The Owl House & Amphibia Oneshots

Golden Fire

Heheh get ready for some pre-canon Hunter trauma :3

TW: Implied child abuse, manipulation, death and Belos. Belos is his own trigger warning.

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Twelve-year-old Hunter looked at himself in the mirror, trying to clip his cloak together, but ultimately failing. He sighed, twirling his finger around in the air. Honestly there were many times where he wished that he wasn't born as a magicless witch. He was already incredibly self-conscious about himself and his performance and usefulness for his uncle. And it didn't help that so many of the coven heads and scouts called him a "half-a-witch" due to his disability.

But, he was special. Uncle Belos told him many times that the Titan had big plans for him. How wild witches destroyed their family because of his role to play. Sure his uncle never told him what his role was, but it had to be important for Emperor Belos' plans for the Day of Unity, right?

To be completely honest, Hunter has always been a little scared of this "destiny", this "plan" that the Titan had for him. But Uncle Belos has always been there for him. He saw his potential and cared about him. Well, that's what Hunter told himself every time Belos punished him. Every time his uncle's curse got out of control and lashed out at him, every time Belos just got angry and took it out of him, every time Hunter did something wrong and Belos needed to show him how to properly behave or act.

Hunter gently touched his massive face scar, still looking at his reflection which was staring back.

Belos saw how good of a soldier he was. He had to have noticed, because two days ago, on Hunter's twelfth birthday, Hunter was proclaimed as the new Golden Guard, something he was extremely proud of. He had worked so hard, and he knew because the head of the abomination coven, Darius, had said it himself that he was the youngest scout to become the Golden Guard. Hunter back then had noticed that Darius seemed upset, but he didn't know why.

He was too scared to ask. Hunter was also too scared to ask what had happened to the previous one. Though now it only crossed his mind rarely.

Hunter sighed, and tried yet again to clip his Golden Guard cloak together. Eventually he did, and looked back at the mirror, his strange magenta eyes staring right back at him. He smiled softly. He liked that he knew who he was.

There was a sudden knock on the door which made the young witch jump back in fear. Is it Uncle? Did I do something wrong? Hunter worried. "Golden Guard?" A soft voice asked. Oh, it's just one of the scouts. He let out a sigh. Nervously he grabbed his mask and put it on, as well as pulling up his hood.

He opened the door to see one of the Emperor's Coven scouts. "What is it?" He replied hesitantly.

"You've been asked by the Emperor to go out and meet him by the town of Noral on the Left Leg." The scout replied vaguely.

"Oh," Hunter mumbled. "Is there anything else he wished me to know?" He asked. The scout shook their head. "Oh well then, thank you for telling me. You're... dismissed?" Hunter said the last part with a more questioning tone. It felt odd, having a higher title and power then others, especially since he was so young and his co-workers were adults.

As the scout left, Hunter closed the door, grabbed his artificial staff, and left his room. As he was walking down the halls of the castle, he couldn't help but notice that they felt more empty than usual. Normally there would be guards and scouts running all over the place to help with the Emperor and getting more witches branded.

Getting more confused and worried, he noticed Lilith Clawthorne, the leader of the Emperor's Coven, was further down the hall and he dashed over to her. "Lilith!" He greeted. Lilith noticed Hunter and rolled her eyes.