A/N so why did you wanted a backstory again? xD well here it is. I nearly cried while writing it haha. I drew the pic above myself

"How did the Golden Guard before me die...?"

Darius widened his eyes when he heard this. He tried to speak, but at first nothing came out of his mouth. "He..." it finally came out, but he didn't know how to tell Hunter.

The blonde looked down again and sighed. "Then tell me something about him first, please..." "...What do you know so far...?" Darius then asked. Hunter considered something. "Well...that he was your mentor and that he was powerful...and well, like me he was a Golden Guard as a right hand for Belos and did tasks for him..."

That he knew that the Golden Guard had also been a Grimwalker, a clone, and Belos had only been waiting for betrayal, he didn't mention at first. Darius nodded slightly. "Yes....that's all right...well, I can tell you something about him, but it will probably be a long story..." Darius said and eyed Hunter a bit worried.

"You want to go somewhere else..." the boy realized. "Yes, a place where no scout can just walk across our path.", Darius explained. The blonde eyed the three coven heads before nodding slightly, well he could still run away in an emergency right...? "Ok..." Raine looked at Darius. "Our hideout?" The Abomination leader nodded. "Yes, our hideout."

The three led Hunter to their secret hideout, while he himself looked around carefully to note every detail. It took some time before they finally arrived at an apartment in Latissa that clearly indicated the inside as a hideout base. There they sat down around a round table with pillows all around it. Hunter then looked at Darius calmly, even though he was shaking inside. Darius met his gaze. "Then I'll tell you about him."

-backstory-
"Wait...I'm not that fast!", a young Darius gasped while running around the training field. In front of him came a man dressed in gold with a mask and cloak to an stop, it was Belos' right hand Golden Guard who was also Darius' mentor.

"Sorry, but you've gotten a lot faster." The younger one heard the joy in his voice, which also brought a smile to his lips. Now after what was going on with his two friends in Hexside, this was a pleasant change of pace. An animal noise next to him reminded him that he wasn't alone with Golden Guard.

A demon named Eberwolf was also here. Although Golden Guard was only his own mentor, Eberwolf still took part in their training sessions from time to time. Even if his presence was annoying at times, Darius appreciated it very much.

"Well it's getting late, you two better get back before you get in trouble with your parents and me with belos." The two children nodded before saying goodbye and walking home..

-skip-
Darius and Eber both ran through the castle looking for Golden Guard, since neither of them belonged to the coven it was sometimes difficult for them to find him, but Darius was lucky to have Eber at his side who seemed to know the way better than himself.

He often missed the fact that Eber probably had a better nose. Eventually, they finally arrived at the part of the castle that was the Golden Guard's private quarters. When they got to his room, it was quiet, but Darius could tell he was inside anyway. It was often quiet around his room.

The older one spent a lot of his free time reading books, taking notes from them or writing a journal himself. When Darius finally knocked, a clear "Come in" could be heared, whereupon he and Eber entered the room. In fact, Golden Guard was sitting at his desk with some books in front of him, however he appeared to be writing in his journal.

His mask was on the table next to him and the two children could see the scar on his face and the light blond hair falling cheekily over his face. "Well you two. Is something wrong?" the young man asked and turned to them. Darius looked at Eber before looking at Golden Guard.

"I- well, we wanted to ask if you could take us through the castle again. We still don't know our way around that much." Darius murmured, thinking about how many times they got lost on their way here. Eberewolf made affirmative noises. Golden Guard chuckled a bit before nodding. "Of course, then come."

He got up from his chair and put the golden mask and hood back on, closing the books before he left his room with the children. So they went through the castle, but of course it didn't escape Golden Guard that this wasn't the only reason for this tour. He looked over his shoulder at Darius before falling back a step to walk alongside him and Eber.

"So what's going on?" He asked Darius, since it wasn't the first time and Eber mostly just accompanied him. The boy avoided the older man's gaze a bit before he sighed and looked over at him again. "Well...it's because of school...Alador has kind of become more isolated since Odalia has been around and we fight a lot more..." Golden Guard listened to him carefully.

"Try not to be provoked into arguments, stay calm and above all don't let her snatch him away from you." Darius blushed in surprise before looking up at his mentor and shaking his head. "That's not the reason." Golden Guard ruffled something over his head. "Of course not." Eberwolf giggled.

"And why are you only talking to me and Eber about it? You don't seem to have a good relationship with your parents, do you?" the older one asked and Darius nodded. "Not really...but you're always there for me...and I know you're listening and giving advice and cheering me up, well Eber kinda too." Golden Guard smiled softly under the mask, maybe a little sadly.

"You know, I can relate to how you feel..." he then began. Darius widened his eyes in surprise. "For real??" The older one nodded. "Yeah you know I hardly know my parents anymore, I only have blurry pictures of them, it's more like they just raised me to get into the Emperor Coven as soon as possible and well I've been training for becoming Belos right hand man ever since, because that's what he wanted from the start. Most of the Coven Heads aren't exactly open, I'm happy if at some point maybe a younger generation replaces them, especially Terra, although I have the feeling that she could live forever." He shook himself with a laugh and both boys had to grin as well.

"I heard that." Terra suddenly growled in person and the three of them spun around to face her. "You really should be swapped out," she muttered to herself as she pushed past Golden Guard and down the next available aisle. When she was gone, the three laughed.

"Maybe that's why she doesn't like us." Darius said with a smile on his face. "As long as we don't end up as her statues," added Golden Guard. When Darius thought about this sentence today, it hurt a lot....

-skip-
"Darius! Darius!", Golden Guard's almost panicked voice reached Darius' ear. He and Eberwolf were in their small allotted room, which they had received since they had often been here in the castle. Worried, Darius opened the door and looked down the hallway only to see the older man running without a mask. He was bleeding,  his cloak had already turned red on his shoulder. "W-what happened..??" Darius asked worried and let the older one in, which now also alarmed Eber.

"You're bleeding!" he said then, pointing to the blood on the cloak. Golden Guard looked to where Darius was pointing and you could see from his facial features that he obviously hadn't noticed it himself. "It's not that bad, it's healing again-"

"You already said that last time, also that you don't want any healers because Belos ordered it that way! But he can't do that..." said Darius and felt almost tears welling up, it hurt him to see his mentor, who was like a father to him, in pain. "I know...", the older one mumbled and looked away a bit before he sighed.

"You two have to promise me something...", he came back to the seriousness of the situation and Darius remembered that he had just come here shouting in panic. "What happened...?" "Listen. Whatever Belos will do, you must not counteract it, you must not draw suspicion on yourselves...otherwise the same thing will happen to you..."

Eber made questioning noises and Darius also looked at his mentor in confusion . "Same as who...? What happened...?" Golden Guard shook his head. "Just promise." "Only when you say what happened...", Darius replied and felt the tears again. The older one gently grabbed his shoulders. "That's not possible, he has eyes almost everywhere. I can't reveal too much."

The boy was worried, but he wanted to trust his mentor, so he finally nodded. "Well...I promise..." Eberwolf also made his promise to the man. "Good....then I should get back to work." The older one left the room as if nothing had happened, which only alarmed the two children even more...

-skip-
"What happened??" Darius asked when he saw many Coven Scouts running around. Eber at his side also looked at them questioningly. A scout stopped to report to them. "Golden Guard has committed treason and shall be captured!" Immediately the scout hurried on.

Darius and Eber looked at each other, after yesterday's conversation they knew something was wrong. The boy clenched his fists. "What did Belos do..." He started running immediately and Eber followed him. He tried to think about where his mentor could be and almost immediately he came up with a place where they had been from time to time. His feet carried him to this very place and he and Eber entered it together. In fact, after some more searching, they found Golden Guard.

"What's going on??" Darius asked quietly but worried as Golden Guard looked at him in shock without his mask. His features calmed down again. "Belos happened...I have to go but I couldn't leave without these things, they are important." Golden Guard pointed to the things in his arms that Darius only now noticed. Among the many scrolls he was able to glimpse his mentor's journal.

"You'd better take them. Don't show anyone you have them. Maybe we can meet outside the castle sometime and I'll explain everything to you." He pressed everything he was carrying into the hands of the two children and they immediately tried to hide these things on themselves, at least they knew belos wasn't allowed to find out.

"If...we don't see each other anymore...it's all in my journal..." Golden Guard then said and his eyes had a spark that worried Darius. He shook his head. "Don't say that! Of course we'll see each other again!" Eber made approving noises. Golden Guard smiled softly but sadly. "I hope that too..."

Suddenly, heavy footsteps sounded behind them. Darius and Eber spun around only to see the Emperor in person in front of them, they had to admit they had never been so close to him. "Ah, I see you two found the traitor, good job you two can become something great."

Darius wanted to fire something back full of anger and sadness, but he noticed the warning look from Golden Guard, which prevented him from moving even a little. Belos eventually pushed the kids aside, facing Golden Guard. Darius had to admit that he had never seen his mentor so scared, which made him even more afraid of what was about to happen.

Without further words, Belos grabbed Golden Guards Arm and dragged him relentlessly behind him, Golden Guard tried to get away...but any resistance was futile... Darius and Eber looked at each other in fear when they were gone and the black-haired boy silently hugged his mentor's journal tighter under his uniform.

-skip-
The next hours were endless torture for him and also for Eber. They could practically only wait for something to be announced...but they noticed that the scouts were preparing something.

Darius wasn't sure if he wanted to know what... The two boys had brought everything Golden Guard had entrusted to them to safety and have been trying to figure out what would happen to him ever since... but nobody told them anything...

After some time, Darius saw Terra giving orders to the scouts and although he didn't really like her that much, he decided to ask her if she knew what was going on. "Terra...", he said as he approached her, followed by Eber.

The green-haired woman looked at them and rolled her eyes a bit. "More brave when HE isn't with you?" Darius chose to ignore her comment. "Do you know what happened to him...?" The older one sighed and her gaze softened a bit. "He will be petrified in 2 hours."

The two children widened their eyes in shock, knowing that this was the worst of all punishments. But since it was said that Golden Guard had committed treason, it seemed like a good punishment..yet they were sure that he was innocent...

-skip-
The square in front of the place where the petrifications took place was already well covered with spectators. Eber and Darius had a spot where they could see everything, but Darius wasn't sure if that was a good thing. There was nothing they could do to stop the petrification, they could only hope that Golden Guard himself could prevent it...

But when the cage with him inside was brought up and Belos also showed up for auction with the statue, they knew there was no way out. Darius was horrified to see that his mentor looked like he'd gotten some new wounds since they last met...did he try to escape...?

Belos gave a speech to the people, but Darius didn't hear a word. Full of fear he looked at the cage inside where his mentor was trapped like a wild animal. It wasn't long before the statue was activated and its bright green light fell on the cage. He would have liked to look away, but he couldn't take his eyes off of it, knowing full well that this was the last time he would see his mentor alive. When the light disappeared, the cage disappeared with it, leaving a petrificated golden guard in full view for the crowd.

The crowd cheered and Darius and Eber were forced to clap as well, even though they both felt like their hearts were about to leave their bodies...

After being petrified, the statue of Golden Guard was given a dedicated spot that Eber and Darius visited at every opportunity. They brought the scrolls and the journal to safety, read them through several times until they at least knew the scrolls almost by heart...the journal, however, they read bit by bit...some of the inside of it was still incomprehensible to them today...

But they knew that whatever Belos did was wrong... They both worked their way to the top of their covens....became coven heads, were now able to rule a bit and then...one day this kid appeared in coven scout uniform...Belos' nephew, who if Darius himself today internally confessed looked very much like his mentor and also reflected some of his behavior...

Darius tried to suppress these thoughts, however, as they made no real sense to him anyway...but the more important this child became at the time, the more he felt that something was going to happen and then...one day when he and Eber went to visit the statue of the Golden Guard again they found it destroyed....two days later the child became the new Golden Guard...
-Backstory end-

As Darius finished, he saw Hunter's expression filled with sadness. Of course, the past took a lot out of him as well, but he hadn't thought that it would take Hunter down like that too. "Thank you...", the boy said and Darius knew that he was thanking Darius for opening up.

The Abomination leader got up and searched for something... when he found it he held out a brown old book to Hunter. "Here maybe you are interested in his journal." Hunter widened his eyes before accepting it with a nod and looking at it.

His heart was beating fast and he felt the tears, this was probably the Grimwalker's journal before him....a Grimwalker of a person Belos had made disappear....did this Golden Guard know he was a Grimwalker...? Why did Belos wanted to kill him...? "Hunter.." Raine began when they saw Hunter's tears.

"How did you come up with this topic...?" "Belos...he...I...", the boy started and tried to collect his thoughts. Eber put a hand on his shoulder and made a few noises. Hunter looked at him with tears in his eyes before nodding and sighing. "Belos didn't just kill him...there were many other Golden Guards before me, he manipulated and killed all of them in different ways when they betrayed him in his eyes....and now...he wants to kill me too..."

Hunter tried to stifle a sob as Darius already wrapped his arms around him. "Hey...don't worry, we're here with you. We're on your side, don't forget that." Hunter wasn't sure if they would still be it when they found out Belos created him...him and all those other Golden Guards...