#but he sees him significantly less so he’s a bit more attached to Philip

[amoritasart]

He learned from the best ! ☺️

Meanwhile Caleb

Based on my AU

[mythicandco]

It would be cool if we could see Hunters reactions to Philip more from Hunter's pov!

So. Belos had a new pair of prisoners.

And he'd asked exclusively for Hunter not to see them.

Normally the Golden Guard would've avoided the newcomers, and probably wouldn't have even known about them until Belos spoke to him about it. But rumors were spreading like wildfire that they were humans, and, well, curiosity might've killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.

Hunter knew this was a Bad Idea. If Belos found out he'd probably be in his room for a week afterwards, nursing whatever fresh wounds he'd be sure to receive. And for good reason - the emperor told him specifically not to see the prisoners. But... a little peek couldn't hurt. Right?

So, after dark when the castle halls were mainly empty, Hunter sneaked out of his room and to where the new prisoners were being held. It wasn't a jail cell, per se - more like a small room with guards standing outside. Hunter had often utilized this room to hide his books on wild magic, but since his duties as the Golden Guard had stepped up he'd had less and less time to learn. It had two simple beds, a long window that stretched across the far wall, and a couple of bookshelves. Nothing fancy.

Rascal (the bird had recently insisted he chose a new name for them, and he went with the first thing that came to mind) chirped at him quietly from inside his hood, and he hushed the palisman as he approached the guards. He'd been given a new mask recently, so he didn't have to worry about the sort of mix-up that had happened in Latissa.

At first Hunter was sure they were going to call him out, but when he leaned closer, he could hear both of them snoring quietly. Unsurprisingly, both of the guards were asleep on their feet. He shook his head but was also thankful as he pushed open the door to the room as quietly as he could.

The two men inside looked up as he walked in. They seemed to be crouched around an open book, and stiffened as he approached. The first thing Hunter noticed was their ears; small and round, so they were human. Luz would be so surprised. That begged the question of how they got here.

The second thing Hunter noticed caused the kid to do a double-take; the taller human had the same eye shape, same nose, and same hair as the young witch. But that was impossible, because Belos said that Hunter's parents had died...

Hunter's attention turned to the second one, who was significantly shorter than his brother(? Were they brothers? They looked similar enough to be brothers), and his disbelief only quintupled, and was then replaced by a sharp spike of fear (Why did I think of the word spike why did I think of the word spike-?).

Hunter, as far as he could tell, had found himself staring at an older version of himself, and a younger version of Belos.

"Are you here to interrogate us?" the Belos lookalike asked, with a voice so similar to the emperor's it made Hunter's head start to hurt.

"We already told the last guards who came in here that it was an accident," Hunter's lookalike added with a grumble. "If we could get sent back to our time, that'd be great, thanks."

Hunter found himself rooted to the spot. This was - this was not right. The puzzle pieces that had been arranged so delicately in his mind reshuffled, and these two humans didn't fit anywhere.

"Who are you?" Hunter managed finally. Better than standing here in silence.

"Edward and Philip Wittebane," the taller, Hunter-looking human replied, motioning to himself and then his brother. Another piece clicked, albeit uncomfortably, in Hunter's brain.

One of the plentiful benefits of being Emperor Belos' right-hand man was the unlimited access to the Forbidden Stacks in the Bonesborough Library. He'd read Philip Wittebane's diary once, and found it extremely interesting. There had been a human on the Boiling Isles! He knew bits of trash fell through the rifts between realms, but living humans? It was so fascinating to Hunter when he was younger.

So Philip looked a lot like a younger version of Belos. Surely that didn't mean anything, even if Belos was human - what did it matter? He was still preparing the Isles for the Day of Unity and could preform magic with the help of palismen essence.

He'd still taken Hunter in.

But if Philip had a brother - one that he never even mentioned in his diary - then that threw things for a loop. Because Belos certainly didn't have a brother. Edward had most likely died back in the, what, 1600s? That also didn't mean anything, Hunter tried to convince himself. We probably look alike because I'm his descendant. I'm probably magicless because I'm descended from a human. It still doesn't mean anything.

So why does seeing these two surprise me so much?

"Well?" Bel- Philip asked, startling Hunter from his thoughts.

"Huh?"

"We introduced ourselves. You going to tell us your name?"

Before he could stop himself, it was already out of his mouth. "Hunter."

"Hah!" Edward grinned at his brother in triumph. "I told you I wasn't the only one with a name idea like that. See? Hunter is a great name."

"That is still up for discussion," retorted Philip. "I bet whoever named him was about as sane in the head as you are."

"That's something coming from you," Edward affectionately shoved his younger brother in the arm. Hunter assumed Philip was the younger of the two, anyways, seeing as he was a head shorter than his sibling.

Suddenly Rascal let out a series of frantic chirping noises and shot out of Hunter's hood, knocking off his mask. He let out a yelp and grabbed the golden piece of metal before it hit the ground and undoubtedly wake up the guards with a loud metallic clank.

The red bird paid him no notice and instead flitted around Edward's head, tweeting and chittering like mad. Hunter caught something like "You're ALIVE? Are you okay? How are you here? Did he hurt you? Is Cuddles here? When I get my-"

Both brothers stared at the bird as it came to rest on top of Edward's head. Hunter felt a flare of jealousy for some reason. Then two pairs of eyes turned to the young witch, and he quickly put his mask back on.

"Something weird is definitely going on," Edward said, rubbing Rascal's chin. Philip nodded, then stared at Hunter with those grey-blue eyes that were only supposed to be attached to Belos.

"Hunter..." he hesitated, but quickly regained his confidence, "this is probably really stupid coming from me. But can you help us get out of here?"