cardinalrule | Kaisou Inbox

["Golden Guard", right. That dumb title. A pause as he swallows back any urges to quip. not now Zelos...not now...]

I'm just here to apologize. During the soccer game, I wasn't doing my best. And it was wrong to drag the rest of you down with me.

So, I'm sorry.

[There's several long moments of silence. He really, really did not expect this to be an apology. Of course, he had noticed Zelos hadn't been trying during the game, but still....]

You not putting any effort into it shouldn't have mattered. The rest of us should have been good enough to carry you, and we weren't. That's all.

[ . . . ]

Are you feeling ok? I expected at least some kind of threat from you.

[You threatened to throw him in jail for mouthing off once bro. He hasn't forgotten. ]

[Joke's on you, Zelos! Belos has instilled a serious complex in him about being replaceable!]

I'm not going to threaten you when I should've tried harder. It as my failure.

[....This is not a twist he was expecting.]

Are you crazy? Even I could tell you were working your ass off. Not sure how you could've tried more.

I should have.

[Of course he couldn't have, is the thing. He was trying as hard as he could, short of bringing Flapjack in, and he wasn't about to risk the bird's life.]

It doesn't matter. What's done is done, we can't change the fact that we failed.

[There's a pause. He's got a real temptation to just leave it as it is. Whatever going on with this kid isn't his problem. He should just leave it at that and be glad this went smoothly for him.

....

Nnngh. Fucking conscience.]

I wouldn't go so far to say we failed. The goal was to stop that ghost lady, right? We did that.

[Zelos does have a point, but Hunter's guilt is far from a rational thing.]

Maybe that's good enough for you. It isn't for me.

[Specifically it wouldn't be for Belos.]

Uh...huh.

[ Ok so he knows some people are perfectionist, but this sure goes...beyond that. So he's gonna hazard a guess, based on what he knows about Razorblade here- ]

Is this about that Emperor guy you're always going on about?

[Yeah, Hunter isn't going to deny it. He has no reason to.]

He has high standards for me, and I don't like letting him down.

[Oh boy oh boy it's just what he was worried about. He really should just walk away from this. Hunter won't listen and at the end of the day, it's not his problem what happens to this kid. He did his job by apologizing. He has no obligation here.

.... Dammit. ]

Golden Guard, you're not gonna like what I have to say, or you'll probably try to deny it, but it needs to be said:

You're gonna let him down. Maybe not right away, but sooner or later- you'll let him down. And then he'll dispose of you like he has others. Not because there's anything wrong with you, but because he's the monster. He's someone that sees everyone as tools, not people. You can't earn the approval of someone like that, no matter how hard you work.

The reason I know that? Is because I'm one of the discarded tools by a guy that's just like your Emperor. One of thousands.

Edited 2022-05-18 04:06 (UTC)

[Well, that's a hell of a truth bomb getting dumped on Hunter all at once. Luz has had the foresight not to bring all of this up with him, and Raine and Eda don't remember, so this is the first time he's getting hit with such a straightforward, negative viewpoint of Belos.

And Hunter doesn't like it. He'd been keeping himself relatively calm despite the nature of their conversation, but hearing someone who is still practically a stranger badmouthing the only family he has left? The person who has helped him survive in a world that otherwise would have killed him? He isn't going to stand for this.]

You don't know what you're talking about! You've never even been to the Boiling Isles, or met him! What gives you the right to talk about him when you don't know anything about him?!

[Yeah, this is about the reaction he expected. Zelos is sure he could've put it softer, but well, tactful isn't a word that's often used to describe Zelos. Besides, even if Hunter still refuses to accept the truth, Zelos can't say he didn't warn him. His conscience will be clear]

I don't need to meet him. You've shown more than enough of the warning signs for me to know what you got on your hands.

[The bits and pieces he's learned about how that world is run, the complete amorality and lack of compassion for others Hunter displays when the Emperor is the topic, the absolute fear of displeasing him. He's seen it all before. ]

I'm not saying this to be an asshole, I'm trying to warn you. You're better off staying the hell away from that guy. Do it while there's still some parts of you left.

[This isn't the first time Hunter has dealt with criticism towards Belos. There is Luz, of course, and occasionally other people - wild witches, mostly - back home like the Owl Lady had nasty things to say about him. But they were always wrong, and it was easy to brush off.

That isn't the case here. Maybe it's because he's so far from Belos, maybe because he's still feeling shaken from having died - he doesn't know what it is, but he can't just not let Zelos say all of this. He's upset, he's angry, and he wants to defend Belos but it's coming out all emotional and he's finding he has to blink back tears.]

I don't have any 'warning signs,' you're just seeing whatever it is you want to see!

[He of course has no experience with that at all, no sir.]

I'm not the same as you, and he's nothing like whoever it is you've got issues with! Belos is helping everyone on the Isles, he cares about them, he cares about me, and I'm not staying away from the only family I have left!

["Family", huh. Well, that sure explains a few things about this kid's extreme attachment. Immediately he questions even the sheer validity of that. He remembered Colette talking about how Remiel would claim he was her real father, in order to encourage her to keep on the journey that was slowly killing her. It's very possible this is the same case, though it's hard to say for sure.

Though, regardless, if this guy really is treating his family like this- it's one more reason to put him in the ground.]

...If you want to know what a caring family looks like, look at the Madrigals. They got their own issues, definitely, but there's no doubt they love and care for each other.

If Belos treats you the same way they treat each other? Then sure, disregard all I said.

But I'm willing to bet that's not the case.

[He wishes he could sleep, because he feels so tired.]

[That does it.

Hunter has seen how the Madrigals interact with each other, of course. He's managed to somehow befriend at least one of them, and he's been to their home before. But comparing Belos to them is - it's insulting, is what it is. They're different, they're human and they have each other, and even though they're important in their community they aren't in charge of thousands of people. An entire society. They don't have the burden of being the Messenger of the Titan on their backs.

They aren't ill like his uncle is.

Belos loves him in his own way, Hunter is sure of that. And that's all he could ever want.]

I'm done talking to you.

[And then he turns his phone off entirely.]

[...Well. That went well.

Zelos shuts his own phone off and drops it on his bed, sighing to himself as he rubs his hand with the other to steady it. Damn, he hated thinking about these things. Adol and Ana will probably scold him for this one, since he's pretty sure he was supposed to try to make amends, not piss people off more. But what else was he supposed to do? Play along?

The kid will definitely want nothing to do with him again, but that can't be helped, he supposes.

....Hope he opens his eyes before it's too late. ]

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