"Come on, get up," Apple said poking Axel with a stick.
After finding the ice glyph, Axel started messing around with it, though he was limited in what he could do considering that he was tired and surrounded by others.
So, he simply waited for his turn on night watch before waking Grape up and going back to sleep.
"I'm up, are we leaving soon?" Axel replied, waving his hand at the stick that was poking him.
"Five minutes," Lettuce replied for Apple.
"Understood," Axel said getting up from his place on the cave's floor.
Most of the other scouts had already gotten up, the exception being Artichoke.
"Artichoke!" Apple called out grabbing Artichoke by the shoulders and shaking them, "The other scouts have left hours ago!" they said.
"What!" Artichoke exclaimed immediately, standing up and looking around.
Apple then laughed as Artichoke looked around and saw all the scouts getting ready to go.
"I'm putting a cold potion in your drink," Artichoke mumbled.
"We're leaving!" the Golden Guard called out.
"Yes sir," the captain said, putting the citizen on his shoulder.
"Forgive me my love, I could not give you my gift," the citizen mumbled.
"If you wanted to give your wife a gift you didn't need to try to kill all of us," Apple said.
"I think our deaths were the gift," Grape replied.
"Oh, who would want a bunch of dead bodies?" Apple remarked.
Without any other delay, the group marched out of the cave and into the snow.
Axel kept his eyes on the Golden Guard's staff as he guided the scouts through the snow. The citizen had in fact made an illusion on the way to the cave.
"What's the punishment for this?" Axel asked.
"Petrification," the Golden Guard responded plainly.
"So be it," the citizen remarked.
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The flying canoe ride back to the castle was quiet. The scouts were hungry; they hadn't eaten dinner and the hike back to the canoe was at the time they usually ate.
'I'm so hungry, if only I had brought a snack'
Each one of them wanted to say something about food, but they needed to be professional, so they were silent the whole ride.
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Before the flying canoe could even reach the ground, the scouts leapt out and began quickly marching to the main hall.
There was no Lilith to greet them and give them their pay, however there were scouts walking around the castle.
"Call the coven jailor," the Golden Guard ordered one of the scouts.
"Sir!" a scout quickly replied.
And quickly after that, a scout came to pick the civilian off the captains' shoulders.
"So, the cafeteria still probably has food," Apple said, turning to where the cafeteria was.
"Yeah probably," the Golden Guard said heading to the cafeteria.
"Wait, don't higher ups eat in another cafeteria?" Axel asked the Golden Guard.
"True! But that cafeteria's on the third floor," the Golden Guard explained.
Axel could understand. Axel was very hungry now, and the Golden Guard had scouted the way through the snow. The Golden Guard was probably famished.
"I will see you tomorrow," the captain said going to the third floor.
"Come on Captain," Artichoke said, "If the Golden Guard can eat with the scouts so can you," they pointed out.
The captain wanted to tell Artichoke that he was told to not eat with the scouts, however the Golden Guard was right there, someone who was also told not to eat with scouts.
"Fine," the captain said following the rest of the scouts to the cafeteria.
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As luck would have it, there was some food left for the very hungry scouts. It was colder than usual, and the scouts didn't feel like using any magic to heat it up, but food was in fact food.
"You really don't put anything on your food, do you?" Axel commented seeing the Golden Guard eat his food without putting anything on it.
"Well yeah," the Golden Guard said putting food under his mask, "How else would I eat it?" he questioned.
"Try this," Axel said taking some Bettle Scales and putting it on a piece of the Golden Guards food.
The Golden Guard then took the spiced piece of food and slipped it under his mask.
"It's good," he said unconvincingly.
"You hate it," Axel translated.
"How about you try mine?" Grape suggested.
For the next few minutes, the scout began to have the Golden Guard try out the spices they put on their food. Unfortunately, the Golden Guard didn't like any of them.
"Hey, Captain hasn't given up his flavoring yet!" Apple pointed out.
The scouts looked at the captain, to see what flavor he would give the Golden Guard, but the captain's plate was empty, and there was no discernible smell.
"I will see you tomorrow," the captain said getting up.
"Dang it," Apple said putting his hands below the table.
The captain began to walk away before suddenly stopping, reaching into his coat, and pulled out a small bug like creature, which he quickly threw at Apple before leaving.
The scouts then turned to Apple.
"Look, I was just getting a beast to look through Captain's cloak to see if he had his seasoning in there," Apple explained.
"Shouldn't do that," Lettuce said.
"Did you find anything?" asked Artichoke.
"Nope, the beast didn't get far enough for me to see anything," Apple lamented.
"And with that I should leave as well," the Golden Guard said standing up, "Emperor Belos is expecting a report," he said before taking his leave.
"Better him than us," Artichoke murmured.
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The doors to the Emperor's throne swung open as the Golden Guard walked through.
A green carpet paved the way to a large, tall throne. On each side the throne was two large bonfires, the room was as symmetrical as the rest of the castle, with the exception of jagged pipes bursting out of the wall that moved something unknown.
There were scouts lining the walls. Each silent, each staring forward.
Above the throne was a large green heart suspended by veins and pipes. An on the throne sat one man.
As soon as the Emperor saw who came through the door, he stood up from his throne.
"Leave," he ordered the scouts.
Without a moment of hesitation, the scouts marched out of the throne room, silent and in two perfect lines.
The Emperor and the Golden Guard sat in silence, waiting for the scouts to leave.
"Your late Hunter," the Emperor stated, "Have you caught the wild witches?" he asked.
"No Emperor Belos," the Golden Guard said taking a knee, "The witch was a liar who wished for the scouts and I to die," he recounted.
"The witch has been captured and detained, yes?" Emperor Belos asked.
"Yes Emperor Belos," the Golden Guard replied.
"However, it took you much too long to realize that the witch was a traitor, next time you must catch them sooner or else," the Emperor said.
"I understand Emperor Belos," the Golden Guard answered.
"Good," the Emperor said walking down to the Golden Guard, "Remember you must be vigilant in not letting those with wild magic end you, the Titan has big plans for you after all," he said.
"Yes uncle, I mean Emperor Belos," the Golden Guard said happily.