HUNTING PALISMEN
[unedited]

A fire pit ignites itself. Nine powerful witches-- the nine Coven heads-- walk down the stairs and walk to the fire pit, different emotions visible on each of their faces.

Emporer Belos sits in his throne with the Gold Advisor closest to him on his right side while the Golden Guard and Kikimora stands on his left.

"The Day of Unity approaches, where we'll celebrate the purification of magic under the coven system, just as the Titan intended," Announces Kikimora, "As heads of the nine covens, we celebrate your efforts to complete this plan. For this, you have earned a glimpse of the reward that awaits." She finishes, stepping back for Belos to speak.

"Step forward." Announces Belos. The head witches all step up, placing their individual badges into the fire. It erupts, and their eyes begin to glow as a vision takes place.

The Titan's eyes glowed, the sky spins quickly. It stops with a bright-- almost blinding-- flash. The Titan's head appears in the human realm, on the night of an eclipse.

"The larger your covens grow, the more power we have to unite our realms, where the worthy shall inherit a utopia free of wild magic." Belos says. Suddenly, his breath hitches. The Advisor practically leaps to his side, helping him from his throne. The Golden Guard joins, knowing her hands were only three quarters way healed. Kikimora moved to joined them before she was stopped by the Guard.

"No, stay here. We can handle this alone."

Kikimora glares at them as they leave. As soon as the Golden individuals are alone with their Uncle, the eldest transforms into a goo monster.

Y/n helps support him, her eyes filled with concern. Hunter grabs a staff, handing it to the Emporer.

"Here, Uncle." Speaks Y/n softly, grabbing the staff from Hunter. She exhales softly, her eyes lighting up with blue. She furrows her brows when there's a burning pain within her chest as she begins to insert some of her artificial magic into the wood of the palismen. "This should work." She reassures, handing it over. Hunter frowns behind his mask. He never liked it when she tried using magic.

The Emporer takes the palismen, a green essence leaking from where he punctured it. "Thank you, buttercup." He absorbs it through his eyes, which turns green before fading to blue. "I need more." He reaches towards Y/n.

Her eyes unwillingly flicker blue while she activates the magic, and the burning flares up again. She quickly uses her magic, forming a small orb that had a similar essence to the palismen that the Emporer had just 'gotten rid of'.

Hunter places a hand on her shoulder, making her stop. She exhales heavily, coughing when the toll begins to take place. "That was the last of it, Uncle. The palistrum wood is overharvested, and I won't be of use to you if I overdo it." She says, offering advice like always.

"We can help!" Offers the Golden Guard. The Advisor looks over, looking back to Belos. "He's right-- He's been doing all sorts of research!" She says with excitement.

"We can make more palismen! Actually, I read about this technique: harnessing wild magic to—" The Golden Gu-- Hunter began to ramble excitedly before faltering.

Belos stared back, his anger evident. Y/n would've grabbed Hunter's hand if she could, but she stopped. "Sorry, Uncle." She said softly. The Guard looked down.

The Emporer places a hand on the Golden Guard's and Advisor's shoulders. "Please, be careful. Our family is gone because of wild magic. I can't let the same happen to you two." He says softly, almost kindly.

Y/n nods, having been the kinder and more favored one. "Yes, uncle." She answers.

Kikimora listens from outside, hearing Belos's request for more palismen. She looks down in thought before running off.

Two little palismen, a red cardinal and a another bird, try to escape their small enclosure before Principal Bump place them back in the shelter of other palismen.

"Aw! Little Rascals!"

A small, red cardinal jumps out of Liz's bag, followed by another, smaller bird with a chip in her beak. She chirps softly, following after the red bird meekly.

She looked up, her e/c eyes shimmering curiously. She chirps, spreading her white wings. Luz gasps softly at the dove and cardinal in front of her.

Suddenly, after a while of rambling into the night, the shelter rumbles. "Hey," Complains a slightly groggy Luz, "We're a little busy in.. here?" She gasps sharply, seeing as the shelter was no longer on the ground of the Grudgby Field.

"I think we're being kidnapped!" Luz says towards the palismen. They begin to whimper and shiver in fear. The dove begins to hop a little closer to the cardinal with nervous e/c eyes looking up. The cardinal chirps softly, taking the smaller palismen under his wing.

"Don't worry. I'll figure this out." Reassures Luz. She uses a plant glyph to get on top of what looked like a ship.

"Ugh, him again," Grumbles the brunette.

She pulls out a piece of paper after seeing the Golden Guard, slapping it on his back with a Loyd 'Hi-yah!!'.

He makes a questioning sound before shouting in surprise as he's rocketed off of the airship.

"Hey!" Shouts a feminine voice from behind Luz. "What do you think you're doing?" Asks the Advisor. "Wha-- No fair!" Luz grumbles.

"Yeah, life isn't fair." Says the Golden Guard from behind Luz. She turns with a shocked sound. "Wh- Huuhh??"

"Hii~," The Golden Ghard says cheekily with a wave of his hand. Y/n takes this chance to knock Luz off of her feet with a binding spell. Ropes tie her back. She spots the Golden Guard shooting some sort of glance to the Advisor, confusing her. The Advisor seems to huff a bit before GG turns to Luz.

"Good to see you, too, human." Says the Guard. "Why are you stealing palismen, Golden--... People?" She asks, unsure what to call them.

"Frankly," The Guard teleports closer to Luz, "You should be more concerned about yourself. For the crime of rocketing me off my own ship, you'll be locked in the dingiest cell in the Conformatorium, for the rest of your sad little life." He threatens.

Luz scoffs. "Whatever. I broke out of there, like, twice."

"Fine," Says GG as the Advisor steers the ship. "Then I'll sap you to dust and throw you into the Boiling Sea. That better?" He asks, switching the staff to his left hand so that it tapped against Y/n's blue gem on her staff so that the ropes switched from Y/n's blue magic to his red one as Luz pouts. "Good." Says the Guard smugly.

Y/n exhales heavily again once the spell is switched, clutching her chest. Hunter places a hand on her shoulder, making Luz's brows raise.

"Woah, cool witch that can't use magic." Luz whispers, recalling (cringey) OCs she's made. The Golden Guard's magic succeeds in tying a knot behind Luz so that he didn's have to use magic to keep the ropes up. She looks down, noticing the scuffs on the ship with dirt. Slowly, she makes a glyph with her foot. "Say, how did you get into the ship so fast?" She asks.

"Staff." Answers the Guard. "Cool." She replies before quickly stomping on the ice glyph that sent their staffs flying. "No!" Shouts Y/n, startled. She reaches for the flying staffs before Hunter grabs the hem of her cloak, keeping her from falling.

Luz has a cat-like, smug smile on her face. The Advisor stops leaning over, crossing her arms in frustration. "Human, it'll take more than that to thwart my mission." Says the Guard taunting before a loud roar could be heard. The Advisor's ear twitch with confusion before a hand dragon lands on the ship.

"What is that!?" Shouts Luz in shock. The dragon quickly rips the balloon, sending the Advisor, Guard, and Luz all towards the grassy floor.

Luz begins to regain her consciousness with a groan, feeling something peck at the ropes binding her. "Little rascals?" She questions, her vision focusing to see the dove and cardinal pecking at the ropes. Eventually they break, freeing her.

"Oh, thank you!" She says gratefully before groaning and pressing the heel of her palm against her head. "Ugh, my head." She sighs.

Luz gasps at the sight of the Golden Guard's and the Golden Advisor's staffs, taking the red and blue objects into her hand before hearing soft shouting.

"Hey.. Hey, wake up!" The Guard whispers. "Don't joke around, just wake up!"

Luz turns her attention to Kikimora, who holds two masks in her hands.

Y/n is unconsious, and Hunter is shaking her shoulders. "This isn't funny, let's go!" He whispers again.

Luz looks to Hunter and Y/n's unmasked faces. The worry on the Guard's face catches her off guard. "These are the Golden People?" She whispers softly.

Hunter's white locks are now in the open and naturally messy with an undercut. He has pale skin, and a scar on his jawbone that trails up to underneath his cheek. His eyes are dark burgundy, and he has a hooked nose and a tooth gap in his front teeth. He also has a small nick in his ear.

Y/n's own hair is h/c that frame her face nicely. It had been tangled and messed up from how she had landed. Her dark burgundy eyes are closed, and her breathing is soft. She had a scar and another nick in her ear-- it seems something grazed her. Recalling the vision in the scrying potion, Luz doesn't want to guess what had happened.

The Advisor begins to stir, blinking awake. "..huh?" She mumbles. "Hun-" "Shh- The human might still be here." He whispers, his dark burgundy eyes looking around. Y/n nods and Hunter takes his hand from her face.

Luz steps into the open, making Hunter gasp. "Wh-- You!" He began before Luz slaps a hand onto his mouth. "Shh!" She frowns at the startled Y/n and offended Hunter.

"Listen," She begins, "You two are bad people and I do not like you. But Kikimora is trying to kill you and, unfortunately, I'm too nice to let that happen!" She finishes before feeling something wet on her hand.

She groans, taking away her palm to reveal it covered in slobber. Hunter is caught red-handed, with his tongue sticking out of his mouth. Y/n giggles lightly.

"Ugh, are you licking my hand!? I'm trying to help you!" Luz glares, wiping the saliva off on his face. Y/n laughs a bit harder, coughing into her glove.

"Why should I believe you?" Scowls the Guard, pushing his hand into Luz's face.

"Because..-!" Luz begins before she's shushed hastily by Y/n. "Guys." Y/n whispers with a firm and stubborn frown before a loud roar echoes through the air.

When the dragon finds the Guard's and Advisor's cloaks, they devour it as if it was just a bag of chips.

They begin to walk back to Latissa with the Advisor in the lead since she's memorized maps.

"Whew, man, Kikimora must hate you. Whoa! I haven't been outside Bonesborough that much, Latissa is so cool! Wait! Where are you going? Hey man, I just saved your life, the least you could do is tell me your name." Rambles Luz.

Y/n and Hunter both huff at the human, continuing on their way.

"Guards!" Hunter speaks first towards the guards at Police Precinct 206. "Direct me to your communications room. I must contact the castle immediately!" The Guard demands.

After some playful and teasing banter, Hunter demands for his staff from Luz. Y/n's frown grows wider as Luz hides it behind her back.

"Isn't it late for you kids to be outside?" Asks one guard before another speaks up. "Yeah, go home before we call your parents."

Y/n's hands curl into frustrated fists. She hadn't gone through grueling training, suffered for her own good, and advised her uncle for her entire life only to be treated like every other child.

The Golden Guard is the one who starts the chase, the Advisor following quickly after. Luz takes off, pumping her arms for momentum as she sprints away.

"Um, excuse me, sorry!" Luz shouts. A cat hisses at them, but the Guard shoves it away. Luz pushes down a garbage can, but the other two were much more fit than the scrawny human. They leap over with ease, beginning to catch up.

"Sorry!" She apologizes to the owners of the trash cans before spotting a tall wall. "Ice glyph!" She shouts, launching herself onto the top of the building with the said glyph.

She leans over the ledge, seeing the Guard and Advisor down below, not doing anything.

"Come on, guys, don't you know any levitation spells or something?" The Golden Guard glares at Luz, and the Advisor looks down before taking his hand. "Are you useless without these..?" Luz asks with surprise lacing her voice.

The Advisor seems to say something before they begin to walk away. Suddenly, they sprint back. The Guard helps the Advisor onto a ledge. Keeping up that momentum, the Advisor launches the Guard onto a higher ledge. Silently, she's glad her hands are mostly healed from Belos's last outburst.

Soon, they're up in front of Luz. "Stay away! Or-- Or else!" Luz threatens, pointing out the red staff and keeping the blue one in her other hand.

"Or else what?" Y/n asks stubbornly. She's frustrated with these latest events, angry that her chance at redemption on the field has been totally wrecked by the human.

Hunter steps back, crossing his arms and letting her sister snap out at Luz. He'd rather it be her than him. "Gonna blast us to bits?" Y/n chuckles sarcastically, "Nah, you're too nice for that. Fly away? You don't even know how. You don't have a palismen either. And you don't have anywhere to run." Analyzes the female. She wasn't an Advisor for nothing.

"And, based off of last time we've met; You don't tend to think things through. Do you? Human?" She asks. Luz bites her lip anxiously. Kikimora's hand dragon lands on Police Precinct 206.

The Guard approaches the Advisor, taking her hand. "Kikimora was after our catch..." Y/n whispers with wide, dark burgundy eyes.

"Seems like neither of us want her to win," Begins Luz, catching their attention, "So, let's work together to take back those palismen." She suggests.

"Then what? You think we'll just let you walk away with them?" Asks the Golden Guard incredulously with a raised brow.

"Maybe you guys won't have a choice!" Luz huffs, spinning the Guard's staff, "I'm more formidable than you think." She grins cheekily before nearly dropping the Golden Guard's staff over the ledge. She quickly catches it before chuckling.

"..I doubt that, but fine," Says the Guard, "A truce till then." Luz offers a hand and GG reaches to grab it before Luz yanks it back. "Too slow~!" She teases before running off.

Y/n giggles at his displeased reaction. "You're just lucky I'm glad my sister was able to let off some steam at you." He grumbles, taking off. Y/n smiles kindly, knowing that her bottled up frustration was the only reason Hunter hadn't stopped her on her rant earlier.

The Advisor nods. "Okay, go." She whispers. The Golden Guard quickly leaps down, stealing something in a bag while no one was looking. The Advisor sends him a thumbs up as he climbs back up. They turn to see Luz drawing two connected glyphs on the ground.

"Huh, I've never seen magic like this. What will it do?" Asks the Guard, tilting his head.

"Well, we don't want to spook Kikimora's steed, because it might drop the nest and hurt the palismen! So, using these fire and ice spells, I can command the glyphs to produce a thick mist!" She explains, pointing to the fire and ice glyphs.

"And the Sleeping Nettles?" Asks Y/n, looking into the bag to see the orange blossoms before looking to Luz. "They're essential! Combined with the magic mist, it'll create--"

She's cut off by Hunter, who remembers something he read. "A sleep-inducing smoke, forcing Kikimora to land!" He says with a bright smile. Y/n grins at him before he falters, clearing his throat when he realizes Luz is looking at him with a face of surprise.

"I-I-- I, uh, read a similar spell in 'Bones to Earth:--'"

"'--The Study of Wild Magic!" Luz finishes. "Eda once pickpocketed the guy who wrote it!"

Y/n raises a brow at Luz who widened her eyes and looks away. "Not that.. I'm talking about criminal activity in front of you guys."

"I've never seen glyphs before, but, it seems very similar to the elemental magic practiced in the Savage Ages." Hunter geeks out, not noticing Luz's awkward snippet with his sister since he was too busy studying the glyphs.

"Really?" Asks Luz curiously. Y/n smiles at her geeky brother. "Actually, not many people know this, but--" Hunter cuts himself off, "No. No, no, no, no. This stuff is restricted for a reason. You should forget about it before you're hurt."

Y/n frowns, her ears faltering. "Uh huh..." Luz raises her brow. "Other than Lilith, I've never spoken to someone inside the Emperor's Coven. What made you want to join?"

Golden Guard sighs and leans against the wall, while Y/n leans against the wall as well, but props her head on his shoulder with a small frown. "You were right before," He says, making Luz blink in surprise, "I'm a powerless witch. My sister can't use magic at all, either. A lot of our ancestors were powerless witches, and couldn't use magic normally. I never thought we'd have a future in a world like this. But then, Belos found us and gave us a staff with artificial magic. He said the Titan had big plans for me."

"At least you have your future figured out." Luz reassured. "At least you can figure out your own." The Guard retaliates.

"But," Y/n speaks up, "Uncle Belos is doing this because he loves us. He's looking out for us. He didn't just find us a future- He gave us a future." She commented with a small smile.

The red cardinal pecks at the Guard's leg, while the dove also nibbles at the Advisor's leg.

The siblings both seem to have the same reaction of panic and "Hey! Stop, get away from me!"

"Aww, they're just being friendly." Luz says softly with a gushy tone.

Y/n keeps trying to gently swat away the bird with a grimace on her face. Hunter jerks his leg, trying to shake away the cardinal. "I don't care!" These things are dangerous-- They're made from wild magic."

"And do they look dangerous to you?" Asks Luz. Then, there's a roar from Kikimora's hand dragon. "Masks on." Luz murmurs. The three of them all place on masks.

"Once they're surrounded by smoke, we need to stay close to be able to see where they land." Advises Y/n.

Luz offers the staff's back to Y/n and Hunter. They both furrow their brows hesitantly. "Are you sure?" Asks Hunter, slightly out of disbelief at how kind Luz was. "Just take it!" She urges. Once they do, she activates the connected glyphs and Sleeping Nettles.

Luz and Hunter jump on the red staff, while Y/n hops onto her own blue one.

Y/n peers over, seeing Kikimora and the dragon both get groggy. "I think it's working." The Guard calls. Soon enough, the dragon and Kikimora fall to the ground, asleep.

"The palismen!" Luz gasps, running over to check on them as soon as they all land. "Hello, babies. Aw, you must be so cold and scared. Here." She says softly, taking off her purple cloak to give it to the palismen. "Make sure you share. Now, stay in here, okay? We'll all get you home safe--"

She turns to see the Guard and the Advisor both aiming their staffs at them. Luz laughs nervously, rubbing the back of her neck. "Right. Didn't think this through. ..Again." She says, recalling the Advisor's words from earlier.

Luz shuts the palismen's shelter door and stands. She seems upset, looking to the Golden People with an evidently dissapointed look on her face.

"So you're really gonna do this? You're just gonna hand all these innocent little guys over to Belos?" Asks Luz, offended. "I know what he does with them. I thought you might've been some good people. ..But I guess that was just wishful thinking. You're not my friends. You're just the Golden Guard and the Golden Advisor." Luz scowls angrily-- not at them, but at herself for being so foolish.

"Hunter." Speaks the Golden Guard. "My name is Hunter." Luz looks at them with a startled face.

"I'm Y/n." The sister says softly. "I'm.. Sorry." She says in an even softer voice. "What?" Asks Luz, unable to hear the second part.

"I-- I said-" Y/n begins before being hit by an energy bolt.

She gasps, eyes wide as she stumbles forward. Hunter dashes forward, getting into a fight with Kikimora in the dense and foggy area. The whistle falls to the floor with a clatter. Y/n grabs it, before tossing it to Luz. Luz looks up to Y/n with confused eyes.

Y/n nods towards the girl before running forward and aiding her brother. She swinging her staff, knocking back Kikimora. If Belos finds out, then so be it. After so long, she finally has a friend. A real friend.

Kikimora casts another spell towards Y/n, and the targeted girl tries to create a shield. Keyword: Tries.

All drained from today, Y/n gasps at the burning sensation in her chest. She quickly ducks, the bolt flying past. However, the girl still has to deal with the pain she's brought upon herself for a few moments. When Kikimora attempts to fire at Luz, Hunter knocks her back, angry at the attack on his sister.

When Y/n finally recovers, there's a loud whistle that rings through the air. She and Hunter look up, Kikimora now unconsious on the ground. Luz is on top of the hand dragon. The human looks down at the burgundy-eyed witches before taking off with the palismen.

Y/n and Hunter both kneel on the ground. Y/n is trying her best not to cry. "So you return with nothing." Says Belos calmly, but Y/n and Hunter feel the anger radiating from his tone. "Is this the thanks I get for taking you in?" He asks, standing from his throne.

I knew this was coming, so stop crying. Stop being such a crybaby. Stop it. Why are you so scared if you know what's gonna happen, you idiot? Suck it up!

"Of course not. I want to help. A-A-And if you told me how wild magic did this to you, I might be able to find a—" Hunter looks up, wanting to help before there's a sharp vine. He looks back down hastily, apologizing. "I'm sorry. I spoke out of turn, it won't happen again."

"And Y/n?" Asks Belos with a frown evident in his voice. "Why couldn't you just help Hunter? I know you two are capable of great things."

He clutches his chest with one hand, similar to the way Y/n would when she over-does it with her magic. "These outbursts are painful," He says, "and so is watching you both fail. I know you can do better, Hunter. Buttercup."

Y/n doesn't look up, nor does she say anything.

Seven minutes. Seven long minutes of new wounds on her hands and Hunter crying silently.

When they finally step out, Kikimora steps in. "Golden Guard? Advisor? Yo- You're alive!" She says, startled before quickly correcting herself. "I-- I mean- I heard about the crash in Latissa." She says.

"Luckily some travelers picked us up out of the wreckage." The Golden Guard glares, not wanting to look down at her as he held his sister's gloved and bloody hands. They'd need to get her extra pair of gloves again. "Looks like you had a rought night, though." He comments one last time.

As he and Y/n leaves, she notices a burn on Y/n's sleeve and Hunter's singed strand of hair, realizing they were her attackers.

She also takes notice of their puffy eyes, and the way Y/n hides her face and hands-- more than usual.

Y/n sits on Hunter's bed, too scared to sleep alone. New bandages grace her palms and fingers, blood already staining them. "I can help, if I just knew a little more.." Hunter trails off.

There's a small chirp and Hunter notices the white dove and red cardinal from before. "Palismen!" He realizes, grabbing the small red bird in his hands. His grip tightens, and the cardinal chirps in pain. "Hunter, be careful!" Whispers Y/n with worry. The dove tweets, pecking Hunter's fingers.

"Oh, uh-- Sorry." He apologizes to both the cardinal and his sibling. He and his sister both frown as they pet the palismen, the dove with Y/n and the cardinal with Hunter.

"You guys shouldn't be here." Hunter whispers. "He's right." Agrees Y/n, resting her hands on her lap- palms up so that the bird could rest inside of her palms. It's not like she could muster the energy to move them right now, with all the new wounds.

"Belos would be enraged if he saw you-- and he'd--..." She trails off, remembering that green goop. Y/n falls silent. "I guess a second friend wouldn't hurt." She whispers. Hunter smiles at her comment before the both of them turn into staffs.

Y/n raises her arms in surprise, as if she was afraid that if when she touched it, it would break. She lifted it into her trembling hands, ignoring the faint sting. "Oh! I was not expecting that." Hunter says in surprise.

"Gosh, they're so cute.." Y/n giggles softly.

Hunter walks over and sits next to Y/n, looking out his window with a longing gaze. Y/n yawns, scooting forward so that she laid down properly and could fall asleep with ease.

Hunter spares her a glance, looking from her eyes to the scar on her cheek and the nick on her ear with a frown.

There had to be some good in Belos if Y/n believed in him that much. There had to be. He gave them their futures.

There had to be good in their Uncle Belos.

Definetely.

[... I hate to break it to you, bud, but--

ANYWAYS! NAME REVEAL OF YOUR NEW PALISMEN SOON‼️‼️‼️]