I was with them, but I kinda just squeaked. My friends were better at talking than I was," Hunter says, trying to avoid mentioning he was quiet because he'd just watched his only caregiver splattered on a wall.

"It's a great game. You sure you don't want to play right now?"

Hunter nods, "Sorry, but right now, I have to finish my mission. It's really important. Since I'm not there to hear from King, though, could you tell me where Belos is?"

"King said I'm not really supposed to talk about his mission."

"Not even with somebody else who's on the same mission?" Hunter asks, "Because if we're all doing the same thing, it makes sense to help each other out. Like when King gets back, you can tell him about my mission, because he'll already know."

The Collector shrugs, "I guess that makes pretty good sense. Belos isn't in the castle. He's at the Head. It's creepy there. Want me to get you there really fast?"

Hunter shakes his head, "Thanks, but no. I need to spend some time thinking while I travel. Mission related stuff. You're probably so fast I wouldn't have time to go over my plan."

"Yeah, that's true," they say, "King had to teach me a lot about how fast I could be and not hurt anybody. It's no fun to play games when people you need for them get hurt. Then they don't want to play anymore."

Hunter smiles, "Yeah, you get it. But you know what? Maybe later, when this is all done and I'm feeling alright, we can play something kinda calm. It won't be able to be a big game, or even a wild game, but I think I can handle something small."