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Chapter Text

“Coven Head Darius, I’d like your help with something. Meet me in my study tonight.”

That had not been what Darius had been expecting to hear when the Emperor called him into the throne room and it was a rather an unfortunate turn of events, in his opinion. Part of him would have preferred to be given a mission or even to be scolded for something. Darius was not interested in meeting privately with Belos to help with whatever the man needed. The idea of spending an evening alone with the man he was working to overthrow was the antithesis of a relaxing, peaceful time. Still, he was not going to go against the Emperor so blatantly so of course he agreed.

He left the throne room, internally seething, hoping that whatever Belos needed would be quick and easy so he could spend as little time as possible occupying his study. It had already been a long and busy day and Darius was already starting to feel the exhaustion slowly creep up on him. He just wanted to finish his work and relax, making it to bed at a more reasonable time than he had been able to lately.

After his meeting with Belos, Darius made his way to a meeting with the other Coven Heads, not looking forward to that, either. These types of meetings were long and boring and listening to the other Heads go at each other’s throats would only wear his patience even thinner. Lilith would try to keep them on track, but with the myriad of horrid personalities that sat around the same table, it was inevitable there would be unnecessary bickering. Darius was especially not looking forward to their reaction when he walked through the door. Because of the Emperor’s summons, he was already a few minutes late and knew he was going to get an earful because of it.

Not bothering to delay the inevitable, he strolled up to the door, opened it, and walked in, making his way over to his own chair on the far side of the room.

“Well, look who finally decided to show up,” Adrian said, seated with his legs dangling over the arms of his chair.

“Don’t start,” Darius simply responded, “I was called to the throne room before this.”

“The Emperor summoned you? What for?” Lilith asked.

Darius sighed, hoping to get past this subject as soon as possible. “He wants my help with something. I don’t know what yet. I’m going to his study tonight to assist. Now let’s move on, shall we?”

Unfortunately, that did not make the others want to move on.

“His study? Really?” Mason asked in shock.

Lilith looked jealous. “It is quite unusual he’s invited you there. No one is allowed in Belos’ private study.”

Eberwolf snarled.

Hettie laughed at the demon. “What do you mean you see a kid come out of there sometimes? How ridiculous! There are no children in the castle and even if there were, why would one be in the Emperor’s private study?”

Terra chimed in with a bored tone, obviously just as tired of this conversation as Darius was.

“It’s probably just his nephew.”

That piqued Darius’ interest a little.

“I’m sorry, his what?” he asked.

“Yeah, since when does the Emperor have a nephew?” Adrian asked. 

Terra had said it so nonchalantly, as if everyone should have known but looking around the room, it seemed as if every other Coven Head was just as confused by Terra’s statement as Darius was. He was glad to know he wasn’t the only one who had been out of the loop.

Terra sighed, inspecting her nails as she elaborated. “He keeps the brat hidden away usually, but I remember seeing him roaming around the castle when he was much younger.”

So, the Emperor has a nephew apparently. Darius had to wonder why this wasn’t common knowledge. Why hadn’t any of them ever seen the kid or heard mention of him before now? It was strange that none of them knew there was another member of the royal family, despite them being in the highest position of government and therefore, being the closest to the Emperor. 

The other Coven Heads started whispering to each other, equally as startled by this sudden, new information. The excitement died down, however, as Lilith finally managed to get them back on track and commenced the meeting. It was just as boring as Darius imagined it would be- something about reforming various laws and keeping tabs on yearly Coven initiation numbers, all of which Darius had zero interest in. Still, he listened and contributed. He needed to keep up appearances, after all.

After what felt like an eternity, the meeting finally ended and there were just a few hours left before Darius was expected in Belos’ study. He filled the time working on various other tasks, each minute that passed adding onto the weighted dread in his gut knowing he would be meeting privately with the Emperor soon. It’s not as if he was scared of the man, but conversing with him one-on-one meant that Darius would have to be extra wary at not letting the Emperor suspect his traitorous notions. Any slip up was more likely to be caught when the Emperor’s attention had nowhere else to be drawn to but the only other person in the room. He would have to be highly vigilant in purporting to be the perfect, loyal Coven Head the Emperor thought he was.

He was rounding a corner to make it to his next task, head clouded with excessive worry, when he bumped into someone. The Golden Guard whirled back a little before composing himself and turning his head to look up at Darius, the obnoxious glint in the familiar mask forcing a certain annoyance to rise to the surface of Darius’ muddled emotions that was reserved for this particular little soldier.

“Will you watch where you’re going?” Darius coldly said, quickly working to smooth out the new wrinkles in his shirt.

“You ran into me,” the Guard simply responded. Darius scoffed at the accusation.

“It wouldn’t hurt you to take responsibility,” Darius said, already getting fed up with the Guard’s attitude.

“I’ll take responsibility when it’s my fault.”

Darius felt his eye twitch. What a brat. Any time he talked to him, he had to all but restrain himself from snapping, forcing down his anger so it wouldn’t bubble up to the surface and spill over.

He had never gotten along with this new Golden Guard. Ever since the Guard had taken up the position a short while ago, Darius couldn’t help but notice how vastly different this one was from the previous one- Darius’ mentor. His mentor had been powerful, commanding, and most importantly, not a doormat for the Emperor. This new one on the other hand…

He was none of that. He was obviously just some stuck up brat who got the position on pure luck. Either that, or because he licked the Emperor’s boot so intensely that Belos just promoted him in reward for the new shine in his shoes. This guy was a mockery of the Golden Guard title- a mockery of the great man who had previously taken up the title before him. He was a spoiled, obnoxious, wretch who thought he was better than everyone else.

No, Darius did not like the new Guard one bit.

“You are such a disrespectful little beast. What are you, 19? 20? Haven’t you ever been taught any manners?”

The Golden Guard didn’t answer for a few seconds. It was hard to guess what he was thinking when he couldn’t see his face behind the mask. Darius was getting annoyed by the silence and was about to speak again when the Guard finally responded.

“…My apologies. I’ll watch where I’m going from now on,” he said before sidestepping Darius and walking away.

That was too easy. Something told Darius that the Guard didn’t actually want to apologize but just did it to avoid an argument.

Whatever. It didn’t really matter. At least he seemed to want to stay out of Darius’ way as much as Darius wanted him to. He wanted to deal with the Emperor’s favorite little lickspittle as little as possible.

Speaking of other obnoxious, dictator-pleasing-obsessed footstools, a few more hours, a few more redundant tasks later, and Darius found himself working on some paperwork across from Lilith. They were the only two Coven Heads who seemed intent on making sure their paperwork was finished and spotless, though he guessed it was for two different reasons. He just didn’t want to give the Emperor reason to think he was anything less than the perfect Coven Head so he didn’t get suspected for treason and Lilith probably didn’t want to give him reason to think she wasn’t the perfect Coven Head because she actually wanted to be the perfect Coven Head.

They mostly worked in silence, occasionally handing each other documents to double-check or sign. Darius was thankful for the silence. Idle chit-chat simply did not interest him, especially with the other Coven Heads.

Lilith frowned at one of the documents. She handed it to Darius.

“Does this look strange to you?” she asked.

He took the papers and glossed over them, hoping to quickly catch what she meant.

It was a short list of Coven Scout profiles. Lilith had been gathering information on all the current scouts and combining them into a massive document to keep record of who was currently serving the Emperor. It was a very thorough venture, what Lilith was doing, even though Darius was sure Belos didn’t care about the scout’s individuality. Part of the reason they all wore the same masks was specifically to avoid any indication that they weren’t just a single, coherent unit of mindless soldiers but rather real people with their own lives and personalities.

Lilith was obsessed with recording as much of history as possible, however, and that included all the details about the scouts. She was determined that it could be useful information for future historians. It just sounded like a lot of unnecessary work to him. It’s not like Darius cared, though. If she wanted to make more work for herself, then it wasn’t his problem.

She would send for information on a number of scouts at a time- just basic information such as name, age, previous occupations, etc.- and this document she handed him must be information she had sent for recently and had just gotten back. There was information on 22 scouts in this document. It all seemed normal until his eyes glazed over the 22nd entry.

“You sent for information on the Golden Guard?”

“Of course. He is still a scout, in a way,” she answered, like it should have been obvious.

The Golden Guard’s entry was what must have looked strange to Lilith, because Darius immediately thought it looked strange to him, too. The other scout’s information was filled out completely. He could glance at those and know exactly what he needed to know about them. There were even pictures to accompany the details so he could know what the scouts looked like under their masks. The Golden Guard’s information didn’t tell anything, however. All the detail and fact boxes were left completely blank and the picture was just a picture of the Guard with his mask on, which didn’t help at all.

Darius huffed in amusement. “Some informants you have. They seriously couldn’t figure out who he is?”

Lilith took the document back.

“Usually they’re very thorough. Sometimes they wouldn’t be able to find out a simple detail but it’s never happened where they couldn’t find out anything at all,” Lilith said, scratching her head and studying the document more, like the information she needed would suddenly just appear.

Darius regarded her for a moment, thinking. 

“The Golden Guard was a scout. You’re head of the scouts. So, shouldn’t you already know who he is?” he asked, confused. Surely Lilith had some inkling of which of her little Coven Scouts Belos pulled to be his right-hand.

“No,” she refuted. “I didn’t even know Belos had picked a new Golden Guard until right before the Staff Inheritance Ceremony.”

“How…odd,” Darius simply responded.

Lilith sighed in defeat.

“It is interesting how carefully his identity is kept a secret, though,” she added on.

Darius had to agree. Individuality may not necessarily be an important part of being in the Emperor’s Coven, but no one else went to such lengths to make sure their real identity was never found out. Even if a scout didn’t just offer up details about themselves on a silver platter, trained informants would still easily be able to figure out some things about them. For them to find nothing must mean that any identifying information about the Golden Guard had to have been purposefully scrubbed. The person behind the mask might as well never have existed.

Lilith hummed in thought, equally as confused about the situation as Darius and desperately trying to understand. 

“Perhaps it comes with the position?” she asked, though she didn’t seem like she believed that to be the answer and was just ruminating out loud.

“I don’t think so. The previous Guard didn’t seem to care if people knew anything about him. I never saw him without a mask, I suppose, but he never tried to hide any other details about himself from me,” Darius said.

It was the truth. Maybe he never got to see his face, but Darius still knew the previous Golden Guard like the back of his hand. He was more than just his mentor after all. They had been close friends up until the day he suddenly disappeared. He had no problem letting Darius or anyone else for that matter know those kinds of little details about him so it was rather interesting that the new guard was so keen on keeping them a secret.

Darius and Lilith eventually went back to their paperwork, not knowing what else to say about the situation. It was strange, of course, but no amount of musing about it was likely going to get them closer to an answer. Besides, Darius didn’t actually care that much. He couldn’t deny that he was curious about the ‘why’ of it all, but that was it. Who the Golden Guard actually was behind the mask simply didn’t concern him because it’s not as if his feelings about him would change should he find out. He would still be the same person under that mask as he was with it on and either way, Darius would likely not get along with him.

He worked for a short while longer before he glanced at the clock and realized it was time to get ready to meet with Belos again, the reminder of his upcoming, private encounter with the most evil man on the Boiling Isles causing bile to rise up his throat and his hair to stand up on end. He got up, quickly gave Lilith a good-bye, and walked out, the anxiety in his chest weighing him down with every step he took towards the Emperor’s study.

Chapter Text

Darius finished his trek across the castle, finding himself in front of a small, wooden door. To anyone passing by, it would not be obvious that this seemingly normal, boring entryway led into one of the Emperor’s private spaces, especially considering the doors to either side if it were far more grand and imposing.

Darius steeled himself and knocked. A few seconds passed before he heard footsteps on the other side and the door slowly opened, revealing the face of the Emperor, unmasked. Recognition flashed behind Belos’ eyes and he opened the door the rest of the way, stepping aside to allow Darius entry.

“Ah, Darius. Please, come in.”

Belos motioned him into the room. Darius quickly bowed in greeting and walked inside.

“What can I assist you with, sir?” Darius asked. Belos chuckled at the formality of his tone.

“So eager,” he mused, “I have been working on a study regarding abomination magic and I was hoping you could lend me a hand in my research.”

“Of course. I would be honored,” Darius lied.

Belos motioned for him to follow, leading him to a large bookcase on the other side of the room. It was then that Darius’ gaze was finally pulled away from the man, not allowing himself the privilege of observing his surroundings before when his attention was supposed to be on the Emperor. With Belos’ back to him, Darius quickly took the opportunity to take in the entirety of the study.

It was a moderately sized room filled with bookcases of various heights, filled to the brim with dusty bindings and worn, rotting pages. In the middle of the room was a small, round table covered in stacks of books and adorned with haphazardly strewn about notes and writing utensils. The only light in the room was being thrown by shaded lamps on either side of the room and Darius wondered how anyone could do research in such a dimly lit space.

Most surprisingly about the room, however, in the corner near the bookcase he was being led to, was a small desk. The desk itself was not special but rather the fact that there was a body occupying the seat in front of it. Darius’ gaze was drawn to the child who was diligently writing something down in a notebook, the scribbling of his pen silent, quick, moving across the page with purpose. The boy paid no mind to the Coven Head and the Emperor paid no mind to the boy as he walked up behind him to stand in front of the bookcase.

Belos started pulling a few books off it, handing them to Darius, explaining what kind of information each of them contained and how he thought they would be helpful. He did not ask Darius for his opinion on any of them. Suddenly, the Emperor stopped grabbing books and put a hand to his chin, eyes darting all over and around the bookcase looking for something that Darius guessed was not there anymore.

“Hmm…There was a hand-written record of abomination magic used in the Savage Ages that I can’t seem to find. It would be rather useful in our research, I’d imagine. Now…where did I put it?”

A gloved hand shot backwards towards them, small book in its grasp. The boy never took his attention off his work as he handed the book to Belos, as if taking his eyes off the pages for a split second would have unknown repercussions to his productivity.

“Ah yes! There it is. Thank you, dear,” Belos said, taking it from him. The boy retracted his hand and kept working, not even acknowledging the Emperor’s thanks. Belos didn’t seem to care and Darius wondered if the Emperor had not been expecting the boy to reply.

Darius glanced around the boy’s shoulder, hoping to catch a glimpse of what was so important. The boy had a book out in front of him and was just copying it word-for-word into a notebook. By the looks of it, he had been doing it for a while considering he was already more than half-way through it.

Why was he doing that? It didn’t seem to be a rare book that couldn’t just be copied and printed the less primitive way. It looked to be just a regular history book about the Empire that Darius had no doubt there were probably hundreds of other copies of already. Was this some kind of torturous lesson? Perhaps something the boy just liked to do for fun for some odd reason? Was it a punishment for something? It would seem rather cruel if that were the case. Just looking at the amount the boy had already written, Darius had no doubt his hand must be aching.

Belos started walking to the small table in the center of the room, pulling Darius away from his musings. He would just have to stay curious, he supposed. He followed the Emperor to the table, listening to him explain what they were looking for and sitting down, getting to work. Unfortunately, this didn’t sound like a project that would be over with quickly, so he mentally resigned himself to the fact that he would be stuck in the room for quite a while.

They worked diligently, flipping through pages of old, dusty books and discussing history and theories. At one point, the boy had seemingly finished his task and started helping them with theirs by carrying more books to and from the table and flipping through some of them as well, occasionally pointing out interesting passages he found to the Emperor. Sometimes, the Emperor would ask him to leave the room and fetch various things for him- a blanket, some more paper, some apple blood for the two adults…

The whole time, the kid never said a word.

Whenever he needed the Emperor’s attention, he would wave his hand or lightly tap on the table. Instead of speaking, he communicated with various hand motions that made no sense to Darius but that the Emperor would appear to understand, verbally responding to them as if they were having a normal conversation.

Darius had thought that being in the Emperor’s presence would be daunting enough, but the boy being there made it so much worse. A slight relief when he first saw the boy passed through him when he realized that he wouldn’t be alone with Belos but it was quickly diminished at remembering that this child was probably the nephew he had only found out existed earlier that day. So here Darius was, not only stuck with Belos, but also with what was essentially a mini version of the Emperor. 

The two seemed close and the kid looked like he looked up to his uncle based on the little interaction Darius had seen between them so far. He would be so eager to jump on any task the Emperor gave him and looked at him with fondness in his eyes that Darius never would have imagined would be possible when it was directed at someone like Belos. It made Darius wonder why he’d never heard of the kid before. Surely Belos must hold some regard for this child he allows into his study and who he likely raised- this child who unabashedly loves him and only wants to be of use to him.

Darius hadn’t thought anything of it when Terra mentioned Belos kept him locked away, but actually seeing him in person made Darius feel the full weight of the words. Belos’ nephew looked like he was around 14 years old, in which case Darius had presumably gone 14 years living in the same castle as this kid and never saw him a single time until now. Darius wondered how many people in the castle even knew of his existence. Surely some scouts, at least, would see him roam the halls sometimes but did they even know who he was or did they think he was just some random kid who casually appeared outside of the Emperor’s private study on occasion?

If Terra had not brought up the fact Belos had a nephew before, Darius realized he wouldn’t know who the kid was, either. Belos hadn’t made a single attempt to introduce the boy since Darius entered that room. He wondered why. Did he just not think to, assuming Darius already would be aware somehow of who he was? It would be a bold assumption, if that were the case. Darius had spent at least a couple hours in the small room working with the kid by this point and he didn’t even know his name. He wasn’t sure if he could ask, either, since he wasn’t sure why Belos hadn’t wanted to introduce him in the first place. Maybe he just didn’t think the kid was important enough to mention?

The Emperor seemed to dote on the boy, though. He spoke so softly to him when asking for favors and made sure to thank him for every little task, no matter how meaningless. He called him little pet names like “dear” and would take the time to explain something they found to him if he looked confused, educating him. If Darius hadn’t been aware of the Emperor’s true nature, his time spent with the boy might seem like a domestic, normal relationship between a parent and their child. However, because Darius knew the underlying cruelty that fueled every action of the Emperor, he couldn’t help but think there were darker undertones hidden in his interactions with the child.

So perhaps it wasn’t a matter of importance, but something else- something Darius wouldn’t be able to try and guess at until he knew more.

After a while, it had gotten late. The kid was sitting beside the Emperor and across from Darius, flipping through an old book when Darius noticed him struggling to keep his eyes open. He had to constantly force his head back up anytime it drooped too far. Belos eventually noticed, too, glancing sideways at the boy before pulling his attention to the clock on the wall.

“Oh my. It has gotten quite late hasn’t it?” Belos said.

He stood up and gently pulled the boy up with him, motioning him away.

“That’s enough for tonight. Off with you now. Get some rest.”

The boy looked a little reluctant to leave but didn’t fight it, nodding an okay and walking out of the room. Belos turned his attention to Darius.

“I think we should call it a night as well. We can pick this up again some other time, yes?” Belos asked, though Darius knew it was more of an order than a request.

“Yes, sir. Of course,” Darius said, standing up and bowing, making his way out of the room as well, thankful that this dreadful encounter was over for tonight but loathing the idea he would have to do it again soon. 

He made it back to his bedroom, glancing at the clock and noticing it was now almost 2AM. He groaned and started working on his nighttime routine, knowing he was going to be exhausted in the morning because of this. There go his plans to finally get some much-needed rest.

In the morning, he woke up to his alarm at 6AM, tired and irritable and unfortunately, he knew that was going to make today much worse than yesterday. He got up and got ready for work, grumbling to himself the entire time. Darius was not a pleasant man when he didn’t get his beauty sleep and anyone who got in his way that day was going to find that out firsthand.

Unfortunately for the Golden Guard, he would end up being the one to do that.

Darius had eaten his breakfast and was now strolling through the halls of the castle with purpose, making his way to yet another dreadful meeting with the Coven Heads. They seemed to be having a lot of those these days. He made it to the door to the meeting room, opened it, walked in, and nearly did a double take at seeing the shiny bright shimmer of the Golden Guard armor. The Coven Heads were all seated at the table but the Guard was just standing off to the side against the wall.

“What’s he doing here?” Darius did not hesitate to ask, making sure the disgust was prominent in his voice. The Guard turned to look at him but Lilith answered before he could speak.

“The Emperor ordered him to observe the meeting,” she said, disgust also peeking through her tone. Looking around, it seemed like none of the other Coven Heads were thrilled about this. Darius was not the only one of them who was not very fond of the Guard.

Hettie turned to look at the Golden Guard. “Why does he have you here anyway? We don’t need a babysitter.”

The Guard simply responded, “I didn’t ask.”

Darius scoffed, moving into the room and taking his seat as he spoke, mind too clouded from exhaustion to really care about masking his annoyance. 

“Of course you didn’t. The Emperor gives you an order and you don’t even question it- just run off ready to prove to him what a precious little doormat you can be.”

“It doesn’t matter what the reason was. I was given an order. I’m going to follow it,” the Guard said defensively.

Adrian rolled his eyes. Hettie whispered something to Mason, pointing her thumb backwards at the Guard, and Mason laughed. Terra scoffed. Osran crossed his arms and leaned back slightly, shaking his head. They were all obviously making fun of the Guard but the Guard made no indication he cared or even noticed.

Eberwolf growled.

Lilith shuffled some papers around. “Yes, you’re right, Eberwolf. We came here for a meeting so let’s get to it, shall we?”

They commenced the meeting. The Golden Guard continued to stand against the wall and Darius had to admit how impressive it was he could stay still for so long. He knew it was a valuable skill to have in a position where half your job was standing at the Emperor’s side and never saying a word, but it was still a bit creepy, in a way. He could easily be mistaken for a statue.

That was until he spoke.

Vitimir had made a minor mistake explaining something about the tax system and the Guard was quick to correct him. Vitimir growled in annoyance.

“I’m sure you aren’t meant to contribute,” he said, glaring a hole into the Guard’s mask.

“I’m not just going to let misinformation slip. You’re Coven Heads. You should know important details like this,” the Golden Guard responded and Darius could hear the cockiness in that statement.

Vitimir growled again and Lilith was quick to get them all back on track.

“Okay, that’s enough,” she said, “We don’t have time for petty arguments.”

The meeting continued again. Darius normally had trouble caring about what was being said but now that he was running on four hours of sleep, he found himself struggling to pay attention. He certainly didn’t contribute as much as he normally would have and unfortunately, Lilith took notice of it.

“Darius, do you have anything to contribute?” she asked.

“No,” he simply said, rubbing his temples, too tired to deal with her high-and-mighty attitude right now. Lilith scowled at him.

The Golden Guard turned his head towards Darius and stupidly decided to finish Lilith’s scolding.

“Coven Head meetings require the participation of every track Head in order to form a fair and balanced government and to create accountability for flaws or mistakes that lead to the instability of the system.” He sounded like he was reciting from a textbook. Darius was starting to get a headache.

“I’m sorry. Perhaps you want me to nit-pick insignificant details about the tax system that ultimately have no real importance and would only slow down the meeting? I think you’ve got that covered,” Darius spit out, nearly at the end of his rope. He desperately needed this to be over.

“I just think you should try to do your job,” the Guard continued. He really didn’t know when to shut up, did he? 

Darius finally felt something in him snap at the words. He had simply had enough.

He forced a smile, his gaze pure ice as he glared at the Golden Guard’s stupid mask. 

“Fine. I’ll do my job. I’ll listen to the meeting and contribute my insignificant little thoughts and then we can get this over with so you can go back to doing your job of being a waste-of-space, poor excuse of a Golden Guard whose only real use is being eye candy for the Emperor.”

Darius wished he could see the expression on the Guard’s face as he jolted in shock from Darius’ words.

“I’m not…,” he started but Darius was tired of hearing his voice, so he quickly interrupted.

“You are. You’re nothing but a brat who is underserving of your position. So, stand there, shut up, and stop acting like you have any authority over me or anyone else in this room. You aren’t special just because you’re the Emperor’s favorite. We are still your superiors.”

The Guard continued to stare at Darius for a few more seconds and Darius thought he was going to try speaking again, but luckily it appeared he gave up. He turned his gaze forward again and stayed still and silent, just as Darius had ordered him to.

The tension was thick in the air. Lilith glanced back and forth between Darius and the Guard in shock before clearing her throat and attempting to, once again, get everything back on track.

“Ah hem…well,” she started, obviously unsure of what to say. She thought for a few more seconds, still glancing back and forth between them. “Let’s… just focus on our next topic on the agenda, shall we?” she finally settled on.

The rest of the meeting went by as normal. The Golden Guard did not try to speak up again. Once the meeting was over, everyone filtered out of the room except for the Guard, who seemed to be waiting for everyone to step out before taking his own leave. Darius paid him no more mind, walking out of the room behind the other Coven Heads before making his way to his next task of the day. 

He had gotten about half-way across the castle before he remembered he had left one of the documents he needed on the table in the meeting room. It was not a mistake he normally would have made but Darius wasn’t exactly running on a full battery at the moment. He quickly turned and made his way back. The meeting had ended a little less than 10 minutes ago, so Darius was expecting there to be no one in there when he arrived and opened the door but to his shock, someone was still occupying the room.

The Golden Guard was still standing in the same spot he had been in the entire meeting, staring forward at the empty wall on the other side of the room. He didn’t seem to notice Darius’ reentry. What was he doing? Why was he just standing there like he hadn’t even noticed the meeting ended? It was creepy.

Darius hesitantly took a step into the room.

“What are you still doing here?” he asked. 

The Guard turned to him, finally noticing his presence. He didn’t say anything- he simply started walking out of the room, passing by Darius and exiting out of the doorway, paying the man no more mind. Darius watched him as he left, confused by the behavior.

Was he still upset by Darius’ harsh words to him earlier? Why did he care so much about what Darius thought to the point it would render him useless? Surely Darius’ opinion of him wouldn’t matter that much, would it?

How ridiculous. Darius refused to entertain the idea that he was the reason for the Guard’s sudden odd behavior. It’s not as if he would feel bad if he were, he just didn’t think it was a likely possibility. As pitiful as Darius found the Guard to be, he couldn’t imagine that even someone like him would be so sensitive as to allow a few mean words to affect them that much.

Darius refused to think about it any further. He quickly grabbed the document he needed and left again, intent on just getting through the day without any further annoyances.

Chapter Text

A few days went by before Darius returned to the Emperor’s study. A scout had pulled him aside earlier that morning to deliver a letter from the Emperor requesting his presence that night and Darius scowled, not excited to go through this ordeal again. He went through the rest of the day dreading the encounter, just as he did last time.

That night, he found himself yet again in front of that innocuous wooden door, every fiber in his being screaming at him to turn around and walk away. He chose to ignore it, raising a fist to gently knock and await an answer. 

There was no answer. After a minute, he tried again, a little louder this time. Finally, he heard shuffling on the other side of the door.

Belos must have been in the middle of something, Darius thought. Hopefully he wouldn’t be angry at being interrupted, especially since he was the one who called him there. When the door finally opened, however, it wasn’t the Emperor who answered it.

The door opened and Darius saw no one until he looked down and saw the Emperor’s nephew’s head peeking out from inside the room, looking up at him with suspicion. Recognition flashed through the boy’s eyes when he realized who it was and he opened the door wider, motioning for Darius to enter. It was funny, Darius thought. The Emperor had done the exact same thing on his first night there. 

Darius followed the boy in, eyes quickly scanning the room, anxiously waiting to land on the subject of Darius’ grievances but Belos was nowhere to be seen.

“Where is Emperor Belos?” Darius asked. 

The boy turned to him, thinking about something. After a few seconds, he turned away and walked over to the table in the middle of the room. Darius thought he was ignoring him and was about to get angry when he saw the boy open up a notebook and start scribbling something down. He then turned the notebook so Darius could see what he had written.

Pulled away. Important business.

Darius internally groaned. “Great. I suppose I’ll just come back some other time, then.”

Part of him was relieved he wouldn’t have to deal with the Emperor tonight but he knew that this just meant he would have to deal with him later. He would have much preferred to just get it over with and get this little project done as soon as possible so he never had to step foot in that dimly lit, dust-riddled room again.

He turned and started walking away when he felt a tug on his cape. He looked back and glared at the hand wrinkling the pristine fabric. The boy quickly snatched his hand away, noticing Darius’ anger, and swiftly turned back to his notebook to write something again. 

Sorry.

He looked away, appearing equal parts guilty and frightened by Darius’ reaction.

A small bout of guilt appeared inside Darius’ chest. He sighed, letting it go. “Whatever. What did you want?”

More writing.

Belos said you could work without him for now.

“Without him? You’re trying to tell me the Emperor is allowing someone to work in his private study alone?” Darius asked in disbelief.

The boy shook his head and wrote.

Not alone. I’m here.

Darius rubbed his temple. “Yes I suppose you are,” he relented.

He walked back over to the table and sat down, sorting through the pile of books that had been left there since the last time. He was thankful that at least he wouldn’t have to spend the next few hours under the Emperor’s supervision. The boy being there still made Darius a bit uneasy, but his presence was much preferrable to his uncle’s. 

There were exactly three other chairs at that table other than the one Darius was in, one of those chairs on the opposite side of the table, and yet the boy decided to pick the chair right next to him to sit down in. He even scooted a little closer to Darius and Darius stopped what he was doing, looking down at the kid who was now just inches away from his arm.

“Do you mind?”

The boy looked up at him. He shook his head and turned his attention to the books, moving to help Darius sort through them. Darius was taken aback. He wasn’t sure if the boy didn’t realize Darius was annoyed with him for sitting so close or if he was just pretending and being annoying on purpose. It seemed a petty thing to do to someone you didn’t know that well. Darius figured he would just let it go for now, feeling it would be best not to try and argue with or snap at this kid who may or may not even understand he did anything wrong. Technically, he hadn’t, Darius supposed, but he was just very defensive of his personal space.

They flipped through the books in silence for a while. It’s not like they had much of a choice, anyway. If there would be any talking going on, it would only come from one of them.

Darius wondered why the kid didn’t speak. Perhaps he was just incapable of it? It was the only explanation that made sense. He couldn’t imagine someone willingly choosing not to use their voice because it just made things so much more difficult. He desperately hoped that wasn’t the reason the Emperor didn’t flaunt his nephew around. He wouldn’t put it past Belos to be ashamed of his kid having such a limitation and wanting to hide it.

Was the Emperor actually trying to hide his nephew, though? Sure, Terra said he was and yet the Emperor had invited Darius to his study knowing he would encounter the boy there. There were surely others in the castle who must know of the boy’s existence as well. Darius assumed there were healers to take care of him if he got sick or injured and scouts who would see the boy leave the study on occasion. Perhaps the Emperor didn’t advertise the fact he had a nephew but it didn’t seem like he cared if others simply knew he existed.

So, if the Emperor wasn’t trying to hide him, necessarily, then why had they not known about him before? What reason would Belos have for not allowing the boy to socialize or roam the castle? Perhaps it was a safety concern? He was a child in a building full of adults, after all, but Darius couldn’t imagine anyone inside the walls being stupid enough to hurt a member of the royal family and even if they tried, the halls were always crawling with scouts who would surely step in to keep the boy safe. So if not for the boy’s well-being, then what?

Suddenly, a disturbing thought occurred to Darius. He remembered his first night in that study, watching the boy be practically glued to the Emperor’s side, eager to follow any order and assist in any way he could. He remembered how the normally evil and threatening man who sat upon the throne during the day, menacingly postured under the threatening thud of a giant beating heart, had suddenly become nothing more than a doting parent in the presence of his nephew. Darius knew exactly how manipulative Belos could be. Was he keeping his nephew sheltered so he wouldn’t discover what a cruel man his uncle really was?

He felt a tap on his arm. He looked over and the kid held up the notebook again.

Why are you mad?

The question made Darius confused until he realized he had stopped reading and had just been staring down blankly at the same page for the past few minutes, lost in thought. 

“It’s nothing,” he dismissed, though his tone did not come out as relaxed as he had wanted it to. The boy looked at him in concern, like he didn’t believe him.

“It’s nothing!” Darius said again, a little more harshly this time. He hadn’t meant to snap but his own thoughts had started to wear his patience thin and having the subject of his unsettling, spiraling thoughts sitting right next to him acting concerned was not helping his frustration.

Darius attempted to calm himself down, looking at the boy again and immediately he felt a wave of guilt settle into his gut as the boy stared back at him, fear prominent in his eyes and sitting as far back in his chair as he could, obviously regretting his choice to sit so close. Darius was so used to dealing with a castle full of cutthroat, egomaniacal adults who could handle Darius’ bad attitude that he had forgotten that this was just a kid and that he needed to try and control his temper better. The boy may be related to Belos but so far, he hadn’t given Darius any indication that he was as evil as his uncle or anyone else in the castle, for that matter. Until he did, there was no reason for Darius to be so cruel.

Darius sighed and lifted his arm. He had been preparing to rub at his temple just to have something to do with his hand while he tried to figure out how to reassure the boy, but immediately put it back down at his side when the sudden movement caused the kid to flinch.

Did he think he was going to hit him? Darius stared at him for a few seconds, confused by the reaction. The boy glanced away and when there was no further movement from Darius, he scribbled in his notebook and pushed it over for Darius to read.

I’m sorry.

That snapped Darius back to reality. 

“For what?”

Did I make you angry?

Everything this kid did and said just made Darius even more confused. They had just been reading in silence for a while. What could he have possibly done to make Darius angry? It was illogical, and yet here the kid was, still blaming himself for some reason.

“No, it wasn’t you,” Darius answered. “I was just…lost in thought is all.” Darius chose not to elaborate, hoping it would be enough of an explanation.

Darius hated kids. They were filthy, germ-ridden little creatures who needed far more attention than Darius was willing to give but all that meant is that Darius would never have children of his own. It didn’t mean that he thought they deserved to be treated unkindly or feel unsafe. Having one be so afraid of him, to the point he thought he would hurt him, did not settle well with Darius. It’s not as if he really cared about the kid, but he wasn’t going to sit there and let him be afraid for his safety or unnecessarily think he had done something wrong when he hadn’t. So, he would just have to try and control his emotions better so he wouldn’t spook him any further. 

Unfortunately, the kid didn’t seem to accept Darius’ answer. He returned to his reading but Darius noticed the slight furrow in his brow and the way he would quickly glance over at him whenever Darius made any slight movement. He seemed terrified that Darius would suddenly change his mind and lash out.

Darius took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose, sucking up his pride, and attempted to fix the tense situation. 

“Look, you don’t need to be scared of me, okay? You didn’t do anything wrong and even if you did, I’m not going to hurt you over it,” he said.

The boy looked confused by the statement. He once again turned to his notebook.

Why?

“What do you mean ‘why?’”

Why wouldn’t you if I deserved it?

Was it impossible for this child to stop saying and doing things that only furthered Darius’ bewilderment?

“There’s nothing you could do to deserve something like that,” he simply answered. The boy’s brow furrowed further in thought and he turned away from Darius, not making any attempt to communicate further. He pulled another book on abominations in front of him and returned to his research.

Darius forced himself to pull his gaze away from the boy and return to reading as well. Or, he tried to, at least. He couldn’t help thinking about the boy’s words and reactions. He had seemed so sure Darius wanted to hurt him. What reason would he have for thinking someone would immediately turn to violence against him, even when he had done nothing wrong?

Darius could think of one potential reason. His eyes quickly took stock of the boy’s face, namely the large scar that adorned his right cheek and extended all the way down to his neck and Darius wondered how exactly he had gotten it. The edges looked too clean to have been an accident. Perhaps the Emperor didn’t act the part of doting parent as much as Darius had originally assumed. 

The boy noticed him looking and turned to him, giving him a quizzical look. Darius finally tore his eyes away and resumed his reading, forcing himself to push those thoughts aside. It would do no good to make assumptions like that, as likely as the scenario could be knowing what kind of man the Emperor was. Even if it was correct, it’s not like Darius could do anything. This wasn’t a normal boy at his side; this was the Emperor’s nephew. Not only would helping him be impossible, but trying to would jeopardize his entire mission to take down Emperor Belos and liberate the residents of the Boiling Isles and he had already worked far too hard to be willing to put that plan at risk.

If Darius’ assessment of the boy’s situation was correct, taking down the Emperor would save him, too. It would be best for everyone if Darius just tried to not think about it for now and hope that it wasn’t as bad as his mind was making it out to be. The kid could just be overly flighty because he wasn’t used to being around other people and the scar really could have been an accident. That’s what Darius would tell himself for now. Besides, if Belos really was that cruel to the boy, then it would throw Darius’ earlier assessment of why, potentially, the Emperor kept the boy hidden away and if that was out the window, then what other explanation could there be? 

They didn’t talk anymore for the short while Darius stayed after that. Darius stayed focused on his work, carefully making sure to keep his attention on the words in front of him and not the boy sitting next to him. He was there to do a job for the Emperor and when it was over, he had no doubt everything would go back to normal and with any luck, he would never encounter Belos’ nephew again and have to think about this enigma of a situation anymore.

As the clock hit 10PM and the Emperor had still not returned, Darius’ decided he would just call it quits himself. There was no way he was working until 2AM again and losing even more sleep.

“I think that’s enough for now. I’m going to bed,” he announced, standing up.

The kid nodded, standing up as well and started organizing some of the books and notes they had written. Darius didn’t care enough to help. It was one thing if his own space was cluttered, but he didn’t care if the Emperor’s study looked less than pristine. He let the kid work while he started walking away towards the door.

“Well then, goodnight, Little Prince.”

The sound of paper shuffling suddenly stopped and Darius looked back at the table to see why.

The boy was standing still, confused by Darius’ words. He turned to Darius and pointed at himself in question.

“Yes, you’re Little Prince.”

The boy cocked his head at him.

“Well, it’s not like I know what else to call you. No one told me your name.”

Sudden realization passed through the boy’s eyes and he quickly moved to grab a pencil and re-opened his notebook, scribbling in it for the last time that night. He walked over and handed it to Darius, who took it from him and turned it around so he could read it.

“Hunter?”

The boy, Hunter, nodded and smiled.

Despite himself, Darius found himself smiling as well.

“Strange name,” he said. “It’s nice to meet you, Hunter.”

He handed the notebook back and let Hunter return to tidying up the table. Exiting the room, he made his way across the castle to his bedchambers.

Even though he had laid down at a more reasonable time than usual, determined not to let another exhausting day define him tomorrow, sleep did not come easy for Darius. He lay awake in bed, thoughts continuously spinning with his own, not entirely unfounded, worries, unable to force himself to push them to the side and let himself drift off into nothingness. Every time he closed his eyes, he couldn’t shake the image of a certain small, frightened blonde child that had burned itself onto the back of his eyelids, forcing guilt to well up in his chest at his decision to be nothing more than a bystander.

Chapter Text

Darius returned to the Emperor’s study exactly two more times before Belos had concluded that their research was sufficient enough. With the Emperor’s presence around both times, Darius had not had much more chance to interact with Hunter but it’s not like it mattered. The kid didn’t mean anything to him so if they never met again, it would make no difference to Darius.

Still, a few weeks passed and Darius could not stop thinking about the boy in the study. It was only pure curiosity that kept his mind occupied on the subject, nothing more. After all, the strange behavior Hunter exhibited would likely pique anyone’s intrigue, especially when normal life in the castle was so mundane as to force a person’s mind to be drawn to anything even slightly out of the ordinary in order to receive any kind of stimulation. Darius just needed something to occupy his thoughts or he would likely die of boredom. It wasn’t because he was worried about the child. He had convinced himself weeks ago that worry would not be the reason. That was what he told himself.

With any luck he would never encounter Hunter again. Perhaps with time, his mind will let him forget and he could go about his days as normal, as if he had never stepped foot in that study in the first place- as if he had never met the Emperor’s nephew.

Would that make him a bad person? It’s not as if he was certain of Hunter’s situation anyway. He could just be overthinking everything. Besides, if he wasn’t, it’s not as if he could do anything to help. He’d probably only make things worse for Hunter, himself, and all of the Boiling Isles if he tried. Knowing about Hunter now was only causing him to get distracted from what was important, plaguing his mind with horrid thoughts and theories that may or may not even be true.

Luckily, tonight was a special night, and so Darius could finally let himself pay attention to the events unfolding before him instead of thinking about some random kid who he’d only met a couple times. Tonight was the annual Coven Day Parade. Darius himself was not part of it this year, which he was glad for because he did not find it enjoyable to sit on a float and wave all night, but he didn’t mind watching the celebration from the sidelines.

He was sitting on a rooftop, getting a good view of the parade. From there, he could see all the interesting festivities and intricate details that adorned some of the floats. He also had a decent view of the crowd. There were a lot of people celebrating and cheering on as each float passed them by. Parents held their children up to see better, couples held hands as they watched, friends would gather to babble about the excitement…

In the crowd, a rather suspicious figure caught Darius’ eye. They were wearing a cloak, hood drawn up to conceal their face. They were skirting around people, trying to raise themselves up on their toes to watch the parade but were not tall enough to see over the people in front of them.

That behavior wasn’t suspicious. The suspicious part was the fact the figure would refuse to get too close to other people and if someone stepped within their bubble, they would reflexively bring their hands up to hold the hood firm over their head, as if they were desperately trying to make sure no one saw who they were.

The only reason someone who was not a Coven Scout would be trying to hide their identity at an event like this is if they were planning something nefarious. The Coven Day parade pulled many Coven Heads and other important government officials into one area, so anyone who wanted to target them could easily make their move here. Darius was on high-alert, closely watching the hooded figure, waiting for any sign they might try something. He was certain they were up to no good.

That was, until some kids ran up beside the figure, catching them off guard and accidentally knocking them to the ground, their hood falling backwards off their head. A concerned parent ran up to Hunter and apologized for their children’s behavior, offering a hand to help pull him up. Hunter refused, huffing and getting back up on his own.

Darius sighed. Of course. Perhaps the nefarious plot scenario would have been preferable to this.

He stood up and summoned some abomination matter around him, teleporting himself to the ground right behind Hunter.

“Does your uncle know you’re here?”

Hunter startled and whirled around, eyes widening at the sight of Darius. He quickly glanced guiltily to the side, telling Darius that the Emperor, indeed, was not aware.

“So, you’re to tell me you snuck out of the castle just to watch some silly parade?”

A beat passed before Hunter nodded, not bothering to lie now that he’d already been caught. He looked terrified that he was in trouble and Darius felt a breath of sympathy.

Lightening the mood, Darius smiled. “Impressive.”

Hunter looked at him in shock, obviously not having expected that response. Darius was amused at his bewilderment. He supposed not being scolded for doing something like this would likely surprise any kid but Darius wasn’t Hunter’s parent. If the boy wanted to be a little delinquent, it was none of Darius’ concern. In fact, Darius couldn’t blame him for wanting to sneak out. If he were forced to live his entire life locked away in that dreaded castle, he’d find ways to sneak out, too. The only shocking part about this situation was the idea that Hunter would so openly go against his uncle’s wishes, as determined to please the man as he seemed.

“Is this normal behavior or did you just want to see the parade?” Darius asked.

Hunter pointed towards the floats in answer. He only did this because he wanted to see the parade, then. It made more sense that this wasn’t a regular activity but rather something he only did if it was truly worthwhile for him.

“I see. Well, how about this then- I’ll let you watch the parade and won’t tell Emperor Belos about this but you have to stick with me the whole time, got it?”

Darius wasn’t worried about him. It was just that the idea of leaving a sheltered kid to fend for himself in an overexcited mob of people late at night would make Darius a horrible person. Hunter probably had no idea how to interact with people outside the castle in normal circumstances, let alone a cesspool of festivity such as this. If he stayed with Darius, Darius could keep an eye on him and make sure he was safe. 

Again, it wasn’t because he was worried. 

Hunter’s eyes widened and he smiled, aggressively nodding his head, happy that he wasn’t in trouble and Darius was allowing him to stay. He then turned back towards the street and stood on his toes, still trying to see over the crowd of people.

Darius took pity on him. “Here. I have an easier solution.”

Darius walked up closer to Hunter and summoned his abomination matter again, enveloping them and transporting them back onto the roof Darius had occupied earlier. When the goo retracted, Darius looked over to see Hunter staring at him and he could swear he saw actual stars in his eyes. 

Hunter swung his hands around in an arc in what Darius assumed was an attempt to mimic the translocation spell. Darius chuckled, understanding what he was asking.

“It’s a neat little trick I learned years ago before becoming Coven Head. It certainly comes in handy,” he said sitting down on the roof and returning his attention to the parade. Hunter sat down beside him, doing the same.

Occasionally, Darius would quickly glance over at him. Hunter’s awestruck expression at watching the celebration never failed to make him smile. Whenever something particularly interesting caught his eye, he would excitedly point at it to show Darius. Being constantly stuck in the castle meant that he likely never got to experience fun events such as this and it was sad, of course, but Darius was just happy he could allow Hunter to experience this kind of excitement, just this once.

Eventually, the parade ended. It was fairly late and Darius decided it would probably be best to take Hunter back to the castle now. He stood up.

“I think that’s enough excitement for tonight. Let’s head back,” he said.

Hunter looked sadly at Darius, the idea of returning home after such an exciting event probably not sounding all that interesting, but he nodded, nonetheless, standing up as well. Darius teleported them back down to the ground and they began walking home.

“How did you get past the castle scouts, anyway?” Darius asked, curious. He highly doubted the scouts guarding the entrance would have just let Hunter by without question.

Hunter looked to the side away from Darius. It seems he wouldn’t get an answer then. Darius dropped it. It wasn’t important.

They walked through a little market set up on the outskirts of where the parade was. It was the perfect time and place for vendors to take advantage of the excitement of the crowd to try and sell their wares. Darius didn’t care for it. The items were usually cheap or ridiculous little trinkets that had no practical use for anyone, but the sellers were predatory and the customers were gullible, and so they were able to make a lot of snails from it, giving them reason to come back year-after-year. Darius was just hoping to pass by as quickly as possible.

Hunter seemed to want to do the opposite, though. The vendor stalls caught his eye and he reached over and tugged at Darius’ arm, pointing at one of the stalls.

“No. We’re going home.” 

The look of disappointment that flashed across Hunter’s face made Darius suddenly feel like the worst person in the world. He sighed, relenting, even though Hunter hadn’t done anything to push the issue further.

“Alright, fine. You may go look.” He waved him off.

Hunter’s smile immediately returned and he moved towards the stall, Darius right behind him. Hunter was fascinated by all the cheap little trinkets and bobbles that Darius found distasteful, but he wasn’t about to ruin his fun by pointing out how ridiculous they were. Hunter only seemed interested in looking at everything, never making any indication he wanted to buy any of it, anyway. Darius wondered if he even had any snails on him if he did want to make a purchase. 

They moved on to stall after stall and Darius found that he actually didn’t mind that they made this stop. Hunter was thoroughly enjoying himself. It would be good for the kid to have as much fun as possible before he returned to the mundanity of his life in the castle.

At one point they came across a vendor stall that looked to Darius to be just like all the others. Hunter’s attention, however, seemed to be drawn to a specific item at this one. He had been fascinated by everything else, sure, but this caused him to pause longer than he had anywhere else to observe his find.

Hunter picked it up. It was a small charm in the shape of a bird. He held it for a few seconds, simply staring at it, and when he moved to put it back on the table, Darius caught the way he hesitated before fully setting it down.

It was obvious he wanted it but Darius figured his previous assumption that Hunter didn’t have snails was correct. He watched as Hunter moved on to the next stall but, inexplicably, Darius didn’t follow him. Instead, he did something unexpected, not fully understanding why he did it. Darius picked up the charm and turned to the vendor.

“How much?”

It was easy for Darius to catch up with Hunter. He hadn’t gone very far. Hunter turned to Darius and cocked his head, silently asking why he had fallen behind.

“I dropped something. Had to look around for it but I managed to find it,” Darius lied.

Hunter accepted the excuse, quickly turning his attention back to the stall he had stopped at. While his attention was occupied, Darius formed a spell circle and used a small thread of abomination matter to sneak the charm into his pocket.
 
He let Hunter walk around for a little while longer before he decided they should really be getting back.

“It’s quite late now, Little Prince. Let’s go.”

Hunter seemed more willing this time, the exhaustion prevalent in his eyes and the way he carried himself as he walked. They made it back to the castle and Darius reached over to flip up the hood on Hunter’s cape before the scouts could see them approaching. Darius didn’t know how Hunter had gotten out, but it would at least be easy for him to get back in since the scouts wouldn’t question anyone going in with a Coven Head. Still, after walking in, he tried to keep Hunter out of as many scouts way’s as he could, just in case. He had been planning on just going their separate ways once they made it inside but quickly realized he couldn’t let Hunter wander around on his own, as suspicious as he looked in a random hooded cloak.

“I’ll walk you to your room,” he announced, waiting for Hunter to start leading the way. Hunter nodded and started walking.

The walk to his room was quiet with only the gentle thud of their footsteps permeating the silence. The longer they walked, the more Darius wondered where the kid was leading him. They had already passed by the most occupied portions of the castle, eventually making their way to a secluded corner that Darius was sure only contained empty rooms and storage closets. No one ever came over here, evident in all the spider webs and dust that layered the walls and floors.

Hunter stopped in front of a ratty wooden door, turning back to Darius and pulling his hood down. He made a motion with his hand that Darius would not have understood if it weren’t for the ‘thank you’ he mouthed while making it.

Darius smiled. “Of course, Little Prince. Get some rest.”

Hunter smiled back and turned around, opening the door to the room and going in. Darius was able to catch a small glimpse inside before the door closed and he couldn’t help but think of what a sad sight it was. For a member of the royal family, Hunter’s room was only slightly bigger than a prison cell. The furniture looked old and worn and the blankets on the bed looked like they had been ripped apart and sewn back together multiple times.

Is this really how Hunter lived? It made anger pulse inside Darius’ chest at the idea, fueling his suspicions about the Emperor’s treatment of him. In the study, Belos acted like his nephew was the most precious thing to him and yet he obviously had taken to neglecting the poor child and forcing him to live in squalor, secluded in a filthy, deserted part of the castle. 

What was the purpose? It’s not as if the Emperor of the Boiling Isles couldn’t find a more appropriate living situation for his own flesh-and-blood. Did Belos actually love his nephew or was he just pretending and if he was pretending, then why? Why keep Hunter around if he didn’t want him? It didn’t make sense.

Darius stared at the shut door for a few moments, lost in his thoughts. Finally, he sighed, turning on his heels and making his way back to his own room to rest for the night. He really had to stop letting himself worry like this. This situation was out of his control.

He had been so caught up in his thoughts, Darius forgot to remind himself that he wasn’t worried, actually.

The next day, he went about his work as usual and when he finally returned to his room, he found a note slipped underneath the door.

Thank you!

There was a small picture of a bird drawn beside the words.

Darius knew exactly who it was from and what it was for and couldn't help the smile that stretched across his face as he folded the note, carefully put it in his pocket, and closed the door behind him.

Chapter Text

It had been exactly four days since the Coven Day Parade and Darius was thankful it was over. The actual event itself wasn’t too bad but the preparations that went into it were one of Darius’ least favorite jobs. The scouts do all the manual labor, of course, but the Coven Heads are required to spend an exorbitant amount of time planning their track’s part in the parade, even if the Head’s themselves were not required to participate that year.

Most years, Darius didn’t find the work worth it. Sure, the event was fun, but why should Darius care about putting on a silly little show for the residents of the Boiling Isles when there were more important things at stake. It was a once-a-year event, and surely something the people could live without. It was annoying, to have to put in so much work and effort for what was, in Darius’ mind, a pointless celebration.

And yet the toothy smile and wide eyes on the over-excited boy who sat next to him the whole time made Darius think that this year’s wasn’t so bad. At the very least, Darius’ efforts were able to make a sad, lonely kid happy for one night.

Darius was not expecting to see Hunter again after that night. The only reason he had met him in the first place was because of that project Belos requested his assistance on. Darius had not seen Hunter before that point and the Coven Day Parade had only been a circumstantial incident, isolated in the fact that it was a unique event and there were no others to which Darius might accidentally encounter him again. 

Darius did not take into account that it didn’t need to be an accident if he encountered the boy again when said boy started to purposefully seek him out.

There was a knock on his door. Upon answering, he was surprised to see the familiar blond child on the other side, holding a notebook and looking up at Darius with eager eyes. Darius did not even get a chance to greet him or ask what he was doing there before Hunter’s arms shot forward, holding up the notebook that he had pre-written his answer into.

Can you show me that spell?

It took Darius a moment before he realized what spell he was referring to, remembering how excited Hunter had been when Darius had cast it during the parade.

“You…want to learn how to do it?” Darius asked. It wasn’t exactly easy magic and he wasn’t sure if his teaching abilities were even up to par should he try to explain it.

Luckily, Hunter shook his head. He wrote more onto the page.

Can’t. Just want to know how it works.

At least Hunter seemed aware he wouldn’t be able to pull it off and wasn’t going to make Darius try to explain why he couldn’t teach him.

“So, you came all the way here just to ask me to do party tricks?” he asked, a hint of teasing in his voice.

It was just a joke but Hunter still rushed to explain himself, the scribbling of his pen frantic across the page.

Can’t find anything about it in my books. Had to ask. No other option.

Hunter was trying to research the translocation spell simply because he found it interesting? Most people wouldn’t bother if they knew they couldn’t do it themselves.

“That’s because it’s a spell I came up with. As far as I’m aware, I’m the only one who can do it,” Darius explained, which only seemed to further Hinter’s interest if the way he nearly started vibrating with excitement was anything to go by. There was more writing.

Please? I won’t bother you again.

For some reason, Darius wasn’t finding it a bother now, he realized. He had been trying to do some work quietly at his desk before he was interrupted, but despite the fact that he would normally be irritated at being pulled away, he had felt perfectly fine when he saw who it was who disturbed him.

He wasn’t going to say that though.

“Alright, but let’s make it quick,” Darius said, forcing a sigh to try and mask just how unbothered he was right now. The grin that stretched across Hunter’s face made Darius really struggle to keep up the façade, though.

“Let’s go somewhere more spacious. I’m not going to start transporting around in a cramped hallway,” he said, stepping out of the room and closing the door behind him. Hunter nodded and Darius began leading the way to a roomier location, the child following along like a little duckling latched onto the heels of its mother.

He ended up taking him to the courtyard in the center of the castle. It was unoccupied at the moment and large enough to where Darius could jump around with ease. Hunter stood nearby and held his notebook up, pen in hand, eagerly waiting for Darius to begin his demonstration.

“The translocation spell is actually not one spell, but a complex series of miniature spells wrapped into one,” Darius began, his student furiously scribbling notes at his words. “It takes a lot of mental effort and energy in order to do it properly because you cannot just focus on the end result like you can with many other spells, but rather you must pay attention to every step necessary in order to achieve the desired result.”

Darius held up a finger, preparing to form a spell circle.

“The first step, is of course, to move the abomination matter into the correct position. Then, from there, you make it sentient, but not in the normal way. You are not forming it into a servant, but rather a conscious extension of your own body, and then you guide it to envelop you and carry you off to the location of your choosing.”

He quickly demonstrated the technique, transporting himself to the other side of the courtyard and then back in front of Hunter. Hunter’s head was constantly tilting up and down, wanting to watch Darius’ magic just as much as he wanted to make note of what he was saying.  

Darius continued his little lecture.

“Like I said, it is incredibly difficult to do since it requires so much focus. For that reason, I have only ever been able to transport myself across reasonably short distances otherwise I run out of energy too quickly. It’s easier if I’m transporting others, however. I’m not quite sure why. Perhaps it just requires less mental effort when I’m not in the fray of it.”

Hunter nodded, indicating that he understood what Darius was saying, tapping his notebook with his pen when he was done taking notes. He smiled at Darius in thanks. Darius smiled back. He had long since forgotten he was supposed to be acting annoyed by this distraction.

“Look out!”

The sudden warning had Darius on his toes, looking around for the danger. He quickly spotted it. From a balcony overlooking the courtyard, a scout had started using plant magic to grow various new flowers in the empty pots that sat alongside the railing. She had accidentally used too much magic on one of them, making one of new plants far too large and side-heavy enough to where it leaned over and fell off the edge- the edge right above where Hunter was standing.

Darius moved before his brain could fully process it, grabbing Hunter with one arm and leaning over to shield him slightly as he used his other hand to point a spell circle at the incoming ceramic, abomination matter bending to his will and arcing up to slice the pot in half, one half falling to either side of them.

“Are you okay?” the scout cried from above.

“Would you be more careful!?” Darius yelled back, irritated by the scout’s carelessness and the fact she almost got Hunter hurt.

The scout squeaked and saluted the Coven Head.

“Yes, sir! I am so sorry, sir!” she cried, turning and running back inside, hoping to avoid further reprimand.

Darius sighed in relief that the danger had now passed, at least. That’s when he realized he was still holding Hunter against his chest. He quickly released him and took a step back, hoping he hadn’t made the kid uncomfortable, even though he had only invaded his personal space in order to protect him.

Luckily, Hunter didn’t look mad. He made that motion with his hand again that Darius now understood meant that he was thanking him.

“You’re welcome,” Darius replied.

Hunter smiled and Darius noticed the dirt that had managed to land on his forehead and he panicked. It made sense it was there considering Darius had smashed the pot right above him, but he had been really hoping that none of the dirt fell on either of them- especially Darius. These were new clothes, after all.

He couldn’t see his own face but he knew his hair was fine, at least, the abomination goo that covered it protecting it from unwanted debris. He quickly glanced down and checked over his clothes. They seemed unblemished as well, luckily.

Hunter cocked his head at him, confused by his sudden, frantic behavior. Now that Darius could mostly confirm he himself managed to avoid getting dirty, the streak of dusty brown across Hunter’s forehead was a glaring distraction that he simply could not ignore. Darius pulled a handkerchief from his pocket.

“Hold still,” he commanded.

Hunter was still confused but didn’t try pulling away when Darius grabbed his face with one hand, holding it steady as he swiped the cloth across his brow. Darius didn’t even stop to consider how this might look to an outsider. 

An annoyingly familiar voice made both of them startle.

“Aww. Darius, you should have told us you were a father,” Adrian teased, Hettie at his side, walking out into the courtyard and coming up to Darius and Hunter.

Hettie leaned in to get a closer look at the boy, hand on her chin, regarding him. 

“He looks nothing like you, though,” she helpfully observed.

“He’s not my son,” Darius quickly reassured, heat rising to his cheeks in embarrassment that they would even suggest such a thing.

“Really? Could have fooled me,” Adrian said, smirking. Darius wanted to slap that stupid smile off his face. Luckily, he’s had a lot of practice keeping his composure around the other Coven Heads, and so he stayed calm.

“So, then who is he?” Hettie asked.

“Hettie, Adrian..,” Darius started, forcing as much boredom in his tone as possible so they knew how much he did not want to be talking to them right now, “…this is Hunter- the Emperor’s nephew.”

Hunter shyly waved at them.

“Oh! So, he really does exist. How intriguing,” Adrian stated, regarding Hunter like Hettie had done earlier. “He’s a lot scrappier than I imagined.”

“So, what does that make you then, Darius? Some kind of glorified babysitter?” Hettie asked.

Adrian laughed at her teasing. “Can you imagine? What kind of terrible thing would you have to do for Emperor Belos to stick you with a job like this?” He pointed his thumb back at the ‘job’ he was referring to, making Hunter squirm slightly now that they were making fun of him as well. Suddenly, Darius found it a lot harder to control his anger than normal.

He would just have to ignore them. Engaging with them further might lead to some actions that Darius would surely regret later.

He grumbled and turned his attention to Hunter.

“Let’s go, Hunter. We’re done here.”

Hunter made a move to step towards Darius but immediately stilled when Adrian threw an arm over his shoulder, stopping him and holding him in place. Darius must not have been able to hide his anger as well as he thought he did when Adrian made fun of Hunter and unfortunately, they must have noticed and now realized they had a rare opportunity they had to take advantage of.

“Aw, leaving so soon?” Hettie mocked. “We haven’t even gotten acquainted with the little Emperor.” She moved to stand on the other side of Hunter, trapping him in between her and Adrian. He kept nervously glancing back and forth between them.

It was like watching two predators play with their prey before they killed and devoured it and it made Darius’ hair stand up on end. He knew, realistically, they couldn’t hurt Hunter but it was highly possible that Hunter didn’t know that. It was unsettling how eager they were to make him as uncomfortable as possible without actually crossing that line. 

Darius’ indifferent attitude he would be able to put up in the face of their teasing had made sure they stopped trying to get on his nerves, at least to this degree, long ago. Now they had found something that would actually get a rise of him. Darius could handle them if they were just being rude and insufferable towards him but his apathetic front would be incredibly hard to maintain if they insisted on turning their attention to a new target they knew Darius couldn’t ignore.

Why couldn’t Darius ignore it? Why was this bothering him so much? He couldn’t make up an excuse right now, too focused on trying to get them out of this situation.

Adrian kept looking at Darius as he spoke to the boy at his side.

“So, child, tell me. How much of a softie is our big bad Darius, really? Does he read you bedtime stories and kiss your boo-boos?”

Hettie joined in, snickering. “Maybe he gives you hugs and tucks you in at night?”

They both continued smirking at the heated expression that was quickly forming on Darius’ face. When only more silence passed, they both looked down at Hunter, confused.

“You know, it wasn’t rhetorical. We do genuinely wish to know,” Adrian said to him, hoping to get more fuel to tease Darius with. 

Hunter just continued to glance back and forth between them, withering slightly now that both of their attentions were fully on him.

“He doesn’t speak,” Darius said, hoping to save him from further scrutiny. “So just leave him alone.” There was no hiding the anger in his voice and the two other Coven Head's smirks immediately returned, triumphant that they actually managed to get a reaction for once.

“What a shame,” Adrian said in response, disappointed that he wouldn’t get any tantalizing information out of the boy. He released his hold on Hunter and the child immediately sprinted away from them, coming up to Darius’ side, hiding behind him slightly.

It had been the only thing he could reasonably do in such a situation, but unfortunately it did give them more to fuel their insufferableness. They just couldn’t get enough, it seemed.

“Aw, look at him. Did we scare you? Don’t worry. I’m sure daddy will protect you,” Hettie said and Darius wondered how smug she would be if he shot a spike of abomination goo straight at her face just to scare her.

Fortunately for her, he somehow managed to refrain, despite how tempting the idea of putting them in their place was right now. Now that they had released Hunter, he could get out of there and not have to put up with them anymore, at least. He held his arm out, encircling Hunter without touching him, and started leading him out of the room without a further word of acknowledgement to his colleagues.
 
Just as they got closer to the door, however, the scenery around them began to rapidly change.

“You were showing him magic, right?” Adrian asked, twirling his fingers and grinning. “Perhaps he’d be interested in something actually cool?”

“Knock it off, Adrian,” Darius warned, already far past the end of his rope. Of course they’d want to milk this little victory of theirs. They might never get this chance again.

For what it was worth, Hunter did look in awe at the display, the illusions of different environments and places drawing his attention and intriguing him. He was staring wide eyed at the magic and spinning around in little circles so he could see everything. Darius couldn’t help but think about how easily impressed he was by simple magic. It made him feel a little less smug that Hunter had thought his translocation spell was so cool if he thought Adrian’s magic was just as spectacular.

Of course they would notice it, too.

“How cute,” Hettie cooed. “Maybe your magic isn’t as special as you thought, Darius.”

The twitching in Darius’ eye was the first sign he wouldn’t be able to keep his rising anger from bubbling over much longer. The only thing that continued to keep his temper at bay was the idea that getting into a fight with other Coven Heads would surely get him in trouble and draw unnecessary scrutiny towards him. They simply would not let them leave, though, intent on being as annoying as possible for no reason other than they thought it was fun to pick on Darius. The rope Darius had been holding onto was already withered down to a single thread and he could feel it starting to fray at his fingertips. This was bad.

Thankfully, there was a saving grace. The orange, furry blur that scampered over without warning jumped onto Adrian, startling him enough to drop his hands and break the illusion. Eberwolf leapt to the floor, out of his reach, as Adrian tried to grab him in frustration. He then ran over to Darius, climbing up safely onto his shoulder. Hettie scowled and Adrian grumbled at the audacity of the demon.

“Stupid mutt,” Adrian insulted. Eberwolf just stuck his tongue out, unbothered.

Now that Eberwolf had joined the fray, they finally decided they were done being nuisances.

“Well, I think the fun is ruined. We should be off,” Hettie casually said, as if they should feel bad for ‘ruining their fun.’ She and Adrian started making their way out of the courtyard and Darius almost sighed in relief until Adrian stopped to have one last bit of fun before making his exit because of course he had to. He turned his attention to Hunter.

“Hey, kid. Before I go, you want to know a cool little sign you can show to Darius when you want him to show you more magic tricks?”

He didn’t wait for an answer before picking up Hunter’s hand and guiding most of his fingers down to show him how to form the sign.

“Don’t worry. He’ll know what it means,” he said before instructing Hunter to point it at the other man.

Hunter was obviously confused, but he still extended his arm to show off his newly learned gesture to Darius.

To say Darius was unamused would be an understatement. He sighed, putting a hand over Hunter’s to push his middle finger down with the others.

“Don’t listen to anything Adrian tells you,” he said, glaring at Adrian.

Adrian snickered and finally, finally left with a smug goodbye and a promise to Hunter that they’d meet again. Darius hoped, for Hunter’s sake as well as his own, that they never would.

“I’m so sorry about that, Little Prince,” Darius said once they left.

Hunter shook his head to tell Darius that it was alright. Darius still felt bad for him, though. It had to be unsettling for an isolated kid to have an encounter like that on the rare occasion he wasn’t trapped in his room.

Then, Darius finally realized that Hunter was, indeed, out of his room.

“Wait, are you allowed to be here right now?” Darius asked. Hunter cocked his head, confused by the question.

“I mean, shouldn’t you be in your room or wherever else you normally hole up in during the day?”

Hunter, still confused, shook his head.

Darius had just assumed that the Emperor didn’t let Hunter roam the castle, but had that been a false assumption? If so, then why had Hunter never taken advantage of that before now? Surely he hadn’t been isolating himself all these years?

“…Nevermind,” Darius simply said, not wanting to let himself into another rabbit hole in the enigma that was Hunter’s life.

Eberwolf let out a small growl from his perch on Darius’ shoulder, reminding him of his presence.

“Yes, yes. Thank you for your help, Eberwolf,” he told him.

Hunter looked at Eberwolf and smiled, making that motion with his hand.

“Hunter thanks you as well,” Darius translated.

Eberwolf smiled back at Hunter before he was suddenly distracted when he caught the scent of something, smelling the air. Eber looked at Hunter curiously before jumping off Darius’ shoulder and scampering over next to the boy and started sniffing him.

“Eberwolf, you’re going to make him uncomfortable,” Darius scolded.

Eberwolf stopped sniffing him, some kind of realization dawning on his face. He glanced back and forth between Darius and Hunter a few times before he started snickering at Darius.

“What in Titan’s name is so funny?” Darius asked, annoyed. Eberwolf ignored him to continue laughing.

Okay, he really didn’t need Eber to start teasing him as well, even if his friendly teasing was much preferrable to the harshness of the other Coven Head’s. Darius sighed, giving up, and put his hand on Hunter’s arm, guiding him out of the courtyard.

“Well, glad to know you’ve found some amusement in this situation. We’re leaving,” he told Eber, who stopped laughing finally but continued to smirk at Darius as they left. He obviously knew something Darius didn’t but he doubted Eber would be willing to share if he thought it was this funny that Darius didn’t know.

Hunter glanced back worryingly at Eberwolf, like he had an idea what he had figured out and was concerned by it. The action did nothing to stave off Darius’ curiosity.

They walked together for a bit before Hunter broke off to go in the direction of his room, waving a goodbye to Darius after thanking him again for showing him the spell. Darius watched him walk away, wondering if Hunter would ever seek him out for anything again. Now that he had gotten what he wanted and knew how the spell worked, surely he had no reason to want to see Darius anymore. That thought caused a painful feeling to start blossoming in his chest.

He tried to push it aside, remembering that he didn’t care. People who don’t care don’t get sad when they think they’ll never see someone again. In fact, he hoped he would never see Hunter again. The kid was just causing him far too much trouble lately.

Still, the reassurance to himself did nothing to free up the weight in his chest as he watched Hunter turn a corner and leave his sight before Darius finally turned around and made his way back to finish the work he had been doing before being disturbed.

Chapter Text

Darius really thought he would go longer without seeing Hunter again, if he truly ever saw him again at all, but he was thoroughly surprised when not even two weeks after their last encounter, the boy showed up again at his door. 

He had been getting ready for bed when there was a knock. He had had a long, busy day and it was already quite late. Glancing up at the clock, he could see it was just past 11PM so who in Titan’s name would be knocking on his door at this time of night?

Begrudgingly, he went over, preparing to answer. Whichever scout or even Coven Head who had deigned to bother him in the middle of his nightly routine would be getting quite the earful. Darius was irritable and just wanted, more than anything, to finish what he was doing and get to sleep so he could avoid being exhausted the entire day tomorrow.

He swung the door open, scowl on his face, ready to snap at the person on the other side when his gaze was drawn downwards and he recognized the sleepy magenta eyes that stared back at him. His anger immediately left him, though he wasn’t sure why. Had it been anyone else, he would have surely not backed down.

“Hunter?” he asked, shocked to see him there.

Hunter glanced away and fidgeted with his gloves, obviously not having expected for Darius to actually answer or perhaps hoping he wouldn’t. Darius looked closer at him. His skin was pale and his breathing was labored. The bags that were normally under his eyes were somehow darker than usual and he was shaking slightly. He looked like he was about to pass out.

Oh. He was sick.

Darius panicked, not thinking about what he was doing, and slammed the door in his face. 

Germs freaked Darius out. A snotty, virus-riddled child showing up on his doorstep was the last thing Darius wanted. Even just looking at Hunter had sent shivers down his spine and he could swear he could physically feel the disgusting germ molecules drifting throughout the air around him. He would have to thoroughly wash and sanitize anything that Hunter might have even set eyes on.

Then, Darius’ head finally cleared from his panic and he realized what he had done. This kid had looked like he was absolutely suffering and, at a loss for what to do, went to seek out help from an adult. For some reason, he had chosen Darius. In reward for gathering up his courage and doing what any reasonable adult would say is the correct course of action, he was met with a door slammed in his face.

But why Darius? The Emperor didn’t seem like the type who would care about a sick child, even if that child was his own, of course, but then why wouldn’t Hunter seek out someone else? Then, Darius realized there probably was no one else. Most people didn’t know he even existed. He likely didn’t have a long list of trusted adults who he could turn to.

What about the Healing Coven, then? Why hadn’t he just gone to the healing wing for some expert spells and potions to cure his illness? Then, Darius remembered that even Hettie had not known about the Emperor’s nephew. Had Hunter never gone to see a healer before? Surely he’s gotten sick or injured at least one other time in his life?

Either way, Hunter had sought out Darius and the immediate guilt that flooded through him at turning Hunter away, especially in such a harsh manner, felt like getting stabbed through the chest. Bracing himself, he turned back to the door and gripped the handle, hand shaking slightly at the idea that he was about willingly expose himself to a child’s illness.

He turned the handle and pulled the door open, just barely catching the body that tumbled forwards into the room. Apparently, after Darius had shut the door, Hunter had passed out against it and that just made Darius feel even worse about his actions.

He had not expected to actually have to touch Hunter, so when he realized that he was now holding him, he felt his skin crawl as if the germ molecules had broken through his flesh and were now dancing inside of him and he shuddered at the feeling. He had already taken a shower that night, but there was no doubt he would be taking another as soon as he dealt with the Little Prince. He took a deep breath and forced himself to pick Hunter up the rest of the way and carried him over to the couch.

The child’s skin was hot, to the point where it severely worried Darius. He set him down and went to grab some cold water and some cloth, bringing it back over and patting it on Hunter’s exposed skin, hoping it would cool him down a little.

In all actuality, Darius had no idea how to care for a sick person. He’d never had to do it before. All his actions from here on out would be based on common sense and what would help him if he were sick, though it has been many years since he had been. That would probably change after tonight, he thought bitterly. 

Hunter woke up again while Darius was trying to cool him down. He watched as his eyes slowly opened and he looked around, confused by the new surroundings. His gaze finally landed on Darius and he seemed to remember that he had come to his room, confusion leaving his face to be replaced by exhaustion.

Darius stood up and went to grab a pain potion from a stash he kept around just in case he didn’t feel like dealing with the healers. He took it back to Hunter and helped him sit up so he could drink it. He wasn’t sure if Hunter was in pain or if the potion would help him in any way, but it probably wouldn’t hurt and it’s not like Darius had much else in his possession to try.

Hunter finished the potion and sank into the couch, sighing. It seemed the potion gave him some kind of relief, then. Darius went back to dabbing cold water on his head and neck, Hunter looking grateful for the coolness against his burning skin.

“How long have you been sick?” Darius asked suddenly. Hunter thought for a moment and held up three fingers.

“Three days? Why didn’t you come here sooner?”

Hunter looked away, ashamed. Darius realized it was an unfair question considering they really didn’t know each other that well. Hunter had probably only come here as a last resort when he felt he couldn’t handle the suffering on his own anymore.

“Nevermind. It doesn’t matter,” he quickly said. Changing the subject, he instead asked, “Why didn’t you go to a healer?”

Hunter looked back at him and opened his mouth like he was about to answer before he quickly snapped it shut again. The action confused Darius. Did Hunter just forget for a second that he couldn’t speak? Or could he speak and really was just choosing not to for whatever reason? Either way, knowing that he had an answer for that question, at least, Darius ignored his curiosity for the time being to grab some nearby paper and a pencil, handing it to Hunter. He quickly scribbled something on it.

Not allowed.

“You…aren’t allowed to see healers? Why?”

Hunter thought for a moment before he shrugged. He didn’t seem bothered that he was never given a reason for such a strange rule.

“What about if you get injured? Surely someone has to take care of you?”

There’s no chance Hunter has never seen a healer. There just wasn’t. Darius’ eyes traced the large scar that adorned his right cheek, knowing that someone had to have attended to that, at least. That must have been a nasty injury. Even if Hunter couldn’t see healers for being sick, he had to at least be allowed to see them for such grievous wounds.

To his horror, Hunter shook his head. 

Darius pointed to his cheek, hoping beyond all hope that Hunter had somehow just forgotten his face was scarred and would reassure Darius that someone had helped patch up the injury.

“Then what about that? You must have seen a healer for that.”

Unfortunately, Hunter shook his head again. He wrote something.

 My fault. Didn’t deserve help.

Darius read those words and felt his blood run cold.

“Are you saying that the Emperor made you patch up your own injury because you got it doing something you weren’t supposed to?”

Hunter nodded. He didn’t look like he thought it was an abhorrent thing to be made to do and that just made Darius even angrier. Even worse was that Hunter thought he deserved it. What could he have possibly done that was bad enough to make him think he deserved to be treated that way?

Actually, it didn’t matter, Darius decided. No matter what had happened, forcing a child to take care of their own injury, especially one that had obviously been very grave and maybe even life threating was unnecessarily cruel and evil. Darius had already hated Belos, but every moment he spent with Hunter just made that hate grow a little more.

Hunter’s eyes suddenly went wide and he threw a hand over his mouth. Understanding what was about to happen, Darius quickly grabbed a nearby trash can and held it up to him. Hunter immediately shoved his head in it, violently vomiting and Darius had to hold back his own gags as he held the can up and rubbed circles on Hunter’s back. 

When Hunter finished throwing up, Darius put the trash can on the floor beside his feet in case he needed it again and got up to grab some tissues. He brought them back to Hunter, who took one and wiped his mouth before discarding it in the trash.

Darius didn’t bother him with any more questions. Hunter needed rest more than anything right now and not to be bombarded about his personal life. Darius thought about letting him rest in his room but ultimately decided it would not be a good idea. Not only would sleeping on the couch not be comfortable enough for someone this sick, but if the Emperor found out he had come here in the first place, Darius was afraid it would get Hunter in trouble. Technically, Hunter wasn’t allowed to see healers and wasn’t breaking that rule by seeking out Darius, but something told Darius that Belos wouldn’t really care about a technicality.

Darius moved back over to his stash of pain potions to grab a few for him in case he needed more throughout the night or the next day. When he returned, Hunter had fallen asleep, still sitting up but head leaning over awkwardly onto the arm of the couch. Darius walked over and picked him up. His germaphobia still kicked in a little at the contact, but Darius’ mind was too preoccupied now to care as much.

He summoned some abomination goo and teleported the two of them to the other side of the castle. It was late but there were still likely scouts patrolling and the last thing Darius needed was for them to see him carrying an unconscious child out of his room. 

Hunter’s room was a bit farther than the translocation spell could reach, but Darius was at least able to get them close. He carried him the rest of the way, using more abomination matter to open the door so he could get into the room. He carefully set Hunter down on the bed and pulled the blanket over him, Hunter subconsciously snuggling into the warmth. Darius then turned to walk out of the room, almost making it back to the door when he stopped himself, an idea occurring to him. Turning back around and looking down at the sleeping child again, Darius formed a spell circle and turned the matter he had on him into a small, sentient abomination and positioned it on Hunter’s nightstand.

“Keep an eye on him. Come get me if anything changes,” he commanded the abomination. It saluted him and turned its attention to Hunter.

Darius turned back around, moving to finally make his way out of the room. Something else stopped him this time, though. Just as he was about to make it past the doorway, the shimmer of metal behind the door caught his eye. He glanced around the door, not sure what he was expecting, exactly, but it certainly had not been the imposing and familiar figure of the Golden Guard staff leaning casually against the wall. He hadn’t noticed it before because the open door partially obscured it, most of it hidden behind the wood and cast in shadow.

Darius took one last glance at the boy on the bed before finally exiting the room, shutting the door behind him and walking the whole way back to the other side of the castle.

Chapter Text

It had been exactly four days since Hunter had come to Darius sick, desperate for any kind of relief. Exactly four days since Darius had seen the Golden Guard staff perched in the corner of Hunter’s room. Four days where Darius found himself thinking about what it meant.

Right now, he was sitting at his desk. He was supposed to be looking through some manuscripts but found his thoughts once again occupied. His eyes were directed at the papers spread out in front of him but he wasn’t really looking at them as he let his mind wander, all but forgetting his work.

Why would the Golden Guard staff be in Hunter’s room? Perhaps they knew each other? It seemed like an unlikely friendship, though. The two were complete opposites. The Guard was an annoying, rude, insufferable brat who effortlessly made everyone he talked to hate his guts. Hunter was a sweet, sad kid who desperately clung to anyone who showed him even an ounce of kindness. Perhaps that was why? Maybe the Golden Guard had done something to make Hunter cling to him just as he had done with Darius?

Darius couldn’t imagine the Guard being nice to that kid, though. The more likely reason they would know each other was much worse. Belos wasn’t exactly a stellar parent, so it wouldn’t be impossible that he ordered the Golden Guard to guard the boy and make sure he didn’t cause any trouble. It would normally be a scout’s job to guard someone who wasn’t the Emperor, but since Hunter was the Emperor’s nephew perhaps the Golden Guard’s duties extended to him as well or perhaps Belos just didn’t trust a normal scout like he trusted his own right-hand man.

It still didn’t explain why the Guard would just leave his staff in Hunter’s room, though. Perhaps the Guard simply was just as negligent in his position as Darius originally thought and had simply leaned it up against the wall and forgotten it. He couldn’t think of any other explanation, so that must be it.

It almost made Darius laugh, not out of amusement at the Guard’s folly, but rather out of annoyance at the disturbing truth should his musings about their relationship turn out to be correct. If the Golden Guard was that close to Hunter, then surely he would know about the Emperor’s mistreatment of him.  Furthermore, the Guard likely saw no problem in this horrid treatment considering he still regarded the Emperor as no less than a god, continuously justifying his actions and insistent that Belos could never do any wrong.

Darius didn’t think he could hate the Golden Guard any more than he already had, and yet here he was, surprised that he managed to do just that. When Darius finally figured out exactly how to take down the Emperor, he would make sure the Guard fell with him. Anyone who saw no problem with mistreating an innocent child deserved to lose everything.

In a way, Hunter could be somewhat of a symbol, a representation of all the people in the Boiling Isles. The Emperor’s mistreatment of his people, the cruel and unjust way he regarded those who were different, manifested itself neatly in his treatment of his nephew. In front of others, the boy was Belos’ pride and joy, a dear child who he would feign love and care for. Privately, the boy was given as much attention as the dust that settled in the hallway outside his room.

But no, that wasn’t fair. To equate the oppression of the Isles to this boy’s suffering didn’t sit right with Darius the more he thought about it. Sure, the people of the Isles deserved better but this real, flesh-and-blood child was forced to live a life of neglect, treated as if his existence only mattered as an extension of the Emperor’s. It was unfair to diminish this boy’s suffering- this boy who had likely first-hand experienced the cold, unforgiving wrath of the Emperor’s hands upon his body, to those who were simply affected at a distance, not having to know what it’s like to live their lives in shadows or feel the overwhelming loneliness and fear at being forced to stitch up your own wounds, knowing that no one would be there to help you through the pain despite the fact that you are just barely tall enough to reach most people’s shoulders.

Part of Darius wished he had never stepped into that study and met the child. Now, his conscience was split, struggling to decide if there were any way possible for him to be of some help to Hunter right now without jeopardizing everything but no matter how many ways he pondered it, he couldn’t come up with a single idea. He could steal Hunter away, perhaps, but where would he take him where the Emperor wouldn’t be able to find him? Belos’ reach was too vast and the risk of Darius getting caught was too great. Surely, it wouldn’t be fair to give up the idea of liberation for thousands of people in exchange for the safety of one child- a safety that couldn’t even be guaranteed- but the idea that Hunter had to be a necessary sacrifice for the good of all the Isles made Darius want to cry out in frustration.

He just didn’t know what to do.

Sighing, he pushed the papers away from him and stood up. He wasn’t going to get anything done like this anyway.

Making his way out of the room and down the halls without a particular destination in mind, he kept his gaze forwards and forced himself to focus on nothing more than the bustle of nearby scouts and the thud of his footsteps across the floor. Eventually he passed by the courtyard, allowing himself to stop and wander out to it. Perhaps a change of scenery would help clear his raging thoughts or at least calm him down a little. Luckily it seemed to be mostly unoccupied save for a few coven members tending to the plants.

The last time Darius had been in the courtyard was when he had shown that spell to Hunter. He did not find himself there often, either being too busy or just simply disinterested, but he desperately needed a change of pace or he would surely lose his mind. He found a bench on the far side of the yard and sat down, trying to admire the beauty of the flowers across from him.

After a few awkward moments, Darius put his head in his hands and groaned. He didn’t care about plants. He didn’t know why he thought this would help. He didn’t have an idea for what else to do, though, seeing as he was too distracted lately to get any work done so he just sat there, leaning over with his face buried in his palms for what must have been at least a few minutes just feeling lost.

“Are you okay?”

Darius had to force himself to try and keep calm at hearing that annoying voice. It was the last voice he wanted to hear right now, the sound making his anger flare up even more. He did not bother lifting his head as he responded.

“Peachy. Now, go away.”

Unfortunately, Darius did not hear the sound of footsteps walking away from him. Instead, the Golden Guard stayed, insistent on bothering Darius further.

“Are you sure? You look upset about something,” he said, with a tone as if he were worried about Darius, though Darius knew that couldn’t be true. 

Darius finally lifted his head to glare at the Guard.

“I’m. Fine. Now leave me alone.” He made sure to make his tone as bitter as possible, hoping the Guard would get the hint.

Unfortunately, he didn’t. He lifted a hand, hesitating before putting it back down, deciding against whatever he had been wanting to do, and grasping his other gloved hand, wringing them together. He looked so nervous, all of a sudden. Darius had never seen the Golden Guard so fidgety before.

“I...If something’s bothering you, maybe I can help?” the Guard asked. Darius almost laughed.

“You can help by leaving my presence. I can feel a headache coming on just from you standing around me,” Darius said, anger fueling his voice. Darius rubbed his temple and clenched his eyes hoping that somehow the Guard would finally, finally leave.

He still didn’t. A few seconds passed where the Golden Guard just stood there, staring at Darius. It’s like he wanted the man to snap at him.

Suddenly, the Guard spoke again.

“Do you…hate me?”

This time, Darius did laugh. What an absurd question.

“Are you just now realizing that? How stupid are you?” he asked, baffled by the ignorance.

The Golden Guard took a step back and lowered his gaze. 

“Oh,” he simply said. “I mean…I thought you did but…I don’t know…”

He stopped speaking, as if he couldn’t find the words. He sighed instead, giving up. The fidgeting of his hands stopped as well, dropped to rest limply at his sides.

It was a strange reaction. It was like the confirmation of Darius’ negative thoughts towards him genuinely saddened him. Darius couldn’t imagine why. He was sure the Guard hated him, too.

“I won’t bother you anymore,” the Guard said, defeated, walking off without another word. Darius did not stop him.

Fantastic. As if his thoughts hadn’t already been a whirlpool of hysteria, now he had this new puzzle to get distracted about.

Did the Golden Guard…not hate Darius? Why? He had been nothing but overtly harsh towards him, regarding him as little more than dirt that dared smear the bottom of his shoe. Furthermore, for that reason, why would he be so despaired at the idea that Darius couldn’t stand him? They constantly bickered whenever they crossed each other’s paths. There wasn’t a single interaction Darius could recall with the Guard where they weren’t stepping on each other’s toes. 

It’s not like it really made a difference, he supposed. The Golden Guard’s feeling towards him did not matter in the slightest. Whether the Guard liked him or not, it didn’t change the fact that he was a wretched person whom Darius couldn’t stand. The situation was just entirely confusing to Darius, and that is why it was now on his mind.

Coming to the courtyard had been the wrong idea to try and clear his head. He sighed and stood up, though he had no idea what to do next. He still had a lot of work but he had no doubt he still wouldn’t be able to get any of it done at the moment.

He opted to just roam around the castle again, watching the moving and bustling of scouts as they passed him in the hallways and observing the everyday happenings of life inside the building. He mindlessly wandered around for a while, eventually finding himself at the front gate. Perhaps his feet knew what he needed more than his brain did.

He left the castle, strolling along until he reached the nearest town. He then took the time to observe the everyday life of those residents, contrasting them against the behavior of those in the castle. Where life in the castle was constantly busy and demanding, the people of the town were more carefree and relaxed. Children played in the streets, vendors called out for customers to view their wares, residents strolled by, chatting with each other and enjoying the fair weather. It was cathartic, in a way, for Darius to experience this new setting in the wake of his twisted consciousness.

Should Darius fail in his efforts, all these people, all the residents in all the Boiling Isles would never get to experience life in this way ever again. Darius may not know Belos’ exact plans yet, but he knew he was planning something terrible, something that would change everything. He had to make sure that wouldn’t happen.

He finally came to a solid decision. The rebellion was far too important to jeopardize for a single child. As terrible as he felt about it, Darius could not help Hunter at the moment. He just had to live with the fact he would let any mistreatment go on just a little bit longer and try to tell himself it would be okay in the end, because should Darius succeed in his effort to bring down Belos, Hunter would be saved, too. There was no other choice. He couldn’t let himself be distracted by the boy any longer.

That was easier said than done, however, when said boy wouldn’t stop unexpectedly popping up into his life.

Darius spent a couple hours in the town until the sun started to fall in the sky and he finally returned to the castle, hoping he would be able to get at least some of his work done now. Unfortunately for him, fate had other plans.

He had just turned into a hall, determined to make it to his room to finish the paperwork he had neglected earlier when he came across Lilith confronting one of the scouts.

“I don’t remember stationing anyone in this hallway. What are you doing here?” she asked, arms crossed and her demeanor cold.

The scout didn’t answer, instead just frantically fidgeted with their gloves and looked down at the floor. Lilith was getting annoyed.

“Look at me when I’m speaking to you and answer my question,” she demanded.

Still, the scout said nothing. Lilith scowled at the lack of respect. Suddenly, without warning, the scout started to dash away.

Lilith did not let it surprise her. She simply sighed and formed a spell-circle, forming a bubble around the scout and pulling them back to her, now imprisoned.

“Wonderful. An intruder, then?” she asked rhetorically. She popped the bubble, the scout crumbling to the floor, and she reached down to quickly knock off the scout’s mask before they could react.

It was Darius’ turn to sigh.

Lilith was staring at Hunter in shock, probably not having expected a child to be behind that mask. She was even more shocked, however, when a string of abomination matter quickly moved to pick the mask up off the floor and place it back onto the boy’s face. Lilith quickly whirled around, finally noticing Darius’ presence.

“Darius? Wha…huh?” she said, too confused to form coherent words apparently. Finally, she composed herself. “What is the meaning of this?” she asked. Darius wasn’t sure which part she was referring to.

“If you’re asking what the kid is doing- that, I have no idea,” he simply said, walking up to the two of them as Hunter moved to pick himself up off the floor. “If you mean what I’m doing, then that answer is easier- I’m saving you the trouble of having to interrogate a kid who can’t talk just to find out you’ve been trying to punish the Emperor’s nephew.”

Lilith was taken aback. “You mean this boy is…,”

“Yes,” Darius interrupted, grabbing Hunter’s left arm when it looked like he was about to try running away again. Hunter attempted to wriggle free, but Darius kept his grip firm.

Addressing Hunter, Darius asked, “What are you doing here, Little Prince? And where in Titan’s name did you manage to get hold of a scout uniform?”

Hunter just continued to try and wriggle free, obviously not interested in attempting to answer Darius’ questions. Darius sighed again.

“Well, I suppose I should report this to the Emperor, then,” Lilith said suddenly. Even if Hunter had not stilled at the statement, Darius still would have immediately shut Lilith’s plan down.

“No,” he said firmly. “The Emperor does not need to be informed of this.”

“Darius, impersonating a scout is a reckless and, might I remind you, illegal stunt. Normally it would result in an immediate trip to the Conformatorium but in this case, I’m sure Emperor Belos would rather know about his nephew’s delinquency so he may punish him himself,” Lilith stated, appalled at Darius’ insistence on keeping quiet about what she considered to be a serious situation.

In all fairness, Lilith probably had no idea what Belos’ idea of punishment for Hunter would be. Darius wondered if it would even matter to her, what with her being so eager to be the perfect little minion to the Emperor. Would Lilith care enough to risk her reputation in Belos’ eyes for the sake of an innocent child? He could only desperately hope so. Sure, Hunter needed to learn not to do things like this, but not in the way Darius imagined he would be subjected to should his uncle find out.

“It’s not that bad, Lilith. I’ll take Hunter back to his room, take back the scout uniform, and then we can all just forget about this, yes? I’m sure he’s learned his lesson,” Darius tried, hoping Lilith would just give up.

Unfortunately, she was not the type.

“No, Darius. I’m taking him to the Emperor,” she firmly stated, taking hold of Hunter’s other arm. She tried to tug Hunter away, but Darius kept his grip on the other arm firm and simply tugged him back.

Darius and Lilith just stood there and stared intensely at each other for a few moments, neither willing to relent and let go of their hold on the boy. Darius could see Hunter looking back and forth between them from the bottom of his vision but refused to put his full attention on him, keeping his eyes on Lilith’s should looking away be taken as a sign of surrender.

“Why are you so insistent on this?” Lilith asked through gritted teeth when Darius did not give up.

“Why are you?” he shot back.

Lilith scanned his face for a few more seconds before she spoke again.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t tell the Emperor of this,” she demanded.

Darius could think of quite a few, though it would be risky to try and tell any of them to Lilith. If he told her, and she still ran off to Belos, he himself could be in a lot of trouble. If Lilith were willing to put a kid in danger for her own selfish wants, then he had no doubt she’d throw in the fact Darius tried to aid in Hunter’s deviance as a little bonus so Belos could stroke her ego further. 

It’s not like he had much of a choice, however. If he didn’t try, they would probably stand in this hallway and stare at each other forever. Lilith was stubborn and Darius knew she would not just give up without an explanation. Darius was just as stubborn. He couldn’t live with himself if he simply relented, knowing he was dooming the boy in his grasp to unjust pain and suffering.

Isn’t that what he had resolved to do, though, when he decided to ignore Hunter’s desperate situation in favor of the rebellion? He knew that before he took Belos down, it was likely the kid would continue to get hurt and neglected so why was he so determined to stop it now?

Lilith mistakenly took his silence as an indication that he couldn’t find an answer. 

“As I thought, there is no good reason. So why you’re so determined to hide this is beyond me,” she stated, triumph in her voice despite the fact that Darius had still not let go of Hunter’s arm.

Darius should let go. He should let go, let her drag Hunter away, and forget about this encounter, getting back to his work and continuing to act like the perfect little Coven Head, not doing anything to jeopardize that. That was what Darius should do. That was what Darius had to do.

And yet the trembling he felt in the arm in his grip would simply not allow him.
 
He reached over with his other hand to lift Hunter’s mask up just enough to prop it on top of his head, exposing his face to Lilith. Darius and Hunter’s only chance right now was convincing her how horrible her idea was.

“Fine. You want a reason?” he asked, putting his hand under Hunter’s chin and moving his head to face forward so his right cheek was directly facing Lilith. He tapped the boy’s scar for emphasis. “How’s this for a reason?”

Lilith looked confused, at first, until it seemed to dawn on her what Darius was trying to tell her.

"Wait, are you saying what I think you are?” she asked.

In answer, Darius simply responded, “Lilith, you cannot tell the Emperor about this.”

In all his years as Coven Head, he never would have imagined he’d be standing there ever pleading with Lilith for something. Yet here he was, practically begging her to let this go. 

Darius could see a myriad of emotions quickly pass across Lilith’s face. Her gaze flickered back and forth between him and Hunter as she thought. She didn’t say anything for a while but Darius waited patiently, the silence hopefully indicating she was internally weighing her options. The fact that she hadn’t immediately returned to arguing with Darius was a good sign, so he would allow her the time she needed to gather her thoughts.

Finally, to Darius’ immense relief, Lilith finally let go of Hunter’s arm and stepped away. She regarded Hunter for a moment longer, her face contorted in sympathy, and simply said, “Okay.”

“But I want that scout uniform back and I better not catch you doing this again,” she told Hunter in warning.

Hunter anxiously nodded. Darius turned his attention on the boy as well.

“Let’s go. I’ll take you back to your room so you can change and hand me that uniform,” he said. Hunter didn’t nod at him but instead tugged back on his arm a little, pulling the mask back down over his face and starting to walk in the direction of his room when Darius let go. Darius thought it strange that he would receive even less of an acknowledgement than Lilith, but nonetheless, he followed Hunter, just hoping he would learn to stay out of trouble from now on.

Chapter Text

Darius walked Hunter to his room but the child seemed to mind his presence quite a bit. At first, Darius had tried to talk to him and for a boy who couldn’t speak anyway, he was really good at showing how much he was, in fact, not listening.

“That was close, Little Prince. You’re lucky Lilith changed her mind,” Darius said.

Hunter crossed his arms and started walking off faster.

What kind of reaction was that? He was acting like he was mad at Darius but that was ridiculous, considering Darius had just saved him from getting in trouble. What kind of grudge could he possibly have against him right now?

“You know, a ‘thank you’ would be appreciated,” Darius said, a little bitter at his attitude.

Hunter didn’t even try to show any acknowledgement, let alone thank Darius. He kept walking as fast as he could to keep himself distanced from him and never turned his head to look back. He was clearly ignoring him.

They finally made it to Hunter’s room and Hunter quickly slipped in and slammed the door. Darius could hear movement and rustling on the other side before the door opened again just enough for a hand to pop out holding the stolen uniform. Darius took the uniform, the hand shot back in, and the door was once again slammed shut.

Why was he being such a brat now? Perhaps he was mad he got caught and was just taking it out on Darius? He would just have to chalk it up to him being a moody teenager, he supposed.

He went back to meet up with Lilith again to hand over the uniform, finding her in an unoccupied room off the hallway they had left her in. She was pacing back and forth, hand on her chin, so lost in thought that she didn’t even notice Darius enter.

“If you don’t sit down, you’re going to burn a hole in the floor,” Darius said, moving closer to her and holding the uniform out for her to take.

Lilith startled at his voice, stopping for only a moment to take the uniform from Darius before resuming her pacing, not acknowledging him any further.

“…Well, then. Goodbye,” he said, turning away and preparing to walk back out.

Lilith was quick to stop him, finally keeping her feet still. “Wait!”

Darius turned back to her, questioningly.

“We need to talk,” she said.

“I assure you, we do not.”

He tried to leave again but Lilith was not having it. She drew a spell circle to slam the door shut before he could walk out and he looked at her angrily at the audacity.

“I really think we do,” she said. Darius huffed and crossed his arms, relenting and waiting for her to continue.

She regarded him for a moment, thinking, before she spoke up again.

“How do you know he’s being abused?”

“I don’t. At least not in a physical way, anyway, but considering the other ways Belos treats him, I consider it a rather likely possibility,” he stated. There was no point in lying to her now.

Lilith suddenly grew angry with him.

“So why haven’t you done anything!?” she asked, frustrated. That made Darius’ own anger resurface.

“What do you mean ‘why haven’t I done anything’? Please, pray tell, what is your brilliant idea of what I’m supposed to do in this situation?” Darius said, voice raised slightly.

Lilith opened her mouth like she was about to retort but snapped it shut, glancing away, obviously trying to wrack her brain for something to say. A few moments passed before she gave up.

“I…I don’t know,” she finally said, furrowing her brow, looking sadly at the ground.

He decided to take pity on her. She was clearly just distressed by this whole situation and he couldn’t blame her. Darius may not like Lilith much anymore, their old friendship long left in the past, but she was at least not as bad as some of the other Coven Heads. There was no doubt if it had been someone like Terra or Adrian in her place, they would not have cared this much about the boy’s predicament.

If Hunter were any other child, the answer would be obvious- they would just take him out of the situation. Hunter wasn’t an ordinary child, though, and Lilith must have finally realized that. He was probably the only kid in the Boiling Isles they didn’t have the power to touch. Now, she was just as lost on a solution as Darius was, likely trying to cope with the fact that there was nothing they could do to help him.

“It’s out of our hands, Lilith,” he simply stated. Lilith sat down on a chair and put her head in her hands. He almost thought she was about to start crying until she lifted it again after a few seconds and started rubbing at her temples, eyes shut as she spoke.

“I suppose it is,” she resigned. Neither of them spoke again because what else was there to say?

Darius took one last look at Lilith and then left. She didn’t stop him this time.

Darius made his way to his own chambers, finally, sitting back down at his desk and staring at the unfinished paperwork on top of it. He groaned, forcing himself to pick up a pen and get to work. If things like this kept happening, then he would never get anything done if he kept using them as an excuse.

What had Hunter even been trying to do? Maybe he was trying to sneak out again and thought it would be easier if he looked like a scout? There was nothing remarkable happening outside the castle tonight, however, so what reason would he have for trying to pull off such a stupid stunt?

And where did he even get the uniform? There were very few people who had access to scout supplies and could just easily take something without anyone noticing. Hunter would have had to somehow make it past a castle crawling with scouts, slip into a supply room that Lilith keeps guarded by at least two more scouts, grab what he wanted, and then make it back out past all the scouts with an obviously stolen uniform in his possession. It was extremely unlikely he managed to do all that.

Maybe someone took it for him? But who would do that? The only people with authority for taking or signing out supplies from that room were, of course, the Emperor, the Emperor’s assistant, the Coven Heads, and a few squadron captains. That was it.

No, wait. There was one other person who could.

Unfortunately, if anyone did steal a uniform for Hunter, Darius had to imagine it would have been the Golden Guard. As unlikely as it was, it was still a more likely possibility than anyone else on that list who could have and he already knew the Guard and Hunter were acquainted in some way.

Why would he do that, though? It seemed out of character for a guy whose entire life’s purpose was to please the Emperor to risk everything just so a kid could run around and play soldier. It didn’t make sense.

Darius forced himself to stop thinking about it for now. Any amount of musing was unlikely to get him closer to an answer.

He managed to get through some of the paperwork, at least, a few hours having passed since the encounter in the hallway, when he heard a knock on his door. He looked out his window at the darkened sky and then up at his clock that read 11:21PM. Begrudgingly, he stood up to answer the door, walking over and throwing it open without ceremony.

Lilith didn’t even bother to greet him as she slipped into the room, much to Darius’ shock. He closed the door, too confused by her audacity to just enter his chambers without being welcomed in to react in a more appropriate manner.

She quickly turned to him, wringing her hands together.

“That uniform wasn’t stolen,” she simply said.

“What do you mean?” he asked. “Of course it was stolen.”

“I checked over the inventory in the supply room and every uniform we are supposed to have is accounted for. Someone must have loaned it to him.”

It wasn’t surprising, considering the fact that Darius had already come to the conclusion that someone had gotten the uniform for Hunter, though the idea that they would risk giving him their own was quite a shock. That meant that some scout was now down a uniform, which meant it wouldn’t be hard to pick out which one was helping him.

“Why would a scout risk letting him borrow their uniform?” Darius asked, hoping Lilith might have more insight. Unfortunately, she seemed just as confused.

“They wouldn’t,” she stated, “Scouts only get one uniform and I doubt they would just hand it off to some kid.”

So they had come to the same conclusion, then. It would have been easier to accept some random scout had given him the uniform if it weren’t for the fact they only owned one each. That just brought Darius full circle back to his first idea of who was helping Hunter.

“Then, let’s say, there was someone who owned a scout uniform but no longer needed it. That would probably be who he borrowed it from,” Darius said, hoping Lilith would pick up what he was implying and draw the same conclusion. Maybe it would seem like less of a ridiculous idea if someone else saw it, too.

“But who…,” Lilith thought for a moment. “You mean someone who used to be a scout but is no longer one? There’s not many. Leaving the Emperor’s Coven is nearly impossible without being branded a traitor.”

Darius was getting impatient. 

“Then maybe someone who is still in the Emperor’s Coven,” he suggested.

Lilith thought for another minute before it appeared to finally dawn on her. After all, there was only one person Darius could be referring to.

“That’s…impossible,” she stated in disbelief. Then, she started to consider it more. “It’s the only explanation, though. He would be the only person who owned an extra scout uniform that wouldn’t be counted in the castle’s official inventory list anymore…” She started pacing again as she worked out her thoughts out loud. She was really bad about doing that.

“The uniform also seemed to fit Hunter fairly well and they both look to be about the same size…,” she continued. “Why would he do that, though? What’s the purpose?”

That’s exactly the question Darius had been pondering earlier. It made sense that the uniform would be the Golden Guard’s if they could just figure out why he would do such a thing.

Lilith was still pacing, talking out loud but Darius wasn’t sure if she was talking to him or talking to herself. Suddenly she stopped, face brightening up in some kind of epiphany.

“What is it?” Darius asked, curious as to what she had been able to figure out.

“What if…,” she started but stopped, thinking again to try and collect her thoughts so she could articulate them in a coherent way. 

She tried again. “Hunter isn’t allowed to roam around the castle. He’s probably kept cooped up in his room all day and not allowed to see anyone. What if the Guard gave him the uniform so he could explore the castle without getting caught?”

Darius remembered Hunter’s confusion when he assumed he wasn’t allowed to be out of his room back when they were in the courtyard together. If that assumption was false, then Lilith’s explanation couldn’t be the reason.

“I don’t think that’s the case, though. I don’t think Belos forbids him from wandering around.”

Lilith looked confused by that, and reasonably so. She thought some more.

“Maybe he’s not expressly forbidden from it, but just reluctant to for some reason? Maybe donning the uniform gets rid of that excuse somehow?

Darius considered the idea for only a moment. It seemed like a stretch. 

“Okay, let’s say that’s true and Hunter can’t or won’t run around freely without a disguise most of the time. You’re saying that the Guard risked giving his old uniform to Hunter so he could have a little bit of freedom just, what, out of the goodness of his heart?” Darius scoffed. The idea was simply ridiculous.

“Why else would he do it?” Lilith asked. It was a good question and Darius did not have an answer.

Was it possible that the Golden Guard wasn’t as okay with Hunter’s treatment as much as he assumed he was? Had he really seen this poor, isolated kid and decided to risk his position and the Emperor’s favor just to make him a little happy? Maybe he had been originally ordered to guard Hunter but they actually did end up becoming friends. Maybe Darius didn’t understand the Golden Guard as much as he thought he did.

It was still all just a theory, though. They couldn’t even be completely sure that the uniform had actually been the Guard’s. For all they knew, Hunter could have obtained it some other way.

“We could ask,” Darius suddenly said. Lilith looked at him, confused.

“Hunter didn’t seem interested in telling you what was going on before. I doubt he’d have changed his mind,” she said.

“Not Hunter,” Darius continued. “I meant that we could ask the Golden Guard.”

Lilith’s eyes widened in realization, like that was not a solution she had thought of.

“I suppose, but if we’re wrong… what if he tells the Emperor that we hid this?”

“We don’t have to mention details. We could just find out if the uniform is his, first, and then work out the rest from there,” he stated. It would probably be their best course of action if they wanted to figure this out.

Lilith considered her options before finally settling on the idea. “Alright,” she said, “I’ll find a time for us to meet with him and then we’ll confront him about the situation. Hopefully we can get some answers.”

Darius nodded in agreement. Lilith left after that with the promise she would inform Darius on a time and day when they would meet with the Guard.

Chapter Text

A few days later, Darius received word that Lilith was finally able to find a good time for the three of them to meet. She sent word to the Golden Guard requesting his presence that day and later, the three of them found themselves together in an unoccupied meeting room.

“You wished to see me?” the Guard asked upon entering the room where they had been waiting for him.

“Yes,” Lilith started. “We needed to ask you about something.”

The Guard seemed annoyed by that. 

“You called me here just to ask a question? I’m very busy so it better be important.”

Darius replied, impatient at the immediate attitude, “It’s important, don’t worry.” Of course he was going to be annoying first thing after stepping into the room. Darius shouldn’t have expected anything less.

Lilith brandished the scout uniform. “Is this yours?” she asked, getting straight to the point.

“No,” the Guard replied, a little too quickly.

Darius didn’t believe him and he knew Lilith didn’t either with the way she immediately scowled at his answer.

“Then perhaps you could prove it? If your old uniform is still in your possession, then show it to us,” she said.

“I don’t have to prove anything to you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.” The Golden Guard turned and started walking out of the room but as he reached his hand out to turn the door handle, abomination goo seeped into the crack between the wall and the door, sealing it. Darius put his finger down as the Guard turned back to them.

“You can’t just keep me here,” he stated, hoping they would suddenly change their minds and let him go.

“Unfortunately, this is a delicate matter that needs to be settled. If you are unwilling to prove that this uniform is not yours, we are going to have to assume it is. So, what will it be?” Lilith asked, unrelenting.

The Guard stared at them for a few seconds, thinking. His silence was really the only answer they needed because given that ultimatum, he shouldn’t have still been so reluctant just to show them his uniform. 

“…And what if it is?” he asked, “What happens then?”

As much as Darius would have liked to get the Golden Guard in trouble for such an act, just to finally put him in his place, he couldn’t, because that would mean Hunter would get into trouble as well. So, Darius, unfortunately, had to reassure him.

“Nothing will happen. We just want to know the truth.”

The Guard contemplated for a moment longer, trying to think if he had any other option at the moment besides telling the truth. Finally, he gave up and sighed.

“It’s mine,” he confirmed.

So that was one of their theories proven correct, then. Now, they just had to figure out why he did it. Darius opened his mouth to ask but the Guard spoke again before he could, his voice suddenly frantic.

“You can’t tell anyone! Please,” he begged and Darius was shocked. Never would he have imagined the high-and-mighty Golden Guard would be standing there begging them for something.

“We won’t,” Lilith reassured, putting a hand up, hoping to calm him down. “We just want to know why you gave it to Hunter in the first place.”

The Guard’s franticness quickly left him as he cocked his head, confused by Lilith’s words.

“Wait…you don’t know…,” he started, attempting to get his thoughts together. “You think I gave it to…?” A few seconds of silence passed by before he tried again.

“Yes, that’s what happened,” he said matter-of-factly.

Yeah, Darius was not buying that. It’s what he had assumed happened but he certainly didn’t believe that’s what happened now. Not only did the Guard not even answer Lilith’s query, too blind-sighted by the assumption he had given the uniform to Hunter, but he had too easily claimed it as fact, not even attempting to deny it in the slightest. He obviously just believed it was a better alternative than whatever he thought they knew before.

But then what in Titan’s name could be worse than the Golden Guard letting a child run around in his old scout uniform? What had he assumed they knew, if not this, that was dire enough to where he felt the need to beg them to keep it secret? 

Lilith stared at the Guard for a minute, making him squirm slightly. 

“You didn’t tell me why,” she pointed out and the Guard jumped at the reminder he had to make up some kind of excuse.

“I…uh…,” he tried, wracking his brain for something that might make sense. Finally, he threw his hands up in frustration. “Why do you care, anyway? It’s not a big deal.”

It’s good to know what a terrible liar he was, Darius supposed. It was making this a lot easier. It would be even easier, though, if he wasn’t also terribly stubborn.

“Actually, it is a big deal,” Darius started. “You’re just lucky that we’re only curious and that we haven’t already run off to the Emperor to inform him of your behavior. That can change, though,” he warned.

It wouldn’t change but it’s not like the Golden Guard needed to know that.

The Guard stilled at the idea they would report him to Belos, obviously terrified at the thought, before he looked down, fidgeting with his gloves. He didn’t respond immediately but they allowed him time to put his thoughts together. Darius was surprised that his threat didn’t make the Guard jump to explain himself. What was he trying so desperately to keep a secret to where a threat to report him to his precious Belos wasn’t enough to make him talk?

Suddenly, the Guard finally spoke up again.

“You can tell the Emperor about the uniform,” he informed.

That response took both Darius and Lilith by surprise. Apparently, this secret was so important he was willing to risk the Emperor’s wrath over it. Perhaps the truth was something that would lead to an even greater punishment?

Lilith recovered from her shock. “We will,” she stated. Darius knew she was lying but perhaps the confirmation would scare the Guard enough to change his mind.

He didn’t. He simply nodded in acknowledgement of her decision.

“Now, may I leave?” he asked, not waiting for an answer before turning back to the door. Darius removed the abomination matter sealing the entryway and allowed him to go. They weren’t going to get anything else out of him, anyway.

Lilith sighed after he left and put a hand over her eyes in frustration.

“A lot of good that did. Now I’m just more confused than I was before.”

“You and me both,” Darius agreed.

They went their separate ways after that, not bothering to deliberate further. Both of them had far too much to think about on their own.

The Guard’s odd behavior was perplexing, and Darius wondered how much he really knew about him. He had immediately pegged him as an unjust, unfeeling extension of the Emperor’s wrathful right arm and yet he had done something he knew would make the Emperor angry with him.

But the Guard hadn’t given Hunter the uniform. That much was clear. So how did Hunter get a hold of it and why did the Guard think he would still get in trouble? Unless the Guard wasn’t worried about himself getting in trouble.

All the Golden Guard had confirmed was that the giving of the uniform was not a mutual exchange, but it still could have been stolen. If Hunter had stolen the Guard’s uniform, perhaps the Guard had been worried that Hunter would get in trouble. When they incorrectly assumed that Hunter hadn’t stolen it, the Guard quickly jumped on the opportunity, putting the blame on himself for the boy’s behavior.

Was he protecting Hunter? Was the Golden Guard, loyal servant to the Emperor, really taking the fall and risking his favored position in the Emperor’s Coven in order to protect some kid?

It didn’t make sense, though. The Golden Guard was cruel and unjust. It seemed out of character for him to do something like that.

Wait, no. Darius thought about every interaction he’d ever had with the Guard. He considered him to be a cruel person simply because he worked for the Emperor, but he hadn’t actually ever done anything to indicate he was truly as evil as the man on the throne. He was simply annoying at best. Any thought that he had overtly cruel intentions had only ever been assumptions on Darius’ part. 
 
He really knew nothing about him, did he? Spending years working in a castle full of the most awful types of people had gotten Darius into the habit of being untrusting, only seeing the worst in others and not looking any deeper into anything. He had taken one look at the Golden Guard and had immediately drawn the worst conclusions, only it was worse because of Darius’ own skewed perceptions of what he should be like based on the actions of a man long since gone. 

It was true that the Golden Guard’s only real crime was that he wasn’t Darius’ mentor. He had been holding a grudge against him for something that wasn’t even his fault. Darius still didn’t think he was as good a Golden Guard as his mentor was, but otherwise, he hadn’t actually done anything wrong but be kind of annoying. Claiming he was inherently bad just because he followed Belos’ orders was a bit hypocritical, considering Darius did the same thing.

He certainly had a lot to think about.

A few more days later, Darius found himself still plagued by his guesses and assumptions about the puzzle of a situation. It was driving him crazy to not have any answers. At a loss for what to do, he found himself sitting in a corner alcove in his bedroom, ranting to Eberwolf about everything. Eberwolf was really the only other person in the entire castle Darius trusted enough to be honest with.

He finished his rant, hoping his thoughts came across clear enough to where they didn’t just confuse the demon but he knew it was a long shot since his own thoughts confused Darius.

“I just don’t know what to do…,” he said, slouching back into his chair, putting a hand over his eyes and sighing. He probably looked a bit pitiful right now, he imagined. 
 
 Eberwolf growled at him.

Darius startled. “What!? I can’t just ask him. What makes you think he’d tell the truth? He has no reason to trust me.”

More growls.
 
“What a ridiculous idea. I may or may not have made some biased assumptions, but that doesn’t mean I’m willing to apologize. I don’t owe him anything.”

Eberwolf just stared at him for a second before snarling.

Darius sighed again. “No, I don’t have any other ideas.” Suddenly, Darius had an epiphany.

“Why should I care so much anyway? Whether or not the Guard is as bad as I thought, it’s not like I want to make friends with him. He’ll still be the same annoying person whom I simply cannot stand.”

He had been so perplexed by the situation, he hadn’t even considered the fact that the truth really didn’t matter. What was he going to do once he knew it? Absolutely nothing, probably.

Eberwolf chuckled, seemingly making fun of him, and growled some more in response.

That was…true, he supposed. The Guard’s odd behavior itself may not have been what originally caused Darius’ mind to spiral, but rather the fact that it centered around Hunter. He needed to know what their relationship was and why the Golden Guard was so concerned about protecting him.

Wait, no. Darius shook his head. Why was the fact that Hunter was involved the reason he cared? The kid meant nothing to him. He made sure to tell that to Eber, who simply burst out into a giggling fit at his words.

“Stop laughing. It’s not funny.”

The demon did not stop laughing and Darius grumbled. Maybe talking to Eberwolf hadn’t been the best idea.

Finally, the demon managed to compose himself, growling again at Darius.

“I have not gotten attached. Not only do I detest children, but I’ve only met the boy a couple of times,” he argued, though Eberwolf still clearly did not believe him.

Whatever. He didn’t have to try and explain himself to this demon.

It was a ridiculous notion. Darius simply did not care about others anymore. He vowed to never let himself get close to anyone ever again after the brutal loss of the previous Golden Guard. The only real exception to that was Eberwolf, but only because they had been friends before Darius’ mentor had disappeared. He certainly wasn’t about to let himself get close to some kid, especially when said child is the family of the man he was trying to overthrow. The last thing Darius needed was to somehow make things even harder for himself than they already were.

Eventually, Eberwolf left. Talking to the demon had not helped Darius in the slightest. In fact, it only gave him more to think about. Sighing, he decided he needed some fresh air, making his way to a closed-off balcony in an upper portion of the castle. It wasn’t a place he found himself going to as much as he used to.

The balcony was a special place for him. Back when Darius first arrived at the castle, the balcony had become a sort of rendezvous point with his mentor- a quiet place they could talk about things that weren’t related to their work in the castle. The walk there flooded him with memories of his dearest friend, almost making him want to turn back to avoid the miserable feelings they gave him. It had been such a long time since he’d been up there, though, and perhaps it would help him to reminisce a little, alone with nothing but the breeze of the open air and twinkling of the stars in the sky to keep him company.

That would have been the ideal scenario. Unfortunately, Darius was on a very unlucky streak lately in getting what he wanted.

He opened the door and stepped out onto the balcony just to be greeted with the sight of the new Golden Guard, his back turned towards him and looking out into the sky, as if he were searching for answers in the stars as well.

He could turn back now, hoping the Guard hadn’t noticed him yet. Darius was really not allowed to get what he wanted, though.

“It’s a nice night, isn’t it?” the Guard asked, still turned away from him.

“It’s…alright, I suppose,” Darius answered. There was nothing that interested him less right now than small talk, especially with the Golden Guard.

Now would be a good time to ask the Guard more questions, however. It’s unlikely he would want to answer any of them, but Darius’ curiosity was too heightened for him to not even try. 

Hesitantly, Darius moved closer to the edge where the Guard was leaning up against the railing. He stood next to him, looking up at the stars as well so he wouldn’t have to look at the Guard and risk losing his nerve. It was an odd feeling, being up here like this. The last time Darius stood on this balcony, it had been with the previous Golden Guard and now here he was again, in the exact same position with the new one instead.

He steeled himself, opened his mouth, and immediately shut it again when the Guard spoke before he could get a word out.

“Why do you hate me?”

It was such an unexpected question that Darius found his head spinning for a few seconds before he could even try to come up with an answer. Before, his response would have been simple but now that he had already been through the process of trying to ask himself that question about the Guard, he had no idea what to say. Through all his deliberations, he couldn’t come up with a single, reasonable answer.

“I…don’t know,” Darius simply said.

The Guard turned to him and cocked his head.

“You don’t know?”

His confusion was reasonable, Darius supposed. He really didn’t want to have to try explaining himself to him right now, though. He could just throw out any excuse he would have said before, but that just seemed unfair. Besides, Darius had his own questions for the Guard. It wouldn’t do him any good to insult him right before he had the chance to ask any of them.

So instead, Darius decided to take Eberwolf’s advice, though he would never let the demon know lest he tease him about it.

“I believe I have maybe…misjudged you,” Darius said, hoping he wouldn’t have to elaborate.

Of course, the Guard wouldn’t just take that as an answer. 

“In what way?”

Darius sighed. He may as well get this over with.

“The previous Golden Guard- your predecessor- was my mentor,” he began. “He was a powerful witch and I looked up to him. I may have been unfairly comparing you to him.”

“So…you’ve been mean to me just because I’m not your mentor?”

Darius finally looked at him, irritated. He was not about to put all the blame on Darius as if he hadn’t still been an overly cocky wretch this entire time.

“You weren’t exactly making it easy to get along with you,” Darius said, a slight bitterness seeping into his tone.

The Guard thought about his words. “I…guess that’s fair,” he finally said after some deliberation.

They stood in silence for a few minutes. Darius finally re-steeled his nerves to start his interrogation. He’d have to be subtle about it, though.

“How do you know Hunter?” Darius asked, mentally facepalming. Smooth. That definitely wouldn’t catch him off guard.

The Golden Guard stilled, not replying for a few seconds out of surprise.

“I…don’t,” he said.

“You are a terrible liar, you know that?” Darius scoffed.

The Guard huffed at the comment. “Well, it doesn’t matter because its none of your business, how about that?” He crossed his arms and pointedly turned his head away from Darius and it almost made him laugh. It was such a childish reaction coming from the Emperor’s right hand man.

“You’re also a brat,” Darius couldn’t help but mention.

The Guard turned back to him and regarded him for a moment. 

“Why do you care anyway?”

It was a good question and one Darius was hoping he wouldn’t ask. He shouldn’t care. He wasn’t sure why he did.

“Only curious,” he simply said.

The Guard cocked his head again in question, seemingly thinking about something.

“Do you care about…him?”

The way he phrased it was strange, as if he hadn’t been sure how to refer to Hunter.

“It seems unfair for you to start asking questions when you refuse to answer mine,” Darius said, dodging the question.

The Guard simply hummed in thought and turned his face back to the stars. It seemed they were at an impasse. After a few minutes of silence, the Guard turned around and started walking back to the door. 

“Goodnight, Darius,” he said reaching the door. Before he turned the handle, however, he hesitated, turning back to Darius again for a moment.

“You know, I’m not saying you care or anything, but I heard Hunter’s been really sad lately because he can’t get his hands on any sweets.”

He turned back around and opened the door, waving his hand dismissingly at Darius behind him.

“Just an aside. Poor guy. It’s a shame there’s no one who cares enough to get him some.”

With that, he finally left.

It was obvious bait. Darius wasn’t stupid. There was no way he was going to go out of his way to the market, spend his own money on tooth-rotting junk, walk all the way back to the castle, navigate all the way over to Hunter’s secluded little corner, sneak into his room, and leave some sweets there for him to find later just to prove the Golden Guard’s theory correct.

That’s what he had told himself but as he stared at the bar of chocolate now sitting on Hunter’s bed, he couldn’t help but wonder what in Titan’s name had gotten into him lately.

Chapter Text

Darius stalked through the castle hallways, flitting about from task to task as he always had, purporting as the hard-working, loyal Coven Head he’d always been. He got his work done. He took orders from the Emperor. He secretly planned a rebellion. Things were the same as they always had been.

There was one key difference, though.

Darius was a hardened man, living out his years in the jaws of the beast, unable to allow any weakness to show through should he be chewed up and devoured. He had learned to be untrusting. He had learned to lie. He had learned that it was best to always assume the worst in people.

Most importantly, he learned not to care about anyone but himself.

When Darius had first joined the Abomination Coven many years ago, he had not fully understood the dangers that lurked in every shadow that stretched around the corners of the castle halls. He had been too naïve, too trusting, too weak, to protect himself as if he were a meek and powerless prey who found themselves suddenly thrust into the den of direwolves.

Yet, despite the odds, he had managed to find a light in the darkness. The Golden Guard had taken him under his wing, taught him all he needed to know, protected him from the lurking threats of the snakes who resided within the castle walls. He was his mentor, his best friend, his savior, his family and yet it meant nothing in the end. All too quickly after that precious light had entered into his life, it had been snuffed out, the Golden Guard becoming nothing more than a memory, leaving Darius cold, alone, and broken.

He never found out what happened to him but he had an inkling. Before his sudden disappearance, the Guard had been on edge, as if the dangers in the shadows no longer lurked around the corners, but rather engulfed the entire castle and its residents, spreading its roots out into the Isles as a whole. He wouldn’t tell Darius what it was at first, until one fateful night he had come to his room in the dead of night to sit him down and tell him the truth of what he knew about the man on the throne. He had been frightened, more frightened than Darius had ever known him to be. When he was done, he got up and left, saying goodbye to Darius as if it was the last goodbye they would ever share and unfortunately it had been, the news of the missing Golden Guard spreading throughout the castle the very next afternoon.

In one swift motion, everything that Darius ever cared about was gone, stolen away from him and leaving him with nothing more than a cracked heart that he desperately wished to just rip out of his chest and throw away, intent on never letting it hurt him again. When he couldn’t do that, he decided he would just have to build up and fortify the walls around it so as to not let anyone shatter it further.

He was not a man who let himself get close to anyone anymore and his interactions with the vile beings who made up the Emperor’s circle, bending to the man’s every whim, intent on helping contribute to his horrid treatment of the people of the Isles, had only proven to him that he was correct in not letting himself feel anything. He didn’t care about anyone and no one cared about him. Until now, that is.

He couldn’t shake the clingy, quiet, blond kid who had attached himself to his side, popping up in his mind and his life more so than anyone had ever done in years. He hadn’t seen Hunter again for a month at this point, but that didn’t mean the boy had forgotten about him. It wasn’t rare that Darius would return to his room after a long, exhausting day of work to find little notes slipped underneath his door. Sometimes, they would be telling Darius about something interesting he found in a book. Sometimes, they would be telling Darius about something that happened that day or something interesting he had seen. Sometimes, they were nothing more than crude drawings, scribbled quickly onto an otherwise empty page by a child who just wanted to be seen.

Darius kept every single one. Every single note that had ever been slipped under his door was neatly folded and kept in a box on his shelf, waiting to inevitably be joined by even more. As he looked at the note from that day, a small doodle of an abomination, held gently in Darius’ hand, he smiled, moving to add the note to his keepsakes. He opened the lid, placed the paper gently inside, and suddenly had an epiphany.

He cared.

Despite the tall and heavy walls he had built up around his heart, he had somehow managed to let his defenses just down enough for this kid to slip through, making a home beside the beating organ as if it wasn’t a hollow and broken piece of a shell of a man but rather a warm and inviting home in which he could feel safe and loved.

Darius wasn’t sure why it had happened. He had been so careful, so thoroughly intent on never letting himself care about anyone again and yet he had failed, despite the years being cruel and unjust to him, making him believe there was no one left in the world he would ever want to let in his life.

Perhaps it was the fact that Darius had spent years in the cesspool of villainy and malice that enveloped the castle that he had just been blind sighted by finding someone who had done the same and yet remained unaffected by the blackened ichor of depravity that changed anyone who came into contact with it. Hunter had grown up in the castle, raised by the most wicked man in the Isles, and yet the boy himself was nothing like the Emperor or the cruel denizens who gravitated around him. Perhaps some innate part of Darius, upon finding a thread of innocence still clinging onto this deadened imperial life, had felt desperate to protect it before it was inevitably severed, just as his mentor had desperately tried to do for him but failed.

It had surprised Darius to meet the Emperor’s nephew and find that he was not just a mini-version of his uncle but rather a sad but friendly kid who was fascinated by oddities most people found uninteresting, who liked to read and learn about anything and everything, and who liked to write out simple little notes for no other reason than because he wanted to share his thoughts with Darius.

That second night in the study when Darius had been alone with Hunter for the first time, the boy had sat right next to him and, at the end of the night, smiled at him, too trusting, too naïve to regard him as a threat, even when Darius had scared him just before that. He reminded him of himself when he first entered the castle before life there thoroughly changed him and forced him to be wary of any new interaction.

The Coven Day Parade had truly been the catalyst, however, when Darius had been too soft to allow this child who was far too weak and sheltered to wander around alone, fearing for his safety as if it was something that should have mattered to him. It must have been the turning point for Hunter as well, the boy suddenly latching himself onto Darius’ kindness towards him and reminding Darius that perhaps in a castle enveloped by the ever-growing shadows, there could still exist a sliver of light.

Darius now found himself unexpectedly wrapped around the finger of a child, of all people. He had protected him from danger, spent months agonizing over how to save him, risked getting himself in trouble in order to keep him from getting hurt, bought him gifts, took care of him when he was sick, and kept what should have been meaningless and unimportant scraps of paper with words and pictures scribbled onto them tucked carefully away in an ornate box for safe keeping.

Darius cared about Hunter.

He had been trying to deny it for so long but he couldn’t anymore. This was not a good thing, however. Darius, more than anything, did not want to care. All caring had ever done was gotten him hurt and yet he foolishly allowed himself to get close to the one person who would inevitably cause it to happen again.

He was already getting hurt by caring about Hunter, knowing that he was powerless to keep him away from neglect and abuse by the person who was supposed to care about him. How long would it be before Darius’ feelings got in the way and he did something reckless, jeopardizing his mission for rebellion? Would that be what would happen or would Darius just allow his heart to continue to break further, never doing anything to help the person he cared about, until nothing was left of the useless organ but shattered fragments on the floor?

He was desperate. He was spiraling. He had no idea how to handle this new information.

There was a knock on his door.

Lilith greeted him from the other side, unaware of his recent internal struggle, though the dark circles under her eyes made him think she was having one of her own.

“Can you show me to Hunter’s room?” she asked, like she had been debating asking that question for a long time and had finally made the decision to.

“Why?” he questioned.

“Please? It’s important.” She didn’t elaborate but the pleading look in her eyes made him relent.

They walked together to the farthest corner of the castle, Lilith looking as uncomfortable as Darius had first felt at realizing how isolated the room was. They came upon Hunter’s door and Lilith hesitantly raised her fist and knocked.

There were a few seconds of silence before Hunter answered, looking up at them confused, probably not used to getting visitors.

Lilith did not waste time, as forward and brash as usual, immediately asking him what had apparently been on her mind since she found it out.

“Does the Emperor physically abuse you?”

“Lilith!” Darius exclaimed, shocked she would just outright ask something like that. What if she frightened Hunter or made him worry for his safety since this was something they were clearly not meant to know?

Hunter, also shocked by the question, stared at Lilith for a few seconds before shaking his head. Darius would have assumed he was lying but the expression on the boy’s face gave him pause. Hunter’s brow was furrowed slightly and his eyes expressed his genuine confusion at her inquiry, as if it was the most absurd suggestion he had ever heard.

Still, Darius asked, “Are you lying?”

Hunter shook his head again, looking Darius in the eyes as he did it.

Lilith regarded the boy in the doorway for a moment, as if she were searching for any hint that he wasn’t telling the truth. When she didn’t see any, she simply said, “That was all I needed to know. Thank you,” and sauntered off.

Hunter looked at Darius questioningly. Darius did not try to clarify the situation, though. It’s not like he knew why Lilith had suddenly decided to ask such a thing.

“We’re sorry to have bothered you, Little Prince. Get some rest.” He turned and walked away as well, a few seconds passing before he finally heard the door close behind him, and he caught up to Lilith, grabbing her arm and forcing her to stop.

“What was that!?” he questioned.

She just looked at him with a neutral expression.

“This has been bugging me for too long Darius. I had to know the truth.” She ripped her arm away from him. “Besides, doesn’t it make you feel better to know that’s not what’s happening?”

“We still can’t know that for sure. He could have been lying to protect his uncle,” though Darius didn’t even believe that statement himself. The shock and confusion evident on Hunter’s face at Lilith’s suggestion that Belos would hurt him couldn’t have been easily faked.

Lilith didn’t believe it either, coming to the same conclusion as Darius. “I don’t think he was, Darius.”

He regarded her, still angry that she would even risk such a thing just to satisfy her own curiosity.

“And what would you have done if this had gone a different way? What if you just managed to confirm he was being harmed?”

“I probably would have kept trying to ignore the situation,” she answered honestly. “At least now I don’t have to feel like a terrible person about doing so when we had been wrong in the first place.”

It didn’t matter if they had been wrong about this. They were still terrible people.

“It’s not like Belos isn’t hurting him in other ways, Lilith. Just because he doesn’t hit him doesn’t mean he isn’t abusing him.”

Her expression fell slightly, though not like she hadn’t thought of that already but rather was just upset at being reminded of it.

“I know but at least this is one less thing to worry about.”

She walked off, not wanting to explain herself any further. Darius didn’t care. He had nothing more to say to her, anyway.

It’s not as if he didn’t understand her point. The fact that Hunter wasn’t being subjected to physical trauma was still a massive reassurance, even if the rest of his life was an obvious mess. Maybe Darius was a terrible person, but knowing that Hunter would be safe in that aspect, at least, made it easier to justify his unwillingness to get involved.

He would continue his efforts to take Belos down, liberate the Boiling Isles, and save Hunter, knowing that he wouldn’t be getting his body scarred more than it already was from the hands of a cruel and unforgiving man in the time it took for the rebellion to succeed. He would just have to deal with the scars in his mind in the aftermath.

Would that be Darius’ job? If the rebellion succeeded and the Emperor fell, Hunter would have nowhere to go. They only saw each other now because they lived in the same castle and even then, it was not a common occurrence. If they no longer had that shared environment, would they never see each other again? Would Darius have to come to terms, once again, with the fact that caring for other people was a wasted effort, the action only causing agony and hurt once the light that had entered the darkness of Darius’ life was eventually ripped away?

Perhaps it didn’t matter. Even if Darius never saw him again, at least he could know he was safe from the terrible life he had lived in the castle. It wouldn’t be true heartbreak if Hunter survived and went on to be happy- not like before when the cause of Darius’ grief was a likely death. So, that’s what Darius would hope for. If anything, he could save Hunter from his abusive uncle and find him a home with someone who would care for him and Darius could forget about the boy, returning to his cold and indifferent manner towards others. 

Would Hunter care? Surely, he only cared about Darius now because he was the only person who paid attention to him. If he found other people who wanted to care about him too, then perhaps he wouldn’t have a hard time realizing how much Darius did not deserve to be cared about in that way and forget about him. It would be for the best if that happened. Perhaps Darius would be hurt, but Hunter would be happy and carefree, living the life he had always deserved. 

Darius went back to his room and went to bed, falling asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Two weeks later, he had still not seen Hunter again. If it weren’t for the constant string of notes under his door, he would have assumed the boy finally got tired of him. He wondered if there was something keeping him occupied all this time or perhaps he just wouldn’t seek out Darius unless he had a real reason to. It’s not as if Hunter ever came to his door just to chat. He had only ever stopped by when there was something he wanted or needed.

It made sense, he supposed, for an isolated kid to not want to show his face around too much. He still wasn’t sure why he was isolated in the first place, though. If he was truly not allowed to roam the castle, then it would make more sense if he was trying not to get in trouble. It was possible that that wasn’t the case, though. If he was worried about getting into trouble, he wouldn’t have been so willing to break that rule for a simple magic demonstration or just because he was ill. If Hunter was just choosing not to wander around, that made less sense, because Darius could not fathom why he would do such a thing to himself or why it would matter if people saw him.

The truth had not been something Darius was ever prepared for.

He may not have seen Hunter around much, but he did see the Golden Guard quite a bit more than usual. For some reason, the brat thought they were friends now, it seemed. Their conversation on the balcony must have given him the wrong impression but no matter how many times Darius told him that nothing had changed or how indifferent and cold he acted towards him, the Guard insisted on being quite a bother.

Truly, if Darius had found him insufferable before, it was even worse now. They still bickered quite a bit, the Guard obviously not willing to shake his annoying habits despite his eagerness to get along on the whole. When the Guard wasn’t in the mood to fight, his personality would completely flip on its side and he would excitedly tell Darius about a mission he had just been on or he would ramble about various facts that Darius found uninteresting, if he could even understand the babble that came out of the Guard’s mouth. Darius would groan and grumble during every interaction and yet the Golden Guard never got the hint or perhaps just completely ignored it.

His patience was wearing dangerously thin.

Unfortunately, today, he had found himself in yet another situation where he had just been trying to go about his day as effortlessly and as peacefully as possible only for it to be ruined by the over-excited presence of one of Darius’ least favorite people. He had been walking along the castle halls with Eberwolf at his side when the demon stopped and suddenly turned on its heels, dashing off into the courtyard they were walking past. Confused by the sudden change in behavior, Darius followed.

He made it out to the courtyard just in time to see Eber dash up to an unsuspecting Golden Guard, who was sitting down and looking at something in his hand. Eber jumped on his back, crawling around him a few times before finally jumping off and dashing over to climb up onto Darius’ shoulder instead. The Guard flailed around confused for a few seconds before he gathered his bearings and noticed the two Coven Head’s presences.

“What was that for?” he asked the demon, who in response only gave him a smug grin.

Darius sighed, not even attempting to question Eberwolf’s sudden odd behavior, ignoring the situation and turning, hoping to walk away before the Guard tried to pester him.

“Oh, Darius. Wait!” the Golden Guard called after him and Darius groaned.

“What do you want?” he turned back and spit out harshly. Eberwolf extended his claws into Darius’ shoulder a little. Darius shooed him off.

“Ow! Bastard.” 

Eberwolf just snickered at him as he ran away.

The Golden Guard ignored what just happened to answer Darius’ question.

“I read something really interesting about bard magic recently. Do you want to hear it?”

“No,” Darius immediately answered, though he knew his answer didn’t really matter.

As expected, the Guard started to ramble anyway.

“The Coven Systems work to restrict magic so as to not allow wild magic to corrupt the people of the Isles. Bard magic itself isn’t wild magic but the fact that it can be used to mimic the magic of other tracks makes it the most freeing track and therefore, the closest to wild magic. The only thing keeping bard magic from crossing the line into wild magic is the fact that the sigil keeps the magic weaker like if a bard tried to make an illusion with their music, they technically could but it wouldn’t be able to be as strong and convincing as an illusion cast by an actual illusionist. Even with the sigil, though, bard magic can be debated as being the strongest type of magic because it has far less limitations than the other tracks but if no one had sigils and everyone practiced wild magic then it would still be strong but not worth it for many witches because everyone else would already have access to other types of magic and the fact that bard spells need to be cast by an instrument and not a spell circle makes it not only difficult to learn, but very limiting in battle since the caster can’t have their hands free and risk the jostling from the fighting affecting the sound they make, weakening or even changing the spells they are trying to cast and…”

Darius put a hand up to shut him up.

“Stop, stop! Please, stop. Why do you think I care about any of this?” he asked.

“It’s interesting, don’t you think?” the Guard simply answered.

Darius clenched his eyes and rubbed his temple, feeling a headache starting to form.

“No, I don’t think that. I don’t care about bard magic or anything else you might have happened to read about lately. Go tell this stuff to someone else and leave me alone,” Darius said. 

The Guard cocked his head slightly, thinking.

“I don’t have anyone else to tell it to, though.”

It’s not like it was a surprising statement. Darius already knew no one else in the castle really liked the Golden Guard but it’s not like he liked him either, so why had he chosen Darius to constantly bother with things like this?

“Then go ramble to a wall for all I care. I don’t want to listen to you.”

“I thought you didn’t hate me anymore.”

Darius looked at him for a few seconds, thinking about just how mean he wanted to be. Sure, the Guard was annoying, but not in the normal, bitter way that the castle residents usually were. It was obvious there were no malice intentions in his interactions at times like this. It still didn’t mean Darius cared for it, though.

“I never said that. I simply said that I may have misjudged you about certain things, is all. It doesn’t mean I find you any less of an overly cocky, annoying little imp.”  

Maybe that was too mean, Darius thought as he watched the Guard wither slightly, which was an impressive feat to convey when his face was still hidden behind that mask. Maybe the Guard would finally get the hint and leave him alone now, though.

The Guard quickly recovered, however, and stood up straighter, crossing his arms.

“Well, you’re just a rude, narcissistic jerk! You can’t be mean to people all the time and then wonder why no one likes you.”

Darius scoffed at the sudden attitude, even though he was the one that instigated the behavior. 

“Have you considered that I don’t care? I don’t need anyone in this titanforsaken castle to like me. I’m here to do a job, not make friends. I couldn’t care less about a single person within these walls,” Darius spit, only just barely keeping his voice level.

“Really? No one?” the Guard asked, catching Darius off guard. Of course Darius was aware the Golden Guard likely already knew about his fondness for Hunter, but it was frustrating that he was able to use that against him in this argument. Darius was stubborn, though. He would not let him win.

“Yes. No one,” he reiterated and the Guard huffed, not saying anything for a few seconds while he stared at Darius.

“Whatever. Fine,” the Golden Guard eventually said. “I’ll just leave then, if that’s what you want.”

“It is,” Darius assured.

The Guard took one last look at him before storming off, leaving the courtyard and Darius behind.

The anger did not leave Darius as he watched the Golden Guard’s retreating form. It didn’t even leave once the Guard was out of his sight. He was annoyed, furious, frustrated, and tired of the Golden Guard’s perplexing behavior as of late.

The anger did leave Darius, however, when the shimmer of something small in the grass where the Golden Guard had just stood caught his attention.

Curiously, Darius moved over to it to see what it was. It must have been what the Guard had been admiring before Eberwolf surprised him, causing him to drop it and forget about it once they got into their argument.

He picked it up and felt the gears in his brain suddenly stop churning. Turning it over in his hand, he inspected it as if he were just seeing things and any second the form would morph into something else, something that didn’t cause Darius’ blood to run cold.

It never changed.

Suddenly, it was as if everything simply clicked into place, like the pieces of a puzzle finally coming together as Darius regarded the little bird charm in his hand.

Chapter Text

Darius felt like an idiot. He sat at his desk, rubbing his fingers over the grooves of the bird charm in his hands, completely numb to the world around him. It had been two days since his conversation with the Golden Guard and his subsequent discovery. What was he supposed to do now that he knew this? Should he pretend to be ignorant to this new revelation? Should he go about his days as if this wasn’t a shocking disturbance in his life, like a stone being thrown into stagnant water?

He stood up and left his room. He couldn’t do that. He was tired of mindlessly deliberating. He needed answers.

It was late so when he arrived at Hunter’s room, he was surprised to see light still peeking out from under the door. He raised a fist and knocked, nerves steeled for this inevitable confrontation. After a minute, the door hesitantly creaked open and the tired magenta eyes of the boy who had caused so much inner turmoil for the Coven Head peeked up at Darius, not surprised to see him there because who else would it have been?

“We need to talk,” Darius simply said.

Hunter’s eyes widened at the seriousness of his tone, opening the door further and allowing Darius to enter. The child moved to grab his notebook off his nightstand so he could communicate but was startled when a string of abomination matter quickly snatched it out of his hands, pulling it back and handing it to Darius to keep out of Hunter’s reach. The genuine shock on the boy’s face made Darius almost pity him.

“No. I said we need to talk. So talk, Golden Guard.”

The way Hunter’s eyes blew wide and his quick step backward was enough to tell Darius his theory had been correct. Hunter stared at Darius for a few seconds before glancing away, ashamed. He started fidgeting with his gloves in an all too familiar way, Darius having seen the exact behavior from the Guard. Finally, after what felt like ages, Hunter turned to look at Darius again, fear in his gaze.

“How did you find out?”

Darius already knew at that point that Hunter was the Golden Guard and yet, still, suddenly hearing the Guard’s voice, a voice he had so often regarded as gratingly annoying, come out of the mouth of the child he had gotten attached to and previously believed couldn’t speak absolutely rocked him to the core.

He quickly recovered from his shock to answer Hunter’s question. In retrospect, he should have discovered this long prior. He had just assumed they had been acquainted and yet the real answer to why they were so close had been so glaringly obvious that Darius couldn’t help but think of how stupid he had been. 

Hunter had the Golden Guard staff. Hunter had the Guard’s old scout uniform. The Guard had suddenly gotten all buddy-buddy with Darius because Darius was nice to him, though he didn’t even realize he had been. Darius could have acted as cold and distant towards the Guard as he wanted but it never would have mattered if he continued to dote on Hunter because the boy would still be aware that, in some capacity, Darius cared about him.

He dropped the bird charm into Hunter’s palm.

“You dropped this last time we spoke.”

Hunter regarded the charm as if it were sentient and had the capacity to betray him. He closed his fist around it and let his hand drop to his side, gaze purposefully kept away from Darius.

“…Oh,” he simply said.

Darius couldn’t even think of some excuse as to why he couldn’t have figured it out earlier. He knew Belos was a terrible person. It wasn’t a stretch to believe he’d have to add ‘enlisting child soldiers’ to the list of crimes the man has committed. Darius had assumed the Golden Guard was a young adult, simply because he was in such an important position in the Emperor’s court, but otherwise he had no reason to assume that. Of course Belos would make his nephew his right-hand, despite his young age. Furthermore, if Hunter was trying to keep his identity a secret, it made sense as to why he was hesitant to interact with other people when he wasn’t wearing his mask should they find out who he was.

Truly, Darius was the dumbest person on the Boiling Isles but not just because he didn’t put two and two together, but because he had foolishly let himself get close to one of the very people he had sworn to destroy. Darius loathed the Golden Guard. He loathed the Golden Guard but was fond of Hunter and yet the two were somehow one and the same.

He felt tricked. 

“Please don’t tell anyone,” Hunter begged. “No one is supposed to know.”

Darius wouldn’t tell anyone but only because there was no one to tell. He wasn’t the type to gossip and he didn’t even like anyone else enough to try. There was Eberwolf, he supposed, but he realized now that the demon probably already knew about this.

Darius sighed.

“I won’t,” he reassured. “But not because I’m doing you a favor. I simply just don’t care.”

Hunter seemed confused by that.

“You don’t care that I’m the Golden Guard?”

“I don’t care about you, in general.”

The boy’s eyes widened in shock at the statement. Surely he didn’t expect him to just be okay with this?

“…You’re mad at me?”

What a stupid question.

“You tricked me. Of course I’m mad,” Darius said, though the anger was somehow not present in his voice. 

“I didn’t mean to!” Hunter defended. “I just wanted…I just…I’m sorry.”

He trailed off, not sure what to say anymore. He went back to fidgeting with his gloves and the silence was unbearable. Darius could leave, though there was a burning question on his mind that he had to ask or the curiosity would eat him alive.

“I thought you hated me before. Why have you been acting so clingy lately?”

Darius and the Golden Guard had always been stepping on each other’s toes. Hunter must have held some ill-will towards the Coven Head, especially after how mean Darius had been to him, so why would he suddenly act so meek and innocent around him? Was it a trick to get Darius to let his guard down in some cruel attempt to get back at him for the things he had said to him before? Had he been trying to make Darius grow attached in order to betray him later or make fun of him for being so weak? If so, Darius would have just preferred to be stabbed in the chest. It would have hurt less.

Though, looking at Hunter’s pained expression, Darius had a hard time believing he had nefarious intent.

Hunter took a few seconds to think before he responded.

“I don’t know…I know we didn’t really get along before…,” he started, nervously shifting from foot to foot, “…but then, at the Coven Day Parade, you were so nice to me and I just…I wasn’t used to someone being nice to me.”

He finally looked at Darius again, taking a deep breath before he continued. “I guess…I just wanted to feel that again…”

And if that wasn’t the saddest thing he had ever heard…What a terrible life to live where Darius was the nicest person to him.

Still, the pitiful statement didn’t change the fact that he made Darius feel like a fool.

“So how long did you think you could pull this off for? You knew how I felt about you as the Golden Guard. Surely you must have thought I’d find out sooner or later who you were,” Darius asked.

“I don’t know. At first, I guess I didn’t really think about it until you took my scout uniform and then figured out it was the Golden Guard’s. I was scared that you figured out who I was and that’s when I started being more careful about it. I knew it was risky to keep coming to you out of uniform but I thought that if you liked Hunter, then maybe you could like the Golden Guard, too. So, I tried to stay away unless I had the mask on but no matter what I did, you were still just so mean to me.”

“Do you…really hate me that much?” he asked Darius, the sadness in his eyes almost making Darius lose his stoic composure.

The truth was, he didn’t hate him. He had always told himself that it didn’t matter who the Golden Guard was behind the mask, he would still harbor a great dislike for him. Yet here he was, the Golden Guard standing before him, face exposed, and he couldn’t even try and convince himself that he still felt that way.

The Golden Guard was a brat, sure, but he was also just a kid. It almost made Darius laugh- the idea that he had been holding a grudge against a child this entire time. Hunter was just an overworked, neglected child forced to hide behind a mask, living a sad enough life to where he had to claw and fight for scraps of kindness wherever he could reach them. Darius couldn’t reasonably hate him anymore, knowing that. He couldn’t even truly be mad that Hunter had been lying about who he really was. It’s not like Darius wasn’t doing the same thing, essentially, acting like the perfect Coven Head while secretly being the leader of a rebellion against the Emperor.

None of that changed the fact that the Golden Guard was the Emperor’s right hand, however. Darius had previously assumed the Golden Guard was defying the Emperor to protect Hunter but if they were just the same person, then that meant that the Guard was still just as loyal to Belos as he’d first thought. Hunter was loyal to Belos. He had already known the boy looked up to his uncle and wanted to please him, but it was completely different in this new light. He wasn’t just a kid trying to gain the approval of his guardian, he was a soldier trying to prove his loyalty to an unjust ruler.

Darius wondered if Hunter was aware of just how cruel Belos was and was helping him anyway or if he was just blindly following orders, not understanding the kind of pain he was causing by doing so. Either way, though, it didn’t really matter. It’s not like Darius was ever going to change his mind if he tried to convince him otherwise. Hunter would take the side of the man who raised him and who he was fiercely loyal to over the man who had been nice to him a couple times but overall regarded him as a nothing more than an annoyance at best.

Darius had to make a hard decision. Being friendly with the Golden Guard was far too risky. He had no doubt if Hunter found out his true intentions for Belos he would turn him over in a heartbeat. Darius couldn’t keep being nice to him. It would just make the boy want to keep trying to befriend him but the Emperor’s loyal right hand and the leader of the rebellion against the Emperor couldn’t feasibly be close in any way.

So, Darius had to be mean- just like he always had been.

“I don’t hate you,” he stated answering Hunter’s question. Hunter perked up slightly until Darius continued, “Like I said before, I don’t care about you. To hate you would mean that I have to think about you to some extent but you are simply nothing to me.”

The way Hunter withered under his stare made it hard to continue. Still, Darius pushed on.

“We are not friends. We are not enemies. We are colleagues, and that is it. So, from now on, you will stop bothering me and only talk to me if it is something to do with work.”

Hunter’s face morphed from a helpless expression to sudden anger.

“You can’t just say that! I know you’re lying! You can’t pretend like you didn’t care at all. You had to…,” he stated, getting much quieter towards the end of it. “You had to,” he finished, voice just above a whisper, like he was just trying to convince himself more than Darius.

Darius ignored that stab of guilt in his chest at the boy’s sudden despondent attitude.

“Perhaps you just ended up fooling yourself if you believed that,” he said, voice as cold as he could make it.

Hunter didn’t respond and Darius figured he had successfully gotten rid of any hope that Darius would want him around anymore. He turned and started to leave, hoping he would never have to see this sad little room again when he felt Hunter leap forward and grab his hand.

“Wait! Darius!”

Apparently, it hadn’t been enough. Hunter was still holding out hope that Darius would change his mind. 

Perhaps Darius was a terrible person. Perhaps he would just have to live with that fact, though, mentally preparing himself for what he was about to say. Luckily, he had a lot of practice putting on a cold and ruthless demeanor. He ripped his hand away and whirled around, making Hunter take a step back from fear. It didn’t stop Darius.

“That is enough! You’ve clearly forgotten your place here so let me make it clear: I am a Coven Head and you are nothing but a glorified scout. Do not think that just because I made the mistake of helping you a few times that I care or even regard you as any more than just another of the Emperor’s lackeys,” Darius said, the harshness of his voice making Hunter flinch. “I am your superior. You do not get to try and boss me around or behave like a child around me. I don’t care that you are one.”

Hunter looked like he wanted to cry but held back the tears, putting on his own angry façade.

“I don’t even understand why you hate me so much! What did I do? I thought we could be friends!”

Darius scoffed. “As if I would associate with any of the vile filth in this castle. All of you are nothing but rude, immoral, condescending monsters.” 

Yes, insult him. Make him feel like he isn’t worthy of love. That would surely do the job.

Hunter regarded him for a second, his tears finally breaking through and streaming down his cheeks. The guilt that was crushing Darius’ chest was starting to get to be too difficult to ignore.

Taking in Darius’ words, Hunter responded, “…You say that like you’re not.”

Those words hit Darius hard, though he made sure to not let it show on his face. It seemed like he had done his job, at least. Hunter surely hated him now.

“Is that any way to speak to your superior?”

Hunter didn’t say anything to that. If there was one thing Darius knew about the Golden Guard, it was that he was perfect at following orders.

“I am going to leave and you will not stop me this time. You are the Golden Guard. You will stop behaving like a spoiled child and act like an esteemed member of the Emperor’s Coven. You will no longer seek me out or talk to me about anything outside of work. Do you understand?” Darius asked.

Hunter looked like he was internally debating whether to argue or not but ultimately decided against it.

In a quiet voice, he responded, “Yes, sir.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite hear that.”

The glare Hunter gave Darius could have turned his heart to stone.

“Yes, sir,” he said, a little louder and harsher.

“Good. Goodnight, Golden Guard.”

Hunter didn’t respond again as Darius left. All he heard was the slam of the door behind him as he walked away. Darius made it all the way back to his own room before he finally let out the shaky breath he had been holding that entire time. It was impressive he had managed to keep his composure throughout all that.

Hunter didn’t deserve that but it had to be done. Darius couldn’t risk the boy trying to cling to him anymore. His words kept ringing in his ears, however.

You say that like you’re not.

It had thrown Darius for a loop to be compared to the wretched beings in the castle who had made themselves the bane of his existence. Yet, remembering the pained, hurt expression on Hunter’s face as Darius spoke to him made him realize that he had a point.

Hunter wasn’t evil, at least that Darius could tell. He was a child who just desperately wanted to be loved and Darius had given him hope that he could be only to coldly and harshly rip that hope away from him in one fell swoop. He could practically see Hunter’s heart shattering before his eyes and yet he pressed on, ripping that heart from his chest and stomping it under his foot as if it were nothing.

Darius had spent years trying to keep himself from getting hurt like that and yet he had, without hesitation, broken Hunter’s heart to selfishly protect himself. It didn’t matter if he had good reason to do so in his mind. It didn’t make him feel any better.

Perhaps this was for the best, though. Hunter was going to get hurt sooner or later no matter what. As soon as he found out Darius was the one trying to destroy his precious uncle, he surely would no longer hold the man in high regards. Darius might as well have just gone ahead and ripped that band-aid off and made him hate him now.

It was just a shame that he couldn’t have realized he needed to do this sooner. When Hunter was still just the Emperor’s nephew, that should have been good enough reason to try and push him away. Yet, like the fool he was, Darius didn’t realize he should try to keep him away until it was too late to do so without hurting them both.
 
He wondered what would happen now. If, in the end, Hunter remained loyal to Belos, would Darius have the strength to do what must be done? What would he even have to do? Surely Hunter wouldn’t just move on and accept a life without his uncle but even if he somehow could, it’s not as if it would absolve him of anything. Would the rest of the Boiling Isles take pity on him, regard him as nothing more than a manipulated child, or would they seek retribution against the Emperor’s second-in-command- the one who carried out his orders and stayed by his side throughout the rest of his evil reign? Even if they could, Darius’ previous idea of finding a home for Hunter after everything couldn’t work now. Even if by some miracle they wouldn’t hold his crimes against him, Darius doubted that anyone would be willing to take in the Golden Guard. 

Hunter shouldn’t be absolved of his crimes, though. He may be a child but was that a good enough excuse? He was 14. Surely he had to understand, to at least some extent, that what he was doing was wrong. Would it be fair to not hold him accountable just for being younger when Darius was hoping to throw everyone else who aided the Emperor in a prison when all was said and done? 

It was yet another dilemma Darius now found himself faced with regarding Hunter. He supposed he could just not think about it for now. After all, its not as if he thought he was going to overthrow the Emperor tomorrow. He had time to think about this.

That was easier said than done, however. Deep down, he knew he wouldn’t be able to just ignore thinking about what he was going to do. He had already stopped denying he cared about Hunter and even if Hunter hated him now, he still wanted to make sure he was safe in the end. He could only hope he’d be able to do that.

Chapter Text

Two months. It had been two months since Darius had ordered Hunter to leave him alone and like the obedient little soldier he was, he obeyed.

The only time Darius and Hunter spoke was if it had something to do with their work. They didn’t even bicker anymore, barely regarding each other’s presence whenever they were in the same room. It felt surreal. It was like they were complete strangers, passing by each other in the halls as if Darius didn’t know who exactly was behind that mask now. He thought that once he got the kid out of his life, things would be easier and yet everything still felt just as twisted as it was before.

Darius made his way to yet another meeting with the Coven Heads, each step towards the room heavy with a feeling he couldn’t quite understand. Any encounter with the rest of the Heads was, as always, such a dreadful ordeal but at least it would take his mind off the Golden Guard temporarily.

At least until he walked in and saw the Golden Guard standing off to the side of the meeting table. Hunter, as expected, didn’t even turn to regard Darius as he walked over and sat down and Darius pushed away the mournful feeling that he truly meant nothing to the boy now, as if that wasn’t what he wanted in the first place.

Terra strolled in after Darius and scoffed at the sight.

“Ugh, not him again,” she stated, sauntering over to her own chair. “Doesn’t the Emperor have better things for you to do than listen to us talk about policy?”

“He feels my presence here is important. I won’t question it,” Hunter responded.

The rest of the Coven Heads filtered in, each one scoffing and sighing at noticing the Guard there today. They all truly hated him. Darius remembered what it was like to be like them. Some selfish part of him wished he could go back to just hating the Guard as well. It would make things a lot easier if he didn’t have to just act out the part of evil, uncaring Coven Head.

“Let’s get started,” Lilith stated once everyone had taken their seat. The meeting began as normal. They talked about boring topics that Darius feigned interest in, the Coven Heads bickered with each other over petty things, Lilith struggled to keep them on track. All the while, the Golden Guard stood off to the side, unmoving, never saying a word to interrupt this time. Darius felt bad, remembering that he was the one who had probably taught him, in such a cruel way no less, to keep his mouth shut during these meetings. At least being cruel to the Golden Guard was something he had a lot of practice in.

Though the Golden Guard made no effort to interrupt the meeting and, in fact, made it so his presence could easily be forgotten, that didn’t mean the other Coven Heads forgot he was there. He was still a target and, unfortunately, the other Heads needed an outlet to take out their boredom and frustration on.

Adrian and Mason, likely too tired of listening to Lilith drone on about politics, decided they wanted to have a little fun. Adrian dropped his pencil, obviously on purpose, and it rolled across the floor.

“Oh my. It seems I’ve dropped my pencil. Mr. Golden Guard, would you grab that for me?” Adrian asked and not being able to defy his superior, the Golden Guard obliged. 

Hunter finally moved for the first time since the meeting started, making his way past Adrian and Mason to retrieve the pencil when Mason quickly stuck his leg out, tripping him.

Darius could feel his blood boil as he watched Hunter flail for a second, unable to catch himself as he fell face-first onto the floor, the metal of the mask banging against the tile and echoing around the room. Lilith stopped talking and the rest of the Coven Heads turned their heads towards the spectacle, glad for a distraction. Adrian and Mason were snickering at the dazed Guard. Looking around, Darius hated how none of the other Coven Heads seemed perturbed by this behavior, save for Lilith and Eberwolf who had disgusted scowls on each of their faces.

“Can’t believe the Emperor wants such a clutz as his second-in-command,” Vitimir said, as if it wasn’t obvious that Hunter hadn’t fallen on his own.

“Fascinating. It seems the Emperor’s right hand has two left feet,” Hettie mocked. They all started laughing and Darius could only imagine what was going through Hunter’s head right now as they ridiculed him.

It was like being splashed with ice cold water, remembering that this was how the Golden Guard was normally treated. Before, Darius didn’t care. Before, Darius had even contributed to it. Yet now that he knew the boy behind the mask, the reminder felt like someone had impaled him through the stomach, grabbed his guts, and forcefully twisted them into knots. The Golden Guard had never deserved to be treated this way and Darius felt like a fool that he could only realize that just because he knew there was a real person behind that mask now.

Darius should have done something to help Hunter but he just couldn’t move. As angry as he was, as sorry as he felt for Hunter, he couldn’t make himself look weak in front of the other Coven Heads for someone he swore he would no longer associate with. Furthermore, he couldn’t look weak in front of Hunter. He had to make sure the boy thought he hated him.

Lilith and Eberwolf did not have those same reservations and it made Darius suddenly feel small.

Eberwolf growled, a deep, threatening, guttural growl that forced the other Coven Heads to quiet down. He jumped off his chair and ran over to the Guard, ignoring the side-eyed glances from the rest of the room, to make sure Hunter was okay. Hunter sat up with the demon’s help and Eberwolf sniffed the air, growling again and grabbing the boy’s hand as he stood up to drag him out of the meeting room.

Lilith regarded the group after they left.

“Well, I’m glad to know the most esteemed members of the Empire’s government are no more mature than a group of children. I have no idea how any of you managed to get where you are if this is how you behave. I don’t know why I waste my time. We’re done here,” she scolded and grabbed her things, storming out of the room. It took a lot to get Lilith to end a meeting early. She must have been very angry. Darius wondered why she was suddenly so protective of the Guard. Surely, she couldn’t have figured things out as well, could she?

The other Coven Heads didn’t look like they cared about her reprimand. They just seemed relieved they got out of this tedious venture early. Darius wasn’t surprised.

He got up and left after the rest of them, hoping to figure out where Eberwolf and Hunter had went. He didn’t see them around but he asked a few scouts who claimed to have seen them go towards Eberwolf’s chambers.

Darius made his way there, knocking on the door and hearing a growl from the other side, allowing him entry. He opened it to see Hunter sitting on the floor, maskless, with Eberwolf patting tissues onto his bloody nose.

That confirmed that Eberwolf had known, at least, who the Golden Guard was. Darius had to wonder when they had gotten so close, though, and why Eberwolf wasn’t as worried about it. He was also part of the rebellion. Surely he had to understand that he couldn’t treat the Golden Guard as if he were just some innocent child.

Darius made his way into the room.

“Are you alright?” he asked Hunter, who glared at him in response.

“What ‘you care?” he spit, voice nasally from all the tissue up his nose. 

This had obviously been a mistake. Darius wasn’t even sure what he had been trying to do by following them here, anyway. Hunter’s well-being was not his concern or at least, it shouldn’t be. He was trying to seem uncaring but asking if he was alright was going to do the opposite. He should tell him that he doesn’t care, actually.

“I was worried,” he said, mentally facepalming at the slip. That hadn’t been what he wanted to say and yet that’s what came out of his mouth for some reason. It didn’t seem to matter, though.

“Sorry, boss. I didn’t mean to bleed on the clock. I’ll try to snort it back in next time.”

Darius felt his eye twitch. He had forgotten how arrogant the Golden Guard could be when it was Hunter’s face he was seeing and not the mask. It was like a shock to experience that familiar, annoying sarcastic-ness coming out of the mouth of the boy he previously regarded as nothing but sweet and innocent. It made him wonder how much of each persona was Hunter’s real personality.

“You don’t have to be so rude,” Darius tried.

“Oh, my bad. I just thought that’s why you would be worried since we can only talk about work now.”

Eberwolf turned to Darius and growled.

Okay, maybe he did deserve that. He was too prideful to just admit that, though.

“Well, it’s obvious you’re fine if you can still act like such a pain,” Darius said. “If you’re feeling that well, then perhaps it’s time you got back to your duty.”

Hunter huffed but got up, nonetheless, throwing his mask over his face despite the fact that his nose was still bleeding and the tissues needed replaced. 

“Fine. I have a lot of work to do anyway,” he said, storming past Darius and out the door, slamming it behind him. The disrespect was immeasurable and Darius wondered how he had ever liked that kid in the first place.

Eberwolf glared at him.

“What!?” he asked the demon, who just shook his head at Darius.

“You can’t baby him, Eber. In case you’ve forgotten, he’s the Golden Guard. He’s a threat to our mission.”

Eberwolf growled in response.

“You can’t know that. He could very well be just as bad as the rest of the Emperor’s lackeys. What does it matter if he’s a child? Kids can be evil.”

Another growl.

“If it came down to it, then yes. He’s loyal to Belos. If he needs to be taken down as well in the end, then so be it.”

Eberwolf regarded him for a moment before growling out a response that had Darius pause, blood running cold at the words.

What a shame. You turned into the same type of person you swore to destroy.

And then Eber kicked him out.

Darius did not get much more work done that day. He spent the rest of the afternoon flitting about mindlessly, Eberwolf’s words spinning around in his head. As much as he hated to accept it, the demon had a point, just like Hunter had a point when he said the exact same thing two months prior.

How awful it felt to be told how wretched of a person you were by the only two people you cared about anymore.

Darius found the other denizens of the castle vile and unnecessarily cruel and yet was he not just like them? He had watched the Coven Heads harm, mock, and laugh at a child who did nothing wrong and Darius never lifted a finger to help, too selfishly concerned about his own image. Then he promised to do the exact same thing to him in the future, even though there could very well be other options. He had been so cruel to that child when that child had not actually done anything wrong just because he was scared to get too close. He didn’t actually think Hunter was evil and yet he had ruthlessly used that as a justification for his behavior towards him.

It’s not as if Hunter was wholly innocent in this affair, though. He was the Golden Guard. Surely Darius was somewhat justified in his decision to push him away. Even if he wasn’t inherently evil, it didn’t mean he wasn’t still dedicated to serving the Emperor. Eberwolf was just too soft, too hung up on the fact that Hunter was a child to realize just how dangerous it was to be close to him. The kid could very well end up being their downfall if they weren’t careful.

How pitiful would they be, if their entire operation could be folded at the hands of a 14 year old boy.

Darius did not make a mistake. He had only done what needed to be done. This was just like the dilemma he had before except instead of having to choose between a rebellion and saving an abused child, now he had to choose between a rebellion and talking to a child and that was a much easier decision.

They were the same child, though. It wasn’t a new dilemma. It was just an add-on to the previous one.

Either way, Darius had always chosen the rebellion, anyway. He would not risk all his hard work for one person. Hunter would be fine. Darius may have hurt him but its not as if he couldn’t find other people to care about him eventually and soon enough, he’ll have forgotten all about the Coven Head. That’s what Hunter deserved. That’s what Darius deserved.

However, that rationalization didn’t stop the sharp pain in his chest that manifested at the sight of the small bird charm he found sitting on his desk that night, along with the last note he would likely ever receive from Hunter.

I don’t care about you, either.

Darius stared at the note for a very long time, rereading the words over-and-over again until the pain in his chest was unbearable. This was what he had wanted. He won.

He carefully folded the note, put it in his ornate little box with all the other notes Hunter had ever left him, and tossed the entire thing into the fireplace, the flames consuming it, eating away mindlessly until there was nothing left but ash.

Chapter Text

Darius was exhausted, irritated, and unfortunately, very behind on his work.

He tried hard to keep up with it but this part of the year always held an influx of paperwork and labor due to an increase in Coven tryouts and subsequently, far too many new recruits. The mess that was Darius’ personal life wasn’t exactly making his job any easier, either. Then, on top of everything else, it seemed he was constantly finding himself in meeting after meeting these days.

Truly, being a Coven Head was the bane of his existence.

“Just get an assistant,” Lilith suggested. “Go find a scout and put them to use.”

“I’d prefer to just use an abomination. No offense to your scouts, but I’m not interested in interacting with them,” he said.

That was what he had told her, and yet the abomination that kept bringing the wrong papers to where he currently sat at his desk was starting to get on his nerves. Abominations were great for helping with a large number of tasks but they were mindless and, therefore, illiterate. Paperwork was not their strong suit.

Sighing, Darius deconstructed the abomination and stepped out into the hall. He walked around for a bit until he found a scout that didn’t look particularly busy.

Pointing at them, he said, “You. With me. You’re going to be my assistant for today.”

The scout looked around and pointed at themselves as if they weren’t the only one in that general vicinity and the only person Darius could be talking to. 

“Yes, you. Let’s go.” Without waiting for a response, Darius turned and made his way back to his study, knowing the scout had no choice but to follow behind.

Upon arriving, he picked up a stack of papers and handed them to the scout.

“I need you to sort these. There should be a mix of research and mission reports in there. Figure out which are which and categorize them.”

The scout looked nervous for some reason but perhaps they were just new and this was their first time being assistant to a Coven Head. It didn’t matter. The scout still diligently took a seat and got to work on their task.

Darius got to work on filling out some other paperwork. They worked in silence for a while and Darius couldn’t help but think that this wasn’t so bad. Perhaps he should have utilized the scouts for this purpose before. His scout had finished their task in an impressive amount of time and so Darius was able to give them another stack to sort, the work quickly getting finished now that it was split between two people.

This particular scout was great because they did not try to have idle conversation, which Darius greatly appreciated. 

The scout finished sorting the second stack and so Darius gave them some forms to help fill out.

In fact, this scout had not said a single word to Darius this entire time. They relied on gestures to communicate when they needed to. It was…a little too familiar.

The scout filled out the forms and handed them to Darius to sign off on.

Despite having been in that room for a while now, the scout also still seemed far too nervous, like being in that study with Darius was troublesome for them and they were hoping he would relieve them at any second- like they were trying to hide something and didn’t want him to find out.

The way they fidgeted with their gloves while they waited for a new task was familiar, too.

Darius didn’t even have to look down at the forms and notice the familiar handwriting before it finally hit him what was going on.

He stopped what he was doing, regarding the scout for a moment before he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“How did you get that uniform back from Lilith?”

To his credit, Hunter didn’t seem surprised that he managed to finally figure it out.

“She gave it back. It wasn’t hers to keep.”

Darius walked over and took the mask off his face. Hunter just let him, knowing there was no use fighting now that he’d been caught again.

“Why are you still doing this? Did you not learn your lesson last time?” he asked, baffled that Hunter would try this again after the fiasco that happened last time with Lilith.

Hunter glanced to the side, ashamed. 

“I don’t know. I thought it would be fine. That was the only time I ever got caught,” he explained and Darius got stuck on that last statement.

“Wait, was that not the first time you’ve done this?”

Hunter startled slightly, obviously not having meant to let that information slip.

“Oh! I mean…um….,” he started, “Yes. It was… The first time, I mean.”

Just as always, he was such a terrible liar.

“Hunter…”

Hunter squirmed under Darius’ stern gaze for a few seconds before finally admitting the truth.

“Okay, I may have done it a couple times before that.”

“Why?”

Because that was truly the question, wasn’t it? The theory before was that Hunter donned the uniform so he could roam around the castle freely but now Darius knew he could just do that as the Golden Guard. So why did he feel the need to parade around as a scout?

“The uniform makes me feel pretty.”

“Now’s not the time to get cocky with me,” Darius firmly stated, putting his hands on his hips. Hunter huffed and took a few seconds to think before trying again.

“It’s…dumb,” he admitted, though didn’t elaborate, probably hoping Darius wouldn’t push. Unfortunately for him, Darius was not going to let him off that easy.

“I’m sure it is. Tell it to me, anyway.”

Hunter glanced back and forth between Darius and the ground, a slight blush appearing on his cheeks. Whatever the reason was, he was obviously embarrassed to say it. Darius would not take pity on him. If he wanted to pull such a stupid stunt, he had to face the consequences. He simply stood there and waited for Hunter to speak again.

“I feel…,” Hunter finally started, not quite sure how he wanted to phrase it just yet. He took a few more seconds to put his thoughts together before he tried again.

“I feel like I’m two different people sometimes. I’m either Belos’ nephew who everyone treats like some fragile little kid that needs to be protected or I’m the Golden Guard, who everyone hates even though I don’t understand why.” He took a deep breath, contemplating his next words before he continued. “Sometimes…I guess I just like to feel like I’m no one at all.”

A beat passed after his last statement before he suddenly grew frantic.

“I don’t mean that like I’m ungrateful, though! I like being the Golden Guard and it’s a great opportunity and I would never disrespect the Emperor by suggesting that I’m not entirely grateful for everything he’s given me and making me sure I could be someone important and I’m happy to be of use to him its just that everyone treats me so different depending on which person they’re talking to and I never know if their reactions to me are actually about me because I don’t know if I’m really the Golden Guard or if I’m Hunter and if people actually hate me or if they just hate the Golden Guard or if I’m someone worth protecting because people think Hunter is and I…”

“Woah! Okay, kid, slow down,” Darius said, putting his hands up to try and calm Hunter’s rambling. Hunter did stop but he looked like he was on the verge of a panic attack and Darius had to make him sit down and try to slow his breathing. It took a few minutes of hyperventilating, but Hunter finally managed to ground himself again.

Apparently, Darius wasn’t the only person having trouble grasping that the Golden Guard and Hunter were the same person. He just didn’t imagine that that very person would also be the one trying to grapple with that fact. 

The boy’s practically forced to play two different roles, purporting as the hard-working, loyal Golden Guard while trying to keep secret the fact he’s actually the Emperor’s child nephew. Darius could understand, to some extent, what that was like, but he imagined it was a little different for Hunter. Darius knew for a fact that the rebel leader was who he really was and that Darius the Coven Head was just a façade, a mask he puts on to hide his true self. Yet the boy in front of him, despite wearing a literal mask, still considered the Golden Guard to be part of who he was. So, how confusing it must be when you are required to keep two parts of you completely separate and treated differently depending on which one you’re presenting at that moment.

Darius himself had contributed to that, acting as if Hunter was a saint of a child who needed saving while also acting like the Golden Guard was the bane of his existence. It would make sense for someone to question their identity when they weren’t sure which of those reactions was in regard to who they actually were, considering both personalities to be part of them but only allowing certain traits to show through for each façade.

Everyone in the castle knew who the Golden Guard was and those who knew Hunter knew he was the Emperor’s nephew. No matter where he would go, he would be forced to confront the fact that everyone else saw him as two different people. But no one paid attention to the scouts. They were meant to be a mindless, coherent unit of soldiers with no identity of their own. By donning the scout uniform, he could be just another resident of the castle, another mask in the crowd, without everyone treating him in different and confusing ways. 

How sad was it- to be so confused about your own identity that you would choose to just not have one at all?

Darius realized he had been rubbing circles into Hunter’s back without thinking while he was trying to calm him down. It was a soothing gesture that someone who did not care wouldn’t have bothered to do. He didn’t stop, though, at noticing how the action was slowly causing the shaking in Hunter’s body to cease. He should have stopped. He was supposed to be acting mean.

When Hunter’s breathing was back to normal, that was when Darius finally pulled his hand away.

“I guess I should thank you, though,” Hunter finally said.

“Thank me for what?” Darius asked.

Hunter’s gaze stayed trained on the floor as he responded, “At least now I know people would hate me either way.”

The wave of fresh guilt that washed over Darius was immense in that moment. He hadn’t meant for his words to cause a blow to the boy’s self-esteem but he should have realized they would have unintended negative consequences. Darius was one of the only people in the castle who knew both sides of Hunter and, to Hunter’s knowledge, had decided that all of him was worth disliking.

“Oh, sorry. Not hate. Just not care about,” Hunter clarified bitterly.

Darius had no idea what to do. It’s not like he could just reassure him without making it seem like he did care. Was he supposed to just let him wallow in self-pity, though?

“I’m sure there must be someone who cares,” Darius said, grasping for straws.

“My uncle does,” Hunter responded without hesitation, nearly causing Darius’ heart to still. “I was just hoping someone else could, too.”

Not only did Darius force his self-esteem to plummet, but he reinforced the idea that the only person Hunter could ever turn to was his abusive uncle, who absolutely did not care about Hunter. Darius had gone far past being just a terrible person. At this point, he may as well consider himself just as irredeemable as the Emperor. 

“Eberwolf seemed to like you,” Darius tried again, taking yet another desperate shot in the dark. It’s not like he wanted Eber and Hunter to be close for the same reason Darius couldn’t be but it’s not like he could control the demon’s actions.

Hunter just shrugged. “We don’t really know each other that well. I think he mostly just feels sorry for me.”

“…And there’s really no one else?” Darius asked, though he already knew the answer.

“You know, people who don’t care about someone also don’t care if no one else cares, either,” Hunter responded, giving Darius a dirty look at his constant pestering.

Darius didn’t even know how to respond to that. The boy had a point. He simply cleared his throat while he thought of some way to fix both his mistakes.

“Look…,” Darius finally started after a few moments, “…What I said was harsh but I was just angry. I didn’t mean to make you think no one could ever care. You’re not a bad person, Hunter. I just don’t think we should be friends.”

“Cause I’m the Golden Guard?”

“Partly, yes. Not because I loathe you as the Guard but because you are beneath me in terms of positions.”

“So?”

“So it’s not very professional, don’t you think?”

Hunter thought about it for a moment. Using his inferior position was likely the only reason Darius would be able to give and have Hunter possibly understand. It didn’t really make him feel any better, but hopefully Hunter could at least have that as an excuse as to why Darius wouldn’t associate with him instead of just thinking it’s because he’s not worth his attention as a person.

“I guess…,” Hunter said after some deliberation. Darius couldn’t tell if he accepted the excuse or just didn’t want to argue anymore. He supposed it would just have to do for now, anyway.

Changing the topic, Darius returned to their previous conversation. 

“Now, about the scout uniform…,” Darius started, making Hunter’s eyes go wide at the reminder of why they were there in the first place.

“Am I in trouble?” Hunter hesitantly asked, fiddling with the edge of his cape out of nervousness.

“Yes,” Darius simply said. Even if he understood now why Hunter did this, it was still a stupid thing to have done.

“Will you tell the Emperor?”

He should tell him. That’s what someone who was just Hunter’s superior would do. Someone who did not care about what happened to the boy would have no problem reporting his deviant behavior to knock him down a peg. Had it been someone like Eberwolf who was essential to the rebellion, of course Darius would keep this a secret but Hunter was Darius’ enemy. He could only gain by telling the Emperor about this. 

He couldn’t do it, though.

Even if Hunter was technically Darius’ enemy, that didn’t mean he wanted him to get hurt. He may know now that Belos wouldn’t physically harm Hunter but he was sure that whatever punishment he might have for the boy would still be worse than what he deserved.

“I won’t tell him, but you need to stop doing this. Next time you may not be so lucky and get caught by someone who would,” Darius said.

Hunter glanced away slightly.

“Hunter, look at me,” Darius said and Hunter reluctantly obliged. “I need you to promise that you’ll stop this.”

It wasn’t an order. Darius could have just ordered Hunter to stop and he had no doubt he would obey so why didn’t he? He sounded more like a disappointed parent scolding their child right now than a superior confronting their subordinate.

“…I promise,” Hunter quietly responded. “So…can I go?”

Darius almost smiled but stopped himself. Of course Hunter would try that.

“No. You’re still in trouble, remember?”

Hunter withered at his failed escape tactic.

“So what will you do with me?” he hesitantly asked.

Darius used some abomination matter to pick up a relatively large stack of papers and drop them into Hunter’s lap.

“I still have a lot of documents to sort through and you’ve proven yourself quite the little helper. So, get to work.”

He ignored the way Hunter perked up at getting off relatively easy. Darius had no doubt someone like him found paperwork enjoyable so it wasn’t really much of a punishment. Darius really did not want to go back to trying to do all if it himself, though and Hunter was already here so he was going to take advantage of the kid’s oddly meticulous work habits.

They worked in relative silence. Occasionally, Hunter would ask Darius to explain something he saw in a report or ask Darius about what other types of work he did as a Coven Head but for the most part he kept to himself and Darius did the same. The air didn’t seem tense, though. They were simply two coworkers working alongside each other at the moment.

With Hunter’s help, all of the work got done in an impressive amount of time. Darius was ecstatic, though he wasn’t going to show it.

“Do you still need me? I should get back to my own work,” Hunter said upon filling out his last form.

“No, that will be all. You are dismissed,” Darius replied, waving him off. “Don’t let anyone see you walk back to your room in that outfit. I don’t want you getting caught again.”

Hunter glanced up at him, confused at the statement and Darius realized he forgot to hide his concern.

Oh no.

“Why? Are you worried?” Hunter asked.

Darius felt his face heat up at his blunder. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

“Of course not,” he exclaimed. “I simply don’t think it would be fair if you got into more trouble after you’ve already been punished.”

“So…you’re worried?”

Darius eagerly waved him off. 

“Don’t you have work to do? Get to it already,” Darius hurriedly said hoping to get him off his back. Hunter gave him a cocky smile before finally standing up from his chair, getting ready to leave.

“Yes, sir,” Hunter said and jokingly saluted, putting his mask back on and exiting the room.

Darius stared at the shut door for a few seconds before dropping his head onto the desk and groaning. 

He really couldn’t do this.

Chapter Text

Darius had actually, for once, had a relatively easy day.

The paperwork was minimal, the scouts were well-behaved, there was bickering amongst the Coven Heads but it was far less pronounced than usual, no one tried to get on his nerves, and an audience he was supposed to have with the Emperor that evening had gotten canceled last minute. 

Kikimora had sent a letter via scout to inform him that the Emperor would be unexpectedly occupied. Darius wouldn’t question why. He was just happy he wouldn’t have to be in that horrid throne room today, trying to keep his nerves in check with the threatening figure of the Emperor towering above him, the thud of the Titan’s beating heart beating in time with his own.

Instead, he used that sudden free time to visit a spa in a nearby town. He couldn’t remember the last time he was able to just sit back and unwind, allowing himself to relax without thinking of a single thing. He was at peace, the steam from the water billowing around him and instantly de-stressing him, the knots in his back unfurling themselves and all tension leaving his body.

After some time there, he left, eager to get back to the castle and go to bed at a reasonable time for once. Upon returning and making his way to his room, hand raised to turn the handle, the stress immediately returned.

There was a slight trail of blood that started just before his door and led right up to it, presumably continuing inside. On high-alert, Darius pre-emptively transformed his arm into a scythe and slowly turned the handle, prepared for whatever danger was on the other side.

He didn’t notice anything immediately as he scanned around the study. He took a few silent steps further in, still looking around. He was right that the blood trail continued and so he followed it, finding himself moving into his adjoining bedroom and to the corner alcove, where the blood trail ended in between a tight space between a bookshelf and the wall.

Darius could see a foot peeking out from in between the wall and the shelf, his heart speeding up at the sight, scythe-arm raising slightly in case it was some sort of trap. A million thoughts raced through his head as he approached. The most prominent, however, was his desperate hope that someone hadn’t committed some kind of grotesque murder and left the body in Darius’ room to find.

That thought was diminished, however, when he heard a small sob coming from the body. At least they weren’t dead, he supposed. He lowered his scythe but did not re-transfigure his arm just in case, finally coming up to the side of the bookshelf and facing the person tucked away beside it, his heart dropping at the sight.

Hunter didn’t notice him at first, eyes clenched shut in pain, tears streaming down his face, desperately choking back sobs. Darius didn’t have to search hard to find out where the blood had been coming from. Hunter had ripped a sleeve off his shirt and was holding it hard against his leg, trying to stop the bleeding. It didn’t look like it was working.

“Hunter?”

Hunter startled, eyes blowing wide and flicking up to Darius in pure fear. It was like he didn’t recognize the Coven Head all of a sudden. His eyes quickly glanced to the scythe at Darius’ side before he clenched them shut again, tears streaming down even faster than they had before.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry! It hurt too much to walk and I couldn’t get back to my room and I didn’t know what to do! I’m sorry I’m sorry! Please don’t be mad! I’m sorry!”

He was absolutely hysterical, throwing his arms up in front of his face like he expected Darius to attack him. In doing so, he dropped the sleeve he had against his leg and Darius almost gagged at the sight.

His leg was absolutely mangled, ripped open with a massive cut extending down the side of his calf deep enough to expose muscle. Darius quickly turned his scythe back into an arm.

“Hunter…” He took a hesitant step forward and extended a hand to him. Hunter opened his eyes at hearing his name but seeing Darius approach further had only made him grow more frantic, throwing his back against the wall and kicking away despite the pain he must be in, as if he could somehow make the wall push back farther to give him more space from Darius. Darius immediately took a step back. He had no idea how to handle this. There was blood on his floor.

He had to mentally kick himself. He had a screaming, bleeding child sitting in front of him and his thoughts were suddenly about how he was going to have to get his floor cleaned afterwards.

Darius sat down and leaned his back against the wall in front of Hunter, purposefully positioning himself to face away slightly hoping it would calm the boy down. He desperately needed to attend to the wound but it’s not like he could do that if Hunter was fighting him the whole time.

“I’m not mad, Hunter. It’s okay. I need you to calm down, okay? Just take deep breaths,” he tried, praying that Hunter was even able to hear him over his own sobbing.

Thankfully, it seemed that Hunter was listening, desperately trying to follow Darius’ advice, though the deep breaths made it sound more like he was choking.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I didn’t know what to do! I’m sorry!” he cried, barely coherent, and Darius had to fight back his own tears. He had told the boy to leave him alone and now, when Hunter desperately needed help, he couldn’t even turn to the one person who had helped him in the past without thinking he was going to be reprimanded for it. Actually, if he just thought he would be scolded, that would have been better. Instead, Hunter started begging for his safety.

“Please don’t hurt me! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

“Hunter, I promise I won’t hurt you. I want to help,” Darius said, horrified that Hunter would think he would do such a thing. “Just keep trying to breathe, okay?”

Hunter tried. He really did but it was obvious he was too scared to help himself much.

The wound on his leg wasn’t getting any better and his skin wasn’t getting any less pale. Darius was worried if he couldn’t get Hunter to calm down soon, he would have to use force to take care of him and he really did not want to have to do that. The kid was terrified enough as it was.

He sat and just tried to talk to him, using soothing words and encouragements hoping that Hunter would relax enough to allow him to help. Eventually, much to Darius’ relief, his cries quieted down. There were still tears staining his cheeks but he wasn’t sobbing anymore and he didn’t look as flighty as he was before. He just looked tired, and understandably so.

Darius took the risk.

“Hunter, you need to see a healer.”

Hunter sniffled and simply stated, “I can’t.”

Darius, more than anything, wanted to leave that room and march up to Belos and punch him in the face at that moment. What a stupid rule. What an unnecessarily cruel and evil rule to make a boy who was literally bleeding out on the floor have to follow.

What was he supposed to do? He couldn’t just send him away with such a grievous wound, especially when he could barely walk. Truly, if Darius did that, he really would be nothing but a heartless monster. Where else was Hunter even supposed to go anyway? Darius decided he would just have to do the only thing he possibly could in this situation.

“Then will you let me take care of it?” Darius asked.

Hunter wouldn’t look at Darius.

“…I can do it myself. I just…,” Another sniffle. “…I just couldn’t get to my room to get my supplies.”

The fact that Hunter even had to have his own stash of medical supplies was sickening. The fact that he was probably used to stitching up his own wounds made Darius simmer with rage at the man who made him do that.

“You shouldn’t have to do this yourself. Let me help you, Little Prince,” Darius said.

At the return of the silly little nickname, Hunter finally looked at Darius. He looked like he was contemplating Darius’ offer but it didn’t take long before he gave in and nodded an okay.

Darius stood up. Hunter managed to wriggle himself out of the tight corner, scooting forward out of it and putting his good leg under him, his hand on the wall for support, and attempting to try and stand up as well. Darius was not having that.

“No. You are not about to walk on that leg,” he said, moving forward and scooping the boy up into his arms. Hunter blushed in embarrassment and tried pushing at Darius’ chest to get him to drop him.

“I-I’m fine! It’s a short distance! I can walk!”

“You’re right. It is a short distance and I can carry you.”

Hunter huffed and gave up the fight, probably too tired from crying and weak from blood loss to bicker right now about something like this. Darius carried him over to the couch, setting him down gently and propping his leg up. He summoned an abomination and wrote a note to check out some medical supplies from the Healing Coven, handing it to the abomination and sending it on its way to act as a courier.

Grabbing a bath towel, just to have something to try and keep the blood in while he waited for the abomination to return, he tied it around the wound firmly. Hunter winced from the pain but otherwise made no complaints. Darius then grabbed him a pain potion from his stash which the boy quickly drank, hopefully finding at least a little relief in the magic though his face showed no sign of it.

“How did this happen?” Darius asked.

Hunter started pulling at a loose thread on the arm of the sleeve he tore off.

“I failed a mission,” he simply said in explanation. It wasn’t enough of an answer, though.

The abomination returned with the supplies, handing them off to Darius. He threw on the medical gloves from the supply kit, knelt on the floor beside the couch, removed the towel, and quickly got to work on cleaning the wound and stitching up the leg. Without the Healing Coven, it would surely scar.

“What mission?” Darius asked as he threaded the needle.

“There was a witch going around sabotaging Coven tryouts. I was supposed to find them and arrest them,” Hunter sniffled again and continued picking at the thread, trying to keep his attention off the needle now going through his leg. “I did find them but they got away.”

Darius scowled. That still didn’t answer his question.

“What, did you trip and cut your leg chasing them?”

Hunter looked at Darius like that was an absurdly ridiculous suggestion.

“What? No. I’m not that clumsy,” He scoffed slightly at the idea that he was. “The cut is from Belos.”

Darius’ hands stilled. He desperately prayed that he had just misheard him.

“What do you mean it’s from Belos?” 

Hunter seemed oblivious to Darius’ sudden concerned demeanor over the statement.

“He heard I let the witch get away so he called me into the throne room when I got back and told me that if my legs were useless enough to where I couldn’t even catch a simple criminal, then I didn’t need them. Then he cut me.”

Darius’ blood was ice cold in his veins and his brain was suddenly disconnected from his body. He had to force himself into autopilot to continue his stitching job. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing right now. Hunter had said it so matter-of-factly too, like it wasn’t the most damning thing he could have said about his uncle.

“No. Lilith asked you if the Emperor ever hurt you and you said no. Were you lying?” 

“I wasn’t lying!” Hunter said, voiced raised slightly at the accusation. “And that’s not what she asked. She asked if he abused me. That’s different.”

Darius tied off the ends of the stitches and stood up from his kneeling position, turning his gaze to the boy on the couch.

“How is that different, Hunter?” he asked, absolutely baffled at the things that were coming out of this kid’s mouth right now.

Hunter stared into Darius’ eyes with a sureness that made the man want to throw up.

“Abuse is, like, when they do it for no reason, right? But Uncle only hurts me if I deserve it. He does it to teach me a lesson.”

Darius had to sit down.

He parked himself at the other end of the couch, threw off his bloodied gloves, and put his face in his hands, desperately trying to stay calm so he wouldn’t frighten Hunter again. His urgent need to punch Belos had quickly turned into an all-out murder fantasy and if he wasn’t careful he would surely try to act on it at that moment.

“Darius?”

How the hell was he supposed to explain the concept of abuse to a kid who thought it was normal and rational for their guardian to harm them? 

“…Darius?”

How was a kid who was raised and manipulated into believing that he deserved to be hurt supposed to understand that his uncle was the one who was actually in the wrong, especially when he practically worshipped the man?

“Darius? Did I do something wrong?”

Darius pulled his head out of his hands and looked at Hunter, who was looking back at him in concern. He sighed.

“No. It’s not you, I promise,” he responded, getting back off the couch and moving to wrap up Hunter’s leg.

He couldn’t explain it. Hunter wouldn’t believe him, anyway, but even if he did, what would it accomplish? It’s not like Darius could save him. He’d already been through that argument in his head before. If he somehow, miraculously, managed to make Hunter understand that Belos had no right to put his hands on him, it wouldn’t stop it from happening. The only difference would be that Hunter wouldn’t have the luxury of being able to justify it away. Instead, he would have to face the fact that it was unneeded, senseless violence against him, inflicted for no other reason than because Belos saw him as an easy target to take out his anger on.

If anything, it might put him more in danger. What if Hunter realized how evil his uncle really was and was suddenly less enthusiastic about pleasing him? It was already glaringly obvious how much Belos didn’t care about him, despite the fact that he was his nephew. Surely, if Hunter were suddenly anything less than the perfect little soldier for the Emperor, he may just end up meeting the same unfortunate fate as previous Golden Guard, who turned against Belos and was killed for it.

Darius could not let history repeat itself. Not with Hunter. Perhaps it would be a mercy to keep him in the dark for now. Maybe that was the only way Darius could protect him.

“I don’t want you stitching yourself up anymore. If this happens again, come back here and let me do it,” he told Hunter.

“You don’t have to bother. I can just do it myself,” Hunter said.

“I didn’t say you couldn’t. I said I didn’t want you to,” Darius retorted. “Will you let me help you?”

Hunter looked up at him questioningly.

“Why do you even want to? I thought you didn’t care about me.”

“It’s hard not to care when you find someone bleeding out and having a panic attack on your floor,” Darius said.

“…Sorry,” Hunter responded, glancing away in shame. Darius was quick to reassure him.

“Don’t apologize. I’m not angry with you.”

Darius stood back up and walked over to a chest on the other side of the room. He pulled open the lid and took something out of it, making his way back to Hunter.

The boy was never his enemy. He was stupid to have just realized that. Sure, he was still worried that Hunter would rat him out to the Emperor should he be found out but Darius couldn’t keep pushing him away to selfishly protect himself. He had sworn to protect the people of the Isles from the Emperor’s wrath but how could he keep that promise if he continued to ignore the one who needed him the most?

Hunter wasn’t just a mindless drone, slaving away for an evil man just because he thought he was an all-powerful god. He was a little kid who had been manipulated by the person who raised him to be the perfect soldier- a little kid who was just desperate for attention from his uncle and the only way he could get anything that might even resemble a thin scrap of love from the man was if he did his job and did it well. If he disobeyed or failed, he faced punishments far harsher than anyone ever deserved.

All Darius had done in his attempts to push the boy away was reinforce the idea that the Emperor was the only one he could ever get any kind of love from. He couldn’t keep worrying about what would happen if Hunter remained loyal to Belos in the end if he was never going to give him a reason to be anything else. Sure, he could try and keep Hunter loyal to the man for now to keep him safe but if Darius managed to make the boy trust him during that time, perhaps he could convince him to leave the Emperor when it was safe to, if it ever would be.

He lifted Hunter’s hand and dropped the bird charm into his palm.

“Can you promise you’ll come to me?” Darius asked.

Hunter looked longingly at the bird charm in his hand and one more tear escaped his eye, trailing down his cheek at the sight of it. Darius didn’t know what that meant but hopefully it was an acknowledgement of Darius’ true feelings.

“…okay,” Hunter quietly said, closing his fist over it.
 

Chapter Text

“It’s a slitherbeast.”

Darius looked over at the crudely drawn amalgamation of crayon marks on the page Hunter was holding up to his face.

“I think you need to take an art class,” he simply said, returning his attention to his work.

Eberwolf growled.

“See? Eber thinks it looks good,” Hunter said.

“Eberwolf can’t draw either.”

Eberwolf was currently lecturing Hunter about different types of beasts and Hunter had been drawing them out, or at least trying to, on the notes he was frantically taking during his lesson. It’s not as if Darius cared if the demon wanted to teach Hunter about beast-keeping. In fact, he thought it was great Hunter was so curious about different types of magic. The problem was that they decided to do this in Darius’ study for some reason while he was trying to work.

“Can’t you two do this somewhere else? I’m busy,” Darius said as they went back to chattering on his floor. 

“Why? Are we bothering you?” Hunter asked sarcastically. Darius answered anyway.

“Yes. I need to get this done before tomorrow and you two are quite the distraction.”

Hunter and Eber made no move to get up.

“What a shame,” Hunter simply said and Eberwolf jokingly shook his head at Darius.

He felt his eye twitch. Both of them, separately, were such pestering little imps but now that they could combine forces, it was a whole new level of annoyance.

“Don’t you have your own work to do?” he asked the both of them. After all, Eberwolf was also a busy Coven Head and Hunter was the Golden Guard. He found it hard to believe they suddenly had enough free time to mess around.

Eberwolf growled.

Okay, yeah, Eberwolf was never really the type to care about paperwork, he supposed. Darius had to wonder how he always got away with it, though. 

That just left Hunter then.

“And what about you?” he asked the boy. 

“I don’t wait until the last minute to get things done,” Hunter said, glancing up briefly at Darius as he said his next statement. “Unlike some people.”

“I didn’t wait until the last minute. I’ve been overloaded with paperwork for the past week now,” Darius defended, appalled at the accusation.

“You could probably get it done faster if you didn’t take 10 years to loop all your ‘o’s’ and cross all your ‘t’s’,” Hunter responded.

“Neat handwriting is the sign of a responsible leader. I can’t expect anyone to understand what I’m trying to say if all my writing looks like a toddler scribbled all over the page.”

“I don’t know. People don’t have any problem reading my stuff,” Hunter answered, unfazed at the jab.

Darius sighed. “At least quiet down so I can focus,” he said, though he knew it was a long shot they’d listen. They only came here to bother him, after all.

Hunter wouldn’t have tried this on his own, at least. No, it was that demon who was instigating the unruly behavior. Eberwolf had offered to teach Hunter about beasts and then dragged him to Darius’ study because he had so much fun poking at Darius’ short temper and now he had found someone who would go along with it. 

Darius was also certain this was Eber’s way of punishing him for being so cruel to Hunter before. Darius had pushed him away and now Eberwolf had allowed Hunter the chance to get back at him without the threat of reprimand. Eberwolf knew the boy could not get in trouble for this if he were ‘ordered’ to be here.

Hunter was basically given permission by a Coven Head to be a nuisance and he was absolutely relishing in the freedom of it.

Eberwolf let out a growl in acknowledgement of Darius’ request and the two of them went back to their lecture.

Darius was surprised, to say the least. He had thought for sure they would just continue to pester him but did they actually change their minds and decide to act like normal, reasonable people for once?

No, he had been right. Eberwolf started acting out the beasts he was describing while Hunter laughed at the spectacle. They were still being entirely, unnecessarily loud. Darius formed a spell circle and the two of them quickly stopped laughing as abomination matter rose up and cemented them to the floor and covered their mouths.

“Ah, that’s better,” Darius sighed in relief at the silence. His triumph didn’t last long, however, when a swarm of beetles suddenly appeared and ate away at the matter like it was nothing, freeing Darius’ two headaches.

“Woah! Neat,” Hunter said, studying the beetles as they scampered away. Eber ordered one to stay still in front of the boy so he could eagerly sketch it out.

Was there anything this kid wasn’t fascinated by? Powerful magic displays were one thing but Darius saw that same wonder in his eyes as he watched the gross little bug walk away when he was done his drawing. He then excitedly turned back to Eber to ask a million questions about them, all to which Eberwolf eagerly answered.

“They’re just bugs,” Darius interrupted. “You can take two steps out of the castle and be just as in awe by what you’ll find on the ground.”

“I can’t control the bugs, though” Hunter responded. “That’s the cool part.” 

Eberwolf nodded in agreement.

Darius rolled his eyes. “It’s not that spectacular.”

Eberwolf and Hunter stared at him for a few seconds before Eber burst out laughing. Hunter and Darius both looked at him, confused. After a few moments he composed himself to growl.

Darius felt his cheeks heat up.

“I am not jealous!” he said, “I just don’t think it’s anything to be amazed over…”

It was obvious neither of them believed him. Hunter looked at Darius in sympathy.

“It’s okay, Darius. Your magic is cool, too,” he tried. 

Darius just put his face in his hands and groaned. How did he somehow get stuck with the two most annoying people on the Boiling Isles?

Eberwolf chuckled again at Darius and growled out about how proud he was of his student, moving to pat Hunter on the back. He immediately retracted his paw, however, when the contact made Hunter flinch in pain. Concern immediately replaced Darius’ annoyance.

“Hunter, are you okay?” he asked. The boy’s face grew red and he looked away, not able to look Darius in the eyes as he lied to him.

“I’m fine,” he simply said.

Eberwolf, who was just as concerned as Darius, growled at the boy.

“I said I’m fine!” Hunter cried, growing defensive. He abruptly stood up and gathered his things, throwing his mask back over his face.

“Actually, I just remembered there’s something I need to do,” he lied again. “Thank you for the lesson, Eberwolf. I’ll be going now.” With that, he turned and left Darius’ study.

Darius and Eber looked at each other questioningly. Eberwolf just shrugged at the man, both of them at a loss for what could have caused the behavior. Darius’ biggest worry was that Hunter was hiding some sort of injury. It certainly seemed like something he would do.

Without his companion, Eberwolf did not stay much longer, either. This was what Darius had wanted this entire time- peace and quiet, and yet now that he had it, he still couldn’t do his work. He was far too busy worrying about Hunter’s odd reaction.

The next few days calmed his worry, however. Hunter seemed to be acting perfectly normal whenever they would see each other, although slightly out of breath sometimes for some odd reason. Perhaps he had just been startled by the sudden paw on his back and they mistook it as pain? Either way, it seemed fine now, so Darius stopped concerning himself over it.

That was until one day he got out of a meeting to find the Golden Guard waiting for him around the corner, the sight spurring that worry to reignite in Darius’ chest. Hunter never waited for Darius for anything and the fact that he was now was cause for concern.

“Is everything okay?” Darius asked. Hunter briefly looked away and Darius had to guess he was embarrassed to say whatever it was he needed. Finally, after a few seconds, Hunter gathered up the courage to speak.

“It’s…on my back. I can’t reach it.”

Anger quickly mixed into the worry over the fact that Darius knew exactly what he was talking about- anger that something like this truly did happen again. He had known it likely would but being directly confronted with the fact was not easy.

He directed Hunter to follow him, leading him back to his room and pulling out a medical kit he had gotten just for these sorts of occasions. Hunter took off his mask, cape, and armor so Darius had access to his back. He sat down backwards on a chair and lifted his shirt slightly as Darius approached with the kit.

The wound was situated towards the middle of his back but it wasn’t nearly as bad as Darius had imagined- not like the wound on his leg had been. It still needed cleaning and a few stitches but that was much preferrable to the images Darius had rolling through his head the entire walk to his room. His anger didn’t subside just because it wasn’t as serious, however. Hunter still shouldn’t have gotten hurt at all. The fact that it was underneath the armor made it worse. That meant that Belos had made him remove the armor just so he could leave a mark.

He didn’t ask why it happened. It didn’t matter, he decided, and Hunter probably wouldn’t want to talk about it anyway. He simply got to work taking care of it, the two of them sitting in silence the majority of the time.

It was impossible for Darius not to notice the bandages peeking out from under Hunter’s shirt considering the wound was directly below them. He waited until he had tied off the ends of the stitches to ask about them.

“Did you already get hurt here before?” Darius asked.

“No. Why?”

“These bandages around your chest,” he pointed out, confused on why Hunter was confused. What else would he be talking about?

Even from where he was sitting behind him, Darius could still see the way Hunter’s ears flushed in embarrassment before he shyly responded, “Those…are for something else.”

It took Darius a few seconds. If he wasn’t using them because he had gotten hurt, then what else would they be for? Then, it hit him. He sighed and rubbed his temples over how stupid this kid could be.

“Hunter, are you binding with those?”

“Are you done? You’re done right? I’m just gonna go. Thanks for the help,” Hunter quickly said, jumping up and trying to quickly put his armor back on, fumbling around with it from his franticness. Darius took it away from him before he could get it on.

“Not so fast,” Darius said, holding it above his head, out of Hunter’s reach while he desperately tried to jump for it. He put a hand on his shoulder to stop him and push him back into the chair.

“Do you not have a proper binder?” he asked the boy who looked away in shame.

“…I did but it's too small now…,” Hunter started, blushing furiously, “…and I can’t just ask for another one. It’ll be my third one this year. My other ones got destroyed...”

“Hunter, you’re a growing boy. It’s expected you’ll have to replace your clothes eventually,” Darius said, still not understanding. Then, he mentally facepalmed. He had forgotten for a second who Hunter would have to ask for these types of things. 

It’s not like Belos couldn’t give him the care he needs. He was the Emperor, after all. Darius just had no doubt that he simply didn’t want to for whatever reason. Perhaps it was some sort of punishment or perhaps he just didn’t care if Hunter hurt himself in this way.

Darius sighed and set the armor down, making his way over to his desk and pulling out a tape measure. Walking back over to Hunter, the boy regarding him with curiosity, he said, “Lift up your arms.”

“Why?” Hunter asked, though he still did what he was told.

Darius began taking his measurements.

“So I can take your measurements.”

“Why?”

“So I can make you a binder.”

“…Why?”

Darius finished and stepped away, regarding the boy for a moment.

“What do you mean, ‘why?’” he asked, “I can’t have you using bandages. It’s dangerous.”

Hunter still looked confused, though Darius had to imagine it wasn’t over the ‘it’s dangerous’ statement. He had no doubt Hunter was in pain from doing this. 

“Why do you care?” Hunter asked and Darius paused. They were just confusing each other at this point.

“I don’t want you hurting yourself, Little Prince,” Darius simply said as if it should have been obvious.

“Yes, but why?”

Darius sat down on a chair across from him and just looked at him for a few seconds, still not understanding what he was getting at.

“Hunter, I’m at a loss here,” Darius finally admitted. “You’re gonna have to tell me what you mean.”

Hunter started to get frustrated, nervously fidgeting with his gloves in an attempt to keep himself calm.

“I mean, you started off being mean to me, then you’re nice, then you found out I was the Golden Guard and then you were mean again, and now you’re being nice again. I don’t understand you. Do you like me or not?”

In all fairness, Darius had to admit he certainly did put Hunter on a whirlwind of emotions regarding his attitude towards him. He had thought they cleared it up when Hunter nearly bled out on his floor, however.

“I gave you your charm back. What did you think that meant?”

“I just thought you were giving it back ‘cause you thought it was junk and didn’t want it or something.”

Bewildered, Darius just stared at him for a few more seconds, making him squirm slightly.

“Hunter…,” Darius finally started, trying to figure out what to say, “…You thought I gave you back the trinket after calming you down from a panic attack and stitching up your bloody, mangled leg because I…didn’t care?”

Hunter blushed again, fidgeting more fiercely with his glove.

“Well, you didn’t really say anything so how was I supposed to know?”

Hunter had a point, he supposed. Darius never really did outright say that he didn’t regard him as dirt under his foot anymore. He had been hoping it would have been obvious but apparently Hunter never actually got the memo. So, Darius took a deep breath and sucked in his pride to admit his feelings.

“Listen, I want to help you- Are you listening, Little Prince?-, because I care about you,” Darius started, saying the last part slowly. “As much of a gremlin as you are, you’ve somehow managed to make yourself part of my life now.”

Hunter’s eyes widened at the admission before his expression fell again.

“Why did you change your mind?”

“What do you mean?”

“Back when you first told me to start leaving you alone- you said you didn’t care about me,” Hunter stated, forcing Darius to remember his unnecessary cruelty towards him and feel a spike of guilt through his heart. “Then you told me that we were just coworkers and couldn’t be friends.”

“You were really mean,” Hunter finished, voice quiet from the reminder he gave himself.

“…I never meant any of that in the first place. I was just trying to push you away,” Darius tried to explain. The explanation just made it sound worse, though.

“Why?”

“Would you stop asking ‘why?’, you sound like a broken record.”

“If you actually explain things to me I won’t have to.”

It was impressive how they could still so easily get on each other’s nerves after everything. Darius took a deep breath. 

“I did it because I’m a terrible, awful, cruel person,” he said in response, “Honestly, it’s a wonder you tried to befriend me despite that.”

Hunter regarded him for a few moments, rolling the words around in his head.

“Yeah. You kind of are.”

He said it with such certainty that Darius felt his heart stutter in mournful sorrow, though it’s not like he didn’t deserve the boy’s ill-will towards him. He had been ruthless and unkind and if Hunter never forgave him, he couldn’t blame him. 

Hunter continued, “But you’ve been nice to me, too. You want to be nice now, right? You’re not gonna change your mind again?”

“I won’t change my mind. I want to be there for you, Little Prince.”

Hunter smiled such a chilling smile then, striking fear into the man in front of him for a split second.

“Then you should apologize,” Hunter cockily said, crossing his legs and waiting patiently.

“Apologize?” Darius asked, though he already knew what Hunter meant. He was just having trouble swallowing the rest of his pride.

“For being so awful to me before,” Hunter explained.

In regard to positions, Darius absolutely did not have to apologize. He was Hunter’s superior, for Titan’s sake. What he said had been entirely reasonable in terms of a Coven Head scolding their subordinate for unruly behavior. This wasn’t about that, though. Hunter wasn’t asking for an apology from his superior, he was asking for an apology from someone he probably thought of as a friend.

Darius had no idea what to call their relationship, in all honestly. He certainly didn’t want to be enemies with him and ‘coworkers’ felt too neutral. It felt uncomfortable, however, to think of Hunter as a friend when he was nearly three decades younger than him, even though he had no doubt ‘friend’ was the label Hunter would use for him. In any case, Darius wanted to be on positive terms. In order to do that, he couldn’t just refuse to give Hunter a much-deserved apology, no matter how embarrassed he was to admit his faults.

Hunter was still waiting patiently, leaning forwards with his head resting against his palm. Darius finally sucked it up to give him what he wanted.

“Hunter, I am truly sorry for my cruel behavior towards you before,” Darius said.

“And?”

“…and for all the horrible things I’ve ever said,” he continued.

“And?”

“…and…for…pushing you away?”

“And?”

“What else are you looking for here? Give me a hint, child.”

“You told me my art skills were terrible.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Hunter smiled and the sight caused all the tension in Darius’ body to leave. For a second, he thought that everything was fine now but the hint of sadness in Hunter’s eyes gave him reason to believe otherwise. It would be naïve to think a few words would solve everything. Hunter would likely not trust Darius for awhile after what he had said to him that night.

“I’ll accept your apology. I guess you’re not that bad,” Hunter said before taking another second to think, “Most of the time, anyway.”

Darius smiled as well. Even if words weren’t enough, this was a start, at least. Darius was just thankful that Hunter was still receptive and giving him a chance despite his cruelty and he would just have to try his best to prove he was deserving of Hunter’s attention this time.

“You don’t exactly have a great frame of reference for this but I appreciate the compliment,” he jokingly said. He got up and handed Hunter his mask and armor, allowing him to actually put them back on this time.

“It’ll probably take me a few days to finish your binder. If I find out you’ve been using bandages during that time, I’ll throw you into the pit around the castle,” Darius said as he walked over and clasped the Golden Guard cloak around Hunter’s shoulders. The threat was empty and they both knew it but Darius could only hope he would listen, anyway.

“Oh, wow! Look at the time,” Hunter said, tossing his mask over his face and heading towards the door. 

“Hunter…”

“I have so much work to do I better get back to it!”

“Hunter.”

Abomination goo sealed the door before Hunter could exit. Hunter hesitantly turned back to Darius, who had his arms crossed and was giving the boy a stern look.

Hunter sighed and relented.

“Okay, fine, dad. I won’t use them anymore.”

“Good,” Darius stated, ignoring the teasing remark and removing the goo from the door. “I’ll send the finished piece to your room once it’s complete.”

Hunter regarded him for a few more moments before hesitantly saying, “Thank you,” and making his way out of Darius’ room.

Just as he promised, about three days later, Darius sent an abomination to Hunter’s room to leave the package on his bed. Hunter didn’t bring it up again, likely too embarrassed, but his gratefulness was apparent in his non-labored breaths and when Eberwolf could pat him on the back without him wincing in pain.

Chapter Text

It was New Years.

For the most part, it was a completely normal day for the residents of the castle. They continued to wake up early and do their jobs, mundanely going about their life just as they would any other day of the year. The only difference was the party they would hold at the end of the night to celebrate.

Darius stood in the corner, sipping his apple blood and chatting away to Eberwolf, watching everyone else dance and have fun. Bards played an assortment of music to liven up the room and the number of faces that could be seen in the crowd was astonishing. The rare party was the only time the scouts could be seen within the castle walls without their masks.

Nearly everyone who lived in the castle could be seen at this event. Well, almost everyone, anyway. The Emperor himself never showed his presence at something like this, which Darius appreciated. He had no doubt Belos would ruin the festivities- at least for the rebels. 

The Emperor’s nephew was also not present, nor was the Golden Guard- though it’s not as if anyone would realize that. No one else knew who he was behind the mask and so would not know if one of these faces belonged to him.

Darius realized he had never seen Hunter at a party like this. It made sense that he wouldn’t attend, as joining in on such a massive social event would defeat the purpose of trying to isolate himself to hide his identity. It may also not be an appropriate place for him anyway- a child amongst a group of intoxicated adults. Still, it was a shame he couldn’t celebrate holidays such as this, instead being forced to stay cooped up in his room while everyone else in the castle got to have fun.

Eberwolf must have been thinking the same thing, Darius thought, as he watched the little demon sneak a slice of fairy cake and scamper out of the room, gesturing for Darius to follow. They made their way to Hunter’s room and Darius knocked, waiting a few moments until he saw the door open and Hunter’s head peek out.

“What are you doing here? Aren’t you having a party right now?” he asked.

Eberwolf handed him the cake in answer.

“Oh! Thank you,” Hunter happily said, taking the cake from the demon. It was probably rare for him to get treats such as this and Darius knew he had somewhat of a sweet tooth. Hunter made his way back into the room and sat the plate down on his nightstand, taking his place back on his bed where there were various books and papers scattered about around him. 

“Are you working on…,” Darius started, taking a closer look at the documents, “…budget reports? On New Years?”

Hunter picked the plate back up after he got resettled and took a bite of his cake as he answered. 

“That’s the best time to go over them. That way, I know everyone’s spending habits and can accommodate them as efficiently as I can during the upcoming year.”

Eberwolf cocked an eyebrow and growled at the boy.

Hunter thought for a moment before replying.

“I guess it’s not technically my job but no one else seems to take it seriously.”

Darius inhaled sharply and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“You really need a hobby,” he said and Hunter cocked his head questioningly.

“Does this not count?” Hunter asked.

“No,” Darius simply answered.

Eberwolf chuckled and growled out a joke about how Hunter was still having fun anyway. The demon then pulled out a glass of apple blood, seemingly out of nowhere, and handed it to Hunter who curiously took it. Darius quickly snatched it back out of his hands.

“Eber! He’s 14. He can’t drink this.”

“I’m 15.”

Darius set the glass down and turned his attention back to Hunter.

“Since when?” he asked, curious about this new development.

“Since today.”

Darius scoffed at the idea Hunter really thought that would work.

“Hunter, you realize that just because you lie and say you’re 15 doesn’t mean I’m going to change my mind. That’s still too young.”

Hunter scowled at the response.

“I’m not lying, though!”

“Really? Your birthday is the same day as New Years?” Darius asked, still in disbelief. He supposed it wasn’t impossible but what were the odds?

Hunter glanced away, humming in thought. After a few seconds, he spoke again.

“I mean, it’s probably not but I don’t know when it actually is so I just age myself up with the year.”

It was impressive how this kid was able to constantly say the most outlandish things Darius had ever heard every single time they spoke and, at the same time, act like it wasn’t an absolutely bizarre fact to admit. He rubbed his temple, already regretting asking the question before it even left his mouth.

“How do you not know when your birthday is?”

Hunter took another bite of cake, not at all perturbed that he wouldn’t know such basic information about himself.

“I asked Uncle once but he got mad at me for bothering him with questions and told me it didn’t matter,” Hunter said through a mouthful of dessert, “I never asked again after that.”

Darius could feel Eberwolf’s fur bristle against his leg before the demon quickly composed itself, growling out a ‘happy birthday’ and nudging Darius to do the same.

“Happy birthday,” Darius neutrally exclaimed. 

“Thanks,” Hunter said after taking another bite.

“Will you top talking with your mouth full? It’s disgusting,” Darius scolded, cringing at the sight of the chewed-up cake in Hunter’s mouth every time he spoke.

As if to spite him, Hunter shoved another forkful into his mouth before saying, “Sorry. My bad.”

Darius groaned and Eberwolf chuckled at his despair. Suddenly, he had a realization. 

“You’ve probably never celebrated your birthday, have you?” he asked the boy.

“Am I supposed to?”

“Well, it’s customary to,” Darius said. “Usually you would have a party, much like the one everyone is having now.”

Eberwolf growled, continuing the explanation.

“Yes, and people would get you gifts,” Darius finished.

Hunter finished his cake and set the plate to the side.

“It’s not like I can have a party, though,” Hunter pointed out. “I don’t think the Emperor would allow it.”

It was a sad point but not one Darius hadn’t already guessed. The man wouldn’t even tell him when his actual birthday was. There was no chance he’d care enough to let him celebrate his made up one.

“Perhaps not,” Darius said. “But we can still get you gifts.”

“Oh! You don’t have to do that…,” Hunter said modestly.

Eberwolf scoffed and waved a paw, indicating that, yes, they had to.

They didn’t even give Hunter more chance to argue as the two of them made their way out of the room.

“Have fun with your reports, Little Prince. We’ll be back shortly with your gifts,” Darius said as they walked away, shutting the door behind them.

Darius and Eberwolf had the same idea, not returning to the party and spending the next hour searching the markets for the perfect presents. Then, they went back to the castle and sat in a common study to wrap them and plan on how they could make Hunter’s birthday more interesting. The child would probably be appreciative enough of the gifts, but he deserved to actually celebrate for once, even if he couldn’t have a party. 

Lilith came in while they were wrapping Eberwolf’s gift, carrying a stack of papers. She wasn’t much for parties and had probably been working this entire time.

“What are you two doing? I thought everyone else would be at the party,” she asked, surprised to see them there.

Eberwolf answered her.

“Oh! How…interesting,” Lilith simply stated, thinking for a few seconds before leaving the room again. Darius and Eber went back to their task at hand.

Once they had wrapped the gifts and figured out what they wanted to do for Hunter, standing up and getting ready to meet with him again, Lilith returned. She hesitantly handed an already wrapped present to Darius, blushing profusely and refusing to look either of them in the eyes.

“S-send him my regards,” she stated before quickly making her exit again as Eberwolf snickered at her retreating form. Lilith was uptight and obnoxious, but she wasn’t a bad person. Darius smiled. He was sure Hunter would appreciate the gift, whatever it was.

They left and made their way back to Hunter’s room.

Hunter sat on his bed while they handed him the gifts, trying to hide just how excited he was for them. He wasn’t a good actor, though. Eberwolf handed his over first and Hunter eagerly took it and started to unwrap it, gingerly peeling back the paper so as to not rip it. Eberwolf growled at him.

“I don’t want to rip it, though. You wrapped it so carefully…,” Hunter said in response.

“It’s just paper, Little Prince.”

Eberwolf nodded in agreement and slashed his claws through the air, indicating that Hunter should tear it all to shreds. Darius hoped the boy would at least be a little less feral than Eberwolf wanted him to be. Hunter started peeling the paper back with more voracity, though luckily not enough to make him seem like a wild animal, revealing the small figurine of a ratworm.

“Woah!” Hunter exclaimed, smiling and holding the figurine up at eye level. “It’s so cool!” He set it up on the shelf above his bed, prominently displayed so he could admire it when he wanted.

“This one is from Lilith,” Darius stated, handing him the next present.

“Lilith? Really?” Hunter asked, confused. Darius just nodded and Hunter hesitantly opened it. He brightened up again at what it was.

It was a book on the history of boating on the Boiling Sea, complete with diagrams of the inner mechanizations of ships throughout the years. To Darius, it was the most mundane gift anyone could have gotten a teenager and yet Hunter excitedly held it up and quickly flipped through the pages like it was the most interesting thing he’d ever seen. Darius had no doubt he would be reading through it the second he got a chance.

Finally, Darius handed Hunter the gift from him. Hunter took it and unwrapped it.

“A cittern?” he asked, grazing his hands over it delicately, plucking at a string experimentally.

“You seemed so interested in bard magic before, I thought you might appreciate having your own instrument,” Darius explained, hoping that Hunter actually liked it and he didn’t wrongly assume. “Like I said, you need a hobby anyway.”

Hunter held it close to his chest and quietly whispered, “I love it.” He didn’t say anything else but it was such an honest reaction that it was obvious he was thoroughly happy at everything he’d received. He set the cittern to lean against the foot of his bed, turning his attention back to the Coven Heads.

“Thank you again for…everything,” he said, blushing.

“The celebration isn’t over yet, Little Prince. Put your scout uniform on and meet us in the hall,” Darius said.

Hunter turned his gaze to him questioningly. “My scout uniform? I thought I wasn’t allowed to wear it anymore.”

“You’re not, in normal circumstances, but just this once I am giving you permission,” Darius explained.

“Why?”

Eberwolf excitedly pulled Hunter off the bed and pushed him towards his wardrobe, growling.

“Out of the castle? For what?” Hunter asked as Eberwolf continued to shove him forwards.

“Will you stop asking questions and just do as you’re told,” Darius responded lightheartedly. Eberwolf ran back over to him and the two left the room to allow the now thoroughly confused boy to change.

After a few minutes, Hunter emerged from the room, fully outfitted in his scout attire.

“Where are we going?” he asked and Eberwolf waved a paw dismissingly at him.

“I suppose you’ll just have to find out, won’t you?” Darius said, motioning for him to follow as they made their way across the castle to the entrance.

When they got outside, Eberwolf summoned a beast to give them a lift to Bonesborough. Hunter practically started vibrating at the idea he would have to ride it, though Darius wasn’t sure if it was from fear or excitement. Perhaps it was both. Eberwolf climbed up and grabbed the reigns and Darius helped lift Hunter onto the back, the boy immediately clinging to the fur as if it were his only lifeline. Darius climbed up and sat behind him.

“Eberwolf, please drive gently for once,” he stated, wrapping one arm around Hunter’s waist to hopefully give him some semblance of anchorage.

Eberwolf looked back and nodded in acknowledgement before ushering the creature to move, the beast immediately taking off at a speed that had even Darius whirling back a little. He really should have expected this.

Hunter gripped the fur impossibly tighter and Darius wondered if it would have been worth it to find another mode of transportation. Eberwolf had insisted on this, stating that Hunter would love it, yet Darius couldn’t help but think that may have been a false assumption. That was until Hunter got over his initial shock and started laughing. Eberwolf turned back to grin at his amusement, shooting Darius a smug look afterwards.

With the beast charging ahead at full speed, the ride was a fairly short one, the streets of Bonesborough easily spotted in the distance. When they arrived, they clambered off and made their way to the town center, Darius transporting them up onto a nearby balcony and out of the crowd below.

“So why are we here?” Hunter asked, still too impatient.

“Being cooped up in your room during your birthday is a pitiful venture, Little Prince. Just appreciate the fresh air,” Darius responded dismissingly. He pulled the mask off Hunter’s face since it wasn’t necessary now that they were fairly hidden away and out of the castle. He wanted Hunter’s vision to be as obscured as little as possible.

Hunter huffed but didn’t continue to press, following Darius and Eber as they moved closer to the railing, leaning against it as he waited for whatever was about to happen.

Suddenly, there was a large crack in the sky and Hunter startled, slapping his hands over his ears and clenching his eyes shut as it happened again. That wouldn’t do. Darius formed a spell circle and Hunter took his hands away as abomination goo formed itself around his ears to block out the noise. Eberwolf turned him around and pointed to the sky and now that the noise wasn’t bothering him, Hunter’s eyes widened in awe at the sight.

It was a light show and not just any one- the biggest and most spectacular in the Boiling Isles during this time of year. Hunter watched, fascinated, the light from every falling spark reflecting back into his eyes. At one point, Eberwolf eagerly climbed up onto the railing, putting a paw on his shoulder and pointing at the sky, excited to show him what would happen next.

There was another crack as more light shot up into the sky, a bright and overly pompous display that spelled out ‘Happy Birthday!’ and stalling for a moment before finally fizzling out like the others before it.

Being a Coven Head had its perks and Darius and Eber had no problem exploiting their authority for something like this.

Darius smiled as he watched the sparks disappear from existence as they fell from the sky before turning his attention to Hunter to see his reaction, his smile immediately dropping at the sight.

Hunter was crying.

Eberwolf noticed too, gingerly placing a paw back on the boy’s shoulder to silently ask what was wrong. The light show ended and Darius pulled back the matter covering Hunter’s ears as the boy reached up to wipe his tears on his sleeve.

“Sorry. I’m fine,” Hunter said but his crying didn’t cease.

“Did it frighten you too much?” Darius asked, though he had thought Hunter was fine once the noise had been muffled.

“No! I wasn’t scared,” Hunter exclaimed defensively, still too prideful to admit something like that despite the fact he was sobbing in front of them. “It just hurt a little,” he explained, though Darius didn’t understand what he meant.

“But that’s not why I’m crying!” Hunter quickly said, immediately becoming defensive again.

“Then what’s wrong?” Darius asked, concern growing with every moment his tears didn’t stop.

“Nothing’s wrong. I’m fine!”

“Hunter.”

Darius leaned down and put his hands on Hunter’s arms, making sure Hunter knew he wasn’t just going to give up asking.

Hunter glanced away, still trying to desperately wipe away his tears, face flushed. Eberwolf ran over and climbed on Darius’ shoulder and gave the child a soft smile, encouraging him to talk. Hunter finally looked back at them before hesitantly admitting the truth.

“It’s just…No one’s ever done something like this for me before. I guess it just made me really happy,” he explained, followed by a small sniffle.

Darius looked at him questioningly, searching his face for a moment before responding.

“That’s not just it, is it?”

Hunter shrugged and Darius tightened his grip, just enough to say it wasn’t enough of an answer.

Hunter took a deep breath, the action forcing another sniffle out of him.

“I don’t deserve it,” he shyly stated.

Eberwolf scoffed, indignant at such a statement. He growled out a reassurance but it was obvious it fell on deaf ears.

“Hunter, we didn’t even do anything that spectacular but get you gifts and take you to see a light show…,” Darius stated, just as perplexed as the demon on his shoulder. 

“It was more than I’m used to,” Hunter pointed out.

Darius regarded him a moment more.

“What you’re used to is unfair. We obviously thought you deserved more than that and I think it’s rude of you to assume we’re wrong,” Darius said. Eberwolf lightly sunk his claws into his shoulder at the response but Darius had said the right thing for once, as cold as it seemed.

Hunter jumped slightly at the accusation. Any kind of gentle reassurances were never going to settle in his head but the idea of affronting his superiors would.

“I didn’t mean it like that!” Hunter quickly blurted out. “I just meant…I mean…”

He trailed off, unsure of how to fix his ‘mistake.’

Darius smiled to calm him down. 

“It’s fine. Did you at least have fun?” he asked, sparing Hunter and changing the subject, finally taking his hands away and stepping back to give him space.

Hunter’s eyes widened and he was unable to contain his excitement, despite his reservations.

“It was amazing!” he said in awe, swinging his arms around in the air in an attempt to mimic the explosions. “I’ve never seen a light show before! Are they always that loud? How do they get the lights in the sky without magic? Do they use magic sometimes? Do they have one every year? Is it just for New Year’s or do they do it for other events, too?”

Darius chuckled and halted the rambling. “Alright, alright. You can ask your questions on the way home. We should get you back to the castle before it gets too late.”

“Okay,” Hunter responded. “Do we get to ride the monster again?”

Eberwolf growled.

“Sorry, not a monster. I didn’t know what it was called.”

Eberwolf growled out an acceptance to the apology and stated that, yes, they would be riding the beast back.

“Can I drive?” Hunter asked after Darius teleported them all back to the ground.

“Absolutely not,” Darius quickly said.

“But it’s my birthday.”

“No.”

Hunter huffed and crossed his arms as they finished their walk to their ride, all three of them clamoring back up. Suddenly, Eberwolf told Hunter to sit closer behind him and wrap his arms around him, placing his hands on the reigns. Darius was a second too late in understanding what the demon was doing before he ordered the beast to move. Hunter’s laughter was immediate this time as they all felt the air whip against their faces, dodging and weaving through trees and buildings. 

Darius supposed this was fine. Hunter wasn’t actually doing most of the work, Eberwolf still being responsible enough to take control of the steering. When they got back, Hunter put the mask back over his face and they walked him to his room before setting out to their own.

Darius was exhausted at the busy day’s events. Normally an exhausting day would leave him frustrated, though he supposed the exhaustion was worth it for once.

Chapter Text

Darius briskly made his way to the throne room on an urgent summons from the Emperor. He strolled in, scouts lined down the side of the room and the Emperor was sitting on the throne, waiting for him. He quickly knelt down in front of Belos, waiting to hear what this was about.

“Darius. Thank you for arriving on such short notice,” Belos said, gesturing for Darius to stand. “I have an important mission for you.”

“I am at your mercy, My Liege,” Darius responded.

“Good. I’ve received reports of a creature terrorizing villages around the Isles,” Belos started, “According to eye-witnesses, it appears to be some sort of rampant abomination. I trust you will be strong enough to find and take care of it.”

“I will not let you down,” Darius responded.

Rampant abomination? Darius couldn’t imagine what would be the reason for that. Abominations are created to take orders so someone must have ordered it to attack people. He could certainly handle the abomination, no doubt, but the real problem would be finding whoever had made it.

He listened as Belos began speaking again.

“I will send along two scouts to assist you. You shouldn’t need more than that, I presume?”

Darius probably wouldn’t need any scouts at all to dismantle the abomination. They could at least help in finding the puppet-master, however.

“Two are sufficient,” Darius responded.

“Wonderful,” Belos exclaimed. Darius thought the encounter was now over and he was just waiting to be dismissed. Then, Belos said something very confusing.

“You will also be accompanied by my nephew for this.”

Darius almost startled but he was able to expertly hide his shock. There were exactly two reasons Belos’ statement was strange. The first being that there was no reason for the Golden Guard to accompany a mission like this. Darius could very well handle this on his own and he was certain the Emperor knew that. It would just be a waste of the Guard’s time that could certainly be better spent at the Emperor’s side.

Secondly, Belos had just publicly referred to the Golden Guard as his nephew.

Wasn’t the Golden Guard’s actual identity supposed to be some sort of secret? Surely Belos wouldn’t force Hunter to hide his face for years just to throw that all away one afternoon in front of an entire throne room full of people. 

Perhaps it was a slip of the tongue? It seemed unlikely that Emperor Belos would be so careless, though, and glancing up at the man, he didn’t seem like he regretted the words at all. Darius had no doubt those had been the words he wanted to say.

This entire enigma solved itself, however, when the door of the throne room opened and it was not the Golden Guard, at least in uniform, who entered.

Hunter walked in dressed in casual clothing, a common cloak covering his shoulders, and being escorted by two scouts, presumably the ones that would be going on the mission as well. The three of them made their way towards the throne and stood next to Darius in front of the Emperor.

Darius glanced down at the boy at his side. Hunter did not regard the Coven Head, keeping his gaze firmly on the Emperor, awaiting his instructions like the good little soldier he was.

Darius had to ask. “Sir, if I may ask, what is the purpose of bringing him along?”

“I assure you, he will not get in your way,” Belos said, as if that was why Darius would be concerned.  “The reports state that this abomination has been targeting children.”

Belos looked Darius in the eyes, his gaze cold and sending chills throughout the Coven Head’s body, his next words turning his blood to straight ice.

“He’s bait.”

Truly, Darius deserved a reward for keeping his stoic composure at this information, simply nodding his head in acknowledgement of the Emperor’s decision. He snuck another glance at Hunter. Perhaps Hunter deserved a reward, too. His expression never changed at hearing his Uncle’s reasoning for sending him like this. Though, Darius could reasonably assume that he just saw no issue with it.

Belos dismissed them and they made their way to an airship. The latest reports had indicated that the abomination was last seen around the Left Ankle and it seemed to be moving in a pattern, so they were headed to the next location it may pop up.

One of the scouts was busy piloting the airship and the other was on the other side of the ship from Darius, entertaining Hunter with various spells, much to the boy’s amusement.

“Maude really likes kids,” the piloting scout said, trying to strike up conversation with Darius and jabbing his thumb back at the other two after noticing Darius watching them. “Shame about this one, though.”

“…Yes, indeed,” Darius simply said, not interested in talking to the scout. Luckily, they took the hint and didn’t speak again.

At least the scouts understood how messed up it was for Hunter to be brought along for this purpose. None of them could exactly say anything without disobeying the Emperor, however.

If the abomination would only show up to attack children, it did, in some sick and twisted way, make sense to bring a child along to lure it out and the fact that Hunter was the only child in the castle and available for such a thing meant he was the only one Belos could have reasonably sent along. It didn’t mean that it was any less wrong that he would endanger his own nephew for this, though, or any child for that matter. They could have at least tried other methods of finding the abomination before resorting to such drastic measures.

Darius could only hope that the Emperor had done this because he was confident Darius was strong enough to ensure nothing would happen to the boy. It’s not like it was much of a stretch to believe Belos considered Hunter to be dispensable but perhaps there was still a part of the man that wanted to keep him around, if only because it would be troublesome to replace him.

The fact that Hunter seemed so okay with being used as bait made Darius feel sick. He continued watching Hunter as his face lit up with every new magic demonstration from the scout. Hunter was not perturbed in the slightest. Even if he didn’t understand how wrong it was for Belos to do this to him, he had to at least be somewhat worried for his own safety, right? Yet he was acting as if this was just a fun little trip and not a serious mission.

Maybe he trusted Darius to take care of him, too? That idea made the man’s heart swell up with pride. It would be nice if Hunter was able to feel safe just because Darius was there. It meant he was doing something right, at least, in his efforts to protect the boy in any way he feasibly could in these circumstances.

They finally arrived where they wanted to hide the airship, exiting the contraption and beginning their short walk to their actual destination. The scouts moved into position, one in front and one flanking from behind, though it wasn’t entirely necessary to do here. He knew it was just a precaution, given that they were ordered to escort a Coven Head and the Emperor’s nephew, two highly important people, but it’s not as if he expected any immediate danger while they strolled along in broad daylight.

Hunter kept at Darius’ side. It was weird to have him oddly silent after he’d gotten so used to him chattering constantly whenever he saw him. He had almost forgotten that most people still didn’t know Hunter could actually speak.

“You know, I’ve missed this kind of silence,” Darius teased. Hunter looked up at him, unamused but unable to retort.

They arrived at the spot and set up camp in a hidden alcove near a clearing in the woods. It was still light out and the abomination was only ever spotted at night, so they had to wait it out. The scouts dug through the supplies and pulled out some rations for all of them. Maude tried to hand Darius one.

“No thanks. I don’t eat those,” Darius simply said, refusing. Scout rations tasted like pure dirt and he’d rather starve to death than subject his taste buds to that kind of misery.

It didn’t stop Hunter, who eagerly reached over and took Darius’ rations as well as his own. As skinny as he was, he probably needed the extra food anyway.

“Don’t eat too much now,” Maude scolded, like she was his mother. “You might get sick.”

Hunter didn’t acknowledge her as he dug into his food and Maude put her hands on her hips, ready to scold again.

The other scout jumped in before she could.

“Ah, leave him be, Maude. I’m pretty sure this is the first time he’s eaten in two days.”

Darius had just been offhandedly listening, not really paying full attention but the statement drew him back into the chatter.

“What do you mean? How would you know that?” he asked the scout.

“Oh! I’m usually in charge of bringing him his food. Sometimes, the Emperor orders me to stop for a bit. I think it’s some kind of punishment or something.”

Darius looked at Hunter who glanced away in shame, like it was his fault the Emperor starved him. He probably thought it was, Darius realized.

He understood that the scout really had no say in this. It’s not like they could just openly disobey Belos. Still, it didn’t stop him from being angry at them for knowing about this and following orders anyway.

Hunter must have noticed Darius’ growing anger towards them because he quickly set aside his food and grabbed a notebook he brought with him, scribbling into it and handing it to Darius.

Someone sneaks me snacks. I think it’s them.

That did settle Darius’ anger a bit.

“Do you actually eat them?” he asked Hunter who, once again, glanced away in shame. Of course he wouldn’t eat them. That would be defying his Emperor’s orders.

Still, it was good to hear that someone actually cared that he was being treated that way and stepped in to help, even if Hunter refused it. It made Darius reconsider that perhaps not everyone in the castle was as bad as he thought.

Hunter got some food on his cheek and Maude reached over with a napkin to wipe it away. Hunter, of course, stubbornly tried to resist but she was persistent. It was funny to watch and Darius had to try and stop himself from laughing at the irony. These scouts had no idea Hunter was their superior officer and here they were trying to baby him. Darius had no doubt occurrences like this left the boy fuming that he couldn’t be taken seriously out of uniform.

Eventually, night fell. 

“I guess it’s time for the kid to go out now, huh?” the scout stated, fear evident in their voice.

Hunter made a move to get up but Darius put a hand on his shoulder to make him sit back down.

“Maybe it will come out on its own,” Darius said, hopeful. He may have been forced to bring Hunter along but that didn’t mean he couldn’t try and keep him out of danger.

Hunter scowled and tried to get up again but Darius pushed him back down a second time.

“Don’t you dare move,” he warned. “I’m not going to let you get hurt.”

Hunter was obviously angry at being told to sit still, huffing and crossing his arms. Darius had no doubt if Hunter could talk he’d be giving him an earful right now about how this was the Emperor’s plan or such other nonsense.

They waited a while, each moment that passed making it more and more obvious that the abomination was not going to show itself without an incentive.

“Coven Head Darius, I don’t think we have much of a choice here,” Maude said. So much for her love of children, Darius internally scoffed.

“No,” he stubbornly responded. “It’s not happening.”

It actually was, in fact, happening. During their wait, Darius had foolishly dropped his hand from Hunter’s shoulder and turned his attention away from him, watching the clearing from their hiding spot hoping for any sign of the monster. His frantic gaze was pulled to the boy who had slipped away from him and was now making his way to the middle of the clearing, alone and completely exposed to danger.

Darius knew he was strong enough to stop any abomination before it would be able to harm the boy, but it didn’t mean he wasn’t still worried. Hunter should never have had to do this. The bait worked, though. The second Hunter stepped out into that clearing, the ground started to shake and Darius watched in horror as a giant abomination easily six times Hunter’s size rose up behind him- except something was off about it.

That wasn’t an abomination.

Sure, it looked like one, but Darius was an expert in this type of magic. It was easy for him to notice the viscosity was just slightly off and the limbs moved a little too stiffly. This was some other kind of creature disguised as an abomination with illusion magic. This wasn’t a trap for the witch causing this, this had been a trap for them, and they had stupidity stumbled into it.

“Hunter!” Darius called, jumping out of his hiding spot when he realized what exactly was going on. He put up a hand to try and draw a spell circle but before he could, he felt something prick his neck and he fell to the ground, suddenly weak. The other scout immediately fell beside him, both of them unable to cast any magic.

Maude walked up and knelt down next to Darius.

“Shame,” she said, pocketing the needle with whatever substance she had injected them with to limit their magic. “I thought this would be more of a challenge.”

Darius could barely move. His limbs felt like putty under his weight. All he could do was watch helplessly as the illusion fell and revealed the large, snarling creature that had set its hungry wide eyes on the child in front of him. 

Was Darius yet again about to lose someone he cared about at the will of the Emperor? Had he let another light into his life just to watch it be snuffed out in front of him? He couldn’t even cry out anymore, too weak from the potion.

Yet Hunter still did not look concerned, even when it became obvious this was a trap. In fact, he just looked slightly annoyed by the development. Darius could have kicked himself for finally realizing why.

The beast lunged at him and, with no effort, Hunter dodged. He expertly avoided every single swipe of its claws, every gnashing clap of its teeth, every slice of its tail, dodging and weaving with a precision that Darius had never seen on anyone since his mentor. It was as if the imminent threat had activated something feral in the otherwise soft child, like a sleeper agent finally waking up to do their job.

The beast swiped at him again and he used the opportunity to grab its arm. It swung him up to try and shake him off and he flew into the air and landed on its back, grabbing onto its fur for purchase. It thrashed around, reaching behind it to try and grab him but couldn’t. Hunter held on, risking his grip to reach into his boot and pull out a knife he had been carrying and with one swift motion, he brought the knife down and dug it deep into the top of the creature’s head. It screamed in pain for a few moments before collapsing to the ground, weak and waiting to die. Hunter hopped off, grabbed the knife, and slit its throat with a nonchalance that made Darius feel sick, putting the creature out of its misery.

This was why neither the Emperor nor Hunter had been concerned over this mission. They both knew Hunter could handle it. Darius had been amused at the irony of the scouts babying Hunter and yet he had still been doing the same thing. Hunter was the Golden Guard. Darius knew that and yet he had still been so concerned over protecting him, forgetting that he was a skilled fighter who could very well take care of himself. Granted, Darius had never seen the Golden Guard fight before, but he knew the trials the scouts went through and he knew how strong the Guard had to be to be assigned that position. Even if he was the Emperor’s nephew, it was foolish to believe he only got the position on pure nepotism. Belos didn’t care about him. He wouldn’t have given him such an important role in his court if he hadn’t earned it first.

Hunter showed skill that grown adults in the Coven had never demonstrated. How long had he been training? How old was he when he was first forced to be a scout? The idea of a small child in a scout mask that kept falling off his face and a cape too long to match his height that kept billowing out on the floor behind him made a heavy weight settle in Darius’ chest. Hunter wasn’t just a child soldier. He had probably been one for quite a while.

The danger wasn’t over yet. Maude screamed out over the death of her companion before pointing a spell circle at Hunter, shooting off spell after spell hoping to hit him. Just as before, he dodged almost every hit. She was able to get a few minor hits in but Hunter just brushed them off as if they were nothing.

It was strange he wasn’t attacking back with his own spells. Surely this fight would be over with quickly if Hunter just utilized magic. It wasn’t as if Maude had injected him with the potion so there was no reason he shouldn’t be able to fight.

Hunter managed to get up close to Maude, skirting behind her, picketing the syringe from her pocket, and stabbing her in the neck with it, causing her to crumble to the ground as well. He then rushed over to Darius to make sure he was okay.

“I’m fine,” Darius simply said, waving the concerned boy off as he helped him sit up.

Hunter had tied the traitor up using her own cape to keep her from escaping while they walked back to the airship. Darius and the other scout had mostly recovered from the limiter potion by the time they reached it and Darius bound Maude in abomination goo instead as they carried her onto the airship as a prisoner.

Hunter was standing away from everyone on a far corner of the airship watching the ground as they flew over it. Darius made his way over.

“Are you alright?” he asked. Hunter did not look up at him.

“Fine,” he said.

The air was tense, though Darius wasn’t sure why. Trying to lighten the mood, he decided a compliment would be warranted.

“That was quite impressive- what you did back there.”

“Thanks.”

Darius regarded him for another moment. Maybe the situation had made him more upset than he thought? 

“Why didn’t you attack at all?” Darius found himself asking, the curiosity too much for him.

Hunter’s brow furrowed in confusion.

“What do you mean? I did.”

“You mostly just dodged. Why wouldn’t you use magic to end it more quickly?”

Hunter finally looked at him, still confused.

“I didn’t have my staff,” he simply said, as if that was any kind of explanation.

“So?”

“…’So?’” Hunter reiterated before his face lit up in realization.

“Darius, I don’t have magic.”

Darius just looked at him for a few seconds, not quite comprehending the words.

“…How did you become Golden Guard without magic?”

It was a stupid question, he realized, considering he just saw what Hunter was capable of. It was just a baffling concept to him. It was bad enough when Darius imagined a little kid going through the kinds of trials the scouts went through but now he was imagining that same little kid, magicless, going through those trials that were meant for fully equipped, powerful magic users.

Hunter just shrugged and turned his gaze back to the ground. He was obviously not interested in talking anymore so Darius left him be, making his way to an unoccupied area of the airship to sit out the rest of the ride in silence.

Chapter Text

The ride back to the castle was tense. Hunter and Darius stood on opposite ends of the ship, the scout piloting at the front while their prisoner laid bound and gagged on the floor at their feet. She was struggling against her restraints, desperately trying to break free before they could take her back to the Emperor.

Darius glanced over to Hunter, taking in his forlorn expression as his gaze stayed trained on the scenery passing by below them. Thanks to him, this mission went over surprisingly well despite the trap. It didn’t make sense why he was so upset now but he obviously didn’t want to talk about it. Darius would just have to give him space and ask later when everyone got settled back into the castle.

That was, if everyone successfully managed to make it back to the castle in one piece. The abomination matter that kept Maude bound suddenly pulled away, though Darius had not commanded it to do so. Before he could fully react, the two witches who freed their prisoner appeared in the sky, wasting no time in joining their companion in ambushing the ship, attacking the scout and commandeered the aircraft, forcing it to turn sharply and cause its occupants to fall over from the force. One of the witches stayed at the wheel, veering the ship into an unknown direction while the other worked to hold off the scout.

Darius was only just able to gather his bearings before Maude attacked him, blasting him relentlessly with spell after spell. It was unfortunate for her, really, that he was the Coven Head assigned to this. She stood no chance when he was at his full power. The witch had managed to bind the scout and rushed over to help their compatriot just as Hunter managed to steady himself and rushed over to help Darius.

Without taking his attention off their attackers, Darius quickly shot some abomination matter at Hunter to bind him, keeping him locked in place safety behind the Coven Head.

Hunter was tough, sure, but the stakes here were different. Hunter had no magic and they were up against two powerful magic users on a tiny airship with little room for him to dodge their attacks. He would just end up getting hurt if Darius allowed him to help and besides, Darius could very well handle them on his own. 

He had managed to bind one of them but the other just broke the bonds as soon as they were placed, apparently fairly adept with abomination magic. He would have to bind them all at the same time somehow or he’d never get them captured.

They kept trying to rush behind him, probably to get to Hunter, but he found it easy to keep them at bay. He wasn’t sure why they were after Hunter specifically, but he wasn’t about to let them achieve their goal.

Finally, after pushing them back close enough to the pilot, all three of them within his range, Darius quickly merged his arms with abomination matter, reaching out and grabbing all three of them at once, the goo expanding around them and trapping them within its confines. He then retracted his arms and freed the scout who quickly stopped the ship from moving so they could all catch their breaths before making their way back to the castle.

Looking back, Darius could see Hunter sitting down, desperately trying to free his legs from the matter. It was obvious he was angry but Darius could apologize later. He lifted his finger, preparing to free Hunter, but before he could even draw the spell circle, the matter retracted from his legs anyway, shifting around on the floor like a snake around his feet before quickly springing up to ensnare him completely.

Darius barely had time to register what was happening before a fourth witch flew up and quickly released the others, the three that were behind him immediately jumping him and restraining him and the scout instead.

Maude made her way over to Hunter. In a sickening display of mock fondness, she gently cupped his cheek and swiped a thumb over it, as if petting him or trying to comfort him. Then, to Darius’ absolute horror, she picked him up and carried him over to the edge, still bound, and tossed him over the side.

The rage and fear Darius felt deep within himself was immeasurable, the two feelings muddling together, intertwined as if they were a new sensation, the experience forcing a newfound energy to bubble forth within the Coven Head. He could vaguely register himself yelling, though he couldn’t hear it over the blood pumping in his ears but he could see the fear that settled into the wild witches’ faces as he forced the matter around him to bend to his will without the need of a spell circle, unbinding him and the scout and rushing forwards to ensnare their attackers.

Darius didn’t even care to feel triumphant, not hesitating to rush over to the edge of the ship and shooting down a long string of matter to hopefully catch the boy falling to the ground.

It wasn’t fast enough. Hunter was falling faster than the matter was able to cut through the air.

Then, for some strange reason, the scout rushed over, climbed up onto the edge, and jumped off. Darius would have been baffled by the stupidity had he not been dealing with the fact he was watching Hunter fall to his death, his mind overflowing with too much dread to really think about anything else right now.

He watched Hunter disappear into the treetops below, the scout following a second after.

Now, Darius just felt numb. It was if all emotion and feeling suddenly left his body, his mind forgetting how to function. He simply turned and leaned against the railing, sliding down to the floor, legs too weak to stand. It’s as if he were just a passenger in his own vessel of a body, the world outside himself existing in a vacuum. This was worse than when he had lost his mentor. At least back then, he had the privilege of trying to convince himself he could still be alive at first. He couldn’t do that now. He had just watched Hunter fall to his death in front of his eyes.

He watched Hunter die.

He watched him die.

Hunter was dead.

Then, something extraordinary happened. From the other side of the ship, Darius watched as the scout reemerged, flying on a palisman. When they turned onto the ship and landed, he could see Hunter situated behind them, gripping tightly to their back.

Darius had never felt such immense relief at the sight of anything before, all feeling immediately rushing into his body like ice water flooding his veins, waking him up. He rushed over as they hopped off the staff and grabbed Hunter’s shoulders to hold him at arm’s length, frantically worrying over him.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” he desperately asked, turning the boy every which way for any signs of damage. Hunter aggressively wriggled away, huffed, and crossed his arms. He was angry with Darius, probably for not letting him fight, but at least he was alive and didn’t seem to be injured. Darius would take an angry child over a dead one any day.

Now that the trouble was over, the scout took back control of the airship and they managed to make it back to the castle, exhausted and shaky but all intact, nonetheless. When they arrived, some more scouts moved in to take the prisoners away.

Darius escorted Hunter back into the castle and to his room to rest. It was late and the official ruling over the traitor’s fates would likely happen tomorrow after Darius was able to interrogate them and find out their motives.

Despite the fact they were alone now, Hunter still wouldn’t speak to Darius. When they got to his room, Darius finally broke the silence.

“Hunter. I know you’re angry with me but I did what needed to be done.”

Hunter’s neutral expression suddenly turned angry, the child whirling on Darius.

“You should have let me fight! You should have let me do my job! It’s not your say what happens to me!”

His sudden rage caused a spark of Darius’ own rage to ignite, though he tried to push it down. The last thing he needed was to get into an argument right now, though Hunter’s anger was unjustified. 

“I was just trying to protect you,” Darius explained but it only made Hunter raise his voice even more.
 
“I don’t need you to protect me! I’m not a little kid! I thought since you knew I was the Golden Guard that someone would finally take me seriously for once but you still treat me like a fragile little baby who can’t take care of themselves! I’m sick of it!”

Hunter clenched his eyes shut, flapping his hands in the air for a second before they came to rest as fists in his hair. Darius reached a hand out towards him.

“Hunter, you’re going to hurt yourself,” he said. 

Hunter opened his eyes and took a step back to keep Darius away and the man immediately retracted his hand.

“See? You’re still doing it! It’s not fair! Why does everyone get to treat me like a little kid when I never got to be one!?”

Hunter obviously hadn’t meant to say that, eyes blowing wide at his own words before he looked to the floor in shame.

Darius wasn’t angry anymore. He was just thoroughly concerned at this point, taking in Hunter’s sad statement. In retrospect, Hunter’s feelings about the subject should have been obvious. He was a child, yes, but instead of getting to live the life a normal child would have, he was forced to spend his days locked up in the castle, training and studying to be nothing more than a dispensable soldier. 

Hunter had been aggravated the whole mission because everyone had been treating him as if he were harmless and fragile. It was bad enough when someone like the scouts did it when they didn’t know the truth, but Darius did. He knew Hunter was the Golden Guard and yet he still essentially babied him, treating him as if his years of training meant nothing. Hunter wanted people to treat him like an adult because that was all he’d ever been allowed to act as.

Furthermore, Hunter had trouble determining which reactions to him were genuine in regard to whether they were to Hunter or the Golden Guard. He had always assumed that people only saw ‘Hunter’ as someone worth protecting because they saw him as nothing more than Belos’ child nephew, a fragile young boy who, to their knowledge, was completely harmless. Hunter was the fragile one. The Golden Guard didn’t need saving. That was what Hunter believed and yet Darius had tossed that idea out the window when he protected him despite knowing his identity, probably thoroughly confusing him.

Trying to calm the boy down, Darius responded, “I’m sorry, Little Prince.”

Hunter took his hands away from his head and glanced up at Darius. Darius continued, “Not for wanting to protect you, however. I’m sorry that you have to feel like you aren’t worth protecting.”

Hunter’s face did something strange, brows furrowing slightly in anger before fixing themselves as a quizzical look formed on his face the more he contemplated the words, before he glanced away again, defeated in his expression.

“You may have grown up a soldier…,” Darius started, “…but that’s exactly why you should be treated like a child now. It’s unfair you had to live that way.”

“It’s not unfair. It’s what I was always meant to do,” Hunter responded indignantly.

“…but just because you’re strong it doesn’t mean I’m not going to try and keep you safe,” Darius said, ignoring that comment for now. “I don’t keep you out of danger just because I don’t think you can handle it. I keep you out of danger because I don’t think you should ever have been put in that position in the first place. Despite what you might think, you are, in fact, a child. You’re a child fighting a war meant for grown-ups.”

Hunter was still being stubborn or perhaps he just refused to believe he was actually worth something to someone without having to be some kind of asset to them.

“That’s not your call to make,” he simply said, glaring at Darius. “It doesn’t matter if you think I should be in my position or not. I worked hard for this. I didn’t go through years of training just to stand on the sidelines like a coward.”

“And frankly,” he continued, “I find it rude that you’re so insistent I’m not mature enough for this.”

“Maturity has nothing to do with it,” Darius tried. “Yes, you’re very mature for your age but that isn’t necessarily a good thing, Hunter. It’s okay to want to act like a kid sometimes.”

“That’s real rich coming from you,” Hunter spit. “You practically told me to grow up after you found out I was the Golden Guard.”

Darius was startled at the reminder, the memory of his harsh words causing him to flinch slightly.

“I already told you I didn’t mean any of that,” he said, confused on why Hunter would even bring it up.

“You said a lot of mean things to me that night. You can’t tell me there wasn’t a hint of truth to any of it!”

“There wasn’t!”

“Then why did you say them? You never actually gave me a good reason. ‘Being angry’ isn’t a reason if you’re trying to tell me all of it was just lies!”

Darius pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. He had been right that one simple apology wouldn’t be enough to fix his mistakes. He wondered if Hunter had really been holding those words against him all this time, despite how hard he worked to prove they weren’t true. Hunter needed a real explanation or he would likely never move on, too caught up on finding out why Darius had said them and probably coming up with false assumptions.

“Sit down,” Darius said, pointing to the boy’s bed. Hunter just looked at him for a second before Darius once again motioned him to go and he reluctantly obliged. Darius made his way over and sat down beside him.

“You’re right. You deserve a real explanation,” Darius started, preparing himself to put his heart on his sleeve just to make a little kid not hate him anymore.

Wow, he really had gone soft, hadn’t he?

“The truth is, Hunter, I was scared,” he said.

“Scared?” Hunter reiterated.

“Yes,” Darius simply said, thinking about how he wanted to go about this.

“I told you your predecessor was my mentor, correct?”

Hunter nodded.

“Well, he was more than that really. We were best friends- practically family even,” Darius started, “He was one of the only people in the castle I could trust.”

Hunter was listening intently, no longer interrupting. He seemed pulled into the explanation, eager to hear what Darius had to say.

Darius continued, “Then, one day, he was gone. Grief can be an insurmountable thing, Little Prince. I had no idea how to handle it. So you know what I did?”

“What?”

“I shut down. I was in so much pain from losing him that I just decided I would never let it happen again. If I never got close to anyone, never cared about anyone, then I would never have to worry about getting hurt again. I did that for years.”

“That’s…sad,” Hunter simply stated in response, looking down at the floor, thinking about what exactly that meant. Darius simply nodded in agreement and put a hand on Hunter’s shoulder to make him look back at him again.

“And then you came along,” Darius said.

“Me?”

“Yes. I had been so careful all these years to never let anyone else into my heart but somehow, you managed to squeeze yourself in there without me noticing.”

“But then why were you so mean? I still don’t understand.”

Darius regarded him a moment. The explanation wasn’t a good one and it was only going to make him sound like more of a jerk, but hopefully Hunter would at least be able to understand why he did it.

“Like I said before: I was scared. When I realized you meant something to me I stupidly decided I needed to push you away in some vain effort to protect my feelings. I was so scared of being hurt again that I just ended up hurting myself and you as well. You never deserved it.” 

“Wow,” Hunter simply said when he was done. “That’s…kind of messed up.”

“Indeed. But do you understand now why I’m so eager to protect you? I don’t want to lose you, Little Prince.”

Hunter shyly nodded.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you,” he said and Darius squeezed his shoulder as a reassurance. “I’m still going to fight, though. You can’t keep me out of danger all the time.”

“I know. But when I can, I will.”

They sat in silence for a few moments just taking in everything that had been said between them. Darius was utterly and thoroughly embarrassed but Hunter deserved to be told all this. Darius didn’t even have to worry about lying to him, either. Everything he said had been the truth.

Darius pushing Hunter away had never really been about the rebellion. That was just an excuse he continuously used to justify his own behavior because he was too cowardly to admit how scared he was of the fact he got attached to a kid after all those years of isolating his feelings. He was terrified of losing Hunter, thinking that his heartbreak would be an eventual certainty and of course it would be when Darius just went ahead and did it himself.

Hunter started wringing his hands together, glancing away and blushing in embarrassment.

“Thank you, for telling me all that,” he shyly stated. “I…I care about you, too.”

Those words sent a gentle warmth throughout Darius’ body and he found himself smiling. He reached up and ruffled Hunter’s hair, the boy swatting his hands away as if annoyed but he couldn’t keep himself from smiling, either.

“Thank you, Little Prince,” Darius said, standing up and making his way to the door. “It’s been a long day. Be sure to get some rest.”

Hunter nodded and Darius exited the room.

His fear wasn’t entirely gone, of course. There was still a part of him that worried that letting Hunter into his life would hurt him but when Hunter admitted he cared and Darius, for the first time in years, felt that gentle elation that set a steady weight in his heart, anchoring him to reality, he couldn’t deny that letting him in was worth it, no matter what. He couldn’t keep worrying about the future. Hunter was here, right now, and Darius wasn’t going to squander the gift anymore.

Suddenly, a strange part of him squeezed itself to the forefront of his mind and he wondered if perhaps, sometime in the future after the Empire had fallen and the Boiling Isles was safe, he might want to be a parent.
 

Chapter Text

As tired as he was when he left Hunter’s room, Darius still had a job to do before he could retire for the night. He made his way to an interrogation room where Maude was sitting bound to a chair, two scouts flanking her on either side. Her mask had finally been removed and Darius could see she was an older woman with growing wrinkles and frizzy grey hair. She looked like she could be someone’s kindly grandmother and yet she had ruthlessly tried to murder a child. Darius was eager to find out why.

“Let’s get started, shall we,” he said, standing opposite her and crossing his arms. She glared up at him like he were the scum of the Boiling Isles, spitting on the floor at his feet.

“Lovely,” Darius neutrally exclaimed, glancing down at the spit in disgust. “Here’s the deal: You can tell us in your own words what happened or we can use the statements your compatriots used against you instead.”

One of the scouts brandished some reports and handed them to Darius who quickly glanced through them as he continued to talk.

“They are certainly not glowing descriptions of your character,” Darius informed, scowling at the words on the page. 
 
Maude still refused to talk, continuing to glare as if she could cause Darius to drop dead with her gaze. Darius did not want to do this, but he felt there might not be any other choice.

“Alright, don’t talk. Perhaps we can just ask your niece.”

That caused Maude to jump, finally giving him a reaction he could work with. He wouldn’t actually do anything to the woman’s niece but it’s not like she needed to know that. Besides, he wouldn’t really feel bad using her family’s safety against her when she had nearly killed hi-…Hunter.

“You won’t hurt her,” she simply said, trying to call him out on his bluff.

He just shrugged. “I’m sure the Emperor would have no issue ‘taking care’ of your niece after you tried murdering his nephew. Tit-for-tat, as they say.”

“She’s innocent! Leave her out of it!” Maude screamed, suddenly frantic. One of the scouts formed a spell circle and tied her binds tighter to make her calm down enough to continue the interrogation.

“Just tell me what I want to know and no one will harm a hair on her head,” Darius informed, unfazed at her reaction, inspecting his nails to appear as nonchalant at the situation as possible. “Why did you do all this?”

Maude simply regarded him for a moment, likely thinking of some possible way out of this. Darius wasn’t sure why she bothered. She had already been caught and whether or not she spoke up, she would still likely face a harsh punishment for her crimes. The motive didn’t actually matter that much. Darius just wanted to know why she did it mostly out of curiosity.

Her next tactic, apparently, was to try appealing to him.

“The Emperor is lying to you, ya know?” she said, voice as steady as she could make it. “Wild magic isn’t evil. He just wants all the power to himself and like fools you all fell for it.”

“Yes, insult me. That will surely make me want to listen,” Darius sarcastically replied, rolling his eyes. She ignored him and continued.

“Emperor Belos is a scourge upon history. He needs to be taken down,” she said, eyes tracking Darius as if he were some sort of prey. “He’s lied and tricked all of us. He doesn’t care about you. He couldn’t care less about the people of the Isles.”

Darius was perhaps the wrong man to try appealing to and he almost pitied her for it. He already knew all this. It’s not like she was changing his mind or anything.

“So, you hate the Empire. I could gather that much,” Darius scoffed. “But you didn’t attack the Emperor. You went after his nephew. Why?”

“The child is the heir. It wouldn’t do to take down the Emperor just so he could be replaced by a mini version of him. We need to take the kid out first, then the Emperor, then there would be no one to keep the Empire intact.”

It’s not as if Darius didn’t understand their plight. He had the same goal in mind, after all. The problem was how these traitors were going about it. In their minds, Hunter’s only crime was being related to the Emperor. They were using his birthright, something he had never chosen in the first place, as a justification for murdering an otherwise innocent child. It’s not as if they knew he was the Golden Guard. They thought he was simply just some kid and yet they were perfectly okay bringing harm to him.

Maude cackled madly at the scowl on Darius’ face before she continued.

“It was such a perfect plan, too! All the others tried to say the Emperor would never put his own kid in danger and yet it worked! He did! Our only fault was underestimating the boy.”

“You think the Emperor is heartless and yet you were so willing to assassinate a child,” Darius said, annoyed by her laughter at the situation. “How hypocritical of you, to act as if you aren’t a monster as well.”

She cackled even louder at that.

“I’m okay with being a monster if it means liberation for everyone else! I’m not a coward! I’ll kill anyone who gets in my way!”

What a disturbing statement. This woman was absolutely mad.

She suddenly stopped laughing, regarding Darius for a moment quizzically.

“It’s obvious you care for the boy,” she stated, voice returned to a normal volume. Darius scolded himself as his eyes widened slightly at the statement before he caught the action and composed himself, but not before Maude noticed and she smugly grinned.

“You were so eager to protect him. Why follow a man who would be so willing to put him in harm’s way?”

She leaned back slightly, as much as she could while she was still bound and hummed a short song before continuing.

“It’s funny. We were so eager to take the kid out but you know what? The Emperor might have just ended up doing that for us if we waited. You might call me a monster for wanting to kill a kid but are you not one by just sitting back and letting Belos do it instead?”

Darius would not let it show how much those words affected him. She had somehow managed to pick up on the exact issue that had been bothering Darius for nearly a year now. Truly, his inability to actually protect Hunter from the real danger was his greatest insecurity as of late.

Still, he wasn’t about to just let her win.

He smiled at her, feigning nonchalance.

“I suppose we’re quite similar, you and I. I don’t mind being a monster, either.”

He motioned for the scouts to take her back to her cell. He had gotten what he needed out of her.

He spent the next hour writing up his report and sending it off to Kikimora before finally going to bed. Today may have been a long day, but tomorrow was sure to be just as stressful.

The next day, the castle was abuzz with gossip. If anyone didn’t know Hunter existed before, they certainly did now. After all, it’s not every day there was an assassination attempt on a royal family member. Scouts who were brave enough to ask Darius for details were rudely ignored. Even some of the Coven Heads tried and were simply brushed off. There were wildly different versions of events being spread around the castle but Darius simply did not care enough to try correcting any of them. He just desperately wanted everyone to forget about this so he could move on from the experience.

That would be easier to do once the meeting about the traitors’ fates was over with. That afternoon, Darius made his way to the throne room where he was expected to attend the deliberation. Scouts were lining the walkway on either side, every Coven Head situated in front of one row of them. Belos sat on his throne, waiting to begin while Kikimora was stationed to his left and the Golden Guard stood at his post at the right hand of the Emperor, stoic and unmoving as always. How unfair, Darius thought, to make the kid attend the trial of his own attempted murderers.

The doors to the throne room opened and the traitors were escorted in by a group of scouts. They were brought directly in front of Belos and made to kneel, much to their clear disgust. Their hands were bound and their mouths were gagged, which Darius was somewhat grateful for as he watched one of them thrash around as best they could. They would no doubt be screaming otherwise.

Belos regarded them for a moment, the throne room completely silent as everyone waited for him to speak, the only sound the threatening beat of the heart above his head. Finally, he spoke.

“How audacious,” he simply said, addressing the traitors. “Truly, you are all very brave souls for having attempted what you did.”

The praise caused them to look up in confusion until he continued.

“And rather stupid, of course.”

Belos motioned for Kikimora to begin reading off the accusations from the report Darius had sent her.

“These traitors are accused of attacking villages throughout the Boiling Isles, conspiring to overthrow the Empire, practicing wild magic, attempting to steal an airship, attacking a royal entourage, attacking a Coven Head, and attempting an assassination of the Emperor’s nephew.”

She let her hand fall to her side as she finished reading the list of accusations.

“Based on this list of crimes, the court awaits His Majesty’s ruling regarding the severity of their actions as well as an appropriate punishment,” she finished.

Belos hummed in thought.

“Those are certainly very damning accusations,” he said.

It was obvious he was dragging this out, enjoying the fear radiating off of the traitors on the floor in front of him. Even Maude, who had acted so tough in the interrogation room, was nothing more than a trembling husk at the feet of the Emperor.

“I believe the severity of these crimes are too large to be ignored,” he stated before suddenly motioning to the Golden Guard, who leaned over slightly to hear the Emperor whisper something to him. He nodded in acknowledgement of whatever Belos had told him.

Belos returned his attention to the traitors.

“Your punishments will be petrification. Take them away.”

It’s not as if it was a surprising verdict. Everyone, probably even the traitors themselves, could have guessed that that would be the ruling. Petrification was meant for the worst criminals and it can’t get any worse than attempting to assassinate the heir to the throne, save for maybe attempting it on the Emperor himself.

Darius wondered if Belos actually cared that they tried to kill Hunter or if he more so cared about all the other things they had done. It’s not as if the boy meant anything to the Emperor but perhaps him dying would be something he still wished to avoid. After all, he kept Hunter around for a reason. It’s not as if he couldn’t have made someone else his Golden Guard- someone who he didn’t have to feign care for.

Perhaps that was it, though. Belos was able to raise and manipulate Hunter from a young age in order to form him into the perfect soldier. He wouldn’t have been able to achieve the same results with anyone else if he had just pulled a random scout to be Golden Guard instead. Hunter wasn’t kidding when he said this was what he was always meant to do. Belos had been preparing him for this position probably since before he could walk and for that reason, it made sense to Darius why there had been such a long gap of time between when the last Guard disappeared and the new one was named. It could have something to do with the previous Guard betraying the Emperor. Belos needed a minion that would be less likely to turn on him and who better than an isolated child whose mind had been shaped and molded before he was even able to form opinions for himself? 

Darius could easily forget sometimes, when watching Hunter smile or joke around or listen to him excitedly babble about a new interest, just how much Belos had influenced him. 

Then, something would happen that would serve as a grim reminder of the fact.

The traitors were escorted away and Darius nearly thought the audience was over. Belos didn’t dismiss anyone, however, and when the doors reopened moments after the others had left, Darius found out why.

Someone was escorted in and forced to kneel in front of the Emperor. Apparently, there was a second trial happening, though Darius did not know what for. Belos motioned for Kikimora to announce the charges. This list was far shorter, so she didn’t even need to read them off.

“This traitor is accused of possessing a palisman while stationed within the Emperor’s Coven.”

Then, Darius realized who the person was. This was the other scout that had accompanied them on the mission- the one who helped fight off the traitors and saved Hunter’s life. Darius had not reported the scout’s crime. There was only one other person who knew about it.

Darius briefly glanced over to the Golden Guard who, as expected, just stood stoically along the Emperor’s side, facing forward as if what was happening meant nothing to him.

It wasn’t like Darius was surprised, exactly. More than anything, he was just severely disappointed. This scout had been nothing but kind to Hunter, likely being the one who snuck him snacks when the Emperor starved him and saved him from falling, despite the fact they had to reveal their secret by doing so. In return, here they were, on trial at the Emperor’s feet, betrayed by the very boy they had tried to help.

One of the scouts who had escorted the prisoner in reached into their cloak and pulled out the familiar palisman, walking up and meeting the Golden Guard at the edge of the platform, who took it and held it inside his own cloak before returning to the Emperor’s side, intent on giving the palisman to the Emperor later. The prisoner was thrashing around, crying. Darius had no doubt that if they were not gagged, they would be begging for mercy for their palisman. 

If Hunter were to find out Darius were a rebel, would he still be so willing to turn him over? Just yesterday, he had admitted he cared for Darius. Would that care suddenly vanish the second he realized Darius was not on his uncle’s side? Would he be still standing at the Emperor’s right hand, gazing down at Darius as the Emperor decided his punishment with no regard to what would happen to him, just as he was doing now with the scout? Would he feel any regret? Any remorse? Would he mourn him should he be petrified?

Darius pulled himself out of his thoughts as the scouts dragged the prisoner away. He hadn’t even been paying attention to hear what the punishment would be but he hoped it would be a light one, though he doubted it. Possessing a palisman was one thing but possessing one as a Coven Scout when you were required to hand it over upon initiation was another.

Belos finally dismissed the court once the prisoner had left. Darius left the throne room but did not stray far. He waited around a corner until the last person besides the Emperor left that room- the Golden Guard- before following him until they reached a hallway where there was no one else around.

“Hunter,” Darius called out and Hunter jumped at the sudden voice.

“Titan! Were you following me?” he asked.

Darius ignored the question, getting straight to the point.

“You reported the scout.”

“Yes? They had an illegal palisman,” Hunter simply explained, confused on why Darius was bringing it up.

“They saved your life, Hunter.”

“That was their mistake.”

Darius simply regarded him for a moment. Did he truly feel nothing for ruining someone’s life?

“I did what I was supposed to do,” Hunter defended when Darius did not respond.

Did Hunter know? Did he understand how wrong this was? How skewed was the boy’s moral compass after all of Belos’ teachings? Darius had just assumed that when all of this was over, Hunter could just go on to live a normal life but what if this mindset couldn’t be fixed and he was doomed to grow into an irredeemable monster like his uncle? What if Darius was never able to change his mind?

There was no use in arguing right now. 

“…Yes, I suppose you did,” Darius finally responded, though he did not try to hide the disappointment in his voice. He wasn’t sure what he had been trying to do by confronting Hunter anyway. This was always going to be a pointless endeavor. 

He turned and began walking away. The Golden Guard simply watched him go, a few moments passing before Darius finally heard his footsteps resuming in the opposite direction.

Chapter Text

“Really? You want to learn to sew?”

The Golden Guard eagerly shook his head up at Darius, practically vibrating with hopefulness. How in Titan’s name was Darius supposed to say no when faced with that?

“Alright. I suppose I have some time later. Swing by my study and I’ll teach you.”

“Thank you!” Hunter exclaimed before bounding off to wherever it was he had been going towards before spotting Darius in the hall and stopping to ask his question. At least he was starting to pick up some actual hobbies, Darius supposed.

Later that afternoon, as expected, Darius heard a knock on his door. He opened it to the overexcited boy who was desperately trying to hide his excitement through a stoic composure and what Darius guessed was supposed to be a serious expression. Only wearing a mask around people must have made it impossible for him to hide is real feelings, though.

Darius invited him in. When the door was shut, Hunter turned to him, still far too rigid, and said, “Thank you again. I appreciate your assistance with this.”

“You don’t have to act like a soldier here, Little Prince. Relax a little,” Darius said. Hunter’s face dropped slightly, like he was unsure what exactly that meant or how to do it on command. Darius just sighed. Hopefully he’ll relax once they got started, at least. 

He motioned Hunter further into the room and had him sit down in a chair. Darius then grabbed his sewing supplies and some cloth scraps for him to practice on. They sat there for a while, Darius teaching him various stitches and pointers on how to keep them straight, Hunter listening carefully and following the directions exactly as Darius described them, pulling the needle through the fabric with shaky hands.

He wasn’t very good at it.

It’s not like Darius expected him to be. It was only his first lesson, after all. It seemed like Hunter was growing frustrated with himself despite that fact, though, his expression growing angrier with every missed stitch and shaky line.

“Why is this so hard?” Hunter asked, scowling down at the cloth in his hands as if it had personally wronged him.

“You just need to practice and it’ll get easier with time,” Darius explained. Hunter didn’t accept that answer, still continuing to grow frustrated with every passing moment he wasn’t absolutely perfect at it. He kept going though, despite his obvious ill-temperament towards the activity.

Darius had to put a stop to this.

“Hunter, if you don’t want to sew anymore, you don’t have to.”

“I want to!”

“Do you? It just seems like it’s stressing you out.”

“I’m fine!” Hunter yelled far too loudly, obviously very much not fine.

Darius gave him a stern look at his raised voice before standing up. This was not going well.

“I think that’s enough for now,” Darius said, taking the supplies from Hunter’s hands.

Hunter’s anger suddenly left him at Darius’ declaration and he grew frantic, not wanting to stop the lesson despite his stress, though perhaps he just suddenly felt stressed for a different reason.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make you mad!”

“I’m not mad. I just think you need to calm down before we try this again,” Darius quickly reassured, putting the supplies away as Hunter jumped up from his seat.

“Please! I want to learn. I’ll be good. Please?”

“Why are you so determined to learn anyway?” Darius asked.

“I just…,” Hunter started before he stopped, blushing slightly and looking away in embarrassment. “I just thought it’d be fun.”

It was obvious he was hiding the real reason. Darius wouldn’t push, though.

“Look. If you really want to learn that badly then we can pick this up another time, alright? You just can’t expect to be perfect at it on your first try,” he informed Hunter, putting a hand on his shoulder as he walked him to the door.

“Okay. Thank you. I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing.”

“Sorry- I mean!...uh…”

Darius smiled to hopefully calm him down and lighten the mood.

“It’s quite alright, Little Prince. Just get some rest, alright?”

Hunter simply nodded, frowning slightly, before making his way out of the room and Darius shut the door behind him. What a strange kid.

A few days later, Hunter returned for his second lesson. He was much calmer this time, trying hard not to let his mistakes get to him as badly. Darius was proud at his progress with controlling his anger- just as he was proud at his progress with his sewing skills.

By his third lesson, Hunter had improved a lot and Darius was impressed at how fast of a learner he was. He thought for sure it would take longer for Hunter to start getting the hang of it.

During his fourth lesson, Darius figured it was time for him to start sewing actual clothes and not just scraps of cloth.

Hunter sat down in his usual seat beside Darius as he was handed pre-cut cloth and sewing supplies. It was a simple pattern for a vest but Hunter still seemed so excited to be making something useful finally, eagerly taking the needle and beginning to stitch the pieces together after Darius explained what to do. Darius stayed with him in case he had any questions or needed assistance, but otherwise kept to himself, indulging in a book.

It was nice and Darius was suddenly aware of how domestic this situation was. Neither of them were talking, absorbed in their own little activity while sitting side by side, the only sound in the room the soft flip of the book pages and the occasional clatter of materials as Hunter grabbed a new one.

“Done!” Hunter eventually exclaimed, smiling wide as he held up his creation. Just as quickly, that smile fell as he looked over his work.

It didn’t look terrible but the stitches were a little too crooked on one shoulder, various indentations appearing along the seam line.

“I messed it up…,” Hunter said and the quietness of his voice made it obvious how upset with himself he was.

“It’s alright, Little Prince. We can remove the stitches and you can try again.”

Darius leaned forward and grabbed the seam ripper from the supply kit on the table in front of them, handing it to Hunter.

“Just use that to grab one of the stitches and rip it so you can pull the thread out,” he told the boy before returning to his book.

A few seconds passed and Darius could see Hunter struggling out of the corner of his eye. He leaned forward to try and see why he was struggling. It was just thread. Ripping it was such an easy thing to do. 

“You’ve got it caught on the fabric slightly. Only hook it underneath the thread and pull,” Darius informed him.

“I’m trying!” Hunter said, frustrated, trying hard to continue to rip it out despite the fact it was still caught on the fabric.

“Hunter, you need to take it out and reposition it.”

Hunter did. He got it caught on the fabric again. Darius sighed.

“Just let me do it,” Darius said, tired of this already, reaching to grab the cloth and ripper from the child.

“I can do it!” Hunter exclaimed, straining against the fabric, turning away from Darius’ hands slightly to try and keep him from grabbing the project.

“Just give it to me,” Darius said, unrelenting, growing frustrated with Hunter’s behavior. It was just like his first lesson where the kid was getting frustrated with his stitches except now he was getting frustrated that he couldn’t destroy them.

“No, I’ve got it,” Hunter stubbornly resisted.

Then, while Hunter was still pulling against the fabric with the ripper, he finally tore into the fabric just enough for it to release the tool. Since Hunter had been pulling at it with such force, the sudden loss of tension caused his hand to go flying back, sharp tool still in his grip, right against Darius’ arm. Darius exclaimed slightly as he was stabbed, though it was more out of surprise than pain.

The wound wasn’t even that bad. Darius pulled the tool out of his arm and scowled slightly at the cut, deciding it would probably only need a bandage since it didn’t even go in that deep. That didn’t matter to Hunter, though, whose eyes went wide at the realization of what happened and he immediately jumped off the couch and backed away, terrified.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Hunter exclaimed, his cries slightly muffled by his hand over his mouth, fighting back tears.

“Hunter, it’s okay.”

Darius stood up as well, which was the wrong move, he realized, when Hunter clenched his eyes shut and flinched. After a few seconds where nothing happened, Hunter slowly reopened his eyes, gaze trained on the floor, posture turning rigid as his back stiffened and his arms flew down straight to his sides.

“I-I’m sorry,” He said again, refusing to look at Darius as he spoke. “I’ll accept any punishment you wish to give me.”

Darius ran a hand down his face in frustration and simply walked over to his shelf to grab his first aid kit, confusing Hunter.

“I’m not going to punish you. It was an accident,” he said, grabbing a small bandage and putting it on his arm.

Instead of just accepting the statement, Hunter began to argue.

“But…I hurt you.”

“Again, it was an accident. You didn’t even do that much damage but even if you did, it’s not like you meant for it to happen,” Darius said, moving back over to the couch and beginning to clean up the sewing supplies. They probably wouldn’t be continuing this lesson today, anyway.

Hunter started fidgeting slightly, apparently uncomfortable with Darius’ lack of concern over the situation.

“It was an avoidable accident, though. I was being stubborn. Wouldn’t you punish me for that, at least?”

“Do you understand what you did wrong?” Darius simply asked in return.

“Yes.”

“Then why would I need to punish you?”

Hunter just stood there for a few moments, turning Darius’ words around in his head. He looked like he was having so much trouble understanding why he wasn’t in trouble and why Darius wasn’t eager to hurt him over a simple mistake.

Darius took pity, walking over and lifting a hand to him. Hunter flinched again but was surprised when the hand just came to rest gently on his shoulder. He looked at it confused, before finally looking up at Darius.

“Listen to me, Hunter. No matter what you do, I’m never going to hurt you. I know it might take some time for you to understand that, but I’m willing to prove it to you for as long as I need to.”

“Why wouldn’t you?” Hunter simply asked.

“I told you before. I care about you. I want you to be safe- even with me,” Darius said in explanation.

Hunter didn’t say anything. He had no doubt he probably just confused the boy- the boy who was used to being punished for every minor imperfection. Darius wasn’t going to just let Hunter continue to think he would hurt him, though.

“If you still want to learn to sew, we can pick this up again another time, alright?” Darius asked.

“You still want to teach me?” Hunter asked in return. “Even if you won’t punish me, you still wouldn’t want to teach me anymore, right?”

“I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t willing.”

Hunter just stared at his face for a few seconds before quietly saying, “You’re weird.”

Darius just chuckled. “You’re one to talk, aren’t you?”

He took his hand off Hunter’s shoulder to reach up and ruffle his hair, relishing in Hunter’s laughter as he tried to pull away. Darius retracted his hand and allowed Hunter to step away, giggling fit coming to an end as he grew serious again.

“Thank you,” he shyly said. “I’ll…be better next time.”

Darius responded, “I think you’ll be just fine, Little Prince.”

Their lessons continued after that, Hunter continuously improving and not a single bad incident occurring since then.

On Hunter’s eighth visit, he seemed extra nervous for some reason.

“Is everything alright?” Darius asked, opening the door to the bundle of nerves and inviting him in, the boy refusing to look at him as he walked into the study.

“Everything’s fine,” Hunter said before nervously fidgeting in place and fiddling with his gloves. “I just…uh…I have…”

Darius cocked an eyebrow but waited patiently for him to say what he wanted. The blush on Hunter’s face continued to grow as he struggled to speak. Eventually, he stopped trying, reaching into the bag on his waist to pull something out of it.

“E-Eberwolf told me your birthday was coming up…,” Hunter started, holding the object against his chest behind his hands. “…and you made sure my birthday was really special and I wanted to do something for you, too but I don’t have any money of my own and I can’t really do anything super cool so I…um…”

He kept looking away, giving up on his words to quickly thrust his hands towards Darius, holding out the object to him. 

“Thank you, Little Prince,” Darius said, understanding what he was getting at, grabbing the object out of Hunter’s hands. “I’m sure I’ll love it.”

He turned it around in his hands, looking the gift over. It was a flower pin that Hunter sewed together. The petals were all different shades of yellow, probably because Hunter had to put it together with whatever scraps of cloth he could find, and the middle of the flower was just a plain white button.

It was absolutely hideous. Darius had truly never seen an uglier accessory in his life. The varying tones of yellow were so bright and it would surely clash with the dark, purply tones of his normal everyday outfits, standing out like a sore thumb on a man who otherwise valued his fashion more than anything else.

And yet Darius proudly wore it, pinned to the bottom of his cape, every day since then. It was the most precious gift he’d ever received.

Chapter Text

For as long as Hunter could remember, he had been a soldier. His formative years were spent in private lessons with his uncle, his Emperor, learning how to fight while magicless and spending hours studying every detail about the Empire so as to be knowledgeable once he was old enough to join the court.

When Hunter first started scout training at the age of 11 and was given his first uniform, he proudly wore it as if it were a badge of honor- a physical manifestation of his maturity and usefulness for his Emperor. The private lessons still continued, though often times he would be allowed to join the other scouts in training, their relentless attacks forcing him to toughen his skin and grin and bear through any pain that may be inflicted upon him during battle.

When Hunter was almost 14, he had grown and strengthened enough for his Emperor to name him Golden Guard, the first one in over a decade.

Hunter was grateful. Belos had been kind enough to take him in, raised him, took the time to make sure he became strong, and then granted him a place forever at his side. His uncle was his light, his everything. As long as Belos continued to allow him to occupy space, Hunter would be grateful for his continued existence. If Belos suddenly determined Hunter was not enough, it would simply be a deserved fate for failing to live up to the expectations of a man who tried so hard to form him into someone useful, only for Hunter to prove to be nothing more than a wasted effort.

Belos loved Hunter. He wanted him to be someone important. Hunter would happily oblige the Emperor’s plan for him for that was what he owed the man for taking care of him, raising him, and protecting him all these years. That was what Hunter owed in return for being loved.

Hunter remembered when he was six years old and had been caught roaming the halls after sneaking out of his room. Belos had set him upon his knee and pet his hair, treating him as if he were the most precious child in existence. Belos spoke to him softy, kindly, informing him of the dangers of the world outside his room.

The rest of the people on the Boiling Isles would only hurt him, lie to him, steal from him. That was what his Emperor told him as he cradled him against his chest. His uncle was the only person he could trust. His uncle was the only person who would ever care about him. To everyone else, he may as well not even exist.

When Belos had finished his gentle scolding, he carefully picked Hunter up from off his lap and set him on his feet on the floor. He gently reached over to cup his cheek, rubbing his thumb slightly across the soft skin.

Then he hit him.

Hunter cried and his Emperor reached over to wipe away the tears, shushing the child. This was his punishment for his delinquency, he told him. His Emperor needed to teach him that what he did was bad. It was a sharp sting when his hand connected with his face but the gentle gracing of the fingertips along the tender flesh that came afterwards was all the proof Hunter needed that it had been done out of love. Belos didn’t want to hurt him. He only did it because he cared. 

Hunter did not sneak out again after that. At least not for a long time, anyway.

The next years of his life were spent mostly alone, Hunter’s only company that of his uncle, heeding the man’s warning and never bothering to interact with anyone else. Even when he got a little bit older and Belos said he was strong enough to take care of himself, no longer forbidding him from leaving his room off-duty, Hunter still chose to keep away from everyone. He was thoroughly grateful to Belos for granting him freedom and for believing in him, but he simply couldn’t accept it. He had spent so long with only the Emperor as company that he decided that the Emperor was right- Hunter didn’t need anyone else.

Even when he started scout training, the only conversations he had were those related to his job. Even when he became Golden Guard, that still didn’t change. In fact, becoming Golden Guard reinforced the idea, for when he accepted the position, Belos had never been more proud of him. The Golden Guard meant something to Belos. He was useful to Belos. He only lived for Belos. ‘Hunter’ may as well not even exist, even to the Emperor, so there was no reason to try and get close to anyone else.

The Emperor’s nephew was no one- a lonely shut-in with no real use to anyone. The Golden Guard was an important member of the royal court, the Emperor’s right hand, regal and authoritative. The rare person who interacted with Hunter treated him as if he were a child- treating him as if he were weak and pitiful. If they knew that same weak and pitiful boy was the Guard, he would never be taken seriously again. He wouldn’t be able to live up to the Emperor’s expectations.

He explained his fears to his uncle one day, a few weeks before he was meant to take up the title, as he stood behind him and brushed out his hair. His uncle simply hummed in thought for a moment before he stated that Hunter was justified in his fears- that no one would understand him like he did- that they would pity him. All Hunter could do was to keep himself at a distance- try and make sure they only saw the Golden Guard and not ‘Hunter’.

Hunter understood what Belos was getting at, trying to lead him to make the conclusion himself. They couldn’t see him as weak if they didn’t know who he actually was.

His uncle smiled at him in the mirror, proud that he had figured it out for himself and Hunter was beaming with joy at the silent praise. Hunter wasn’t the only one worried about his image as Golden Guard being marred. Belos was probably worried about him, wanting him to keep his identity secret in order to protect him. No one could get close to him if they didn’t know who he was. No one could try and hurt him or influence him in ways that Belos wouldn’t like. He could be solely and forever only the Emperor’s, no matter who he was in the moment.

So that’s what he had decided. No one could know the truth.

After the Staff Inheritance Ceremony, Hunter was elated, finally fulfilling a destiny he had been trekking down the path of his entire life. He was making his Emperor proud. There was one little caveat that Hunter hadn’t expected, though. 

Everyone hated the Golden Guard. They stared at him with disdain, mocked him, ridiculed him, treated him as if he were nothing more than a speck of dirt in an otherwise pristine hallway and he didn’t even understand why. He was only doing his job. When he decided to separate those two halves of himself, it was because he wanted to command respect, yet no one respected him still.

It’s not like he really cared that they hated him that much as long as Belos still loved him- since that was all he needed. It was just annoying how they somehow still saw him as, essentially, a kid or “brat” as many of them would say. It was strange how they viewed both halves of himself as childish and yet still treated both completely differently.

No one hated ‘Hunter’. The rare interaction with scouts or other denizens of the castles was, for the most part, a positive experience. They didn’t see him as a blemish but rather an innocent child who could never do any wrong. Hunter wondered- if everyone found out that ‘Hunter’ and the Golden Guard were one and the same, would they start hating ‘Hunter’, too, regarding him as an annoyance that may as well not exist or would they start treating the Golden Guard as nothing more than a weak and pitiful child who needed protection?

His questions were both answered and refuted in a confusing series of interactions starting when he was 14.

While Hunter was given permission to roam the castle, he was never given permission to leave the castle. The first Coven Day Parade after he became Golden Guard was an exciting venture, though the guilt in his chest at sneaking away was immeasurable, his mind continuously thinking about his uncle’s reprimand when he was six years old. If he were caught, he would deserve the punishment. It was more-so the idea of disappointing Belos that worried him.

The Covens just fascinated him so much. He had read all about the Coven Day Parade and heard scouts talk about it after the fact throughout the years, as if it was a worthwhile celebration that everyone needed to attend. Yet Hunter never had. Perhaps, just this once, he could attend for the experience. His uncle never had to find out. Now that he was Golden Guard and had his staff, he could easily get himself in and out of the castle without having to go through the main gate, zipping out of his window and away from the building in a flash faster than anyone could see him. It would surely be fine, he thought.

Then he was caught.

He thought for sure Darius would immediately send him back to the castle to await his Emperor’s punishment but instead he smiled and promised to keep it secret, giving Hunter permission to stay and watch. It was confusing, to say the least. It was one thing for someone to be nice to him when he hadn’t done anything wrong. It was another for someone, especially a Coven Head, to be nice when it was clear he had disobeyed.

Hunter had thought Darius to be cruel and uncaring, given how he spoke to him while he was wearing the mask, yet the Darius who allowed him at his side during the parade seemed like a different person. It was the strangeness of the behavior that made him gather the courage to ask to browse the markets, partly from actual intrigue but mostly as a test of the man’s generosity. Darius wanted to go back to the castle and obviously hated the vendors they passed, if the scowl on his face as he regarded the wares was anything to go by, yet when Hunter asked to look at them closer, Darius obliged.

Hunter did not stop thinking about the odd behavior even after Darius had walked him to his room. He simply laid on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, wondering why he had acted in that way. He should have scolded him. He should have punished him in some way before sending him back to the Emperor so he could punish him as well. So why didn’t he? Even the scouts who said nice things to him sometimes would surely not hide his delinquent behavior from Belos just so he could have a little fun.

When Hunter changed out of his clothes and got ready for bed, he was not expecting something to fall out of his pocket. Picking it up and looking it over, a sudden, unfamiliar warm feeling in his chest blossomed forth and spread throughout him, the bird charm forcing forth a sudden realization that terrified him greatly.

He was lonely.

Yes, he had his uncle, but outside of his work as Golden Guard, his time spent with Belos was steadily becoming less and less. His visits to the man’s study were truly the only time he was alone with him, simply just existing as his nephew and not his right hand, but even those trips were becoming infrequent and the time spent there was mostly meant for studying, the two just sitting in silence, barely regarding each other’s presence unless Belos needed something from him.

Hunter didn’t blame Belos. He was simply just too busy. He was the Emperor of the Boiling Isles, after all. It would be selfish of Hunter to want to occupy more of his time simply because he was feeling lonely. That didn’t mean he wasn’t in want of some kind of company to fill that void, however. So, he sought it out in the only way he knew how- from the person who had sparked that damning realization in the first place.

It started out as genuine confusion and curiosity about Darius’ actions towards him, pushing the man to see just how far that kindness extended, to see just how much that void could be filled, but when his identity had almost been discovered, he realized how much it scared him to lose that sudden positive interaction in his life. Darius hated the Golden Guard. If he found out, would he hate Hunter, too? 

His question was answered on one dreadful night, during one anger filled confrontation that left him hollow, the warmth that had once resided in him fleeing his body, the loss leaving him truly nothing more than a shell of a person, undeserving of anyone’s attention. That night, he cried at the hollowness he felt, hating Darius for making him feel something new just to harshly rip it away. This was what Belos had warned him about and Hunter had been foolish for allowing himself to get hurt when he should have just listened to his uncle.

Then, just as quickly, that warmth returned. Darius was suddenly being nice to him again, despite his previous reservations. Truly, Hunter had never been more confused in his life. He was warier this time, not immediately letting himself trust the sudden change of heart but still desperate to feel that warmth and fuzziness in his chest again, like some kind of helpless addict. As time passed, it got easier to accept that the warmth was less likely to leave this time if he finally welcomed it all back in and when he did, it was even more comforting than the first time he felt it, simply because he didn’t have to hide himself anymore. Suddenly, he was no longer the Golden Guard or Hunter. He was some strange amalgamation of both, suddenly all of him being worth someone’s attention rather than just one half.

Darius was nice to him and he was simply not used to the feeling. Hunter’s feelings regarding his uncle and Darius were different from each other. Hunter’s love for Belos was a cold weight upon his chest- a familiar and welcome feeling that Hunter found himself drowning in. His feelings for the Coven Head, however, were warmer and softer and did not leave him gasping for air.

It was like those two feelings were at war inside him, swirling around in an array of colors in his heart, mixing and matching and clashing and muddling together, Hunter being unsure which one was better or worse or which one he liked more.

He felt like a traitor, trying to compare his uncle’s love for him. Belos had taken him in and given him everything and now Hunter was comparing him to a man he’d only really known for a little over a year. It was just so hard, though, the two completely different behaviors towards him creating an enigma of a juxtaposition, the dichotomy of each interaction too much for the confused boy to handle.

A hard grip of his shoulder. A gentle hand laid just on top of it.

A cold gaze when he did something wrong. A stern yet soft look that held no real anger.

A swift slash of curse upon his flesh. A careful and steady hand mending it back together.

A harsh reprimand for letting any weakness show. A concerned comfort given when he cried.

A distant attitude towards a boy he raised. A fondness for a boy he just met.

Yet despite the differences, both claimed to care about him. Was it even possible for both of them to be telling the truth? Hunter was sure love came in different forms, but to be so starkly contrasted like this had to mean something, didn’t it? But what reason would Darius have to lie about this and surely his dear uncle wouldn’t have taken him in if he were not worth anything to him. But was being worth something to someone the same as them caring? Hunter would mentally berate himself for daring to question the Emperor’s authenticity but there was just a small part of him that couldn’t deny he was starting to crave interaction with Darius more.

Hunter loved Belos. Belos loved Hunter, he was sure. Yet the grip in his heart as the Emperor’s wrath was laid out upon his body or the endless nights he spent crying himself to sleep, alone and feeling worthless, were undeniably not pleasant in the slightest. Though Hunter knew Belos did it because he cared, at least, he was sure he did, it did not mean it was any less terrifying. Belos had always made Hunter feel ill, writhing in constant internal pain, but he learned to love the suffering, welcoming the sickness in with open arms. 

Yet Darius never made him feel that way, at least not since apologizing for his cruelty before and changing his ways. It was true that Darius had not always been kind and yet for nearly a year he had not done anything to make Hunter think he still hated him. Instead, Darius cared for him as if he were precious to him. Darius had never laid a hand on him even when he deserved it. When he scolded him, it was gentle and the words did not leave Hunter sobbing into a pillow at the end of the night. Hunter did not feel like he could go to Belos for a lot of things but when he needed help, he could safely assume that Darius would be willing to assist, given that he had already done so multiple times in the past. 

Most importantly, Hunter had spent his whole life feeling like he was taking up space, his existence only meaningful if he could make himself useful, his body becoming more of a tool for his Emperor rather than something that belonged to him. If Hunter was not useful, then he was unneeded and may as well simply disappear. Yet Darius didn’t need Hunter to do anything. In fact, Darius kept doing things for Hunter without expectation of something in return, as if he didn’t merely exist to please others and was someone worth his attention simply for existing as himself. 

If he didn’t have the sickness, then what was he supposed to feel? Was it possible for love to exist without the coincidence of the feeling of rot in a body, insides withering away with every gentle, and not so gentle, touch? Was it possible to exist without having to mold oneself to someone’s liking just to be worthy of care?

Hunter would not openly question Belos. If Belos stated he cared, Hunter would accept it as fact. He would follow orders and study and work hard to be someone worth something to his uncle- to the Emperor. He would take his punishments with grace, thanking the Emperor for still being willing to teach him despite his failings. He would uphold the Emperor’s ideals and stand by his side, loyal and willing to be used however he needed to be. It was only in those lonely moments during restless nights, lying awake as the rest of the castle slumbered, when Hunter would wonder if that was what love truly was.

Chapter Text

His many years living within the castle walls had formed Darius into nothing more than a shell of a man with thickened skin and little regard for anyone else. 

Years. He spent years as that man.

Yet it only took one small boy just a few interactions to immediately break down those defenses. 

It was impressive, honestly. Hunter had managed to pull forth a softness from within him that he was sure he had stamped down and discarded a long time ago. To everyone else, he was cold and uncaring. To Hunter, he couldn’t help but be vulnerable and loving.

It was those feelings that had him hating himself for who he was before in regard to his demeanor towards the child. Hunter cared about Darius now but the man simply didn’t deserve it, in his opinion. He had been cruel to that boy for selfish reasons, never stepping in to help him and even adding to the horrible experiences the boy had within the castle. Hunter never should have forgiven him but since he had, Darius would be sure to not make those mistakes again, intent on righting his previous wrongs.

Today, there was yet another Coven Head meeting and once again, the Golden Guard had been ordered to oversee it for some odd reason. It was strange that Belos kept sending him to attend. Hunter wasn’t a Coven Head. There was no justifiable reason to make him stand there and listen to the drabble when his time could be better spend being useful elsewhere.

Darius walked in and took his seat. The Golden Guard did not regard him as he strolled over and sat down but Darius knew that this time it at least wasn’t because he meant nothing to Hunter. The rest of the Coven Heads filtered in and Lilith began the meeting once everyone was settled.

Just like last time, the Golden Guard stood to the side and did not say a word, keeping to himself and diligently listening along without interrupting. Just like last time, some of the other Heads decided he was an easy target, an outlet for their boredom of Lilith’s constant droning.

Darius was quick to notice the spiders that were crawling down the wall and making their way to Hunter. Eberwolf would never do something like that so Darius had to guess they were illusions and sure enough, a glance over at Adrian confirmed he was twirling a spell circle under the table. Luckily, Darius did not have to worry yet. He knew Hunter well enough to know something like this wouldn’t shake him while he was in uniform.

The Golden Guard looked down at the spiders crawling up his body and as Darius expected, did not seem perturbed in the slightest, probably realizing they had to be illusions as well. The boy really was smarter than the Heads gave him credit for sometimes. Adrian audibly huffed and ended the illusion, returning his attention to the meeting since he had failed to get a rise out of his target.

Darius was not naïve enough to think he’d given up. In fact, the Guard’s lack of reaction had probably spurred an annoyance within the stubborn man that he simply had to satisfy. A few minutes later, Adrian leaned over to Vitimir and whispered something to him, Vitimir nodding in acknowledgement of whatever the plan was. Not long after that, Darius noticed Vitimir reach into his pocket and pull out a small vial, uncorking it and slyly rolling it across the floor under the Guard’s feet, the fumes from whatever it was beginning to waft up towards him. If anyone else noticed this happening, they did not show it.

Adrian and Vitimir were watching, waiting for whatever was about to happen in thinly veiled amusement. What they weren’t expecting was the small amount of abomination matter that rose up from the floor, engulfed the vial, and transported it away. They both turned their heads towards Darius but he kept his gaze on Lilith and his attention on the meeting, pretending he had nothing to do with it even though it was obvious it was him. He didn’t know what the potion was but he wasn’t about to find out through Hunter.

He could see them scowl at him from the corner of his eye before they returned their attentions to the meeting, obviously disgruntled their prank failed, probably thinking of what else they could try to cure their boredom. They wouldn’t get the chance.

Lilith droned on, suddenly stopping when there was a hard thud against the floor quickly followed by another not a second after, every other Coven Head glancing over to where Adrian and Vitimir had fallen out of their seats and lay unconscious on the cold, hard tile.

Huh. So that’s what the potion did.

Lilith spotted the uncorked vial under their chairs and quickly bubbled it in a spell, bringing it closer to inspect it.

“Sleeping potion,” she simply said, annoyed. “Vitimir must have dropped it.”

“How careless,” Terra scoffed.

Lilith pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration at yet another interrupted meeting.

“I suppose we’ll have to end this meeting for now. I’ll call some scouts to take care of these two,” she said, gathering her papers and making her way out of the room, everyone else following behind her, happy for the occurrence if it meant they could move on from this dreadful meeting.

Darius took one last look at the two unconscious Coven Heads and smiled to himself before leaving as well. There was no doubt this would come back to bite him, knowing those two, but he could handle it.

A week later, he found himself sitting in the courtyard, an overexcited Golden Guard chattering in his ear.

“…but since most of the sea, especially the portions further from the Isles, are too hot for any witch to survive, that means that there could be a lot of different creatures out there that have adapted to the intense heat and we’ll probably never know about them, at least for a long time, since there’s no way to really explore those depths right now. The only creature we know of is the Selkidomus but that’s only because it comes up to the surface occasionally and can be seen by sailors but what if there are more living things living under the sea that no one ever gets to see because they never surface?”

“Yes, what if…,” Darius responded, distracted as he scrolled through Penstagram and only half paying attention. He wondered if Hunter actually cared if he were listening right now or if he was just more so looking for someone to rattle off thoughts to.

Hunter continued, unperturbed by the lack of reaction so Darius had to guess it was the second thing.

“And the stars, too! No one can look into the sea but no one can look up, either. What if there’s more up there that we just haven’t discovered? If stars are billions of miles away, then what if there’s more stuff past them that just don’t give off enough light for us to see? What if…”

This kid could probably go on for hours like this, Darius thought in amusement. It’s a wonder such a chatty boy had gone such a long time never speaking to anyone. Something told Darius that Belos wouldn’t have tolerated the talkativeness as much.

Suddenly, Hettie came into the courtyard looking disgruntled, making her way over to them, and Darius did not miss the way Hunter’s chatter immediately died off mid-sentence at the sight of her.

“Where is it?” she asked the Golden Guard, voice laced with anger that was likely unjustified.

“Where is what?” Hunter responded, confused.

Hettie huffed and crossed her arms, scowling down at him.

“You know what I’m talking about,” she simply said.

“I really don’t, actually.”

“Don’t get snarky with me, brat!”

Darius turned off Penstagram and quickly rolled up his scroll, turning to face the angry Coven Head.

“Hettie, just use your words, dear,” he said. If she was going to be rude then he would show her what actual snarkiness looked like. “What is the issue?”

“My personal medical kit has gone missing from the healing wing. I was told that the Golden Guard was seen leaving with it,” she responded, crossing her arms.

Hunter stood up and clenched his hands at his side, angry at the accusation.

“I didn’t steal anything!” he defended. 

Darius stood up as well and put a hand on his shoulder to hopefully calm him down. A Coven Head accusing someone of something as drastic as theft of personal property was serious and Hunter getting worked up over it would not help the situation. Luckily, Darius had the power to step in and save the child from reprimand. Hettie could choose to ignore any defense Hunter gave her but she could not ignore a fellow Coven Head.

“When did this happen, Hettie?” Darius asked and Hunter turned to look at him, no doubt an indignant expression on his face, thinking Darius was actually entertaining the thought.

“About fifteen minutes ago,” she answered, matter-of-factly.

“Then it would be impossible for the Golden Guard to be at fault, considering he’s been with me for the past half hour.”

“Oh Darius, don’t be ridiculous. He must have snuck off from you at one point, then,” she said, still unrelenting. It was like she wanted the Golden Guard to be at fault just to have someone to yell at.

“If he somehow managed to sneak off quick enough to where there wasn’t a single break in conversation, then that would surely be the most impressive feat anyone had ever pulled off,” Darius said.

Hettie still didn’t look like she was convinced, frown deepening at the statement.

“Why would I want to take your kit anyway?” Hunter asked.

“You tell me,” Hettie scoffed. “Just give it back and I’ll only punish you a little bit.”

What a convincing argument, Darius thought dryly. He was completely over this interaction already, wanting nothing more than for her to leave them alone.

“Hettie, who told you the Guard took it?” he asked the woman.

“Osran,” she answered.

Darius pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.

“Hettie, you gullible idiot. Osran took your medical kit.”

She seemed affronted at the insult, looking around and clutching at her chest, like Darius’ words had been a stake in her heart. He hadn’t even said anything that bad. There were certainly worse things he wanted to call her.

“Why in Titan’s name would Osran steal my kit?” she asked in disbelief.

“Why would the Golden Guard?” Darius retorted. “The only people who would be stupid enough to steal something from a Coven Head are other Coven Heads. I suggest you go speak with Osran.”

He finally took his hand off Hunter’s shoulder, sitting back down and re-opening his scroll, silently indicating that this conversation was now over and hoping Hettie would take the hint. Hunter looked back and forth between Hettie and Darius as if he were unsure what to do before deciding to take a seat next to Darius again.

Hettie stormed off after that, hopefully to confront Osran and not try and think of some other way to pin it on the Guard. There was no doubt she was feeling belittled by Darius’ intervention in her confrontation with her subordinate but Darius didn’t care anymore. She could think whatever she wanted of him if it meant she couldn’t unfairly punish someone for something they didn’t even do.

Hunter was sitting silently, wringing his gloved hands together, still unsure of himself after the encounter. Darius looked up at him briefly before returning his gaze to his scroll.

“So, you were saying about the stars?” Darius said.

Hunter perked up again at the reminder.

“Oh! Yes! If the space beyond the stars is infinite, then it’s very likely that there is so much out there we might never discover. Maybe someday we’ll find a way to but it probably wouldn’t be in our lifetimes unless we got really lucky somehow and…”

Darius smiled. Perhaps he didn’t mind the rambling, actually.

Hettie did not return after that. Darius had caught her later that day walking through the halls towards the medical wing, her personal kit tucked under her arm. She refused to look at him as she strolled by and he could barely contain his cocky smile.

He knew she wouldn’t apologize, but it didn’t matter. It was obvious to the other Coven Heads by this point that Darius had gotten close to the Golden Guard so they had more trouble seeing the boy as an easy target, knowing that Darius would be likely to intervene in anything they tried. 

Darius didn’t care what they thought of him anymore. He never should have cared in the first place. The only opinions of him that mattered were those of the people he actually cared about and he would do everything in his power to make sure he never let them down again.

Chapter Text

“…furthermore, ancient witches did not have bile sacs, meaning they didn’t have any way to store magic. It wasn’t until they evolved to have bile sacs that they were able to store the energy needed in order to harness power from within themselves instead of relying on outward processes, learning to use the Titan’s residual magic to manipulate the world around them- kind of like…like extensions of the Titan himself.”

“Mhm,” Darius simply said.

“However, due to the bile sac’s location attached to the heart, it not only stores magical bile, but also seeps energy into the rest of the body and because of that, modern day witches have become dependent on that magical energy in order for a lot of their biological processes to function properly. If they were somehow drained of all their magic bile or the sac was removed, they would still live, but they’d have virtually no energy to do much of anything.”

“I see.”

“Darius, are you even listening?”

“Yes, yes. Bile sacs and energy and biological processes…I’m following along.”

“…okay…The artificial ways of harnessing magic still exist, but since most witches have a bile sac, it’s not really necessary. Unless you’re me. That’s what my staff does. Magic is kind of like, um, turning energy into something physical. That kind of energy isn’t something that can be pulled from thin air but needs to have a source and while biological beings are generally the best place to store that energy, it can still be channeled through inanimate objects, wired in a specific way to pull in the transient energy from the Isles and concentrate it on a central point in order to shift that energy into matter the same way a normal witch would with a spell circle.”

“Fascinating.”

“You’re not listening.”

“I am, I promise.”

Hunter huffed from his position sitting cross-legged on the floor of Darius’ study. It’s not as if there weren’t any available chairs for the boy to sit in. He would just rather prefer leaning his back against Darius’ desk as the man sat at it and worked- as if Darius wouldn’t pay attention if he weren’t right at his feet.
 
“Child, you’re the one who came in here to try and bother me while I’m busy. You know I have a lot of work to do,” Darius said, reaching over and lightly tapping his pen against the top of Hunter’s head in teasing.

“Being a Coven Head sounds tiresome,” Hunter said, reaching up and rubbing his head where the pen hit it. “I think I have a lot of work sometimes but you all always have 10 times the amount of paperwork.”

“Well, half of your job is to stand next to the Emperor and look pretty. I’d imagine there wouldn’t need to be a lot of paperwork involved with that.”

“I do a lot of other things!”

“Yes, as I can see.”

Hunter huffed again and crossed his arms. 

“I wouldn’t mind the extra work. Being Coven Head is an important job and I’d consider mountains of paperwork worth it,” he said, pulling his knees up to his chest.

“Are you saying you’d rather be a Coven Head than Golden Guard?”

“No,” Hunter quickly said. “I mean, if Belos wanted me to be a Coven Head I’d gladly accept but I’d hope he’d let me still be Golden Guard, too.”

Darius frowned. “So you would be okay with Coven Head duties on top of your Golden Guard ones? You would never get any sleep,” he said, shaking his head.

“I’d make it work, if it was for the Emperor.”

Darius scoffed. This kid really had no idea what he was saying. Coven Head and Golden Guard were already tiresome jobs by themselves and this cocky child had such false confidence that he could easily do them both at once. Darius envied that youthful naivety.

“Well, it’s a good thing you’ll never have to,” Darius simply said.

“There’s going to be an opening for Bard Coven Head soon,” Hunter joked. “I’ve been improving a lot on my cittern.”

“Yes, I’m sure the Bard Coven would gladly wait for you to learn your second song on your first instrument you only started playing a few months ago. Truly, you would be the epitome of a musical leader.”

Hunter chuckled. “I don’t know. It seems pretty easy to get a Coven Head gig. After all, you’re here.”

“I’m going to make you fight one of my abominations and have you try and say that to me again.”

“Your abominations would be puddles by the time I’m done with them,” Hunter responded and Darius simply smiled and shook his head. Though Hunter could be rather annoying sometimes, Darius was glad he felt comfortable enough to joke around with him like this.

A few minutes of silence passed while Darius continued to work and Hunter sat on the floor, wringing his hands together in thought. Finally, he spoke up again, the words startling Darius enough to lose his composure and mess up his writing, scribbling a long line across the otherwise neat page.

“What was your mentor like?”

“My mentor?” Darius simply reiterated, mind not quite fully processing the question at the moment. It had come out of nowhere.

Hunter nodded. “The previous Golden Guard. Was he…like me?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean…You said he was strong, right? Did he have magic?”

Darius had to think about it. He had always thought the previous Guard was a powerful witch but now that he’d seen Hunter fight, he couldn’t deny they were quite similar. Though he still hadn’t seen Hunter use the staff, he has seen him in combat and his maneuvering and quick-thinking skills were eerily reminiscent of his predecessor’s. Many witches wouldn’t bother learning that kind of hand-to-hand combat given they could just attack with magic from a distance.

“I don’t know,” Darius found himself finally saying.

“You don’t know?”

“I always found him powerful with magic but I don’t think it’s entirely impossible he was just using the staff.”

Hunter didn’t respond, taking the words in.

“Why do you ask?” Darius questioned.

“I just want to know if it’s possible for me to be that strong, too,” Hunter quietly said.

Darius regarded him a moment, wondering if this was something that had been upsetting him. It wasn’t unreasonable to think Hunter may feel a little insecure in his lack of magical abilities, especially when everyone in the castle was constantly belittling him.

Trying to reassure him, Darius responded, “You’re already strong, Hunter. I wouldn’t worry about it. Besides, your predecessor was an adult. I’m sure he had years of training on you, magic or not.”

Hunter hummed in thought. “Ah, my only weakness- time.”

“And candy,” Darius said, slyly opening his desk drawer and handing down a piece of hard candy to Hunter who greedily snatched it from his hands, ripping off the wrapper and shoving it in his mouth.

“Truly, Eberwolf would be impressed by your ferocity in this regard,” Darius said as he snatched his hand away, shaking it as if scorned.

At least with the child’s mouth occupied, Darius might be able to get some more of his work done. He estimated he had about five minutes or so before Hunter managed to get that candy small enough to talk around it easily.

Then, he heard a sickening crunch.

“Hunter! Don’t bite it!”

Hunter looked up at him innocently before opening his mouth and biting down again, the crunch even louder this time with his mouth open, reverberating around the room. He closed his mouth and continued to stare at Darius while he chewed, eventually swallowing the shards of candy.

“If you want me to shut up, I need better bribes,” Hunter said, easily seeing through Darius’ plan.

Darius groaned. “What are you even doing here anyway?”

“I’m hiding from Lilith.”

“Why?”

Hunter scowled in remembrance. 

“The Emperor told her to mentor me and she’s been…a lot lately. She won’t let me leave her side and earlier, I accidentally stepped on her dress and tripped her. She was not happy.”

“I’m waiting for her to cool down,” he finished, holding his hand out for more candy.

Darius pulled out a plain piece of chocolate and handed it to him.

“Why is he having her mentor you?” Darius asked.

Hunter shrugged.

“He’s been eager for me to learn what the Coven Heads do. He’s always done stuff like that, though. Belos wants me to know about everything that goes on in the castle so it was inevitable he’d have me learn more about you all eventually,” he said through a mouthful of chocolate. Darius would scold him for talking with his mouth full but he knew it would be of no use. Besides, what he was saying was actually interesting for once.

“I’m sure you’ve read all about the Coven Heads and what we do. How is Lilith teaching you supposed to make a difference?” Darius responded.

Hunter didn’t answer, swallowing his chocolate and holding his hand out again.

Darius sighed and pulled out some licorice. Hunter hesitantly sniffed it and took a bite.

“Gross,” he said but did not stop eating it, wincing through every bite.

“Just throw it away if you don’t like it.”

In response, Hunter shoved the rest of it in his mouth and swallowed, coughing profusely and Darius was scared he was choking for a moment until he finally stopped coughing and just winced through whatever pain he’d just put himself in. It took him a few seconds to compose himself before holding his hand out again.

“No. Answer my question first,” Darius said.

“But I didn’t like that one! You have to give me something good!”

“Licorice is good. It’s not my fault you have bad taste.” Darius motioned for him to continue before crossing his arms, waiting patiently.

Hunter pulled his hand back, resigning.

“Books usually just talk about the overall work that you do. Lilith is showing me the fine details- the kind of stuff that books don’t really talk much about.”

Darius simply hummed in acknowledgement, giving Hunter another piece of chocolate. He supposed it made some sense why Belos wanted Hunter to know these things. The Golden Guard was heavily involved in politics and it was important for him to understand what went on inside the castle. Teaching Hunter the exact specifics of all the mundane work the Coven Heads do did seem a bit like overkill, though. It’s not like Hunter would ever have to do those things himself. Even if Belos did want to make Hunter a Coven Head, he already had the Emperor’s Coven sigil and Darius doubted Lilith would be wanting to leave her position anytime soon, as dedicated as she was to the Emperor.

“I bet your mentor was a better mentor than Lilith,” Hunter said after swallowing his candy. “She’s really mechanical when she talks about that kind of stuff.”

“And you’re not?” Darius teased. “You and Lilith have more in common than I think you’re willing to admit.”

Hunter made sure to turn his head enough so Darius could see his scowl.

“But yes,” Darius finally said. “He was a fantastic mentor. I don’t think anyone could compare.”

“I wish I could have met him,” the boy said. “Belos doesn’t like to talk about the other Golden Guards so I don’t know much about them.”

“No one really knows a lot about them,” Darius responded. “The Golden Guard was never meant to be more than just their title.”

Hunter pulled his glove off and started rubbing at his eye.

“I know but I don’t want to know about them just because they were my predecessors. I want to know about them because they were my family.”

Darius stopped writing, glancing back down to the child at his side. Hunter’s back was still leaned up against the desk and he was facing away from him again, so it was hard to see his expression.

“What do you mean they were your family?”

“That’s what Uncle told me. The Golden Guards were my family. He said I came from a long line of powerless witches so when you said your mentor was strong, I was just wondering if maybe it skipped him or something."

Does Belos just pick his Golden Guards based on lineage? It made sense but it was still a bit surprising. Did that mean that Darius’ mentor had been related to the Emperor as well? And who was he to Hunter? It made it more likely that Darius’ mentor didn’t have magic if it was some kind of trait that was passed down through a family. But then…

“If your family were all powerless, then how is your uncle the strongest witch on the Boiling Isles?” Darius asked. 

Hunter hummed in thought.

“I don’t know if he’s actually my uncle,” he simply said. “He just told me he took me in when I was a baby but he never said we were actually related by blood.”

“How interesting,” Darius simply said, not sure what to make of that information.

The Golden Guards being from the same family was quite strange in regard to Hunter currently. Why would Belos still be so eager to take them from that family after the last Guard’s betrayal? Was it some sort of sick joke- taking Hunter in as an infant and raising him to be the perfect soldier to spit in the face of his predecessor- of his family?

“You should probably head back to Lilith. I’m not sure she’s the kind of person whose anger you can wait out. You might as well get it over with,” Darius said, returning to his work. Thinking too much about this would probably just cause him to draw the worst conclusions and get himself worked up.

Hunter groaned at the thought of confronting his new mentor but eventually relented, standing up.

“Can I have more candy before I go?”

“No. You’re going to get sick.”

“You can just say you hate me.”

Darius rolled his eyes, grabbing one more piece of chocolate and handing it to him.

“Do not eat it immediately,” he warned. “Save it for later.”

Hunter jokingly saluted, shoved the candy in his pocket, put his mask back on, and finally made his way out of the study.

Hunter’s impromptu visits were always interesting but this one had left a whole new whirlwind of strange information swirling around Darius’ head. Hunter’s life was by far the strangest, most confusing enigma Darius had ever encountered and it somehow, despite all odds, only kept getting more confusing. 

Truly, what a strange child that boy was.

Chapter Text

Before the morning sun even began to peak over the horizon, Darius would wake up and start his day, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and beginning his normal morning routine to get ready for work. Then, he would eat breakfast in his room while scrolling through Penstagram for the latest updates. Afterwards, he would get to work on whatever tasks were on his itinerary for that day. It was rare that his carefully laid out schedule would have to be changed to accommodate unexpected occurrences but even when that did happen, Darius would be able to adapt.

Darius mentally went over the list in his head as he flitted from task to task throughout the day, so far keeping on track with everything. It wasn’t until the early afternoon that his plans started to derail.

He had set aside a short block of time to work on some paperwork with Lilith in the common study that all the Coven Heads used. Making his way there, he opened the door expecting to already see Lilith with her head down, diligently absorbed in her work. He did see that, in all fairness, it was just the boy sitting next to her that surprised him.

Hunter, as the Emperor’s nephew and not the Golden Guard, was seated next to Lilith as she explained some of the finer details of what was listed in the document that was on the desk in front of her. Darius knew Belos had ordered Lilith to mentor him but Darius didn’t realize he meant him him.

He walked over and took his seat across from them, pulling his own stack of papers in front of him and getting started. He couldn’t help but tune himself into their conversation, curious what she would even be teaching him at a time like this. What could he possibly need to know about the paperwork she was doing?

The answer was nothing, apparently, because she wasn’t even discussing anything related to the Covens. She was telling him about the history of covered wagons, Hunter looking on in absolute confusion as she excitedly rambled on. At least Hunter knew what it was like now to be on the receiving end of someone’s constant chatter about topics that didn’t interest them.

“So, any questions?” Lilith asked him when she was finally done.

He nodded and reached for a pen and paper but she stopped him.

“Wait! Do the hand thing that you do. I’ve been studying what you’ve taught me so far,” she excitedly announced, eagerly waiting for him to converse with her in that way.

He hesitated for only a second before he started to sign, Lilith intently watching every movement of his hands.

“Maybe…a little slower,” she tried and he signed again, slower, and Lilith translated his movements out loud to herself.

“’Can’…’you’…’stop’…’talking’…”

She perked up, triumphant that she was able to understand it. “Ha! ‘Can you stop talking’! ‘Can you’…”

Then, it finally hit her what he had asked.

“Oh,” she said, adopting a sour expression.

Darius chuckled at the interaction. “You do have a habit of talking people’s ears off.”

She huffed and crossed her arms.

“It’s not my fault no one else can see the wonders of these various aspects of history,” she simply stated. “Everyone should be excited about these kinds of things.”

“I’m sure you could find more appropriate things to teach the boy,” Darius said, still working on his paperwork as he conversed.

“…Like the intricacies of pottery decoration in the Deadwardian Era?” she suggested. Hunter frantically threw his arms in front of himself to form an ‘X’, shaking his head at the suggestion.

Then again, Lilith wasn’t the type to push her job to the side like this. If she had Hunter around because she was supposed to be mentoring him about Coven Head duties, then she wouldn’t be getting so side-tracked trying to talk about things unrelated to being a Coven Head.

Trying to ask without actually asking, Darius said, “So, what is it like being a mentor all of a sudden? I heard Belos was adamant you be one.” It could either seem like he’s talking about Hunter or just trying to change the subject.

“Ugh, dreadful,” Lilith exclaimed and considering the source of her dread was sitting right next to her without her realizing, Darius could reasonably assume it was actually the Golden Guard she was mentoring.

“How so?” Darius pressed.

Lilith leaned back and thought for a moment.

“It’s just…I already have so much work to do. It’s bothersome to have to do it all with someone hanging off my shoulders constantly,” she explained, moving her hand around in the air as she spoke.

Darius nearly scowled as he second guessed himself about her reaction. She could just not care about talking about Hunter when he was right next to her so maybe he didn’t have an answer yet.

“I’m sure the Emperor wouldn’t have done it if he didn’t think you could handle it,” Darius responded, hoping she’d give him more information.

“Perhaps,” she simply said. “I just wish it didn’t have to be the Golden Guard.”

Ah. There it was.

“So, if you don’t want people bothering you while you work, then what is he doing here?” Darius asked, jabbing his pen in Hunter’s direction. The boy had simply taken to doodling in his notebook, completely unbothered by their conversation. He was, unfortunately, probably very used to people talking badly about him to his face, whether they knew it was him or not.

“I offered to teach him,” she said and Darius had to control himself so he didn’t burst into laughter at the irony of her statement.

“So…you don’t want to mentor the Golden Guard but you want to mentor Hunter?”

“Precisely.”

“Why?”

Lilith scoffed. “I don’t like the Guard.”

“And why is that?” Darius asked.

She fumbled around with her words for a bit before settling on, “He’s a brat.”

Is that how Darius sounded before he knew Hunter? Titan, how embarrassing.

“Maybe you’re just jealous,” Darius teased, smirking. He had just meant it as a joke but as he saw the blush that quickly formed on Lilith’s face, he realized he had accidentally hit the nail on the head.

“I-I am not!” she exclaimed.

“Oh my Titan, you are!” Darius exclaimed back, laughing. “Why? Because he’s the Emperor’s favorite and you’re not?”

Her face somehow grew impossibly more red and he laughed again, having called her out again.

“What do you know anyway?” she huffed, glancing away and trying to compose herself.

Darius ceased his laughter, taking pity on her.

“I don’t think that’s a fair reason to hate him,” Darius told her. “That’s not exactly his fault.”

“Hm,” she simply responded, regarding him for a moment. “You have gotten quite close to the Golden Guard, haven’t you? What changed?”

“I did,” Darius simply said. “Aside from the blatant cockiness, annoying attitude, grating voice…,”

He watched Hunter scowl at his drawing as Darius teased him. Good to know he was actually listening.

Finishing his statement, Darius said, “He’s really not that bad.”

Lilith chuckled.

“I think you’ve gone soft, Deamonne.”

“Perhaps,” Darius agreed. “You’re no different, though,” he countered, nodding his head in Hunter’s direction.

She frowned at the response until a pair of hands shot up at her, and she curiously took the drawing that was outstretched in them.

“Is this…me?” she asked and Hunter nodded his head.

“Perhaps you need someone to mentor you in art,” she mumbled, looking down at the drawing, confused. Hunter took it back and huffed.

“What are you even teaching him?” Darius asked, interested.

“Just various different studies,” Lilith responded. “I don’t think he’s ever had proper schooling.”

She was probably right. Hunter’s only teacher his whole life was likely just Belos and there was no doubt that Belos wouldn’t have given him a well-rounded education. Most of Hunter’s knowledge about non-government related information had probably just come from all those books he absorbed in his free time.

Still, for someone who talked about having too much work already, it was funny she was still willing to pile more onto herself just to be nice to a kid who desperately needed it. It reminded him of the Lilith he knew back in school before she became a cold-blooded Coven Head. Maybe that Lilith still existed and he just hadn’t been able to recognize it until now. She had to know that doing this wouldn’t gain her favor with the Emperor. Even she wasn’t that blind to think the Emperor cared about Hunter’s education if he hadn’t done anything about it for 15 years.

“Well, I think your student is getting bored,” Darius said, returning again to his paperwork, intent on not getting distracted again. “You should get back to your studies.”

They did. Lilith pulled out a textbook on biology and Hunter seemed interested in that lecture, at least. Darius managed to tune them out, not wanting to listen to the gross details about biological functions while he worked.

Suddenly, there was a large booming sound from somewhere within the castle, the damage destructive enough to shake the foundation, rattling the desks and bookshelves around the room. Instinctually, Lilith pulled Hunter close to her to protect him and Darius stood up, carefully making his way to the door and opening it.

Scouts were dashing down the hallways towards the sound and he grabbed one with some abomination matter and pulled them towards him.

“What’s happened?” he asked.

“There was an explosion in the left wing, sir. Unknown cause.”

Darius motioned for them to rejoin their fellow troops. Lilith walked over to Darius as the scout left.

“Do you think there’s an attack on the castle?” she asked.

“Hard to say,” he simply responded. “We should join the scouts.”

“What about Hunter?”

She motioned back towards the child standing where she left him at the back of the room. He looked anxious to join the scouts as well but he obviously couldn’t do that out of uniform.

“Just take him back to his room,” Darius suggested. Lilith would have the peace of mind of thinking Hunter was safe in his room while Hunter would probably change and sneak off afterwards. They’d both be happy.

“And leave him there alone?” Lilith asked, appalled. “He almost got assassinated not too long ago. I am not sending him to sit by himself in a room where potential attackers would be looking for him.”

He understood her worry. He really did. They didn’t have time for this, though.

“Great. Wonderful. Let’s just bring him with us, then,” Darius said, creating a moving floor underneath Hunter’s feet with abomination matter to carry him next to them. It startled Hunter for a second but he managed to gain his footing as he was dropped off next to Darius’ side.

“What!?” Lilith exclaimed as Darius put a hand on Hunter’s shoulder and guided him out of the room, Lilith right on their heels.

“You want to take him to the danger!?” she asked, jogging up a little ahead of them so she could stand in front of Darius and scowl. He simply moved her aside and she stomped her foot in frustration before moving to walk alongside them with Hunter in between.

“You’re the one who said it was too dangerous for him to be alone,” Darius started. “This way, we’ll both be there to protect him. Besides, I’ve seen what this kid can do. He might not even need our protection.”

It’s not like Darius actually wanted Hunter there but he knew it was inevitable the stubborn child would show up anyway. Whether he did it now or as the Golden Guard didn’t really matter.

Lilith huffed but relented, turning her attention to Hunter.

“Stay behind us the whole time, got it?”

Hunter nodded in acknowledgement. Darius knew he wasn’t going to listen but Lilith could just find out the hard way.

It turned out, it really didn’t matter. When they got to the scene of the crash, it turned out to be nothing more than an accident caused by two scouts who had been experimenting with potions before getting into a fight and knocking one of the more explosive potions to the ground.

“Oh, for Titan’s sake,” Lilith swore, scowling at the scene before them.

The entire room where the accident occurred and the hallway outside of it was completely scorched, left in ruin from the explosion. Luckily, it appeared no one got hurt, the two coven members who had caused the accident having managed to shield themselves from the danger with only minor scathes.

Some scouts rushed forward to arrest them. It may have been an accident but it was a dangerous and foolish one that should never have happened within the castle walls. They didn’t get very far, however, when something behind the crowd caught their eye and they immediately stopped, standing up straighter and saluting. Darius looked back and saw why.

Everyone stepped aside and bowed as the Emperor strolled past them to assess the scene. As Belos looked around, everyone had gone completely silent, the only sound in the entire wing being that of the Emperor’s footsteps against the hard tile floor.

“To be so careless within the castle walls,” Belos started, voice thick as syrup. “How shameful. There is simply no room for such blatant disregard for civility in the Emperor’s Coven.”

“Please have mercy!” one of the perpetrators yelled and Darius had to suppress his wince at the outburst, feeling sorry for them despite himself. They really weren’t that smart, were they?

Belos chuckled. “I suppose there is no room for error in the Conformatorium. Off with you now.”

He motioned for the scouts to continue to lead them away. They would have been fine, actually. A cell in the Conformatorium was actually a reasonably light sentence considering they almost blew away a portion of the castle. Belos must have been in a rather good mood.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t what happened. They weren’t so lucky as to simply get a stay in prison after the ripple effects of their carelessness finally caught up to them. A small stone in the wall above where everyone was standing had been knocked loose from the blast, dangling on the edge of another until it finally gave way. It was silent and unexpected and no one had noticed it falling until it was too late, the stone landing hard and squarely on top of Hunter’s head. Hunter grabbed his head and clenched his eyes shut in pain and suddenly the air in the room got even more tense as every set of eyes turned to Belos.

Belos motioned for the scouts to stop again as he regarded Hunter.

“Oh my. Are you alright, my love?” Belos asked, stepping up to Hunter and tenderly cupping his cheek, forcing him to look up at him. Darius had to suppress the blatant urge to pull him away, stomach churning at the feigned concern in the Emperor’s tone. Hunter hesitantly nodded and took his hands off his head. He was probably still in pain but he wasn’t going to act like it in front of the Emperor.

“Good.”

Without taking his eyes off the boy, Belos waved his hand and immediately started to petrify the perpetrators, the scouts backing away from them in shock. The rest of the crowd was silent as they listened to their screams until eventually there was nothing but an eerie silence.

Belos finally turned away from Hunter, making his way back down the hall. 

“Clean up this mess,” he ordered as he walked away. The scouts immediately took to taking the new statues away and fixing up the room and hall.

Hunter was watching the scouts carry off the statues, eyes wide and fearful. Darius put a hand on Hunter's shoulder to try and help him stop shaking. Hunter was used to catching criminals, but had he ever actually watched any of them die before?

Lilith looked concerningly at the child before putting her hand on his arm, the trembling she felt in her grip making her frown deepen. She glanced over to Belos’ retreating form for only a split second before returning her attention to Hunter.

“I’ll…take him back to his room now,” she quietly said and Darius nodded, watching her lead Hunter away.

Needless to say, Darius’ afternoon was no longer going as he’d expected, completely ruined by this terrible happening. This was not the type of situation he would be able to just move past that easily, getting back to work and just forgetting what had occurred. The only thing that would be on his mind for the entire rest of the day was the image of a scorched hallway, the screams of the dying, and the terrified wide eyes of a boy who never should have witnessed something so traumatizing.

Chapter Text

There were shadows on the ceiling, dancing around in a dark display of agility, rushing past the window, down the walls, and towering over his shivering form under the blanket. If he wasn’t careful, they would devour him whole, leaving nothing left behind but the husk of a weak and pitiful boy who had been tossed into a pit he didn’t belong, left to fend for himself against monsters and villains he had only ever imagined were in his dreams until now.

He didn’t belong here. This life was nothing like he’d imagined. He wanted to leave but there was no more choice. There was nowhere left for him. Nowhere to run. No one to turn to.

But no, that wasn’t true. He wasn’t alone.

He got out of bed and made his way out of his room, down the halls, and knocked twice on the familiar door he had stopped in front of. It was becoming more often he would find himself here. This room was somehow more comforting than his own.

A minute passed before there was shuffling heard from the other side and the door was opened, the looming figure standing in the doorway sending a breath of relief down his spine.

Darius’ mentor regarded him for a moment and Darius could imagine the concerned look that took place behind the haphazardly thrown on mask.

“Is everything alright?” the Golden Guard asked, worry lacing his tone. “It’s late.”

“I can’t sleep,” Darius admitted, feeling childish at the words. He had just graduated school and joined the Coven. He wasn’t a little kid anymore and yet he was acting like one right now. The Golden Guard didn’t seem to take offense, however. He never did.

The Guard simply chuckled. “Me neither,” he stated, stepping out of the room and closing the door behind him, putting an arm around Darius’ shoulders and leading him to their normal hangout spot on the balcony.

They arrived and simply stood there, leaning against the railing and watching the stars, soaking in each other’s company for a long amount of time. Suddenly, the shadows that had stalked Darius were cowering in fear at the light that radiated off the man standing next to him, warded off and not daring to scare him while the Golden Guard was around. He felt safe- like nothing could ever hurt him again.

He happened a glance to his mentor, taking in his relaxed posture and imagining the gentle look that graced his face at the sight of the endless expanse of sky before them. Darius wondered what he was thinking but did not ask, not wanting to interrupt the peaceful silence of the night. They didn’t need to speak, anyway. His presence was enough. 

Darius turned his gaze back out to the sky and thought about how lucky he was to have someone care about him so much to sit outside with him like this- to be genuinely concerned about him and want to make him feel better. He knew the Guard had lied about not being able to sleep. The grogginess in his voice when he answered the door was evidence enough that Darius had probably woken him up and yet the man never complained.

The Guard wrapped an arm back around Darius’ shoulders and pulled him in close so that Darius was leaning against his side. It was a warm embrace that Darius never wanted to end- the comfort of it overwhelming. Even as Darius felt the tiredness finally start to creep into his eyes, he simply stayed there, safe and content, warm despite the breeze, at peace on that small castle balcony.

Darius slowly sat up in bed, his dreams plagued by memories that only left him feeling hollow at the loss of the subject matter contained within them. He wondered if he would ever be fully free of his mournful thoughts. He wondered if he would ever stop missing him. 

He slipped on some shoes and made his way out of his room and up to that familiar balcony, not even bothering to try getting back to sleep at the late hour knowing it would not come easily to him anymore.

He opened the door, expecting there to be no one else considering how late it was, but was surprised to see a familiar silhouette leaning up against the railing, gazing out into the sky but not really seeing what was out there.

“You should be in bed. It’s late,” Darius said, strolling up and standing next to Hunter.

“You’re one to talk,” Hunter simply stated in return.

“Touché.”

They stood in silence for a few seconds before Hunter broke it to quietly admit, “I couldn’t sleep.”

Darius chuckled. “Me neither.”

He watched the stars as they twinkled in the sky, the only sound the breath of the breeze as it rushed slowly past them, ruffling Hunter’s hair and chilling Darius slightly as he shivered against the cold touch of the night’s air.

“Do you ever get lonely?” Hunter suddenly asked, never taking his gaze off the sky. Darius looked over at him for a few seconds, taking in his deepening dark circles and his tired posture as he leaned against the cold metal railing.

“Sometimes. Some nights are worse than others,” Darius admitted. “Is everything alright? That’s quite a strange thing to ask.”

Hunter just shrugged, not interested in explaining why he asked such an odd question but Darius could guess as to what the reason was. He wondered if Hunter had come out here for the same purpose he had.

Hunter had most likely never spoken to other witches his age. His only company his whole life had been his emotionally unavailable uncle so he had probably gotten accustomed to the feeling of loneliness. Darius couldn’t imagine the impact something like that would have on a person’s psyche, let alone a child who had lived that way their entire life. It was as if the universe was playing some sort of cruel joke on this boy- a game to see just how miserable it could make the life of a single person.

“Hunter, I want you to know you can talk to me about anything,” Darius offered. He hadn’t actually been expecting Hunter to open up but he wanted him to at least know he was allowed should he want to.

Hunter’s brow furrowed in thought and the sadness that crept into his eyes was impossible to miss. There was obviously something on his mind and so Darius patiently waited for him to gather his thoughts.

Hunter opened and closed his mouth a few times, still refusing to look at Darius. Finally, after a few moments, he hesitantly whispered soft enough Darius had to strain to hear it against the breeze rustling in his ear, Hunter’s voice breaking in the middle of the statement and causing Darius’ heart to crack at the sound.

“I wish I never met you.”

And how was Darius supposed to respond to something like that? How was he supposed to speak without letting it show how much the statement hurt him? Had he done something to make Hunter angry with him again? He couldn’t think of any recent transgressions between them that would cause such ill-will.

Or perhaps Hunter was just upset for a different reason.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Darius simply settled on. “I’m glad to have met you, though.”

Hunter finally looked at him and Darius wondered if Hunter could sense his heartbreak with the way his expression fell upon taking him in, turning his gaze back away just as quickly so he didn’t have to look at the results of his hurtful statement anymore.

“It’s just…,” Hunter started, obviously unsure of what to say. “I…I was fine…before.”

“Before what?” Darius questioned, eager to know what he was trying to say.

“I mean…” Hunter leaned away from the railing, clenching and unclenching his fists out in front of him like he was unsure what to do with his hands while he searched for the right words. “I didn’t know before just how…alone I was. I was fine. I had my uncle and I thought that was enough and it should be enough but it’s not and I feel selfish for wanting more.”

“Your uncle is a busy man,” Darius tried. “It’s not unfair to want what he can’t give you sometimes.”

“It is unfair! I should be grateful for the time he does give me but it’s like I can’t be anymore and it’s your fault!”

“My fault?” Darius questioned, not letting Hunter’s rising tone get to him. The boy was obviously distressed. Darius understood he wasn’t trying to be mean.

“I couldn’t feel lonely if I didn’t know what it was,” Hunter reasoned. “But now I feel it all the time and it’s all because you had to cut into my life and screw with my head.”

“I’m not trying to screw with your head, Hunter. I’m simply treating you like a real person.”

“Well, whatever it is, I hate it.”

“Do you?”

“See! You’re doing it now!”

Darius sighed but didn’t respond. He wasn’t about to start arguing with a child who was going through a rough internal dilemma. This was something Hunter had to try and figure out himself. There was no possibility that Hunter actually liked Belos’ treatment of him more but he was simply not willing to admit that, afraid that by doing so, he would be questioning his uncle’s love for him. 

Darius had not intended to confuse the poor child. In fact, Darius had not intended to make Hunter question the Emperor at all- at least not yet. He supposed it would be inevitable, however, if he continued to show him the respect he deserved in stark contrast to whatever it was Belos showed him. Hunter was feeling lonely because he was starting to realize how distant Belos really was from him now that he had someone who actually paid attention to him. He was mourning the loss of his uncle before he even actually lost him, confused on why he was feeling this way and just trying to find some reason for it- the easiest target to pin it on being Darius.

“Hunter, do you love your uncle?” Darius asked.

“Of course,” Hunter responded without hesitation.

“And does he love you?”

Darius did not miss the fact it took Hunter a second longer to respond to that one.

“Yes.”

“Then what is the problem? You understand you can love multiple people at once right?”

“I shouldn’t need to, though.”

“Why?”

Hunter did not have a reasonable answer, evident in the way he fumbled around for some kind of excuse that would make sense. He couldn’t think of one, eventually just giving up with a defeated expression. Darius knew the stubborn child would not be swayed that easily, but there was at least some doubt muddled into his emotions that might eventually take root and overwhelm his mind in understanding.

“It’s alright to feel lonely sometimes, Little Prince. It’s natural.”

“It hurts.”

Darius smiled sadly. “Yes, it does,” he agreed.

Hunter looked like he wanted to ask something else, fidgeting in place as he struggled to find the words. He gave up though, leaning his elbows back on the railing and not saying anything more.

Darius reached over and put a hand on his back, prompting him to look at him again.

“You don’t always have to feel this way, though. I’m always here if you need me and I know Eberwolf has taken quite the liking to you as well,” Darius reassured. “And perhaps one day, you’ll make some more friends your own age so you’ll never have to feel lonely again.”

Judging by the expression Hunter made, it was obvious that the suggestion appealed to him though, again, Darius knew he would never admit that. He probably didn’t even think it was true and didn’t want to get his hopes up, which was understandable to some extent. Hunter likely expected to be Golden Guard his whole life and in the life of the Emperor’s right hand, there was no room for him to entertain his own happiness or have a personal life separate from his duties. Right now, Hunter solely belonged to the Emperor, any kind of friendship potentially getting in the way of his loyalty to Belos, as evident in his relationship with Darius.

Darius did something risky then, moving his arm up around Hunter’s shoulders in a comforting half-hug. Hunter, luckily, seemed receptive to the attention and Darius was stunned when Hunter even leaned in closer, resting against Darius’ side like a magnet to the comfort. They stayed like that for a few minutes, neither knowing what else to say. Darius only hoped that his words meant something to Hunter and he wouldn’t just toss them aside without even thinking about them. He hoped that if Hunter ever felt lonely again, he would know exactly who to turn to for comfort. He wanted him to understand he wasn’t ever alone, even if he felt that way sometimes.

He looked down at the boy at his side, noticing his eyes starting to droop shut, the warmth and soothing back-and-forth motion Darius’ hand was tracing on his arm lulling him to sleep. It had already been terribly late when they came up to the balcony so Darius could only guess it was now a dreadful hour of the night.

“Come on,” he nudged Hunter who had nearly fallen fully asleep against him. “Let’s get you to bed.”

Hunter simply nodded, probably too exhausted to speak anymore. Darius walked him to his room, making sure he collapsed onto his bed instead of the floor. Hunter had practically fallen asleep as soon as his body hit the mattress and Darius lightly chuckled, reaching over to take his shoes off and pull the blanket over top of him.

Hunter snuggled into the warmth of the fabric and Darius fondly gazed at his sleeping face for a moment, reaching up and brushing some stray hair away from his forehead. He gazed upon the child’s face and suddenly felt an unnamed emotion bursting forth in his chest, the force of which made him want to cry and he had no idea what it was or why it was affecting him so much. It was suddenly as if the universe around them didn’t exist. The only thing in Darius’ world was the child quietly sleeping in front of him.

He leaned in slightly, whispering though Hunter was already fast asleep and couldn’t hear him.

“You’re not alone. I’m here.”

Not alone. I’m here.

Hunter’s face somehow relaxed slightly and Darius wondered if he actually could hear him in his sleep. He hoped so.

Darius took a few more seconds before quietly leaving the room, shutting the door behind him and making his way back to his own room to get his own much needed rest, sleep coming to him much more easily than he expected.

Chapter Text

Within the blink of an eye, another year had gone by and New Years was upon the Boiling Isles once again- meaning it was also Hunter’s 16th birthday. Darius and Eber wasted no time in preparing something exciting for Hunter this year, hoping that now that they knew in advance of the celebration, they could put together something truly worthwhile- something more than just a simple light show and some presents bought at the last minute.

They spent a couple days planning this out- all for it to be in vain when the day of, they made their way to Hunter’s room to find it mysteriously empty. Everyone else in the castle was at the normal party so it didn’t make sense for Hunter to be outside of his room at the moment. Darius and Eberwolf exchanged confused looks before deciding they would just have to try again later.

They stopped by the party, just to make an appearance, and were glad they did so when they noticed something unusual. The Emperor never showed up to these kinds of events for whatever reason Darius didn’t care to think about and yet when they stepped into the room, it didn’t take long to spot the familiar and imposing figure of Emperor Belos, adorned in his normal robes and horned mask as if he were going about his everyday business and not attending a formal event. The Emperor’s presence also solved the question of Hunter’s whereabouts when he was spotted at his uncle’s side, dressed in casual clothing, appearing somehow even more out of place than Belos and looking far too small in comparison to the tall and menacing presence beside him.

Belos was walking around, chatting with various witches, one arm draped over Hunter’s shoulders as he led him around. To anyone else, it probably seemed like a casual gesture from a loving uncle who wanted to keep his nephew safe and close but to Darius, it looked more like a horrid man trapping a young boy at his side out of possessiveness. Hunter looked slightly uncomfortable, though Darius assumed it was more because of the fact he was unmasked in the middle of a large social gathering, unused to so much attention at once when he wasn’t the Golden Guard.

It was strange that Belos had Hunter here. It was true that the castle now knew of his existence but it’s not like Belos had actually cared before whether they knew or not. That was not his reason for not touting around Hunter before so why was he doing it now?

Eberwolf was also uncomfortable with the display, evident in the low growl that started emanating from his throat before he composed himself. Eberwolf may not know the full extent of Belos’ treatment of his nephew but he knew enough to feel that overwhelming sense of protectiveness over the child whenever the Emperor was anywhere near his vicinity.

“Come on,” Darius said to the demon. “We may as well get comfortable and try to ignore it for now.”

Eberwolf nodded. As uncomfortable as they were leaving Hunter in the hands of Belos, it’s not like the Emperor would do anything to him there. He seemed to be in a good mood, acting as nothing more than a proud guardian to the boy at his side. 

They collected some glasses of apple blood for themselves before going around to mingle, stopping and chatting with various new and recognized faces, feigning comradery in light of the holiday. They weren’t really all that interested in the party- they never had been in the first place- but they were curious to find out what the Emperor was doing there and they couldn’t do that if they left.

In yet another unexpected discovery, they eventually ran into Lilith, who also did not usually show up to these events for very long. If she stopped by, it was usually only for a short while to make an appearance as a Coven Head before stalking off to do work or whatever else she liked to do in her free time.

“Good evening,” she said to them in greeting. Darius and Eberwolf greeted her back.

“Quite a sight seeing you here,” Darius mentioned, taking a sip of his apple blood.

“Yes, well, I’ve decided I should try to partake more this year,” she simply responded. Quietly, she added, wincing at the rise in chatter, “…as…loud…as these events are.”

Wasting no time, Eberwolf growled and nodded his head across the room towards the Emperor.

“Oh, that?” she asked, looking back at Belos and Hunter in thought. “I’m not quite sure, to be honest. The Emperor has been adamant that Hunter start making more appearances, however.”

“I suppose it makes sense,” Darius said. “The boy is the heir. It would be good for everyone to get to know him a little bit.”

Lilith frowned in thought. “Yes, but why now? Why wait 16 years to start introducing him to the rest of the castle?”

Eberwolf growled in answer and Lilith and Darius both stopped to think for a moment, caught off guard by the suggestion. Lilith looked back again at the Emperor in thought.

“He…doesn’t look sick,” she said, though she obviously wasn’t sure.

“We can’t really tell with the mask, can we?” Darius responded. Sure, Belos’ gait was normal but he could look like death behind that mask for all they knew.

Darius and Eberwolf exchanged nervous glances. If the Emperor were sick and preparing Hunter for the throne, they weren’t really sure what to think of that. Yes, Belos keeling over suddenly would definitely save them a lot of work in taking him down but then what would they do once Hunter replaced him? Surely, they wouldn’t still be planning the same fate for him, would they? Perhaps Hunter would be a more generous ruler or perhaps even be willing to abdicate the throne? But what if he wasn’t? He looked up to Belos. There was a good chance he would try to mimic his uncle’s rule.

Darius looked back over to the Emperor and his nephew, taking in the way Belos still had a hand firmly against Hunter’s back as the child radiated obvious discomfort at being here and Darius suddenly had a strange thought. Did Belos even want Hunter to take the throne?

Realistically, should anything happen to Belos, Hunter was the next in line and yet the Emperor had never treated him like an heir or tried to prepare him for the position. The only thing Hunter had ever been taught was how to be a soldier, not a ruler, and on top of that, he was also still pretending not to be able to speak. What was their plan if Hunter took the throne and was suddenly able to talk, forced to out himself as the Golden Guard that everyone despised? Parading him around like this- introducing him as if he were someone other than the Emperor’s current right hand- was pointless if no one still knew who he actually was. They would be thinking they were meeting some innocent child they did not hold any preconceived notions towards only to learn they now had to follow the rule of a person they all actually hated. Surely, that would not go over well.

Darius’ thoughts were interrupted when the subjects of his worries finally made their way over, Belos standing tall and proud in stark contrast to the tiny, discomforted boy at his side.

“Good evening,” Belos said to them. The three Coven Heads all bowed in greeting. “How are you all enjoying the party?”

“It’s delightful, sir,” Lilith responded without hesitation, voice sounding more like she was responding to an order than exclaiming how much fun she was having.

If Belos took notice, he chose to ignore it. 

“Wonderful,” he stated. “This year is a special one. I do hope you all continue your hard work for the people of the Boiling Isles.”

“It is our honor, sir. You can count on us,” Darius said.

“Yes, I’m sure I can.”

Darius could have sworn he heard a hint of sarcasticness in that statement but he desperately hoped he was just imagining it. He definitely didn’t imagine Belos’ next statement, though.

“In addition to your hard work as Coven Heads, I’ve also heard you’ve been making yourselves quite apparent in my nephew’s life.”

Belos patted Hunter’s shoulder and Hunter kept his gaze trained on the floor, trying hard not to appear shaken but to anyone who knew him it would be obvious he was nervous. Belos had to have noticed it as well.

“We feel it is important to get to know him, considering he is your family, after all, and we are your loyal subjects,” Lilith said in response. “The boy has high expectations to live up to and who better to help him reach them than the Coven Heads?”

Darius was so thankful she had that response ready. He wasn’t sure what he would have said. It’s not like the Coven Heads or anyone for that matter were forbidden from interacting with Hunter but it still felt like they were doing something wrong by Belos by inserting themselves so much into Hunter’s life. The Emperor was very possessive of him.

Hunter had spent his whole life in isolation, apparently by choice, but Darius could imagine the Emperor had done or told him something to make him want to do that. It seemed like something Belos would do- keep his nephew isolated but make Hunter think it was his own idea so he never thought badly of the man for making him live that way. If he never interacted with anyone else, he wouldn’t be able to understand just how cruelly his uncle treated him. If his only option for company was Belos, he would be less likely to rebel against him, desperately trying to keep hold of those thin scraps of comfort in fear he would be alone otherwise.

Darius was ruining the Emperor’s hard work of manipulation and he wondered if Belos was aware somehow. He desperately hoped not. Something told him that if Belos was feeling Hunter pull away because of Darius, it wouldn’t be Darius who would face punishment.

“Ah, how kind of you,” Belos exclaimed. “The boy is already quite the prodigy at his age but of course, any help is much appreciated. His future is very important to me.”

What a lie.

“I trust he hasn’t been causing you trouble?”

The question was directed at Lilith. Belos must at least know she had taken up the role of teaching Hunter. That wasn’t a surprise.

“Not at all. He’s very well behaved and perhaps one of the brightest students I’ve had the pleasure of teaching,” Lilith praised.

“I’m glad to hear it,” Belos said. “And what about your mentorship of the Golden Guard? How is that faring?”

Please don’t say anything bad. Please don’t say anything bad. Please don’t say anything bad…

“Just as seamless. He is a quick learner.”

Darius loved Lilith more than anything right now.

“Perfect,” Belos simply said. “I’m planning on having him take more part in keeping order in the Covens soon. I’m sure you’ll have him well prepared for that.”

“Of course,” Lilith affirmed.

Ah, so that was why. The Golden Guard had always been involved in politics but it seemed Belos was interested in having him assist the Coven Heads more. After all, the Covens only kept growing so they could use all the help they could get.

“Darius, Eberwolf, would you mind taking my nephew for a slice of cake? I need to have a word with Lilith, alone,” Belos said, pushing Hunter slightly towards the two Coven Heads.

Lilith frowned slightly but quickly fixed her expression when she noticed. Darius was worried about her but hopefully whatever Belos had to say to her wasn’t as bad as they were anticipating. It was strange that he chose this moment to have an audience with her, though.

She and Belos stalked off together. The Emperor was already talking to her as they walked, though they were far enough away now that Darius couldn’t hear what was being said, only able to see the slight nods that came from Lilith as she listened.

Darius turned his attention to the boy who had been left with them. Hunter was obviously not okay with the sudden absence of his uncle at his side, watching the man walk away like he expected to be abandoned forever. Instinctually and probably without even realizing it, Hunter moved to stand next to Darius, just as closely as he had with the Emperor. He was clearly uncomfortable in such a large group and was seeking some kind of familiar comfort.

“Let’s get you some of that cake,” Darius said, hoping the prospect of sweets would help him to relax a little. Hunter looked up at him and nodded, still hesitant but obviously excited by the way his pupils grew at the mention of dessert.

They made it to the desserts table and Hunter’s nervousness seemed to have mysteriously vanished completely all of a sudden as he took in the sight of the massive cake that took up half the table, dashing over to it in awe. Eberwolf grabbed a plate and handed it to him, pointing at the knife on the table and telling him to cut himself a slice.

Hunter got impossibly more excited at the idea he could cut his own piece, eagerly grabbing the knife and making the first cut before moving the knife over to cut a slice practically as long as his forearm.

“Smaller,” Darius told him before he sliced it.

Hunter frowned slightly before moving the knife back about 1/4th of an inch and glancing up questioningly at Darius.

“Smaller,” he said again.

Hunter moved the knife over another 1/4th of an inch, looking back up at Darius with a more hopeful gaze.

“How about…,” Darius said, reaching over and guiding Hunter’s hand over to cut a much more reasonably sized slice, “…that much.”

Hunter scowled at the slice of cake that Darius plopped onto his plate but when Eberwolf handed him a fork and he took his first bite, the happiness immediately returned.

Eberwolf wished him a happy birthday and Hunter motioned “Thank you.”

“This is perhaps not how you wanted to celebrate but at least you’ve got your cake. We also left some presents in your room,” Darius mentioned.

Hunter was practically vibrating in excitement and Darius could just imagine the excited chatter that would be coming out of his mouth if he were able to talk right now. Darius hoped that someday he would never have to worry about staying silent anymore around others. He wanted Hunter to be able to let out all his feelings in any way he felt the need to.

Hunter had only managed to get about halfway through his cake before the Emperor and Lilith returned. Lilith had a sour expression on her face and the way she quickly glanced over at Hunter made Darius very curious as to what Belos had said to her.

“Well, I suppose that is enough celebration for one day,” Belos said, reaching over and taking the plate from Hunter mid-bite and setting it on the table, wrapping his arm back around the child’s shoulders. “Please, enjoy the rest of your evening,” he told the Coven Heads before leading Hunter away.

Everyone in the room stepped aside to allow them to leave and Darius waited until they had completely exited before turning to Lilith.

“What was that about?” he asked her. Lilith’s frown only deepened as she continued to stare at the doorway the Emperor and his nephew had just left through.

“Just…some briefings on scout reports,” she stated.

It was obvious she was lying. The Emperor wouldn’t pull her aside during a party for something as mundane as scout reports. Whatever the man had told her, it was far more serious than that and, apparently, a secret she wasn’t willing to spill.

Eberwolf tugged on Darius’ cape and growled.

“Yes, I suppose we will be going as well,” he said and Lilith nodded in acknowledgement. She probably wouldn’t stay much longer, either. All three of them had only stayed because they were curious about the unexpected guests they had this year but now those guests had left and they never even got their answer. There was no more reason for them to stay.

Darius and Eberwolf began to make their way to the exit. Lilith stayed behind for a minute to allow them to leave first. Her hesitancy to leave with them reminded Darius of the fact that though they were not at each other’s throats and didn’t even have any ill-will towards each other anymore, they were not friends. Not anymore. The reminder caused a soft ache to form in his chest that was completely unexpected. He didn’t care before. Why did he now?

He took one last glance back at her before stepping through the doorway, Eber making himself comfortable by climbing up onto Darius’ shoulder as they made their way down the hall.

Chapter Text

Darius rarely went into the courtyard. He rarely had a reason to. All that was in the courtyard were overly chatty scouts and plants that Darius simply did not care for. Plants did not interest Darius in the slightest.

What did interest Darius, however, was the familiar silhouette of someone he hadn’t seen in a very long time walking out to that courtyard. He wasn’t entirely sure if it was who he thought it was, but he was far too curious to not even check.

Eberwolf had been with him, the demon looking at him strangely as Darius suddenly turned direction and began making his way outside, eventually deciding to just jog over and follow along, eager to see what had caught Darius’ eye. Sure enough, when they entered outside, Darius saw none other than Raine Whispers seated contently on a small bench underneath the shade of a tree.

Darius made his way over.

“What’s this? Has the little songbird gotten lost?” he said as he walked up to them.

Raine looked over, eyes widening when they realized who it was. They smiled in greeting.

“Darius. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“You could say that,” Darius chuckled. He was sure they hadn’t spoken since they left school all those years ago. “What are you doing in the castle?”

“I’ve been promoted,” they explained, feeling the breeze as it rustled their hair. “I’m going to be Scooter Crane’s replacement. It won’t be for a few months, but I’m here to fill in until I officially take the position.”

Darius’ eyes widened at the information.

“Bard Coven Head? My, how impressive, Songbird.”

“Thank you. I guess that will make us coworkers soon,” they said.

Darius nodded. Eberwolf climbed up onto his shoulder, reminding the Coven Head of his presence.

“Ah, yes. Raine, this is Eberwolf the Huntsman, Beast-Keeping Coven Head. Eberwolf, Raine Whispers,” he introduced.

“It’s nice to meet you.” Raine smiled at Eberwolf and the demon nodded it’s head towards them in greeting.

Darius was honestly relieved by this news. He remembered Raine being a fairly selfless and kind person and though they had not seen each other in a long time, that still appeared to be the case from what he could tell. It would be nice to have another Coven Head who wasn’t just an egotistical bully that Darius would have to deal with.

Their greetings were interrupted when a small blonde boy rushed into the courtyard, attempting to skid to a half when he spotted Darius, nearly tripping. Darius instinctually reached his arms out to catch him and steady him before he tipped over.

As soon as Hunter was upright again, he started jumping from foot to foot, frantic expression on his face as he held something close to his chest.

“What is it? Is everything alright?” Darius asked him, concerned by the behavior.

Hunter thrust his hands towards him. He looked like he was about to cry. Darius glanced at what he was trying to show him, seeing Hunter’s bird charm resting in his palms, though it was now in three pieces.

“How in Titan’s name did you manage to break it?” he asked, allowing Hunter to dump the fragments into his hands instead so he could look at them closer.

Hunter of course couldn’t answer right now, instead reaching out to grip onto Darius’ arm and point at the fragments. Darius understood what he was asking. 

“I can fix it, but it’s not going to look pretty,” he warned. He could glue it back together with abomination goo but the hideous purple cracks that would adorn it would be quite the eyesore.

Raine stood up, leaning over to look at the fragments spread out in Darius’ palm.

“Actually, I can help with that,” they said, smiling at Hunter and summoning a violin.

Hunter watched in awe as they started playing a tune, the fragments of the charm magically rising up out of Darius’ hand slightly to seamlessly knit themselves back together. When they were done, the tune stopped and the charm dropped back into Darius’ hand where it was then eagerly grabbed by Hunter who held it up close to his face to inspect it. It looked brand new, as if it had never been broken in the first place. Darius was pretty sure some of the chips and scratches that had been on it before even disappeared. It was impressive, honestly.

Hunter turned to the bard and motioned a “thank you” with his hand, the stars in his eyes making it apparent just how grateful he was. Raine chuckled slightly at the sight, not even needing the gesture translated as they responded, “You’re welcome.”

“Hunter? Where did you go?” a voice called out, making Hunter startle slightly.

Darius looked at the boy questioningly.

“Are you supposed to be in lessons with Lilith right now?” he asked him. Hunter guiltily looked to the side, embarrassed that he had been caught running off from his teacher. He had probably been in the middle of a lesson when he somehow broke the charm and ran off without thinking trying to get it fixed.

“You should get back to her,” he told him. Hunter hesitantly nodded, probably worried Lilith would be angry with him for running off. Luckily, Lilith was rather fond of him out of uniform so Darius couldn’t imagine she would hold that much of a grudge.

Hunter turned and started walking away, only taking two steps before he seemed to remember something, turning back around and motioning as if he were sewing something.

“Hm,” Darius considered, “I suppose I have some time this afternoon for a quick lesson. Stop by later and I’ll teach you how to make something new.”

Hunter excitedly grinned up at him before finally turning back around and bounding off back to his current instructor, happily smiling at the charm in his hands the whole way to her. Darius saw Lilith as she passed by the courtyard. Her expression had been worried until she saw the child running up to her and when he reached her side, she simply smiled as they walked off side-by-side together. It was obvious she was not angry in the slightest.

“Who was that?” Raine asked, their voice bringing Darius back to the present.

Eberwolf chuckled beside Darius’ ear before hopping off his shoulder to stand next to him, patting his leg and growling out an answer.

Darius felt his face heat up as he glared down at the demon.

“He is not my son,” he corrected.

Raine was glancing back and forth between Eber and Darius, obviously confused. Darius huffed and correctly answered, “The boy is Hunter, the Emperor’s nephew.

Raine still looked confused by the answer, however, staring at Darius for a minute before they said, “The Emperor’s nephew…is your son?”

“He’s not my son!”

Raine and Eberwolf chuckled at the outburst.

“I’m just messing with you,” Raine said, composing themselves. “You always were pretty easy to tease.”

Darius sighed in response and pinched the bridge of his nose. This was just like Hexside.

“You do seem pretty close to him, though,” Raine pointed out. “From what I recall, you were never that fond of kids before.”

Darius blushed slightly, averting his gaze and just knowing how he must look right now.

“Yes, well, I’m not…,” he tried to explain, though he was stuck on what to say next.

“You don’t like kids, but you like that one?” Raine guessed. 

Raine had always been fairly intuitive, though Darius imagined it wasn’t hard to guess he was fond of Hunter anyway. It wasn’t just any kid who could run up and interrupt Darius for rather mundane things without him getting annoyed.

Huffing, Darius simply responded, “He’s alright, I suppose.”

Raine smiled a knowing smile but did not continue to press. 

“Well, it was very nice to see you again and very nice to meet you, Eberwolf,” they nodded towards the demon. “I have some work I should get back to. Goodbye for now.”

Raine left. Darius figured that now that his curiosity had been satisfied, he should get back to work as well. He motioned to Eber to follow him and the two of them left after the bard. If Raine was going to be a Coven Head, then they were, of course, going to see each other fairly often from now on.

Unsurprisingly, the next time Darius saw Raine was not even two full days later. He made his way into a break room and saw them sitting in a corner chair, conversing with an overly excited Golden Guard. Hunter was eagerly asking the witch a horde of questions about bard magic, all to which Raine happily answered.

Darius supposed this was just what would happen by being nice to Hunter. Anyone who showed him basic kindness would be doomed to listen to his ramblings and deal with his clinginess. Raine didn’t seem to mind, though. They were just as excitedly discussing theories and music practice with him, completely unperturbed by the overly friendly demeanor. 

The Golden Guard was probably very unused to someone being nice to him right off the bat. Raine was someone who was willing to chat with Hunter without him having to experience some sort of bullying or ill-mannered attitude towards him first.

Darius sat down not too far from them, tuning out their conversation in order to open Penstagram and scroll through the updates for a short while. He had a meeting in a bit but until then, he had some free time he needed to kill.

Their conversation went on for at least twenty more minutes before the Golden Guard had to leave for an audience in the throne room. To talk about nothing but bard magic for twenty minutes was impressive and Darius didn’t even know how long they had been at it before he even arrived.

“Thank you for the talk, Raine!” Hunter said, making his way out of the room and waving back to the bard as he left.

“It was a pleasure. Let’s do it again some time,” Raine called out after him, smiling at the Guard as he exited.

As soon as the door was shut and it was only Raine and Darius left in that room, Raine’s smile dropped and their brows furrowed in some sort of emotion Darius couldn’t recognize. Darius thought that perhaps they weren’t as interested in the conversation as they appeared initially, only continuing to chat with the Golden Guard because they were too nice to turn him away. That turned out to not be the reason, though. Darius did not expect Raine’s sudden change in expression to be because of what they said next.

Hesitantly, they turned towards Darius.

“Darius,” they started, pointing at the door that Hunter had just left out of, “That’s a child.”

Darius looked up at them briefly before returning his attention to Penstagram, trying not to show any emotion towards the statement. Raine was so annoyingly perceptive.

“What makes you think that?” Darius simply asked as he continued to scroll.

“I mean, it’s kind of obvious, isn’t it?” they said. “How old is he?”

Darius wasn’t sure if he should tell the truth or not. This was Hunter’s secret and not his to tell but Raine had already pretty much figured it out. They could tell the Golden Guard was just a kid and it was only a matter of time before they realized there was only one specific kid he could be, given that there was only one kid in the castle. That was if they hadn’t already figured that out, even.

Darius sighed and put his scroll away.

“16.”

“Does no one here question that?” they asked.

“No one else here knows,” Darius explained.

Raine looked at him quizzically, thinking about something.

“But you do?”

“It’s…a long story,” he simply said.

He wondered how Raine figured it out so fast when no one else ever noticed. Then again, no one else was ever nice enough to Hunter to listen to his ramblings and get the chance to notice how young he sounded or how inexperienced some of his thoughts and mannerisms were. Raine was patient enough to listen to him for at least a twenty-minute conversation without any pre-conceived notions about him going in, perhaps making it much easier for them to recognize those behaviors as the innocent behaviors of a child rather than an incompetent adult.

Darius was, admittedly, feeling rather stupid that Raine Whispers had figured it out within twenty minutes of knowing the boy when Darius hadn’t realized for months. To everyone else in that castle it was, in fact, not obvious.

Raine rubbed the back of their neck as they glanced away in thought, obviously distressed by this realization.

“That was Hunter, wasn’t it?” they, unsurprisingly, guessed.

Darius simply nodded. At least he didn’t technically out Hunter since Raine had just figured it out for themself.

“The Emperor and the boy like to keep his identity a secret. So far, the only ones who know are me and Eberwolf. And now you, of course,” Darius said.

Raine simply hummed in thought. Darius remembered how much of a culture shock it was just moving into the castle and realizing what kind of horrible happenings went on there. A child soldier was probably high up on the list of unexpected discoveries, especially when that child was the Emperor’s own family. Furthermore, finding out the Golden Guard, the Emperor’s stoic and feared right-hand man was just a little kid must be hard to process. It certainly was for Darius so he could imagine the kind of thoughts that were currently passing through Raine’s head right now.

How far did Raine’s loyalty to Belos extend? Raine was kind, thoughtful, and they certainly were one of the most observant witches Darius had ever known. They had to understand that Belos was not a good guy, especially in light of this new information. Perhaps outside of the castle it was easier for witches to justify the Emperor’s actions but Darius wondered if, now that Raine could experience the cruelty first-hand, they would start to change their mind somehow.

“I have a meeting I should get to,” Darius announced, standing up. “If you’re smart, you’ll keep the boy’s secret. There’s nothing we can do for him, anyway.”

Raine was obviously not happy with that but realistically, they had to know Darius was right. What were they supposed to do? March up to Belos and give him a piece of their mind? That would likely just end with two new statues for the Emperor’s petrification garden.

“I suppose,” Raine finally answered, defeated. Sometimes, caring too much about others really could be a burden.

Darius took one last glance at the bard before suddenly asking, “You know a lot of instruments, don’t you? Do you know how to play the cittern?”

Raine looked back up at him and nodded, curious as to where he was going with this.

“Hunter is learning to play. He’s…not very good at it,” Darius said, wincing. He had only listened to Hunter play once after he had given him the instrument and it was not a pleasant experience, to say the least. In all fairness, Hunter had to teach himself through experimentation and that couldn’t be easy.

Raine got the hint, smiling at the suggestion, the crinkling in the corners of their eyes expressing just how much they thought it was a good idea.

“I wonder if he’d like a teacher, then,” they said.

Darius smiled back at them before leaving the room. It seemed Hunter had somehow gotten lucky enough to get yet another helpful adult on his side and Darius was sure Hunter would be more than interested in lessons with an actual bard. Even if this was all they could do for Hunter, at least it meant he would have even more positive interactions in his life than the constant misery he was used to. Maybe at some point, he could finally get more used to being happy instead.

Chapter Text

“Why does everyone hate me?”

Darius had a headache. The lights in the room were far too bright and it felt like something was trying to hammer its way out of his skull. He worried he was getting sick, hoping desperately that the pain was only from lack of sleep.

He removed his arm from overtop of his eyes, wincing at the light filtering in when he opened them to look at the Golden Guard who had made his way into the common study to stand next to Darius and ask highly untimely questions.

“…because you bother them with questions when they’re trying to rest,” Darius said, placing his arm over his eyes again, not feeling like dealing with this right now.

“You’re in a public space. It’s not like I broke into your room,” Hunter pointed out.

“Public to Coven Heads- not Golden Guards,” Darius responded.

“I have Coven Head privileges since I’m helping the Coven Heads,” Hunter retorted.

“Think about your attitude and answer your own question,” Darius rudely said, hoping Hunter would just go away. He was being mean and he knew it but the pounding in his head was causing a nauseousness to settle in his stomach and Hunter’s chattering wasn’t helping.

Without taking his arm away from his eyes, Darius used his other hand to cast a spell circle, transporting a pain potion from his chambers into his hand. He finally took his arm away in order to uncork the bottle and down the entire potion. It helped slightly, though there was still more pain present than he would have liked.

“Ugh, this stuff would be so much stronger if the Potions Coven and the Healing Coven could work on them together,” Darius complained out loud, setting the empty bottle down angrily on the table in front of him.

“They do,” Hunter pointed out. “But there’s only so much they can do separately. The potions would be stronger if witches who specialized in both potions and healing magic could make them.”

“Wild magic,” Darius simply said, hoping to cut him off before he started to ramble. Darius just knew he wanted to. He really couldn’t listen to it right now, though.

Hunter startled at the words, glancing down in shame and wringing his gloves together.

“Yeah,” the boy chuckled nervously. “That would be wild magic. That’s not allowed.”

Darius looked at him for a few seconds, taking in the reaction. Was it possible the Emperor’s loyal right hand had an affinity for wild magic? It’s not as if he would ever admit that, but it would be quite an interesting discovery if that were the case. It gave Darius a spark of hope that perhaps Hunter wasn’t truly past saving. That hope was just enough to make him forget his pain for a moment, mind reeling with all the possible scenarios in which Darius could rip Hunter away from the clutches of his uncle in light of this possible new information.

“Are you gonna answer my question?” Hunter asked, changing the subject and just like that, the pounding in Darius’ head returned full force.

“Does it matter? How should I know anyway? I’m sure everyone has their own reasons,” Darius said.

“I just…,” Hunter started, fidgeting in place and glancing away in embarrassment even though Darius’ couldn’t even see his face with the mask on. “I’m just curious, I guess.”

“I’m sure this isn’t the first time you’ve thought about this. Why are you asking now?” Darius questioned.

Hunter continued to fidget, not sure how to answer the question. Finally, to Darius’ relief, the child finally sat down, calming his restless feet.

“Everyone’s always acted mean to me when I was the Golden Guard,” Hunter began to explain, still picking at his gloves. “I just assumed that everyone would just hate me automatically because of who I was or because of how I did my job.”

What a sad statement, though not an unsurprising one. Hunter was used to people judging him right off the bat for selfish reasons, not even giving him a chance to grow on them.

“I’m not trying to excuse anyone’s behavior, but the mask certainly doesn’t help,” Darius mentioned.

“The mask?”

Darius nodded, immediately regretting the action when it caused a dizzy spell. He winced for a moment and when he recovered, he forced himself to clarify so that Hunter could understand what he meant.

“It’s easier for people to be mean to someone when they do not perceive them as a real person. Everyone in this castle only sees the mask and it can be easy to forget there is someone behind it sometimes.”

“Is it really that hard, though?” Hunter asked, still confused. “It should be obvious I’m not just some kind of shell.”

“Yes, it should be,” Darius agreed.

“You did it too,” Hunter suddenly reminded. Darius had not forgotten about who he was in the past but hearing that Hunter had not forgotten either always managed to cause such an ache in his heart.

“Yes, I did,” Darius agreed again, wondering if Hunter had brought it up because he was still bitter somehow, despite the past two years of Darius trying to correct his behavior.

“I thought everyone would,” Hunter said. Darius just hummed in acknowledgement of the statement, hoping the boy would continue his thoughts and just say what it was he wanted to say instead of dragging his point out in these bursts of half-finished statements.

It took nearly a full minute for Hunter to finally say what he wanted, each movement of the hand on the clock ticking in time with the pounding of Darius’ head. If Hunter didn’t leave him alone soon, he was worried his head might just explode from the pressure.

“Raine didn’t,” Hunter spit out after that minute and Darius finally understood what prompted this bizarre conversation in the first place.

“Is Raine really the first witch who was nice to you as Golden Guard?” Darius asked.

Hunter nodded.

“And you’re…confused by that?” Darius guessed.

Hunter hesitated only a moment before nodding again.

“Are they faking it?” Hunter asked, understandably wary of the sudden new hospitality that had been directed his way.

“I highly doubt it,” Darius answered honestly. “Raine and I used to be old friends and I can guarantee they aren’t that kind of person.”

“They offered to give me music lessons,” Hunter mentioned.

“How kind of them,” Darius said, purposefully leaving out how the lessons were his idea. He didn’t want to prompt Hunter into more conversation.

Hunter was still fidgeting, still clearly nervous, so Darius had to guess that he hadn’t actually said what he wanted to yet. There was obviously still more on his mind.

At the end of his rope, head still pounding, Darius said, perhaps a little too harshly, “Will you just spit it out already? What is it?”

Hunter jumped slightly, still not speaking for a moment. Darius ran a hand down his face in frustration as he waited. He didn’t want to get snippy with him but Hunter was really pushing his luck right now.

Finally, he answered.

“I think Raine knows who I am,” he said, finally ceasing his picking of his gloves. “Did you…,”

Hunter trailed off, not wanting to outright accuse him but Darius got the gist.

“I didn’t tell them, no,” he reassured, on that point at least. Hunter should know about Raine’s knowledge though. “They figured it out on their own.”

Hunter didn’t look too surprised by that, though it was obviously hard for Darius to tell with the mask hiding his expressions. Hunter hated people finding out the truth and knowing that someone who was essentially a complete stranger to him had that knowledge now was probably unnerving. Darius knew Raine wouldn’t tell anyone but Hunter had no reason to believe that.

Still, trying to calm the boy’s nerves, Darius attempted to reassure him.

“Raine won’t tell anyone, I promise.”

Hunter was looking away from him but he nodded in acknowledgement. Darius wasn’t sure if that meant he believed him or if he was just trying to acknowledge that he heard the words.
 
“Would it be bad?” Hunter asked suddenly, though he said it so quietly, Darius wondered if he was just talking to himself.

“Would what be bad?” Darius questioned.

Hunter looked back at him, hesitating before clarifying, “If everyone knew.”

It would be bad, but probably not for the reasons Hunter would be thinking of. Though he couldn’t be sure, Darius had an inkling that Hunter having to keep his identity a secret was not fully his choice, even if he thought it was. If everyone suddenly found out who he was, he was probably just worried about their reactions towards him- would they hate him or would they pity him? The real problem would be the Emperor’s reaction, however. Would Belos take such an important secret being leaked lightly?

“Why? Are you thinking about telling everyone?” Darius asked.

“No, of course not!” Hunter, luckily, responded. “I’m just wondering, is all. I thought everyone would just hate me if they knew but that’s clearly not true, is it?”

“Those who aren’t worth your time would hate you,” Darius said, glad Hunter wasn’t thinking of doing something reckless. “Those who matter wouldn’t think any less of you.”

Those who matter would actually be appalled at the situation- at finding out he was a child soldier. Darius thought it would be best to omit that statement, however. He wasn’t sure Hunter would understand just yet.

“That’s not true though. Most of the Coven Heads hate me and they do matter,” Hunter argued. “I can’t imagine they would feel any differently just because they know who I am.”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” Darius said.

“What you meant was stupid. I don’t care about personal feelings. I care about my job.”

Maybe the headache had already burst out of Darius’ head and manifested itself into the boy currently being a nuisance at his side. That was the only explanation he had for what was happening right now.

Darius groaned and threw a hand back over his eyes to block out the light.

“I’m trying to be patient here, Hunter. Stop acting like a brat.”

“I’m not acting like a brat! I’m just asking you questions!”

“Questions I clearly don’t feel like answering right now.”

“You could have just said that.”

“I did.”

He heard Hunter huff in annoyance and could just imagine the angry expression present on his face right now. He took his hand back off his eyes to look at Hunter, who was currently sitting turned away from him, crossing his arms in a childish manner.

Darius sighed.

“Look, Little Prince, I know you’re feeling…a lot right now but perhaps it’s best we talk about it later? I can’t promise I won’t say some mean words while I’m fighting this headache off,” he said.

“You mean ‘more’ mean words?”

“Hunter.”

Hunter uncrossed his arms and glanced over at Darius before finally relenting and standing back up.

“Okay,” he said, reaching a hand up but quickly dropping it again like he was going to grab something and changed his mind. Darius was confused by the action but he wasn’t going to say anything, not wanting to give Hunter a reason to stay and chat longer.

“Thank you,” Darius simply said, breathing a sigh of relief as Hunter walked over to the door.

Hunter stopped just after opening it, turning back to Darius one more time to look at him for a few seconds before his gaze turned away towards the ground and Darius heard the smallest, quietest “sorry” he’d ever heard in his life. Suddenly, it was as if his heart shattered into two at the sound and Darius couldn’t even say anything more to it, Hunter turning and leaving him behind right after that.

He felt bad. Hunter was obviously feeling confused and scared and just wanted to talk but Darius simply couldn’t right now. It’s not his fault the child picked a bad time to try and talk about this.

Darius realized this was the first time since they became friendly that he’s ever turned Hunter away when he needed to talk about something. Even if Darius was in the middle of work, he always allowed Hunter to stay and chat, even if Darius had no idea what he was talking about or interest in what he was saying. He would especially listen, however, if it was something more serious than the kid’s normal ramblings, like what he was trying to talk about today.

He just hoped Hunter wouldn’t read too much into it. Darius was simply not feeling well and that was the only reason he didn’t want to talk. He would sit there until his headache subsided and then he would try to find Hunter so they could talk more about these thoughts he’s been having. That’s what Darius would do.

He downed two more pain potions and rested his head on the table, letting his eyes droop shut while he waited for the pain to subside. He wasn’t sure how long it took but it must have been at least an hour when he finally lifted his head again and saw the sun starting to set outside the window.

The pain was still there, but it was minimal thanks to the healing magic and the rest. Darius sighed in relief, taking only a few more moments to collect himself before standing up, feeling the need to find Hunter and make things right.

He searched the castle, asking a few scouts on the way if they saw the Golden Guard. He couldn’t find him, however. He almost gave up until he started hearing a soft tune echoing throughout the hallway he was in, following the sound to a Bard Coven room- a space filled with various instruments where the members could practice.

It’s not surprising that music could be heard from that room. Darius almost didn’t peek in, given how unremarkable it was. The thing that made him look, however, was the fact that the music wasn’t a beautiful melody that sounded like it was played by an experienced bard, it was a discordant song that sounded like it was played by someone who barely knew the instrument. It sounded like it was being played by a child.

That’s because it was.

Darius looked in and saw Hunter, cittern held tenderly in his arms as Raine guided his fingers over the strings. Hunter played the same tune again after listening to his teacher’s guidance, the sound still not great but still wildly improved from his attempt before. With Raine as a mentor, Hunter would surely be playing like a professional soon enough.

Darius would just have to talk to him later after his lesson was finished. He almost turned to leave them, stopping when he saw Hunter’s mouth open and he start saying something to Raine, though Darius couldn’t pick out what exactly was being said. 

Hunter wasn’t in his Golden Guard uniform anymore. He must have confronted Raine earlier about the witch’s knowledge of his identity. It looked like it went well, at least. Both of them were smiling as they chatted and Hunter, especially, looked happy to be talking to them.

Darius wondered if Hunter would start confiding in Raine more. Sure, Hunter still didn’t know them all that well but it was obvious the bard had already managed to make him attached to them. Hunter had never held any ill-mannered feelings towards Raine, either. Raine had never done anything to hurt the child or make him feel hated. 

Darius was happy that Hunter had managed to obtain another helpful adult in his life. He certainly needed it. Darius was, admittedly, feeling a little jealous, though. He knew it was foolish to feel that way. He knew that Raine’s presence didn’t mean Hunter would immediately replace him as his…mentor? Friend?...he still wasn’t sure about the title. Either way, it was silly for him to feel that way and yet he did.

There was also a part of him that felt he deserved it if he would be replaced.

Darius may be nice to him now, but he certainly hadn’t always been. Hunter was obviously still hung up on that fact, holding his behavior over him as if Darius hadn’t tried his best to be better for nearly two years. Hunter didn’t have to forgive him, though. Maybe he had prior because he had no other kind interactions in his life but he did now. Perhaps Hunter realized what an awful person Darius truly was now that he’s met someone who is, in more ways than one, not like Darius at all- someone who treated him with the respect he deserved without wanting to hurt him first.

Darius took one last glance at them before turning and leaving. Hunter didn’t seek him out for the rest of the evening and Darius did not see him again until the next day. He asked if Hunter wanted to talk still, to which the child replied, “No thanks. I figured it out.”

Darius doubted he’d just ‘figured it out’ in a day. He didn’t push though. Hunter clearly did not want to talk anymore and it’s not like Darius could force him. He just hoped he was still just mad at him for turning him away and would get over it and understand that Darius would normally be willing to listen. That’s what Darius would hope for because the alternatives his mind was supplying him were terrifying.

Hunter didn’t make mistakes. Hunter was punished for making mistakes. Darius wondered if he had somehow led him to believe that trying to confide in Darius about this was a mistake. Darius had been sick- that was the only reason he didn’t want to listen in that moment but perhaps Hunter just didn’t understand that.

Darius knew he had to be more careful in how he interacted with Hunter. He knew the kinds of treatment the boy was used to. Perhaps it wasn’t fair that Darius would have to power through pain instead of putting off a conversation for later but nothing about Hunter’s situation was fair. In Hunter’s mind, he had tried to open up about something that was bothering him only to be rudely turned away. That’s what happened. That’s what Darius had done to him. It didn’t matter that Darius had always been willing to listen to him before. It only took one sour interaction to influence a child, especially one like Hunter.

“You know you can still talk to me about anything, right?”

“Sure.”

The response didn’t mean much. It gave Darius no indication that Hunter believed him. All he could do at that point was pray to the Titan that he hadn’t completely messed this up. If Hunter wanted to start talking to Raine instead, that was great. That was fine. Raine might even be able to give better advice than Darius would. Still, the idea scared him. He would be happy for Hunter and Raine, of course, if they found that sort of bond. It was just the idea of Hunter truly moving on from Darius that had him afraid. He didn’t want to lose him.

He didn’t want to be replaced.

Chapter Text

The knock on his door was soft and familiar and everyone in the room grew quiet as they watched Darius make his way over to the door and open it.

Hunter didn’t even have a chance to fully register what was going on when everyone shouted “surprise!” at him as he entered, jumping slightly in shock and turning his head up questioningly to Darius. He was supposed to be here for a sewing lesson. There was no doubt he’d never had a surprise party before so Darius could reasonably assume he truly had no idea what was happening right now.

“Since we couldn’t celebrate your birthday before, we’re doing it now,” he explained, watching as Hunter’s eyes lit up at the explanation before turning to take in the other people present.

Eberwolf, of course, was there, already munching on cake that Darius had told him to wait to eat- obviously having ignored the man completely. Hopefully Hunter wouldn’t mind not having the first slice. Raine was there as well. Hunter had already grown pretty close to the bard and so Darius invited them, feeling it was important for them to be there for Hunter. In the corner was Lilith, hands clasped together as she smiled proudly at the boy. Darius had been hesitant at inviting her since it meant Hunter wouldn’t be able to speak but Lilith had also grown quite close to him and Darius knew Hunter liked her as well, even if he wouldn’t admit it.

A party with only four guests was kind of sad, in Darius’ opinion, but Hunter didn’t seem to mind. This was more people paying attention to him than he was used to and perhaps a larger party would just make him anxious, so this was probably for the best.

“We were going to try and take you to a carnival on New Years but since you were at the party, we couldn’t do that,” Darius said as he walked with Hunter over to the rest of the group. “This is the best we could do for now.”

Hunter smiled up at Darius and motioned a “thank you” directed at the whole group. Everyone smiled back at him and Eberwolf, face covered in cake already, dashed over to hand Hunter his own slice which the child was, of course, highly excited for. It was only a moderately sized piece but at least he would be able to finish it this time. He wasted no time consuming it.

While he was eating, Lilith grabbed two gifts, bringing them over to Hunter who hesitantly took them, setting his cake aside for now, just as excited for gifts as he was for sweets.

“These are from me and Raine,” she explained. “Since we haven’t gotten you anything yet.”

“We hope you like them,” Raine added, smiling. Hunter gave them a toothy grin in return, which everyone could take as an indication that he would like them no matter what.
 
The party wasn’t meant to last that long. After all, there were only five of them and four of them were adults with busy jobs and the last one was a kid with a busy job. All they had planned to do was let Hunter eat some cake and open his gifts, maybe play a game or two. It certainly wasn’t ideal and Darius felt Hunter deserved more, but it would have to do. Still, Hunter seemed to be enjoying himself, nonetheless. Perhaps he would have enjoyed the carnival but it wasn’t as if he was hating this. At least, Darius thought he wasn’t.

Hunter began to unwrap the first gift, far too eager, swiping his hand against the wrapping at an awkward angle, managing to slice his finger open.

“Ow!…” he exclaimed, probably more so out of surprise than pain, staring down at the cut with annoyance. Still, Darius wanted to make sure he wasn’t injured too badly.

“Are you alright?”

Darius had asked the question but was startled when his voice was overlapped by another. He and Lilith had both knelt down to inspect Hunter’s finger, both asking the same thing, both turning towards each other with the same realization. 

Lilith did not seem surprised at hearing Hunter speak. Why wasn’t she surprised? Darius had no doubt, watching her search his face just like he was searching hers, that she was wondering the same thing about him.

“Did you…,” Lilith said, hesitantly pointing a finger towards Darius.

“I, um…,” he said, unsure if he should be honest.

Hunter had put his finger in his mouth by that point to try and keep it from dripping on the floor, glancing back and forth between Darius and Lilith with an even more annoyed expression on his face, probably at himself for having made such a slip-up.

“Both of you know already,” he said, the words slightly malformed over the finger in his mouth.

Okay, so Lilith knew Hunter could talk and she probably knew he was the Golden Guard. This was…interesting information.

Raine stepped over, handing a bandage down to Hunter that they had grabbed from Darius’ first aid kit. Hunter took it and haphazardly placed it over the cut on his finger.

“It seems like everyone in this room already knows,” they said.

Eberwolf strolled over as well. He was there too.

Lilith took a few moments to gape at Darius, Raine, and Eber.

“Even you two? All of you…how…when…,” she stammered, unsure who to keep her attention on. Finally, she decided to turn it onto Hunter to ask the big question all of them were wondering at that point.

“If we all knew, why were you still acting like some of us didn’t?” she asked him.

“I thought it would be funny.”

“Hunter, perhaps the truth would be warranted in this situation,” Darius told him, crossing his arms and giving the boy a stern look. Usually when Hunter gave a sarcastic answer, it meant he was embarrassed to admit the real one.

Hunter glanced away from everyone, blush rising to his cheeks as they stared at him.

“I just...um…,” he started, trying to find the words he wanted to say, “It’s just, everyone in this room knows now and it’s too many people and it makes me feel…weird.”

“Weird?” Raine questioned, hoping to get some elaboration.

“Like…like I’m exposed.”

It made sense. Darius thought back to the New Years party where Hunter had obviously been highly uncomfortable in the crowd of people and that was when he didn’t have to engage with anyone. This was a far smaller party but everyone here knew Hunter’s secret and all their attention was focused on him. Had he been pretending not to be able to speak so he could try and keep even more attention off himself? No one would be able to drag him into conversation and the party would be over with quickly.

“Hunter, if you’re uncomfortable, you can just let us know,” Darius told him.

“But you put all this together for me. I didn’t want to make you mad.”

“I’m not going to be mad about something like that. This was supposed to be fun but if you’re not having fun, then I don’t want you to feel like you have to put on an act just to spare my feelings,” Darius said.

“I am having fun though!” Hunter quickly reassured, voice growing a little too frantic like he was worried Darius would still be angry, even though he just told him he wouldn’t be. “It’s just that I don’t, um, I don’t want to be the center of attention or anything…”

“Well…,” Lilith started, standing back up and clapping her hands together as she thought of an idea, “…What if we don’t call this your birthday party, then? What if we just call it a casual get together between coworkers?”

Eberwolf growled about what a silly idea it was and Hunter chuckled.

“It is silly, but I like it. Can I still eat more cake during a casual get together?” Hunter asked.

In response, Raine brought over a pre-cut slice and handed it to him, saying, “I don’t see why not.”

The party continued, though Hunter was no longer the focus and Darius wondered how he hadn’t realized the boy was feeling uncomfortable before. Eberwolf and Hunter were in the center of the room, eating cake and talking about beasts and the way Hunter’s shoulder’s relaxed and his gaze softened made it clear how stressed he had been before. Darius, Lilith, and Raine were off to the side, catching up. Because that is what coworkers who used to be friends do at casual get-togethers. They catch up.

“So, Raine, how have you been?” Lilith asked.

“I’ve been okay. Mostly just working and teaching.”

Lilith shuffled her feet and Raine glanced away. Darius wished he had something to occupy his hands with to get him through the awkwardness.

“How have you been?” Raine finally asked in response.

“Oh, the same…”

“And what about…your sister?”

Lilith’s eyes widened before her expression turned downcast.

“I don’t really know. We haven’t exactly been talking much lately.”

“Oh, I see…,” Raine simply said.

The air was thicker than abomination goo. Darius was so close to just going over and joining Eber and Hunter’s conversation. Beast-keeping was not a topic that particularly interested him but anything would be better than this.

“Titan, this is the most awkward conversation I’ve ever been a part of,” he decided to say out loud after a few more moments of tense silence.

Raine smiled in sympathy.

“It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other. We’ve all changed,” they said.

“Yes, I suppose that’s true,” Lilith agreed. “We’re all Coven Heads now, for Titan’s sake. We’re no longer little kids praying just to get into the lowest ranks of the Covens.”

“Ah, sometimes I do miss the good ol’ days,” Darius said, reminiscing.

“Remember when you and Eda broke the Oracle teacher’s crystal ball and we all tried to help you hide the evidence?” Raine asked.

“I remember it well,” Darius responded. It had been an accident and mostly Eda’s fault for goofing around, but he still caught flack for it. Their whole group had tried to scatter the shards around the school in the hopes that no one would be able to find all the pieces. It was a stupid plan, in retrospect.

“I remember getting caught and all of us nearly getting expelled,” Lilith said bitterly.

“You chose to be a part of it,” Darius reminded her.

She glared at him and he softly laughed at her. She knew she willingly helped. She hadn’t always been the perfect Coven Leader she was now. She used to be a delinquent kid just like the rest of them.

None of them said anything again for a few seconds, giving Darius enough time to glance over and check to see if Eber and Hunter were still doing okay. He watched as Hunter took a bite of what looked to be a new slice of cake.

“Hunter, that’s the last slice of cake you get. If you eat anymore you’re going to get sick,” Darius called out to him. 

“Woah, crazy. I think I’m hearing voices,” Hunter said, looking around.

“Hunter, I’m serious. No more.”

“This room must be haunted or something.”

“Hunter.”

Hunter waved a hand dismissingly at him, taking another bite of cake and talking through a mouthful, “Yeah, yeah. Last piece. I got it.”

Darius rolled his eyes and returned his attention back to his own group, finally noticing the way Lilith and Raine were watching him.

“What?” he asked them. 

They both quickly glanced away, muttering words along the lines of “nothing” and “I wasn’t staring.”

Lilith looked back, glancing between Raine and Darius before saying, “We really have changed, haven’t we?”

“Yes, we really have,” Raine agreed. “You’re in the second highest rank of government, I’m an established teacher, and Darius is a proud father.”

“Take that last part out or you’ll never live to see that Coven Head position,” Darius warned.

Raine just innocently laughed at him and Darius sighed.

“So…,” Lilith began, this whole interaction reminding her of something. “How long have you known about Hunter?”

He supposed this conversation was inevitable.

“Almost two years, I believe.”

“Two years!?”

“How long have you known?” Darius asked, ignoring her shock.

She recovered, though not before giving Darius an incredulous look.

“Not long. I found out during the New Years party,” she said.

“Is that what Belos wanted to talk to you about when he pulled you away?” Darius asked.

He really hoped she found out some other way, but it was highly unlikely.

Unfortunately, she nodded.

Darius wasn’t sure what to make of the information. Why was Belos going around and exposing Hunter’s identity as the Golden Guard, especially to Lilith, of all people? Had Hunter wanted her to know or had the Emperor just gone and told her without the child’s wishes in mind?

“And it didn’t bother you?” he asked her, curious as to her reaction. 

She had been like him- far too antagonistic towards the Golden Guard yet fond of the boy they had no idea was the real person behind the mask. Yet she seemed to not hold any confusing feelings or ill-will towards the child, happily getting him gifts and attending his birthday party.

“It did at first…,” she admitted, glancing over to Hunter, probably making sure he couldn’t hear their conversation, “…but then I realized how, well…silly the situation was I suppose.”

‘Silly’ was not the word Darius would have used but he imagined Lilith had wanted to use a different one as well, just not wanting to throw caution to the wind. After all, this ‘silly’ situation was a result of the Emperor’s wishes. He didn’t blame her for wanting to tread carefully and not elaborate on how she feels about it.

“Why did the Emperor tell you about him?” Raine asked before Darius could.

“I’ve been schooling Hunter and mentoring the Golden Guard. Emperor Belos felt that splitting up that time was a waste. This way, I can still mentor Hunter about Coven Head duties while he’s not in uniform.”

“So, you’re not allowed to teach him anything else anymore?” Darius asked, not liking the implications of her statement.

“Well, Belos never expressly forbid it but…,” she trailed off but Darius got the idea and looking at the frown on Raine’s face, they probably did, too.

What a shame. After not having proper schooling for 15 years, Hunter had finally found someone willing to teach him basic curriculum only for that to be immediately ripped away. There was no reason Lilith couldn’t teach him while also mentoring him on Coven Head duties. How much did Hunter possibly need to know about Coven Heads that it needed to take up all his time? He was only helping the Heads, not taking all their jobs. He didn’t need to know everything.

It's like Belos truly thought that treating Hunter like a normal kid and teaching him about the world was pointless. The man probably thought the only thing Hunter would ever be good for was being the Golden Guard and serving his every whim, like that was the only reason he even existed. It was no wonder Hunter didn’t like being the center of attention. He was conditioned to be nothing more than an accessory to the actual center of attention- a shadow to the great and powerful Emperor.

“Ugh…”

Hunter clapped his hands over his stomach and doubled over in pain. Darius groaned and ran a hand down his face in frustration. He did warn the child.

“How much did you eat?” Darius asked, walking over and kneeling down next to him.

“Like, five pieces.”

“Five!? Hunter you aren’t used to sugar. Of course that much would make you sick.”

“I stopped eating after you told me to.”

“I didn’t know that was already your fifth slice!”

Darius made him sit down and brought him over a pain potion and a trash can. Hunter was leaning back into his chair, eyes clenched shut as he tightened his grip on his stomach and tried to keep the nausea down.

“Oh my…,” Lilith said, taking in the sight of Hunter.

“I think that’s our cue to leave,” Raine said. 

They knew Hunter would probably just be embarrassed if he threw up while they were here. Darius nodded at the bard in silent thanks and they smiled back at him, leaving with Lilith at their side. She threw back one more worried glance at Hunter as they made their way to the door.

Eberwolf growled out a “get well soon” before following the other two as they exited the room, leaving Darius alone to make sure Hunter was alright.

“I know you’re a growing kid, but that’s a lot of food to be eating at once,” Darius said, pushing Hunter’s hair out of his forehead and pinning it back for him so it wouldn’t be in the way when the inevitable happened.

“I guess I just don’t know how to stop when no one tells me to.”

And with those words, Darius had a horrible realization and nearly smacked himself for not thinking of it before. They presented this boy with an entire cake and gave him no upfront limitations, allowing him to take however much he wanted- this child, who was not a stranger to having meals taken away from him, sometimes for days at a time, and when he wasn’t being starved, was limited to scheduled meals on scout rations that had portion sizes that would leave a baby still wanting more. Of course he would eat as much as he could when given the chance, only stopping when Darius finally ordered him to.

Darius got up and grabbed a cloth, wetting it and bringing it back over to pat against Hunter’s forehead.

“I’m so sorry, Little Prince,” Darius said. 

Sorry for not realizing this about him. Sorry for not realizing he was uncomfortable with the party. Sorry that he had to be starved sometimes. Sorry for the abuse he suffered at another’s hands. Sorry he was forced to be a child soldier. Sorry for being careless in their interactions. Sorry he couldn’t protect him. Sorry he couldn’t save him. Sorry he was so mean before. Sorry he failed him.

“Darius, why are you crying?”

Hunter had peeked open his eyes, staring at Darius in concern despite the obvious pain he was still in.

Darius reached up and felt the tears streaming down his cheek. He wiped them away.

“I…,” Darius started but was interrupted when Hunter’s eyes widened and he leaned forwards, Darius barely just managing to hold the trashcan up to him in time for the contents of his stomach to be emptied into it.

Darius looked away, trying hard to ignore the smell and keep his own gags down as he used his other hand to rub circles on Hunter’s back. It didn’t take long for Hunter to finish and sit back up, taking the tissue that Darius offered him to wipe his mouth.

“Sorry,” Hunter simply said, refusing to look Darius in the eyes.

“It’s not your fault,” Darius said, because it was the truth. “Do you feel any better?”

“Actually, yeah. I feel way better,” Hunter answered, smiling. The smile quickly fell, though, and Hunter quickly glanced over at Darius, remembering what happened before he threw up.

“Um…”

Darius interrupted him this time.

“It’s late. You should probably get going,” he told him, standing up and motioning for Hunter to stand up as well.

“But…”

“Goodnight, Little Prince.”

Darius led him over to the door and opened it. He didn’t want to practically kick Hunter out but he was not about to explain how much he felt like a failure to this kid who absolutely did not deserve to have that baggage dropped on him. Hunter had enough going on in his life. He didn’t need Darius to add to his compromised emotional state. Even if his life wasn't already hell, he was just a kid. He shouldn’t have to deal with the problems of the adults around him.

“I…okay. Um, Goodnight,” Hunter finally said, giving one last concerned glance at Darius before making his way back to his own room.

Darius shut the door and sighed. He didn’t even notice he had been shaking until he reached up to rub at his temple, taking his hand away from his head to stare at the vibrating limb in disdain.

What a terrible person he was. 

Chapter Text

Something was wrong with Hunter.

Hunter was obviously trying to hide it but it was easy for Darius to see in the way the normally stoic and composed boy occasionally shuffled from foot-to-foot as he stood beside the throne. Belos noticed it too, side-eyeing the child exactly one time before choosing to ignore it for now. Darius knew the man would probably not let it go forever though. He just didn’t want to interrupt the session to address it.

What kind of punishment was in store for Hunter once the throne room had been cleared out? Would he be yelled at? Would he be given a menial task? Would he be degraded? Would he be hurt physically? What did Belos consider a ‘suitable’ punishment for restlessness?

Darius forced himself to stop thinking about it at the moment, trying desperately to pay attention to the session instead. The Coven Heads were gathered in the throne room, listening as the Emperor stood in front of the throne and droned on about preparations for the Day of Unity. It’s not like Darius cared about how the day was supposed to go in Belos’ fantasy, but he had to at least keep pretending for now. He had to listen in case it would help give him more ideas for how to derail the event.

The rebels were still not completely sure what exactly was planned that day. Belos said it was a day to unite the Boiling Isles, a rather vague and ominous explanation in Darius’ opinion, but it was a clear set-up. Belos had something else in mind, something more drastic. They just had to find out what. It would be easier if the rebellion wasn’t lacking in numbers, however.

Darius chanced a side-eyed glance at the other Coven Heads lined up beside him. If any of them knew the truth, would they be willing to become traitors, risking their position and quite possibly their lives in order to stop the impending doom? It’s not like he could just ask them. He was sure some like Vitimir or Terra wouldn’t be willing to listen to reason, but what about Lilith or Raine? Darius would like to imagine that they wouldn’t still be backing the Emperor if they knew the depths of his cruelty.

Hunter fidgeted again and Darius’ attention was pulled back to him. Then, his attention was on the way the Emperor stopped talking mid-sentence to take a deep breath, resting his head on his palm out of frustration.

“Is there something wrong, Golden Guard?” Belos asked, not bothering to hide the annoyance in his voice.

“Not at all,” Hunter answered, voice shaking slightly, though whether it was from the Emperor’s reprimand or from whatever was bothering him was unclear.

“Then stand still. You’re quite the distraction.”

Hunter, wisely, did not answer, instead standing up a little straighter, still as a statue. Belos took one more moment to look at Hunter and when he was content with the behavior, he resumed his speech to the Coven Heads.

He only got a few more sentences in before Hunter moved again.

The silence in the room after Belos stopped talking to look at him again was entirely too tense, too long.

“Clearly something is bothering you. Perhaps you’d like to share with the room why you keep disrupting this meeting and wasting the Coven Head’s valuable times?” Belos said.

Hunter no longer tried to stay still, bringing his hands together to pick at his gloves, clearly embarrassed.

“I…um…”

“Have you forgotten how to speak clearly as well?” Belos interrupted, intent on humiliating the boy further.

“No! I just…,” Hunter started but trailed off. Belos folded his hands together, turning fully on his nephew and waiting for him to continue with his reason.

“We’re waiting,” Belos said, urging him to keep going.

Hunter finally stopped fidgeting, looking up to face the Emperor as if his nerves suddenly left him.

Darius’ worry grew in his chest until it became a crushing weight upon him as he warily watched the interaction. What could possibly be causing Hunter to act this way? It was completely unlike him. Was he sick? Injured? Had he managed to fall off his staff, perhaps, hitting his head and now he has some kind of brain damage? Was he dying and decided to live out his last few days being the rebellious teenager he should have been allowed to be? Had he been replaced by a doppelganger? Was the boy standing up there now a very impressive illusion?

“I’ve lost my favorite stuffed toy. I’d rather be looking for it than attending this meeting,” Hunter announced.

…

What?

Darius had been certain it would be impossible for the air in the room to get more tense and yet he’d certainly been proven wrong as no one said anything or moved a muscle while the Emperor just continued to stare at his Guard, completely bewildered by the statement. Even the Coven Heads who Darius was sure would love to snicker at the idea the Golden Guard still had toys did not dare to make a sound while they waited for Belos’ reaction.

“You’ve lost…your toy?” Belos reiterated, perhaps wondering if he had misheard.

“Yes,” Hunter confirmed.

A few more moments of tense silence passed. Then, Emperor Belos kicked the Golden Guard out.

It was the first time Hunter had ever been kicked out of a meeting. No doubt he would not take it lightly but Darius preferred this outcome rather than the one where Belos forced him to stay and just kept him behind after the meeting to be alone with him. Belos would probably still want to punish Hunter, but at least this way perhaps Darius could talk to Hunter first and try and think of some way to intervene. Something was clearly wrong for him to have acted in that way.

Belos continued the meeting, though it was even harder for Darius to focus now. The other Coven Heads seemed on edge as well, surprisingly. As incompetent as they’ve convinced themselves the Golden Guard to be, they had to at least be confused about this level of blatant misconduct.

After what seemed like a dreadful amount of time, Belos finally concluded the meeting and Darius was not about to waste any time making his way to Hunter’s room to find out what was wrong. He was stopped, however, as Belos called out his name while the other Heads were filtering out of the door.

Reluctantly, though not showing it, Darius turned back towards the Emperor, the man waiting for everyone to leave before finally saying what it was he wanted.

“Darius, where are you planning to go now?” Belos asked, almost causing Darius to backstep. Why would he ask that? What did he need?

“I was going to see if the other Heads wanted to discuss some more details about the Day of Unity further,” Darius lied.

Belos hummed in thought, leaning back further into his throne as he regarded Darius, every passing second causing another nerve in Darius to fray. What was his game? What did he want with him?

Finally, after ages, Belos said, “Very well then. Off you go.”

Darius was confused. However, Darius was also very relieved to be finally let go, turning on his heels and making his way out of that damn throne room, away from that damn Emperor.

But Belos stopped him again, just as he reached the doors, his voice a booming echo in the emptiness of the room.

“Do let me know what the problem is with my nephew after you speak with him. I am very curious about his behavior recently.”

Darius had never felt so cold in his life, his mind floating somewhere above his body after the words left Belos’ mouth, reverberating around his head. He felt weightless, a stubborn nausea making its way into his stomach and tickling his throat.

He did not turn back to acknowledge the words, hesitating only a moment before reaching out and opening the throne room doors. He could practically feel the Emperor’s chilling smile on his back as he left, closing the doors behind him.

Belos knew. Of course he knew. It was stupid to think he didn’t have even an inkling of knowledge about how close Darius had gotten to the Golden Guard. Darius had just been hoping that perhaps that was all the Emperor knew and that he didn’t know about Darius’ knowledge of the Guard’s identity. But Belos knew.

So, what did that mean? What did Belos think about that fact? It wasn’t like he was the only Coven Head aware of the Golden Guard’s true identity, but Belos had not informed him like he did Lilith. If Belos wanted him to know, he would have told him. But he didn’t. And Darius knew anyway.

He finally made it to Hunter’s room, knocking lightly on the door. When there was no answer, he tried again, a little louder.

“Go away!”

Darius would not go away. The voice was muffled from behind the door but Darius could still clearly hear the way it shook, as if the words were being spoken through tears.

“Hunter, I’m coming in,” Darius announced, giving Hunter a moment to respond or try to stop him. When there was no answer, Darius opened the door and peeked inside.

Hunter was sitting on his bed, eyes red and puffy and face streaked with tears. He refused to look at Darius as he opened the door wider. Darius wondered if he was crying because of what happened in the throne room or because of what caused him to act that way in the first place, because it was certainly not over a toy. Even before Darius poked his head in and saw the plush peeking out from underneath Hunter’s pillow, he never believed the child would risk punishment over something like that.

Darius wandered in, sitting down on the bed next to Hunter and looking him over, trying to see if he could spot any immediate injuries in case that was the problem. There were none.

“Is everything okay?” Darius asked, keeping his voice soft, worried he would spook Hunter if he raised it even slightly.

“Fine,” Hunter simply answered.

“It’s obviously not,” Darius said. 

Without thinking, Darius reached over with the intent to try and wipe some of the tears away but retracted his hand when Hunter pulled away, not wanting to be touched. He was still refusing to look at Darius.

Hunter sniffled and Darius softly sighed, wondering what he was supposed to do.

“Please, Hunter. Tell me what’s wrong. I don’t know if you’re angry with me or if you think I don’t care to listen, but I do. I’m worried about you.”

Hunter finally glanced up at him but only for a second before his gaze dropped again, though his eyes softened and he started fiddling with the blanket underneath him, thinking about Darius’ words.

Darius took the chance and reached over again. Hunter did not pull away this time as Darius grabbed his face in his hands, rubbing his thumbs over his cheeks to wipe away some of the tears.

Suddenly, as if the action finally spurred Hunter to relent in his stubbornness, he began to cry in earnest again, tears streaming down to replace the ones Darius had just cleaned. Hunter sniffled a few more times before he was unable to keep himself from wailing anymore and Darius’ heart broke as the child fell forwards, burying his face into Darius’ chest.

Initially, Darius had wrapped his arms loosely around Hunter out of instinct but when his brain fully processed what just happened, he tightened his hold, bringing Hunter closer to him as he allowed him to wallow in the embrace. Darius tugged his cape up and threw it over Hunter, forming a cocoon of fabric around him in the hopes it would help calm him down.

Hunter tried desperately to stifle his sobs, the trembling in his body betraying him. Darius just sat there and held him, willing to stay like that for as long as it took. Eventually, Hunter stopped crying, though he hesitated in leaving Darius’ arms. Darius didn’t move. He didn’t want Hunter to think he had to lean away if he wanted to continue being held. He deserved to be held for as long as he felt the need.

“I’m sorry,” Hunter finally managed to say, mumbling slightly with his cheek still pressed against Darius’ chest.

“Do you want to tell me what’s wrong now?” Darius asked.

Hunter hesitated a moment, thinking, before he finally said, “…I think I’m dying.”

Darius wondered if Hunter could feel the stutter that statement caused in his heart.

“Why do you think that?”

Hunter reluctantly leaned away, scooting backwards to give a little distance between himself and Darius. He refused to meet Darius’ eyes again as he went back to fiddling with the blanket.

“When…I woke up this morning, I was bleeding,” Hunter explained.

“Are you hurt somewhere?”

The boy shook his head.

“No. That’s why I don’t understand. But there was a lot of blood and I’m still bleeding.”

“Still?”

Darius thought about it for a moment and the agonizing worry that had been consuming him ever since Hunter proclaimed he was dying started to fade away as a realization struck Darius.

“Hunter…where is the blood coming from?” Darius asked him.

Hunter’s face grew red and he didn’t answer but his embarrassment gave Darius the answer he needed. He took a few seconds to collect his thoughts before he brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose.

“Do you not know what a period is?”

“A what?”

Darius realized it was a stupid question as soon as it left his mouth. Of course he didn’t know what it was. Hunter had never seen a healer in his life and the only adult he’d ever been around who could have explained it to him no doubt just chose not to, not caring enough to prepare him for it. Lilith had been teaching him a little biology, but there was only so much she probably managed to get to before Belos forbade her from teaching any more.

“You are sixteen right?” Darius asked, not trying to belittle him but just to get an idea of what he was working with here.

“Probably.”

Ignoring the uncertainty of that answer, Darius started thinking of what he was supposed to do now. This wasn’t exactly his area of expertise. If Hunter actually was 16, it was a little late for this to be happening but given his lifestyle and the amount of stress he was under constantly, it wasn’t all that surprising.

“Little Prince, perhaps you would be more comfortable talking to Lilith about this? It’s something to do with your…biology.”

Ideally, Darius would just take him to Hettie or another healer. He didn’t have that option though, but at least he could let him choose who he was more comfortable talking to. This was something a parent should worry about, but Hunter didn’t have that luxury, so he would just have to choose which adult he preferred.

“So, am I not dying?” Hunter asked.

“No, you’re not dying. This is normal, I promise. Now, me or Lilith?” Darius asked again.

Hunter took a few moments to think. 

“I…want to talk to Lilith,” he finally said.

Darius nodded, standing up. Forming a spell circle, he transported a pain potion from his chambers and handed it to Hunter. The boy didn’t even need any prompting before uncorking it and downing the whole thing. It was no wonder he couldn’t stop fidgeting in the throne room. The was no doubt he’d been in pain and uncomfortable this entire time on top of thinking he was dying.

“Wait here and I’ll go find her,” Darius said, making his way out of the room.

He eventually found Lilith in the common study, working on some kind of report.

“Are you busy?” he asked her.

“Yes, quite,” she responded, not even looking up from her documents.

“Great. I need your help with something.”

“Darius, I just said I’m busy. It can wait until later.”

“Hunter started his period.”

Lilith stopped writing, looking up at Darius abruptly. Without another word, she put her pen down and scooted her chair out from under the desk, standing up.

She sighed. “Let’s get this over with, then.”

He explained what he knew to her on the way there, making it back to Hunter’s room and only staying long enough to let Lilith in and make sure they both were okay before taking his leave again. 

He was sure they’d be fine. Lilith was a very good teacher and Hunter was used to hearing her lecture. She’d also be far more mechanical in her explanations, which may help Hunter feel more comfortable in this case. It might help him understand that this wasn’t so personal and that it was something that happened to a lot of witches if Lilith only droned on about it like she was talking about something mundane like architecture or the history of the wheel.

He would still check up on them again later, of course, after he’d given Lilith some time to discuss everything she needed to. For now, Darius had a new obstacle he had to figure out how to get around. Making his way back to the throne room for the second time that day, he had the scouts guarding the door announce his arrival, after which the giant doors swung open on their own, allowing him entry.

He walked inside. The room was empty save for Belos sitting on the throne, waiting for him. Darius came up upon the throne and bowed, just as he was expected to. Belos motioned for him to rise.

“So?” Belos questioned, waiting for Darius’ explanation.

There was no use in lying. Belos would know. Besides, Darius was there to try and figure out how to keep Hunter from being punished and lying to the Emperor would certainly not help with that.

“He…started his period,” Darius reluctantly said. Belos may be Hunter’s guardian, but he had long since proven he didn’t deserve to know these kinds of details about his nephew. It made Darius sick that he had to expose him like this.

“Hmm,” Belos started, leaning back into his throne a little, “How unfavorable. I really should have foreseen this coming, given the flaw with this one, so that’s on me I suppose.”

Darius had no idea what he meant by that but he wasn’t about to ask. It seemed like Belos had just said it to confuse him on purpose, having a little inside joke with himself regarding Darius’ lack of understanding.

He still had to worry about saving Hunter from punishment. Darius knew how empty the Emperor’s self-directed blame was. It didn’t matter to Belos if he had forgotten to tell Hunter something, Hunter should have somehow known it anyway, like he could somehow be born with that kind of knowledge.

“Lilith is speaking to him about it right now. I understand his performance was lackluster today but now that he is aware of how to deal with this situation, it won’t happen again,” Darius tried to assure.

“Yes, I’m sure this problem won’t happen again,” Belos ominously reiterated, waving a hand to dismiss the Coven Head. 

Darius would leave, though he didn’t want to. He wanted to be completely sure that Belos wouldn’t do anything to Hunter and that statement gave him no indication that he would let this slide now that the problem had been solved.

Furthermore, he was confused on why Belos hadn’t scolded Darius or confronted him about why he knew Hunter’s identity. It was as if Belos had just accepted that fact, not caring about how it happened though Darius knew that couldn’t be true.

He left the throne room. He stopped by Hunter’s room to check on him and Lilith before making his way to his own chambers, unsure about everything that happened today. He wasn’t a particularly religious man, but he still found himself praying to the Titan that Hunter wouldn’t be punished for something that wasn’t even his fault. He prayed that Belos would be merciful for once- that the man would come to some kind of pitiful realization that he’d been unnecessarily cruel to a child, his child, all this time and that he would suddenly stop. It was highly unlikely, but Darius could still hope.

That hope was smushed down when later that night, Darius heard from the scouts that the Golden Guard had been summoned to the throne room. It was crushed completely when Hunter showed up at Darius’ door, tears staining his cheeks and a large gash across his stomach.

Wordlessly, Darius led him into the room and got to work fixing up the wound, his hands far too steady given his restless anxiety and racing thoughts. 

“At least I’m not a stranger to bleeding,” Hunter said, possibly trying to lighten the mood after neither of them spoke for a while. It wasn’t a good joke, though. It just made Darius feel even worse. 

When Darius was done, he discarded his gloves and helped Hunter stand up, hoping that it wouldn’t exacerbate the wound.

“Do you want me to walk you back to your room?” he asked.

Hunter opened his mouth to answer but then closed it again, looking away in thought. Darius waited patiently, since it was obvious he wanted to say something.

“Can I…,” Hunter started, but trailed off.

“Can you what?” Darius asked, urging him to continue.

Hunter took a few more seconds to think before deciding not to ask whatever it was he wanted to ask.

“I can walk back myself. Thank you,” he said instead. Then, he left.

Darius watched him leave, closing the door behind him. He glanced over at the still open first aid kit and the bloodied cloths discarded in the bin and he felt nauseous. He shouldn’t have to fix up Hunter’s wounds constantly because he shouldn’t be getting them in the first place. Darius felt useless, knowing he was powerless to stop the abuse. Healing him was the only thing he could do and it felt like it wasn’t enough, because it wasn’t. Rebellion be damned, Darius wanted to save that child more than anything.

That night, Darius’ restless sleep was filled with ideas and fantasies about taking Belos down, all of them involving adorning the man with a matching scar for every single one he’d ever given Hunter.

Chapter Text

Hunter was supposed to be having a sewing lesson right now.

In all fairness, he was, technically, but the boy’s teacher simply could not focus for a completely fair and valid reason.

“Why is there dirt in your hair?” Darius asked, no longer able to ignore it. Hunter’s state of cleanliness had been a glaring distraction from the moment he walked through Darius’ door.

Hunter looked up from his project, confused for a moment before he remembered.

“Oh! I fell off my staff earlier. I probably got a little dirty when I hit the ground.”

“Are you hurt?”

“No. It wasn’t a long fall. I didn’t even feel it, really.”

Darius picked up a tissue and used it to wipe away some dirt from a couple strands of Hunter’s hair, cringing at the amount that came off.

“All this really came from a fall?” he asked in disbelief. The child looked like he dived headfirst into a mud pit, not like he simply landed on a hard, dirt floor.

Hunter nodded, not bothering to explain any further.

“Why didn’t you shower when you got back to the castle?” Darius asked instead.

Hunter shrugged. “I just didn’t think about it, I guess.”

“Well, you should go clean yourself off. You look like you haven’t touched water in years.”

“It can’t possibly be that bad,” Hunter said, clear disbelief on his face at the statement.

“In my eyes, yes, it is that bad,” Darius said, standing up and pulling Hunter up with him. He simply could not continue their lesson like this. He was far too busy worrying the dirt would fall off Hunter’s head and land on his couch to be teaching him about sewing right now.

“You probably have like, a 12 step hygiene routine though,” Hunter teased, trying to resist Darius’ attempts to get him to shower.

“It’s only 9 steps, thank you very much,” Darius said, unperturbed. His immaculate hygiene was not something he would ever be embarrassed about, especially when the teasing was coming from a child currently wearing dirt like it was a fashionable outfit choice.

“That’s so much. How do you have time for all that?” Hunter asked.

“I make time,” Darius explained, leading him over to the door, “I simply could not live with myself if I just slathered shampoo all over my hair and called it enough.”

“Shampoo?”

Darius stopped in shock just before they got to the door, making Hunter stop with him, not liking the implications of the confused tone in his voice at the mention of the most basic product for the most basic hair care.

“Yes, shampoo. The stuff you wash your hair with,” Darius explained, hoping Hunter just didn’t know what it was called somehow.

“I just use soap,” Hunter said and Darius could have sworn his heart almost stopped.

“Soap? Like bar soap?” Darius hesitantly asked, hoping, praying that wasn’t what he meant.

Hunter, unfortunately, nodded and Darius probably could have died right then and there, clutching at his chest like Hunter had driven a stake through it.

“I don’t see what the big deal is,” Hunter said, seemingly offended by Darius’ horrified expression, “It’s all the same, isn’t it? It’s all meant to clean you.”

“No, it is not the same,” Darius argued. “Child, no wonder your hair is the same consistency as straw. You have no idea how to take care of it.”

“I still don’t see why it matters. It’s just hair.”
 
“Okay, you know what? New plan,” Darius said, turning Hunter around and leading him to his private bathroom. Forget sewing lessons; he needed to teach this kid about proper hygiene and hair care.

Hunter stood in the middle of the room while Darius rummaged through his cabinets, pulling out various bottles of treatments and cleansers. Every time he pulled a new one out, he could see in his peripherals Hunter warily eyeing them.

“Darius, I know this kind of thing is important to you, but I don’t have time for a 9 step routine every day,” he said as Darius kept looking for even more products.

“We have different hair textures, so your routine wouldn’t look like mine. It doesn’t need to be as long, either, if you don’t want it to be but at the very least, please stop washing your hair with bar soap,” Darius said in response.

He closed his cabinet and pulled Hunter over to the bathtub.

“Lean your head over the side,” he told him.

Hunter gave another wary glance at the bottles on the counter but still did as he was told, kneeling down on the floor and leaning his head backwards over the side of the tub. Darius pulled the shower head away, turning on the water and wetting down Hunter’s hair. When it was fully wet, he dropped the shower head and grabbed the first bottle off the counter.

“This is shampoo,” he explained, squirting a small amount onto his hands and beginning to rub it all over Hunter’s head, “This, not soap, is what you use to clean your hair.”

“It feels weird,” Hunter complained.

“It lathers better. That’s probably why it feels different.”

He rinsed the shampoo off when he was done, grabbing the next product.

“This is conditioner. This is to give moisture back to the hair that cleaning it may have gotten rid of,” Darius said.

“Moisture? But it’s already wet.”

“Child, you have so much to learn,” Darius chuckled. 

Despite how much the idea of touching Hunter’s head after he admitted he didn’t know how to clean it grossed the man out, he was thoroughly enjoying the little spa treatment Hunter was letting him give him. He had to imagine Hunter didn’t mind it as much either, otherwise he would have complained and resisted a lot more.

Darius rinsed the conditioner from Hunter’s hair after explaining how to properly apply it and letting it sit for a minute. He grabbed a towel and gave it to Hunter, letting him finally lean back up.

“Gently, Hunter. Pat it, don’t wring it,” Darius said after Hunter started practically attacking his hair with the towel. Darius grabbed it from him again and demonstrated before giving it back to the boy who hesitantly followed Darius’ example.

“At the very least, these are the two main products you need to use,” Darius said.

“Then what’s all that for?” Hunter asked, pointing to the other various bottles Darius had pulled out from the cabinets.

“Those are also things I’d like for you to use but I know it’s unlikely I’ll get you to use them right now.”

“What are they?”

Darius picked up each bottle to show Hunter as he explained what each one was.

“Detangler, primer, hair oil, hair mask, scalp treatments…”

Hunter’s confused expression deepened with every item Darius listed off.

“You use all this stuff every day?” he asked.

“No. Like I said, we wouldn’t use all the same products, since we have different types of hair. These are just some of the products I think would benefit you, specifically.”

“So what is your 9 step routine all about then? Do you really put 9 different things in your hair?” Hunter asked.

“Those steps also include skincare, which is also something I’m sure you’ve never thought about,” Darius said.

“I just use…”

“Soap, yes I could guess,” Darius interrupted. Hunter probably just used the same bar of soap for everything and Darius almost gagged at the idea. What feral behavior.

Darius thought they were done. He’d at least shown Hunter how to wash his hair properly but he didn’t think he’d actually be interested in the rest of Darius’ advice. He mostly just wanted the kid to use actual cleansers and not bar soap.

So, when Hunter hesitated instead of leaving immediately, finally glancing between Darius and the various products he’d shown him and asked, “So, are you gonna show me how to use the rest of them,” Darius nearly fainted from excitement.

He smiled wide, grabbing another bottle off the counter and sitting Hunter down on the side of the tub so he could work the products into his hair. Hunter just sat there and let him pamper him, listening intently to Darius’ explanation for what each product did, why it was important, and how to properly apply it. When he was done with that, Hunter asked about skincare and so Darius happily showed him that, too.

“I hate to say it, but it feels kind of nice now,” Hunter said, running his fingers through his hair once Darius had finished and dried it.

“That’s why all this is important,” Darius explained, walking him back out into the main room, “A good routine is key to healthy hair and skin. Now, sit down here.”

Darius pulled the chair out from his vanity, allowing Hunter to sit down before pushing it back in and grabbing a comb.

“Your hair has grown out some. Do you want me to cut it for you?” Darius asked, pulling his fingers through the length at the top of the boy’s head. It was starting to cover his undercut, which was also quickly losing its status as an undercut.

“I guess it is getting long…,” Hunter said, frowning at himself in the mirror.

Darius chuckled, grabbing a pair of scissors out of the vanity drawer and getting to work on Hunter’s hair.

Something he had vaguely noticed while he was cleaning his hair and something he was definitely noticing now as he was cutting it was how cleanly cut and styled it was. Darius supposed he’d always noticed it, but he never really thought too hard about it before now.

“Does someone else usually cut your hair?” Darius asked, plagued by curiosity. He supposed it wasn’t impossible Hunter just did it himself but given his other grooming habits, he considered it unlikely. Hunter would probably just let it grow out if it meant he didn’t have to deal with it.

“Uncle usually does. I think he’s just been too busy lately to be bothered with it.”

Darius began imagining Hunter sitting like he was now, letting Belos groom him, just as Darius was doing. 

“Does…the Emperor do things like that often?” Darius hesitantly asked.

Hunter thought for a moment.

“Hm, I guess so. It happened more often when I was younger, but he’s always liked taking care of me. Like fixing my hair, or bandaging up my cuts, or…,um…oh! He taught me how to garden. That was fun.”

Darius was not sure ‘taking care of’ was the correct phrase to use towards Belos’ attitude regarding Hunter, but of course Hunter didn’t understand that. Still, this information did cause Darius’ thoughts to spiral a little as he continued to mindlessly cut his hair.

Darius was so used to seeing the abuse, he pushed away the idea that the abuse was all Hunter could see as well. It wasn’t true though. Hunter probably often saw a side of the Emperor that no one else ever got to see, and that was the part that was likely keeping him on Belos’ side. Sure, Belos hurt him, humiliated him, verbally assaulted him…but he was also soft at times. It didn’t excuse his behavior in Darius’ mind, but it probably did in Hunter’s. Hunter knew that kind, gentle man who pampered him and raised him and it made it harder for him to let go, trying desperately to live through the harsher moments in order to experience that kindness he remembered him having.

It made Darius feel sick. Belos didn’t care about Hunter. He could imagine he was only kind to his nephew occasionally to keep him craving more, withholding that gentleness as if being treated with basic respect was something someone should have to work hard for. It was unfair. Hunter deserved more than someone like that.

“Well, if the Emperor is ever too busy, know that I’ll be willing to help you with whatever you want,” Darius said, finishing up the last few snips on the top of Hunter’s hair and moving onto shaving his undercut.

“Aren’t you pretty busy too, though?” Hunter asked, playing with a cut strand of hair that had fallen onto his lap. 

“I’m always willing to make time for you, Hunter. You should know that by now,” Darius said.

“But you’re a Coven Head. Your work is more important than me,” Hunter argued, as if he didn’t regularly interrupt Darius’ work for little things all the time.

Darius gave him a look in the mirror before responding, “Nothing is more important than you, my Little Prince.”

Darius hadn’t meant to call him that. It just slipped out. He wasn’t even sure why he said it. Perhaps he was just feeling somewhat possessive of the child after thinking about how much of a hold Belos had on Hunter’s life and how much he wanted Hunter to have someone other than Belos to rely on. He didn’t necessarily mean for it to be him, but at least it was better than the Emperor. Hunter didn’t seem to notice the slip, though, or at least if he did, he was choosing not to acknowledge it, continuing to play with that strand of hair in his lap.

“Am I really that important?” Hunter said, though it was so soft, Darius thought he might have just been saying it out loud to himself and the implications of that nearly made the man tear up.

Whether Hunter meant for him to hear it or not, Darius was going to respond to it.

“Yes. Believe it or not, you are very important to me.”

Hunter glanced up at him in the mirror and the wary disbelief in his eyes was unbearable. However, Darius also caught a glimmer of hope in his expression, and that was what Darius would hang onto.

He finished cutting and styling Hunter’s hair, forming an abomination to clean up the strands on the floor.

“There. All done,” Darius announced.

Hunter didn’t even look at himself in the mirror before getting up and smiling at Darius.

“Thank you. I appreciate your assistance.”

“You could just stop at ‘Thank you’ like a normal person,” Darius teased.

Hunter left Darius’ room after that with a small sack full of hair and skin care products. Darius didn’t actually think he’d use all of them, but at least now he had more options than a single bar of soap. At the very least, he hoped the kid would use separate products for his hair and skin. No child of his was going to have such a drastically abysmal idea of personal hygiene.

No child of…

No child…
 
Hunter would not have such a drastically abysmal idea of personal hygiene.

Chapter Text

Lilith got fired.

Well, more so got kicked out of the Emperor’s Coven for becoming a traitor to the throne. No one saw it coming. Sure, her performances as of late had been unsatisfactory in Belos’ eyes, but Lilith had been one of the most loyal subjects to the Emperor, dedicating her life to serving him. Then, she threw it all away in order to save her sister.

The other Coven Heads didn’t particularly care. It was a surprise, sure, but most of them found Lilith dull and far too uptight. There was no doubt they were even a little bit happy she was gone.

Darius, Raine, and Eberwolf were perhaps the only Heads who actually did care. Darius assumed Raine just felt bad for her, which was fair. Darius, however, was perhaps a little too excited about this news.

Sure, Lilith might not be in the best of spirits right now but this meant that she was able to finally see past Belos’ lies and choose a different side. He had, admittedly, been worried about her. Despite the fact they grew apart once they became adults, he couldn’t deny he still cared about her in some way. She was never a bad person. She had just been misled but if Belos were to ever be overthrown, Darius’ had been worried about what would happen to her should she remain loyal. Now, he didn’t have to worry about that anymore.

There were still others, of course, that he had to worry about. Raine was like Lilith, kind-hearted and likely had only good intentions but was led astray by Belos’ manipulation. Then, of course, there was his biggest worry yet- the boy currently sulking in the seat next to him.

Out of everyone, Darius assumed Hunter was taking Lilith’s betrayal the hardest. He had grown very close to her. She was his mentor, his friend, and in some ways, even somewhat of a parent. He loved her, even if he wouldn’t admit it. However, Hunter still loved Belos more than anyone. To find out this woman he had trusted and cared for betrayed the man who held his heart was likely an earth-shattering occurrence. In many ways, it was as if she had betrayed him as well.

“Are you doing alright?” Darius asked, watching Hunter mindlessly scribble the same line back and forth on the margins of his paperwork. Darius’ voice seemed to snap him out of his daze, shaking his head and getting back to writing.

“I’m fine,” he simply said, though the grumble in his voice said otherwise.

Darius hummed in acknowledgement, though he didn’t believe Hunter at all. He got back to his own paperwork, a long bout of complete silence passing between them as they both refused to speak, the only sound the scribbling of their pens and Hunter’s occasional fidgeting.

With Lilith now gone, there was no Emperor’s Coven head. Lilith had been an immensely busy woman with far more work than one person should have ever handled alone and now that she wasn’t there to do it, it had been divvied up between all the Coven Heads and the Golden Guard until a new Coven Head could be found.

Darius wondered who it would be. He doubted Belos would pick one from the scouts. It would have to be someone powerful- someone Belos could trust. Emperor’s Coven Head was a highly sought after position, so there would surely be hordes of witches flocking to try and claim the title. Which one would be unlucky enough to take it?

Hunter was gripping his pen hard enough that Darius was sure it was going to leave marks in the wooden desk under the paper. Hunter’s brow was furrowed and he had started scribbling again, too distracted to write.

“Little Prince, why don’t you take a break. You’re going to snap that pen in two if you don’t stop gripping it so hard.”

The pen snapped in two. Hunter stared at it indignantly as if it snapped itself and he had no part in it before chucking it across the room and shoving his face in his hands, groaning. 

“Is this about Lilith?” Darius asked, not wanting to pester him but feeling the need to try and calm his rising anger.

Hunter abruptly looked at Darius with a glare that could have killed someone. With a look like that, Darius may have well been the one to betray the kid.

“I just don’t get it! I trusted her! Why would she do that?” Hunter said, voice loud and echoing around the empty room.

“She had to make a choice- Belos or her sister. She made her decision,” Darius simply explained. He wasn’t going to try and justify Lilith’s actions to Hunter, especially since wouldn’t understand anyway.

“It was a stupid decision,” Hunter said, rummaging around in his desk for another pen, “She went from second highest in command of an Empire to some pathetic, lowly criminal. Why would anyone choose that?”

He found another pen, testing it out on his paper and grumbling when he found it had no more ink. He tossed it aside and continued his search.

“It’s not that she was choosing to become a criminal, she was just choosing not to let her family be petrified,” Darius said. So much for trying not to justify it. He wasn’t just going to let such a blatantly incorrect statement slip, though.

“The Owl Lady is a wild witch who chose her side. Lilith had to have known she would get caught and punished eventually,” Hunter said, finding another pen, only for his relief to be replaced with more annoyance when it was red ink instead of black. He tossed that one aside as well instead of just putting it back in the drawer. The floor was going to be littered with pens soon enough.

“Imprisoned, perhaps. Petrification is probably a harsher punishment than she had been expecting,” Darius argued.

He grabbed a working, black pen out of his desk and sent it over to Hunter with a string of abomination goo. Hunter took it and went back to work, though not without trying to argue further.

“I still don’t see why it matters. She knew her sister was a criminal while she was working for the Emperor. Why would she suddenly decide at the last minute that she cared about the Owl Lady more than her job?”

“That’s her family, Hunter. I know since Belos is your only family it’s hard to imagine yourself in her position but at least try. She just didn’t want to lose someone she loved,” Darius said.

Hunter stopped writing, obviously trying to think of a scenario like that. Darius wondered who he was imagining in Eda’s position. Who would Hunter be willing to rebel against Belos for?

“I still don’t think I’d do it,” Hunter finally said after a minute of thought.

Apparently no one. Darius chose to ignore the spike of hurt at the idea, especially since it was very possible that Darius could someday actually be in Eda’s position should he be found out. 

Perhaps Hunter just never expected to be in that position. As far as he was aware, Darius was just as loyal to Belos as he was but then again, he thought Lilith had been as well. Despite her betrayal, did he still trust Darius enough to where he was sure he wouldn’t do the same? He felt bad for betraying that trust. Hunter was obviously devastated over Lilith. Surely, when Darius inevitably comes forth as a traitor, the boy’s trust in others would become irreparable. 

“If you say so, Little Prince,” Darius simply responded, getting back to his work. He wasn’t going to keep trying to argue. He was never going to change the mind of a stubborn, brain-washed child.

Hunter gave him a strange look, though it only lasted for a second before he returned his focus to his work as well. After all, with the amount of work Lilith had left behind, even as it was divided between everyone, it was still a lot, especially on top of their own duties.

“You don’t happen to know if Belos had anyone in mind to take over Lilith’s position, perhaps?” Darius asked. Hunter was Emperor Belos’ right hand and closest confidante, after all. If anyone would know what the man was planning, it would be the Golden Guard. 

“No,” Hunter said, before thinking about it some more and continuing, “I mean, well, I guess he did say he had someone in mind but I don’t know who it is.”

“Interesting,” Darius said, internally cheering at the answer. He didn’t actually care who it was, as long as they would be appointed soon and Darius could let them handle all of the Emperor’s Coven work instead. He hated the one job he did have; he certainly did not want to keep doing two of them at once.

They continued their work in silence, though Hunter was obviously still thinking about Lilith, no words being written on to his paper- just that single, continuously darkening black line.

“We had a fight, right before she left,” Hunter suddenly said, voice quiet and unsure.

“You and Lilith? You saw her after…what happened?” Darius asked, shocked. He was sure Hunter would have wanted to avoid her at all costs.

Hunter sadly nodded, continuing to move his pen pack and forth on the page.

“I was really mad,” he said, though didn’t elaborate further on the argument they had. Darius could imagine there was a lot of yelling and tears, at least on Hunter’s side. The boy wouldn’t admit that, though.

Hunter didn’t get any more paperwork done. After a short while longer, he eventually gave up, packing up his things, throwing his mask back over his face, and leaving without even saying goodbye. The poor kid was taking this so hard. Darius only hoped he’d lighten up eventually. He wished Hunter’s life would suddenly get easier so he didn’t have to deal with things like this anymore.

Of course, Darius would not get his wish. Darius never gets what he wants.

The very next day, the Coven Heads, a group of the other castle residents, and a small squadron of scouts were called for an audience in the throne room. Belos sat on the throne as everyone filtered in, the Golden Guard stationed right beside him, as always.

“Thank you all for coming this evening. I have an important announcement to make,” Belos said once everyone had settled in and the room was quiet.

“I would like to inform you all that I have chosen a new Emperor’s Coven Head,” the Emperor continued.

Everyone stayed silent. It was common knowledge that no one should interrupt the Emperor for anything, even if they were excited or annoyed by an announcement. The Coven Heads, in particular, must all be happy for this to have happened so soon. All of them were tired of doing Lilith’s old work. Darius knew he was, at least. Now, that burden could finally be passed off to the unfortunate soul Belos had decided should handle it instead. Darius glanced around the room, wondering who it could possibly be. He truly felt sorry for them, whoever they were.

“From now on, all of you shall answer to your new superior,” Belos started, unnecessarily drawing this out. Darius just wanted him to say it and get it over with so things could go back to normal.

“My new Emperor’s Coven Head- the Golden Guard,” Belos finished.

And just like that, Darius’ excitement flooded out of him in a split second to be replaced by unadulterated dread.

Hunter jumped slightly, like he hadn’t been expecting the Emperor to say his name. Then, Darius realized with horror that he probably, actually hadn’t.  Hunter had never expressed interest in the position, and so he never even applied. Why would he? He was happy being the Golden Guard. Belos had chosen Hunter without his nephew even wanting him to and he didn’t even bother informing the child of the decision before he held this audience to announce it.

Belos dismissed everyone not too long after. It was clear no one was thrilled by this news. The other Coven Heads had been mocking and belittling the Golden Guard for years and now he was their superior.

Darius, in particular, was not happy about this but for different reasons, of course. Belos had not revealed his nephew as the Emperor’s Coven Head- just specifically the Golden Guard, still not revealing his identity and relieving him of his Golden Guard duties. Was the Emperor actually expecting the poor boy to fulfill both positions as once? Lilith’s work, by itself and split up amongst the other Heads had been a great amount of work. Now, Hunter was expected to do all of that, by himself, on top of his already busy schedule?

It was cruel. It was inhumane. What justifiable reason would the Emperor have for forcing his nephew to do all that other than to make Hunter’s life as miserable as possible? It was already bad enough before. 

Why wouldn’t he just choose someone else? Why wouldn’t he choose someone he could trust, someone with experience?

…

Oh.

The Emperor probably didn’t trust anyone else. Hunter had already proven his dedication many times throughout his life and as the Golden Guard. Furthermore, Hunter was already familiar with Coven Head duties, having been helping them for months now after being mentored by Lilith.

Did…did the Emperor know this would happen? Had he been secretly preparing Hunter to take over Lilith’s position all this time? Darius had always thought the amount of information Hunter was forced to learn, despite not having to do any of it if he was only simply helping, was far too much. However, if Belos had always wanted Hunter to be Coven Head eventually, it would make sense why he was so adamant about the child learning as much as possible.

Had the Emperor known Lilith would rebel? Or had he always been planning on replacing her anyway, the rebellion only a convenient reason for him to finally do so? Had he really been forcing Lilith to train her own replacement before she even knew she would be replaced?

This whole situation, no matter the true scenario, was completely messed up. Either way, Hunter should never have been given the position, even if he had wanted it. He was 16, for Titan’s sake. He should be going to school and making friends and learning about the world, not working two major positions in a corrupt government, especially at the same time. 

Darius wanted to check up on Hunter but he couldn’t find him after the audience let out. He waited for a few hours, thinking Belos just wanted to go over this news with him. However, after those few hours, Hunter was still missing. He went to his room at a late enough hour that he assumed he would be there. There was still no sign of him.

In fact, Darius did not see Hunter for another two days, each passing hour causing his worry to grow.

On the third day after the news was delivered, the rush of relief Darius felt when he saw the Golden Guard in the hallways was immeasurable. It was quickly replaced by confusion and hurt, however, when the Guard didn’t even acknowledge him, brushing past him as if he were an obstacle rather than a friendly face. Every time Darius tried to greet him, he was met with complete silence, ignored as if his friendly gestures meant nothing. Any offer to fit in sewing lessons on any given day was met with a swift and stern “no,” Hunter not even trying to give an excuse or be less blunt in his denial. Even if he was too busy, he could just say that.

Darius only hoped he was just bitter about the Emperor’s decision. He wouldn’t blame him if he were. He doubted it, though. Hunter had always expressed how grateful he was to Belos, no matter what the man did. Furthermore, the child had already admitted before that he would be happy to become a Coven Head should the Emperor wish for him to be, even if he had to continue being Golden Guard at the same time.

Still, Darius could hope, because what else could this sudden, strange animosity mean?

Chapter Text

Hunter was being, to put it nicely, an absolutely nightmarish, headache-inducing, overly annoying, Titan-sized pain in the…

Darius took a deep breath. He needed to calm down.

The Golden Guard had always been cocky- that much was true. However, now that the Golden Guard was the Emperor’s Coven Head, everyone’s superior save for the Emperor himself, the amount of cockiness Hunter demonstrated had been increased 10-fold. Everyone thought he was annoying before but it seemed as if he’d been holding back all this time and now that no one could snap at or make fun of him, to his face anyway, he was finally showing them all just how good they used to have it.

Darius was no exception.

Lilith had been anal about everyone getting their work done and Darius truly thought no one could be worse than her about it but he’d been proven wrong by that damn child. If Darius even so much as zoned out for just a second during a meeting or stilled his pen to think about his writing while doing paperwork, it was as if Hunter would materialize out of thin air in order to tell him to get back to work and pay attention. He’d seen Hunter do it to the other Heads and thought that perhaps the boy would go easy on him given their relationship, but Hunter was not choosing favorites. It was ironic, considering how often Hunter used to pop into his study and distract him while he tried to work.

Hunter even somehow got Eberwolf to do his paperwork- something the demon had always managed to get out of somehow. Truly, Hunter’s leadership was impressive in that regard but that didn’t mean it wasn’t entirely annoying.

It probably wasn’t entirely Hunter’s fault. He had been unexpectedly burdened with such an important position and Darius knew what failure meant for Hunter. It made sense why he was trying his absolute best to be the perfect Coven Head but that didn’t mean Darius didn’t want to groan in frustration every time Hunter scolded him for the most minor things. Darius did not work so hard in life just to be bossed around by a child.

Currently, Darius was writing a report. Darius had been writing that report non-stop for a little over an hour now. Darius’ pen had not stilled once in that entire hour, his focus fully on the paper spread out in front of him.

His pen ran out of ink and he stopped. Not even a second after, Darius internally screamed at the way the boy sitting across from him abruptly looked up, mask ominously glinting in the moonlight filtering in through the window, no doubt ready to tell him to get back to work.

“It’s out of ink. I need a new one,” Darius said before Hunter even had the chance.

Hunter, thank the Titan, did not say anything, accepting the excuse and re-burying his head into his own work.

“You know, you can take off your mask. We’re the only two in here,” Darius said. Now that all his attention wasn’t expected to be fully on his report, he could notice the way Hunter’s face was almost resting on the table as he wrote, probably struggling to see what he was writing through the thin face-slit on the Golden Guard mask.

“No,” Hunter simply said, not bothering to try and give a reason or converse any further.

Darius gave him an annoyed look since he couldn’t even see him right now, anyway, finally reaching into the desk drawer to grab a new pen and get back to work.

Hunter had been Coven Head for about two weeks now and it was like he became a completely different person in that span of time. He was far more irritable than usual and Darius was sure he hadn’t had a real conversation with him those entire two weeks. The only time they ever interacted was when Hunter was bossing him around. It was strange, given that before, Hunter would have taken any opportunity to spend time with Darius, even bothering him while he was working for mundane things. Now, Darius might as well be a stranger to the child. Hunter didn’t bother him with questions, or ramble about everything, or even stop by for sewing lessons anymore. It was like he wanted nothing to do with the man. According to Raine, he even stopped his music lessons and denied any more beast-keeping lessons from Eberwolf.

Furthermore, Darius had not seen Hunter without that stupid mask on since he became Coven Head. It didn’t make sense why he wouldn’t take it off when it was just Darius around.

“You’re not writing.”

Darius was, in fact, not writing. Titan forbid he stop for just a moment to think.

“The couple seconds I take to think between sentences isn’t a big deal,” Darius argued, far past the end of his rope with this kid.

“Those seconds add up,” Hunter said, the words escaping from his throat that was oh-so-very strangle-able, “Think about how much work you could get done if you continued non-stop.”

Darius had a headache before, but it was continuously growing with every word that came out of Hunter’s mouth.

“Little Prince…,” he started, trying to stay calm. He was quickly interrupted before he could say his peace, however.

“Don’t call me that. I’m your superior now. It’s disrespectful to give me pet names.”

‘Little Prince’ was probably the best thing he could expect Darius to call him right now because there were surely a lot of other, less nice names floating around Darius’ head right now.

Taking a deep breath, Darius responded, “…Hunter…,” and was interrupted again.

“Just ‘Golden Guard’ is fine.”

He said that like ‘Golden Guard’ was less formal than ‘Hunter,’ as if ‘Hunter’ was a title and he was implying Darius could be casual in calling him ‘Golden Guard’ instead.

“I’m not going to constantly call you ‘Golden Guard’ if I know your name,” Darius said, baffled by the suggestion, “It’s quite a mouthful.”

“I’m not asking you to. I’m ordering you to.”

Maybe Darius was in Hell. Maybe he had died and whatever deity was out there decided he needed to be punished, forcing him to take orders from an overly cocky little brat of a kid.

Darius dropped his pen and put his face in his hands. He couldn’t take this anymore.

“Darius?” Hunter asked and the concern hidden in his tone gave Darius just a spark of hope that Hunter was still in there somewhere. That was, until he continued.

“You can have a breakdown later. Get back to work.”

Darius stood up.

“I can’t do this anymore,” he announced, making his way to the door. He ignored the way Hunter called out to him, scolded him, ordered him to sit back down. He turned the knob and left. He would deal with the consequences later. If he stayed in that room for another second and had to listen to Hunter's gratingly annoying, overly confident, authoritative voice, he would probably explode.

Hunter had it out for him after that.

Extra paperwork that needed done? It was Darius’ job now. Jobs that were supposed to be rotating duties amongst the Coven Heads? Darius had ‘generously offered to take them up himself, forever,’ at least, according to the Golden Guard. Sitting in on the overly annoying and waste-of-time Coven Tryouts? Darius would do it.

It wasn’t until one of the scout commanders came up to him one day, thanking him for ‘ever so graciously offering to clean the communal restroom in their place’, that Darius finally decided he needed to confront his oppressor once and for all.

Finding the brat was half of the problem, though.

When Hunter wasn’t stalking the halls or working, he was rarely seen. It wasn’t all that surprising how good at hiding he was, given he had done it for all 16 years of his life. Still, this was a new challenge. Before, Darius could at least find Hunter in his room at the end of the night if he couldn’t find him the rest of the day, but even if Darius showed up at Hunter’s door at the most dreadful hours of the night, he was suspiciously not there.

Luckily, Darius knew someone who could find him.

Eberwolf was just as fed up with Hunter’s behavior, though, like Darius, still somewhat worried about him and what this new behavior meant. So, it took no convincing to get the demon to sniff him out.

The demon led Darius around the castle, passing through hallway after hallway, hot on the trail. Eventually, Eberwolf stopped on a small balcony, twirling around in circles, indicating that the trail ended there. It didn’t make sense, though. Hunter was not on that balcony.

Darius looked up. He might have an idea of where Hunter was, actually.

He thanked Eber and then promptly teleported himself onto the ramparts above them, landing carefully just inside the wall. He had been correct in his assumption, finding the Golden Guard kneeling with his head rested against the wall, staff carefully set down on the stone beside his knees. 

“Hunter,” Darius called out. There was no answer. Was he ignoring him?

“Golden Guard,” Darius tried again, annoyance growing at the idea that Hunter would only respond to that.

However, there was still no response.

Curiously, Darius made his way over to Hunter and looked him over, noticing the steady rise and fall of his back and the sound of his breath against the inside of his mask and realized that he was asleep.

What a strange place to rest. Perhaps he had just wondered here for some other reason and fell asleep? The way he was sitting, though, made it seem a bit purposeful.

Wrought with curiosity, Darius reached over and carefully removed his mask, trying not to wake him up, lifting it away from his face. The frown Darius wore only deepened at the sight he uncovered.

Despite currently being asleep, Hunter looked impossibly exhausted. The circles under his eyes were dark enough to rival the night sky. His brow was furrowed slightly, as if his sleep was plagued by bad thoughts.

There were also tears staining his cheeks.

The realization that he had probably come up here to cry and fell asleep while doing so was too much for Darius to handle. All of the harsh words he had in mind to say to him suddenly left his mind, too distraught to be angry anymore. He had to remember that above all, Hunter was a child who had no choice but to be perfect and anything less than perfect was met with punishment. He was a little kid, forced to do the job of two people, the heavy weight upon his shoulders far more than even any adult should have to bear.

Darius set the mask down to the side and sat next to Hunter with his back pressed against the wall. Hunter probably wouldn’t appreciate his presence but he couldn’t just leave him like this. Now more than ever, Hunter needed someone on his side, despite his best attempts to push everyone away.

Because that was what he was doing, wasn’t it- purposefully pushing everyone away? His friendships had already been distracting enough, no doubt causing him trouble as the Golden Guard whose only bond should be that to his Emperor. Now that he was Golden Guard and Coven Head, he probably thought those relationships would only waste his time. Why sew when he had to work on reports? Why practice music when he had to be in meetings? Why care about beast-keeping when he was supposed to care about running an entire Empire?

Hunter groaned, eyelids slowly opening as if there were weights attached to them. He blinked a few times to get his blurry vision to adjust, scowling when he was finally able to notice Darius sitting there next to him.

Without a word, Hunter leaned away from the wall and angrily snatched the mask off the ground, slapping it back over his face with a force that must have hurt.

“I should punish you for that,” Hunter said, trying hard to keep his voice steady but Darius could still hear the slight waver in it left over from his breakdown.

“What will you have me do? Dust every wall in the castle? Polish the other Coven Head’s shoes? Accompany menial scout missions?” Darius sarcastically asked. He was still a little bitter, after all.

“I’ll think of something you deserve, don’t worry,” Hunter said.

“And will punishing me make you feel better or will you continue to find yourself coming up here to sob into some brick?”

“I-I wasn’t crying!” Hunter lied. Darius simply gave him a disbelieving look and Hunter angrily turned away, fidgeting with his gloves while he tried to think of something else to say.

Taking pity on him, Darius said, “I understand you have a lot on your shoulders now, but this isn’t the way to handle it. I can help you, if you just let me.”

“No. I don’t need anyone else,” Hunter stubbornly responded, not even taking a second to think about Darius’ offer.

“Why are you so intent on pushing everyone away?” Darius asked. He just desperately wanted to understand. “I know you want to impress the Emperor but you’re practically killing yourself like this.”

With the ultimate misplaced confidence in the world, Hunter responded, “If I die doing good work at least my life would be worth something.”

Darius frowned at that. How was he even supposed to respond to such a disturbing statement coming from a 16 year old boy? Hunter thought his life was only meaningful if he could be useful to Belos, which wasn’t something Darius didn’t already know but hearing him say it out loud like that was like a punch to the face.

“Yes, I’m sure your uncle would be quite proud if you passed away from overexertion,” Darius said, only half-joking. Belos probably wouldn’t care, in all honesty, besides being a little annoyed he had to find a replacement.

The sarcastic comment was the wrong thing to say. Hunter abruptly stood up, grabbing his staff and looking down at Darius. Through the mask, Darius could just imagine the glare he was getting right now.

“What’d you know anyway!?” Hunter yelled, balling up his fist.

He groaned and brought his arm up, trembling like it had a mind of its own and he was trying to force it back down to his side. Losing the battle, the fist came up to hit against his head a few times.

Darius stood up as well, commanding a string of abomination goo to wrap around Hunter’s wrist and pull his hand away from his head.

“Let go!” Hunter screamed, trying to rip his hand away.

“You need to calm down,” Darius tried, unrelenting. He couldn’t just sit there and let him hurt himself.

“I don’t need to do anything! You can’t tell me what to do! I’m your superior and you can’t keep treating me like this!” Hunter said, continuing to trash around.

“Hunter…,” Darius started. He was interrupted far too quickly, however.

“Stop calling me that! Hunter’s dead! I don’t have time to be some stupid little helpless kid! I’m just the Golden Guard now!”

Darius let go.

Well, at least the kid wasn’t struggling with his identity anymore.

Darius recovered from his shock at the declaration, taking a deep breath.

“You can’t just be the Golden Guard. There’s still a boy behind that mask,” Darius tried.

“There’s only a ghost,” the Golden Guard responded.

Without another word, the Guard left in a quick flash of red, disappearing from in front of Darius’ eyes.

Darius supposed this development wasn’t all that surprising, but that didn’t make it any less distressing. Hunter had always struggled managing those two sides of himself but it appeared he finally made a choice, giving up one to embrace the other. Darius may believe there’s still someone occupying that dreadful golden visage but to Hunter, there wasn’t. The Golden Guard was just a shell, occupied by the ghost of someone the boy had killed off the second he no longer found him useful.

In that way, Darius understood why Hunter would no longer associated with anyone else. ‘Hunter’ had friends. The Golden Guard didn’t. The Golden Guard’s only purpose was to obey his Emperor, not to have connections or a personal life outside his work. There was that uncanny idea that everyone should separate work and personal life but Hunter was taking that far too seriously for an occupant of the castle in which the two were always unavoidably intertwining at every angle.

Hopefully this wouldn’t last forever. It’s not like Darius wanted Hunter to get burned out, but it was inevitable if he kept going like this. Darius had to hope that at some point, Hunter would give up and accept help. Maybe then, he could work on opening up those floodgates to get Hunter to recognize that he wasn’t just a mask again.

Teleporting off the ramparts, Darius went to get some more work done. He wondered what Hunter’s punishment for him would be this time after he’d taken off his mask, embarrassed him, and then upset him so greatly. He wouldn’t be surprised if Hunter had him cleaning every communal bathroom for the next month- and that was if he got lucky.

But Hunter didn’t do anything.

Despite having been so angry with Darius, days went by with no retribution for their little argument on those ramparts. Hunter went about business as usual, never once acknowledging that night. Was it possible he was so embarrassed he wanted to just forget it completely? Or perhaps there was some little part of him that held some doubt about his newfound position and what he thought it meant for him?

Darius wondered about all this as he and the other Coven Heads stood in the throne room for yet another briefing on the Day of Unity as it quickly approached. The Golden Guard, ever unchanging, stood stoically by the Emperor’s side, never saying a word despite also being a Coven Head. It appeared Belos still favored his nephew being nothing more than an accessory despite having given him such an important other role.

The meeting was boring. It always was. Luckily, Hunter couldn’t say anything if Darius lost focus, mind wandering as he listened to the Emperor drone on about plans they were all already aware of.

Darius could just continue to pester Hunter just like the kid did to him nearly two years ago. At some point, maybe Hunter would give in and just allow the friendly gestures instead of pushing them off like some sort of emotionless doll. As much as he wanted to act like he didn’t care about niceties and comforting interactions, Darius knew him far too well at this point to just believe he suddenly had no interest in not being a lonely, depressed husk of a boy. Hunter knew kindness now. There was no way he could just go back to his old lifestyle of living in the shadows with pure ease.

So, Darius made a decision. No matter what Hunter did to him, no matter how hard or long the process would be, Darius would get him to admit he didn’t want to be alone.

That was, if Darius ever got the chance.

As the Emperor continued to talk, Darius’ attention was suddenly pulled away to the boy at the man’s side as he suddenly stumbled a bit, quickly catching himself and standing up straight again. He couldn’t stay still anymore, though, continuously swaying as he tried to keep his feet firm on the floor.

This went on for a concerning few seconds until Hunter finally lost whatever battle he’d been having with himself and interrupted the Emperor’s speech by falling forwards, mask banging harshly against the tile as he made contact with the floor before rolling down the platform steps and landing in a twisted heap at the bottom.

Darius had only been exaggerating when he told Hunter he would die of overexertion, but the universe just really liked making a joke of him, it seemed.

Chapter Text

Hunter was sick.

It’s not like it was the first time he’s ever been ill, but this was different. This wasn’t just the common mold or some other mundane illness that he was sure to get over within a week. It wasn’t all that surprising, given that Hunter barely slept anymore and judging by the way his ribs were poking through his shirt, he probably hadn’t stopped to eat much either since becoming Coven Head. He had overexerted himself to the point he had to be bedridden, unable to move and barely able to even talk as he lay helpless in a swathe of blankets that served no other purpose than to exacerbate his fever. Darius kept pulling the blankets off him, but whatever idiot assistant Belos had assigned to watch over him kept covering him back up.

That was another thing: despite being deathly ill, Belos still would not let any actual healers tend to his sick nephew. He had just assigned some random scout to occasionally bring Hunter food he couldn’t eat and cups of water he didn’t have the energy to raise to his lips. It’s like Belos still expected Hunter to take care of himself even though it would be a miraculous feat if he even survived another night in this condition.

That was why, even though it might get him in trouble, Darius made sure to spend as much time as he possibly could inside Hunter’s dingy little bedroom, taking care of him to the best of his ability in the hope that it would keep him from keeling over when no one was looking. At least if Hunter died, he wouldn’t have to continue rotting away in his bed for days before anyone even noticed.

Hunter hadn’t woken up much in the two days since he’d collapsed but Darius was grateful every single time he watched him groggily open his eyes to the world. He never stayed awake for very long, but Darius hoped it was long enough for him to understand that he wasn’t alone in this- that Darius was there to help him through it. 

During those waking moments, Darius would desperately try to get the kid to drink some water. So far he’d had about a 50% success rate. He wouldn’t even try getting him to eat just yet if he couldn’t even swallow water half the time. Hopefully, they could work up to that very soon.

The only time Darius ever left that room was when he had to attend meetings or take care of work that he couldn’t bring with him and work on at Hunter’s bedside. Everything else, every measly little report that needed filled out, every document that needed signing, every leisure activity Darius liked to indulge in such as reading or Penstagram was always done with half his attention constantly centered on the child in the bed beside where Darius had decided to take root for the time being.

Two more days passed and Hunter had still not made any improvements- his breath growing ever increasingly raspy and shallow. Hunter was used to fighting off illnesses on his own but perhaps this was something that required the assistance of a healer. If that were the case, then there was truly no hope. Darius had to try, though. He couldn’t just sit there and watch him wither away to nothing.

So, Darius did what he had to- something so reckless and stupid that the Darius from two years ago might as well travel to the future just to slap him for being so soft.

Darius requested an audience with the Emperor.

Walking into that throne room was ten times more nerve wracking than usual when Darius thought about the reason why he was there and what Belos might think of it. This was Hunter’s only chance, though. If Belos didn’t allow a healer to tend to him soon, Hunter likely wouldn’t make it.

“Darius, you’ve requested to speak with me?” Belos said as Darius made it to the platform and bowed.

“Yes, My Lord,” Darius confirmed, trying to keep his voice from shaking. Belos would not pity his emotions one bit but he would think him weak for expressing them here.

“It must be very important, then,” Belos urged, waiting.

Darius took a deep breath and spent only a second composing himself before he got his damning question over with.

“Your nephew is deathly ill. I am requesting that you allow him to see a healer, otherwise, I fear the worst.”

“And you know this from all your time spent at his bedside, I presume?” Belos asked.

Darius did not startle. He was not surprised in the least that Belos knew where he’d been the past few days. After all, his sudden absence from around the rest of the castle was sure to cause some talk.

So, Darius simply answered, “Yes.”

Belos hummed, leaning back into his throne a little while he thought. Darius hoped he was actually considering the request but was thoroughly disappointed when Belos spoke up again.

“I must ask- what is your relationship with my nephew,” Belos asked, a hint of amusement in his voice, “What does he mean to you?”

In retrospect, maybe Darius should have figured that out before he stepped into that throne room. Then, perhaps he wouldn’t have had to hesitate for a second before answering, probably furthering Belos’ amusement with his uncertainty.

“He is…I would consider myself a mentor if his- of sorts,” Darius fumbled.

The Emperor chuckled, the sound only worsening Darius’ nerves.

“How interesting,” Belos said, resting his head on the palm of his hand, “You must really care about him to ask such a request.”

“I just…feel it would be best for him to be taken care of. After all, this is an illness I’m sure a healer would have no trouble helping him through.”

It was a slip up that Darius prayed Belos wouldn’t catch. He hadn’t meant to basically accuse the Emperor of carelessness, but he was just so fed up with the man’s entirely stupid and pointless rule of not allowing healers anywhere near that boy. Belos should feel ashamed if his nephew died from an entirely curable disease but he wouldn’t and he definitely wouldn’t appreciate anyone suggesting he was wrong in his decision- even if he was.

Belos sighed, clearly bored of this interaction but otherwise made no indication that he noticed or cared about the veiled accusation. 

“It must have taken a lot of courage for you to request this audience but I appreciate your concern over your superior. Truly, you are a model Coven Head,” Belos said. Darius didn’t care for the praise. That wasn’t what he was here for.

“Thank you, sir. It is my honor to uphold my duty,” Darius replied, impatient, “Hunter is perhaps the perfect Coven Head, however. It would be a shame to lose such a powerful leader.”

“Yes, indeed it would be,” Belos simply said. Darius was unable to pick up any kind of emotion, positive or negative, in the Emperor’s tone.

Darius could not press but he really needed Belos to grant his permission. The sooner that child could see a healer- the better.

In the usual fashion, Darius would not get what he wanted.

“I stand by my decision. No healers are permitted near the boy,” Belos said, not giving the request any thought at all and waving his hand in dismissal.

Darius’ heart dropped and so he simply nodded in acknowledgement and turned and left, fighting down his overwhelming urge to attack the Emperor then and there and force him to change his mind. It wouldn’t work anyway.

Darius went back to Hunter’s room, angrily kicking aside the food tray that had been carelessly left in front of the door. Even if Hunter could eat, he didn’t have the energy to get out of bed and take a tray in. To anyone who looked at the poor kid for more than two seconds, that much would be obvious.

He took a moment to calm down before he went in, carefully creaking open the door to the familiar sight of an unconscious boy lying in the bed. If Darius looked closely, he could practically see the cold, iron grip of Death’s putrid claws wrapping themselves around the child’s form.

He took his usual spot in the chair he’d placed beside the bed, once again having to pull the blankets off of Hunter. If the illness didn’t take him, then surely he would end up dying from drowning in a puddle of his own sweat.

Darius stared angrily, frustrated, at the blankets in his grip before in a fit of rage, he transfigured his arm into a scythe and began to slice through the feeble fabric with no mercy. The scouts would surely have trouble covering Hunter up with scattered fragments of what was no longer recognizably a blanket. Darius could just get him a new one once he was feeling better.

If he ever got better.

Darius’ anger drained out of him in an instant as he took in the sight of the boy on the bed and remembered that he might not have much longer. It had been days and he had not improved in the slightest. In fact, he’d only gotten worse. His breathing was increasingly labored and his bouts of wakefulness were gradually getting shorter and shorter. Soon enough, they may just disappear completely.

Every time Hunter fell back asleep, Darius would be consumed with worry, wondering if he’d ever wake up again. It was a constant cycle of grievous concern and relief, mixed in with righteous anger at the bastard who unforgivably continued to force this suffering.

What was so bad about Hunter seeing a healer? Surely, it couldn’t be a punishment for something since it had been a constant rule his entire life. Perhaps Belos found the use of healers a sign of weakness? Hunter was on the brink of death though. Surely, even Belos wouldn’t just let him die unnecessarily just so he didn’t look weak. It’s not like anyone even had to know a healer was involved. It’s not as if the Emperor of the Boiling Isles didn’t have the means to get him healed in secret.

Then, Darius had an epiphany. The Emperor may have the means to do that, but so would a Coven Head. It would be a lot shadier than if the Emperor had done it, but it was perhaps the only chance Hunter had left.

If Darius was caught, however, it would surely mean his life would be over- quite literally. He could very well imagine Belos killing him for going behind his back in such a way after he’d explicitly been given orders against this. Furthermore, it would mean the rebellion would falter without its leader, melting away and sprinkling soot in the hopes of overthrowing the Empire.

Darius took another look at Hunter, reaching over and brushing a stray hair out of his forehead and suddenly, Darius felt that strange feeling again as if the world around him didn’t exist outside that little room. He imagined that room, bed empty, its owner long since forgotten to all but one man and Darius realized he had to do this.

The rebellion had a chance of surviving without him should Eberwolf take the lead. Hunter, however, did not. Darius’ world without that child sounded bleak, as if the second he was gone it would be zapped of all color and there would be nothing left of Darius but a shell of a man with a hollowed out heart. Hunter had a whole life ahead of him; a deserved life where he was happy, free of all burden, surrounded by friends and family who would never even dream of hurting him. He never got to experience that but he deserved the chance. If he died now, he would never know what a life like that could feel like.

Making his decision and steeling his resolve, Darius carefully picked Hunter up, cradling him, and promptly gathered up as much energy as he possibly could to teleport them to a storage closet near the main gates of the castle.

He peeked outside the door, on the lookout for any scouts. When the coast seemed clear, he stepped out of the closet and hurriedly made his way to the entrance. If he could at least get closer to the gates, he could teleport them again to just outside the castle.

A scout turned the corner and Darius quickly pressed himself up against the wall behind a pillar. He thought about just teleporting past the scout but he needed to preserve his energy somehow. The teleport out of the castle would be exhausting enough and then he had to carry Hunter all the way into town right after.

The footsteps were growing closer. In just a few seconds, the scout would come upon him and he’d be found out. He gripped Hunter closer, as if it could somehow protect him, wondering if he’d be caught before he could even get him to a healer.

The footsteps stopped and were replaced by frantic screams. Darius startled and took a risk, peeking around the pillar to see what was going on.

There were fire-beetles surrounding the scout’s feet, though not really making any attempt to crawl on them. Still, the scout was terrified, jumping around and hysterically yelling. The beetles then conveniently parted to allow the scout to pass them and without wasting a second, they ran off to get away from the creepy little bugs.

Darius looked up at the demon across the hall, peeking out from a further pillar, cackling at the scout’s retreating form. When he was done laughing, Eberwolf crawled out from behind the pillar and gave Darius a quick thumbs-up.

When and if he ever made it back to the castle, Darius was going to give that demon the most soul-crushing hug he’d ever given anyone in his life.

With a nod of thanks, Darius continued his path to the gates, Eberwolf trailing beside him and sniffing out any oncoming scouts so that they could avoid them. When they finally made it, Darius breathed a sigh of relief and wasted no time teleporting outside, far enough away that he prayed any surveying scouts wouldn’t spot him.

A beast was waiting for him and the saddle that was already strapped onto it made Darius’ heart jump in joy.

Maybe Eber deserved a kiss as well.

Carefully bringing himself onto the beast without letting go of Hunter was difficult, but he managed. He set Hunter to sit in front of him, leaning against his chest and held there with a strap of abomination goo. When he was sure Hunter was secure, Darius took hold of the reigns and made his way passing by Latissa, through a small forest, and eventually into Bonesborough where the night venders were already set up under the cover of darkness.

Unmounting and picking up Hunter again, Darius walked into the town. He was careful to keep to the shadows. If anyone saw him there and word got around, it would only mean bad news back for him at the castle. Eventually, after some desperate searching, Darius found what he was looking for.

Wild magic was highly forbidden. Any adult witch who did not brandish a Coven Sigil was a criminal, highly wanted by the Empire. Darius was very familiar with many of the more prominent ones, having read report after report of their continued actions against the State. The one he was particularly interested in that night was a wild witch specializing in healing magic. They say because she has no limitation, she can draw from knowledge of other magic besides healing to aid in her efforts, making her one of the best healers on the Isles for any type of living creature.

Standing in front of her door, an innocuous wooden contraption hidden in the shadows of a shady alley, Darius knocked, not feeling nervous in the slightest- at least not for him.

The door opened slightly, just enough for someone to peek an eye out at their intruder. At the sight of a Coven Head on their doorstep, however, the door was quickly shut and Darius could hear the sounds of various locks being put into place.

With an annoyed furrow of his brow, Darius quickly and effortlessly used his magic to take the door off its hinges and throw it aside. He didn’t have time to be nice.

The woman inside yelped in fear and put up her hands, ready to draw spell circles to defend herself. Unfortunately for her, Darius was well aware that she spent far too much time learning healing that she never really got into the combat side of magic, so he would not be intimidated.

Still, he needed her help so he had to try to be less intimidating as well.

“I’m not here to arrest you,” he quickly said, slightly lifting Hunter towards her in emphasis, “I need your help.”

“Why should I believe you?” she asked.

“I’m already here and I’ve already found you. If I just wanted to capture you, why would I need to make up a story?” he pointed out.

She looked at him warily, still obviously not believing him.

He sighed.

“This boy is sick. Just take a look at him and it’s clear he needs to be healed.”

The woman continued eyeing him for a moment before her gazed dropped to the child in his arms. Finally, much to Darius’ relief, she relented, putting her hands down and motioning him over to a table in her kitchen.

The table was covered with various ingredients and cookware. She had probably been cooking when Darius interrupted her. With a swift motion of her finger, the table was magically cleared away.

“Lay him up here,” she ordered.

Darius carefully laid Hunter out on the table and the witch immediately started looking him over, hovering her glowing hands over him to try and figure out the problem.

“Oh my, he’s very sick,” she exclaimed, still examining him.

“Can you heal him?” Darius asked, impatient. He knew he had to let her work but he just really wanted Hunter to get better.

“Yes. I believe I’ve dealt with something similar,” the witched reassured, casting a new spell circle and hovering it over Hunter’s chest. Darius would assume that was her healing process.

After a few tense moments, the witch’s face formed a quizzical expression and her hand dropped back to her side. She simply stared at Hunter in confusion, not bothering to continue the healing process.

“Well?” Darius questioned, concerned by her shocked stupor.

“My magic is not working,” she simply said, still staring at Hunter in confusion.

“What do you mean ‘not working’?” Darius asked, tone growing just a little too angry, “You’re supposed to be the best healer in the Isles. You said you’ve dealt with this before.”

“I have!” she defended, deciding to try the spell again. Her confused demeanor only grew with every second the spell didn’t do anything.

Darius was fed up. She had to be messing with him. If this was some way to get back at him just for being a Coven Head and a lapdog to the Empire she despised, it was very cruel considering a child’s life was at stake here.

“Heal him,” Darius ordered, ready to snap in frustration.

“I can’t!”

“Why!?”

“I don’t know!”

The cry was earnest and Darius realized she wasn’t lying. He let his anger calm down to be replaced with new dread that all this had been for nought. Hunter was going to die.

Darius turned his gaze back to Hunter, taking his hand and gently holding it between his. The witch looked at him pitifully over the action, clearly distraught she couldn’t help.

“I…I can try something, but it’s experimental and risky,” she decided to say, pulling Darius’ attention back to her.

“Anything,” Darius assured.

She nodded and started rummaging in her cabinets, pulling out a large bottle of bright green elixir, handing it to Darius.

“It’s a potion I’ve been tinkering with to heal the stray beasties I find outside sometimes. The main ingredient is a substance that Stonesleepers used to drink to clear rock dust from their lungs, among other things,” she explained.

Darius inspected the bottle, suddenly unsure.

“If this is meant to heal beasts, why would it work on a witch?” he asked.

The witch just shrugged, taking another sorrowful glance at the boy on the table. She did seem thoroughly distraught that she couldn’t help him.

“Normal healing magic doesn’t work on him, so maybe he just needs some more unconventional methods to help him get better,” she said.

It was clear this was all she could do and so, after giving it a few more moments of thought, Darius hesitantly agreed to try this. Hunter would likely die if he just did nothing and this woman knew far more about healing than Darius did, so he just had to hope her idea worked.

He lifted Hunter up enough so she could bring the bottle to his lips, Darius tilting his head back so the liquid would slide down his throat. Hunter spluttered and coughed a few times but otherwise did not wake up.

Darius laid him back down and he and the witch continued to watch him for any signs that the potion worked. Minutes passed, each tick of the clock a resonating pounding sound inside Darius’ skull as he prayed for the universe to be kind to him for once- to spare Hunter.

Nothing happened. After a few minutes, the witch glanced away sadly, looking like she wanted to cry.

“I’m so sorry,” she said, voice quiet and hesitant, “I wish I could have saved your son.”

Darius continued to stare at Hunter, still hanging onto a thread of hope that something would change. He was far too busy worrying over Hunter to care about correcting some random wild witch’s idea of their relationship.

When still nothing happened, Darius rested his forehead on the table and forced himself not to cry. He was a failure. He had promised himself that Hunter would see a future free of Belos and that castle and yet here he was, about to say goodbye to a child who would be taken from this world far too early.

He continued to lay there, listening to the ragged breaths that escaped Hunter’s mouth, cursing the Titan for allowing this to happen. Hunter never deserved this. His life had been one entire cruel joke and now that joke was coming to an abrupt end. When Hunter took his last, raspy breath, Darius would stop caring. He would march back into that castle, straight into the throne room, and kill Belos himself, making it as long and painful as possible. It would do nothing to balance the pain he’d caused Hunter, but at least it would be some kind of retribution.

When Hunter took his last shallow breath, Darius would wallow in his self-pity, cursing himself for ever allowing himself to foolishly grow close to someone again, knowing it always hurt him in the end.

When Hunter took his last, even breath, Darius would…

His last…even breath?

Darius picked his head up, carefully looking at Hunter. His ears had not deceived him, leaning in a little closer and not picking up anymore ragged and shaky breaths escaping Hunter’s lips. Glancing at the rise and fall of his chest, it was steady and unlabored and the flush that had been adorning his face for days had retreated slightly.

When Hunter slowly opened his eyes and glanced up at Darius, the glazed look that had been present during his normal waking moments suddenly absent, Darius finally stopped holding back his tears.

“Hi,” Hunter weakly said, smiling a little.

“Hi,” Darius laughed, tears streaming down his face.

Without another moment to spare, Darius quickly pulled the boy into a hug, never wanting to let go ever again, joy and relief only rising insurmountably when Hunter lifted his own arms to wrap around Darius with a grip that no deathly ill child would have been able to achieve.

Chapter Text

Darius could thank the Titan for how well Hunter seemed to be doing now.

He wasn’t completely better yet but compared to the past few days, the kid was doing alright. He was able to stay awake for longer and his breathing was perfectly even. He was on the road to making a full recovery- a miracle in light of the fact that he was so close to death before.

As thanks for her help, the most recent report on the healer’s whereabout had ‘mysteriously gone missing.’ Darius only wished he’d been able to stick around long enough to deliberate with her about why the potion worked in the first place but regular healing did not. Unfortunately, as soon as Hunter woke up, Darius knew he had to get back to the castle as soon as possible before the scout who checked up on Hunter stopped by his room and noticed he was missing.

The Emperor, very graciously, gave Hunter one more free day of rest as soon as he was informed the child was no longer on his deathbed. Tomorrow, Hunter would be expected back to work as normal- as if he wasn’t still weak and needed more time to make a full recovery. As expected, Hunter saw no problem with Belos’ decision. In fact, Hunter was even getting a jump start on his work, sitting on his bed and doing paperwork instead of spending his resting day actually resting.

“Will you put that away,” Darius scolded, carrying the tray of food that sat in front of Hunter’s door inside as he entered the room.

“I’m five days behind. I can’t waste another minute,” Hunter argued, continuing to scribble.

“Working too hard is what compromised your immune system in the first place. Do you not learn anything?” Darius asked, setting the tray on Hunter’s nightstand.

“No, not eating enough is what got me sick,” Hunter stubbornly continued to argue, grabbing the bread off the tray and taking a small bite, not breaking his concentration for a second to do so, “But look- I’m eating! Problem solved.”

Honestly, it was a wonder the kid has survived this long.

“Hunter, you need rest,” Darius said, sitting down on the edge of the bed and practically pleading with him to stop working. He didn’t know if his heart could take doing this again.

“I need to catch up on these reports.”

“Child, put the paperwork away before I force you to.”

“Are you threatening your superior!? That’s blasphemy!”

Darius put a hand over his eyes and took a deep breath. Maybe he had been expecting Hunter to be such a pain about this but there had always been that slight hope going into it that he would actually want to listen for once.

“How about we make a deal,” Darius decided to try, praying the boy would be open to a compromise at least, “For every 30 minutes you work, you rest for another 30.”

“That sounds stupid. What if I’m in the middle of something?”

“Hunter, I did not risk everything taking you to a healer just so you could throw away your second chance at life by being an idiot,” Darius said, possibly a little too bitterly.

Hunter glanced away sheepishly at the reminder. He had not been happy in the slightest upon realizing that Darius had not only disobeyed the Emperor, but also asked for help from a wild witch. He’d been angry with him, feeling betrayed. Hunter probably would have rather died than gone against Belos’ wishes.

Darius thought for sure Hunter would rat him out the second they got back to the castle but surprisingly, he didn’t. He just let Darius sneak in with him in his arms, bring him back to his room, and take care of him for the past day without saying a single word to anyone about why he miraculously got better.

It could be that Hunter thought he might get in trouble as well. He wasn’t allowed to see healers and though he had no choice in the matter, it wasn’t unreasonable to think Belos would still want to punish him for it anyway. There was also the slim chance that deep down, Hunter appreciated what Darius had done for him. Despite his constant insistence on his willingness to die should it be called for, Darius had to believe that Hunter didn’t actually want to die. There was no way the idea didn’t even frighten him a little.

Hunter bit his lip, considering Darius’ statement. Finally, much to Darius’ relief, he relented.

“Fine. I’ll…stop working for a little bit…,” he said, hesitantly gathering up his paperwork and setting it aside like it physically pained him to do so.

“Thank you,” Darius earnestly said, picking Hunter’s food tray up and setting it in front of him on the bed, “Now, eat.”

Hunter reached out towards the food tray but stopped in confusion when he finally took a good look at it for the first time.

“These aren’t scout rations,” he observed.

“I highly doubt it would be easy to get better on scout rations,” Darius explained, motioning for Hunter to eat.

“But how did you get this?”

“I’m a Coven Head, Hunter. You still need to learn all the perks, it seems.”

Hunter gave him one last strange look before he finally accepted the excuse and resumed eating.

Darius would never tell Hunter this, but that kind of perk didn’t exist. Not for Hunter, anyway. Despite the other Heads having the luxury of quality food delivered to their rooms every day, he was still forced to survive on limited scout rations, the taste of which was abhorrent and not suitable for any beast, let alone witch.

The scouts still brought him the same food even now, despite him being sick and needing more than what those meals have to offer. So, Darius did something he’d never imagined he’d do. He’d decided for the next few days, whenever he stopped by Hunter’s room, he would switch out the tray of food with his own so Hunter could have some decent food for once.

Should Darius ask for extra rations for himself, he would be able to get them. It would look suspicious, however. Darius would not eat scout rations, though, so for the next few days he figured he could survive on whatever food he could find in the markets, as inconvenient as it was to look around for quality ingredients and not the normal garbage vendors typically sell.

“This stuff is pretty good,” Hunter said through a mouthful, “You eat like this every day?”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full. And yes. This is the kind of food that the Coven Heads are provided,” Darius answered.

Still talking with his mouth full, Hunter corrected, “Most Coven Heads.”

“Yes, most Coven Heads,” Darius said. Yet another unfair and strange rule of Belos’ for Hunter.

When Hunter finished eating, Darius moved the tray back to the door for the scout to take when they returned. Then, he pulled out the first aid kit he’d moved to Hunter’s room for the time being to take out a thermometer.

“Open wide, Little Prince,” Darius ordered, shoving the stick towards Hunter’s mouth.

“I don’t need you to take care of me, you know? I’m feeling a lot better,” Hunter stubbornly said, crossing his arms.

“And who do you have to thank for that?”

Hunter didn’t answer but the glare he gave Darius made the man chuckle a little. The boy was indebted to him whether he liked it or not.

Hunter finally opened his mouth and let Darius put the thermometer in. When it was done, Hunter opened his mouth and let it fall out onto the bed before Darius could even reach for it. He wasn’t going to make everything that easy, after all.

Picking it up, Darius looked over the reading.

“Your fever has gone down quite a bit. You’re still a little warm, though,” he informed.

“I feel fine,” Hunter insisted.

He was lying. Darius knew he was. Hunter probably knew Darius knew he was. It didn’t stop him from being stubborn, though.

“Yes, I’m sure,” Darius sarcastically replied, forming a spell circle and transporting a pain potion from his chambers into his hand and handing it to Hunter, “But it wouldn’t hurt to be a little cautious until you’re completely better.”

Wordlessly, though reluctantly like he was still debating whether he wanted to keep acting tough or to get better, Hunter took the pain potion and uncorked it, slowly taking sips of it, his desire to not feel terrible winning over in the end.

“Why did you save me?” Hunter suddenly asked, staring down at the pain potion with an intensity that made it clear he wasn’t really seeing it- his mind wandering off far from that little room.

It was a fair question and one Darius was surprised took him this long to ask about. He wished the answer would be obvious, though.

“Because I don’t want you to die,” Darius simply answered.

“But what you did was really stupid. I’m not worth losing your job over,” Hunter said.

Taking the empty bottle from Hunter’s hands when he was finished and transporting it away, Darius gave him a hard look, frowning a little at the suggestion.

“I promise you are far more than worth it, Hunter,” he said.

“But we aren’t friends anymore. I’m just your boss now. You’re not supposed to care about me.”

“Child, feelings don’t just go away like that. You can be the hardest, most insufferable superior in the Boiling Isles but it’s not going to make me forget how much I care,” Darius said.

Reaching over, he gently flicked Hunter’s hair strand in teasing, smiling a little as he continued, “Especially when I know you still care, too.”

“I don’t,” Hunter said, looking away a little.

“You are still such a terrible liar, you know?”

Thankfully, Hunter huffed but didn’t continue to argue, deciding to change the subject instead.

“Does this count as rest? I wanna finish the report I was on.”

“If it does, it’s only been 10 minutes,” Darius said.

“What!? But it feels like it’s been forever! I have too much to do to just sit here and do nothing!” Hunter complained.

“I promise it won’t kill you to forget about work for a short while,” Darius assured.

Hunter huffed again and crossed his arms, eyeing his paperwork in eagerness but thankfully behaving and not reaching out for it. Technically, Hunter could do whatever he wanted. Darius wasn’t his superior anymore so it’s not like any of his orders had to be taken seriously. Darius wasn’t going to remind Hunter of that, though. Maybe Hunter conveniently forgot about that fact because deep down, he liked being taken care of.

“Hey, Darius?”

“Yes?”

“Do you have a family?”

It was such a random question, it caught Darius off guard for a moment. What could have even prompted such a question in the first place?

“Yes, technically. I don’t really speak with them, anymore,” he answered.

“Why?”

“Sometimes when you grow up, you just become distant from those you once knew,” Darius simply explained. He didn’t really want to go into detail about that part of his life.

Hunter considered the answer for a moment, turning it around in his head like he was trying to understand it.

“Isn’t that lonely?” he asked.

“A bit, I suppose. After a while, you become numb to it.”

Hunter frowned, clearly displeased with Darius’ lack of care over the situation. He supposed for a child whose entire world was his family, it could be a hard concept to grasp that everyone else wasn’t like that as well.

“Did you ever think of starting a new family?” Hunter asked.

“You mean like, get married and have kids and such?” Darius asked.

Hunter nodded.

“Hm,” Darius thought, trying to think of how to word it. In reality, he didn’t have much of an idea of why. He just never did.

Deciding how to respond, Darius continued, “I never really wanted kids and I suppose I was just too busy with work to really think about marriage.”

“You didn’t want kids?”

“I didn’t before, though recently I’ve been thinking I might want one or two eventually.”

“What changed your mind?”

Darius looked at Hunter for a moment, wondering what to say again. He wasn’t about to admit that taking care of Hunter was what got him interested in being a father one day. The thought of saying that out loud was thoroughly embarrassing and he didn’t want Hunter to get the wrong idea.

“I…saw some families together in town a while back. They seemed happy. I thought perhaps that would be nice…to have…,” Darius lied.

Luckily, not only was Hunter bad at lying, he was also terrible at recognizing when other people were too.

“Oh, okay,” he simply responded, fiddling with his blanket a little. Then, in a slightly quieter voice, he continued, “I think you’d be a good dad.”

The way Darius’ heart leapt in joy at the statement was embarrassing. He really was getting too soft these days.

“Thank you. If I ever do have kids, I hope you’re right.”

Hunter’s fingers stilled for a moment on the blanket and he frowned a little at that, though it only lasted a split second and Darius was lucky to have caught the reaction in the first place. It was so quick, he wondered if Hunter had even been aware he did it, let alone know what the reaction was even about.

A short bout of silence passed between them. It was about time for Hunter to get back to work, his thirty minutes nearly up. It seemed he had completely forgotten about his paperwork, however, his mind lost in thought about things Darius could only guess might be rolling around in his head. 

He debated whether he should remind Hunter he could get back to work or not but ultimately decided it would be unfair if he didn’t since he was the one who suggested the compromise in the first place.

“Your thirty minutes is up,” Darius said, pulling Hunter out of his thoughts, “You can get back to work if you wish and I’ll leave so you can focus.”

Hunter glanced over at the paperwork on his nightstand for a moment, clearly considering it. The fact he was just considering it and not immediately shoving his head back into his reports was confusing, however.

Glancing away and back up to Darius, Hunter’s fiddling with the blanket intensified as he hesitantly asked his next question.

“Actually…Can you stay? I don’t want to be alone,” he shyly admitted.

Darius smiled and nodded, overjoyed at the request. If he never had to work and Hunter wanted him there, he would be thoroughly willing to stay at his bedside every moment of the day until he got better.

“Do you want me to get you anything first? More water? Another pillow?” Darius offered.

It was clear Hunter wanted something, perking up slightly at the offer, though he was very reluctant to say it, face turning red in embarrassment at the idea of asking whatever it was. Darius was curious as to what he could possibly want that he was that embarrassed to ask about.

“Hunter, if you want something, I’m happy to help out,” Darius assured, silently urging Hunter to say what he wanted, “Within reason, of course,” he added on.

“It’s…stupid,” Hunter said.

“I’m sure it can’t be that bad,” Darius responded.

“Just forget it. I’m fine. I don’t need anything.”

“Little Prince, just tell me what it is you want.”

Hunter refused to look at Darius, opening and closing his mouth a few times as he struggled to get the words out. Darius just sat there at the edge of the bed, patiently waiting for him to continue.
 
“I…um…,” Hunter started, face impossibly red. The fact that he was even still considering asking his question despite how embarrassed it was making him was a miracle.

Finally, Hunter managed to squeak out the words, the question not nearly as bad as Darius had been expecting it to be based on the hesitance.

“Can you…um…uh…Can you do that thing where you wrap your arms around me? It was…nice.”

He cautiously flicked his eyes towards Darius at the end, possibly looking for any sign that he had overstepped or any kind of negative reaction over the request- like he half expected Darius to be disgusted with him.

“You mean a hug?” Darius asked.

“Is that what it’s called?”

Darius wouldn’t bother delving into the implications of Hunter not knowing what a hug was before Darius started giving them to him. It’s not like anything could surprise him at this point.

So, Darius simply chuckled warmly, opening his arms in welcome. Hunter crawled forwards and Darius wrapped his arms around him. Hunter was tense, still completely unsure about all this, but Darius simply pulled him in closer and eventually, the child finally relaxed in the embrace, wrapping his own arms around Darius as he buried his face into his chest.

If Hunter wanted a hug, he would get one. Darius would keep him in his embrace for as long as he felt comfortable, never relinquishing his hold as long as it meant Hunter felt safe and content, warm and happy, at peace in an otherwise cold and unforgiving castle.

Apparently, Hunter felt content enough to eventually fall asleep against Darius’ chest, his arms falling slack at his sides. Darius smiled down at him before carefully picking him up and moving him back up to the top of the bed, resting his head against the pillows and pulling the blanket over him.

Darius watched him for a moment, still overly elated that Hunter would even ask something like that from him. Hunter was clearly not holding any kind of grudge over Darius’ blatant misconduct regarding the healer, which was not only a complete surprise, but something Darius was thoroughly grateful for. He was sure Hunter would hate him but he didn’t. Darius couldn’t deny that if that kid ever truly started to hold any real ill will towards him, he probably wouldn’t be able to handle it. If anyone else hated him, including his family, he didn’t really care. If Hunter hated him, he was sure his heart would shatter into so many pieces it would be impossible to ever put it back together again.

He left the room, letting Hunter rest. Hunter would probably be mad at himself for ‘being weak’ and letting himself fall asleep instead of getting his work done but at least that meant he still got some sleep. This would, unfortunately, probably be the last day Hunter would have the chance to have so much rest because tomorrow, he would be forced to go back to his normal life of working two jobs at once. 

The idea terrified Darius. That lifestyle was what caused this dreaded affair in the first place. The last thing he wanted was for Hunter to return to it. It’s not like there was anything he could do about it, though. 

Suddenly, Darius’ good mood had fallen at the reminder of how useless he actually was. Sure, he could sneak Hunter some decent quality food on occasion and give him hugs, but he couldn’t solve the boy’s biggest problem. Every little thing that was wrong with Hunter’s life was a direct cause of his uncle’s treatment and attitude towards him and short of somehow miraculously winning a fight against the Emperor singlehandedly, Darius could do nothing about that, at least not until the rebellion started gaining more footing. That still meant that Hunter would remain in the Emperor’s clutches for a while longer.

Hopefully Hunter would appreciate the hugs because that was all he could ever really get from Darius for now.

Chapter Text

Darius couldn’t imagine the kind of stress Hunter was under as he watched him diligently work at the desk across from him in the common study, dark circles impossibly darker than normal and a distant look in his eyes that had taken root not too long after he was made into a Coven Head. Darius was sure Hunter hadn’t been fully present since then, flickering back and forth between various states of consciousness as he tried his best to resemble some kind of functioning witch.

It had been about a week since Hunter had gotten sick and despite how much Darius thought he should have spent that week resting after how ill he’d been, the boy had been forced to go back to work as normal, rarely getting any sleep and only eating because Darius was making sure he was. He wished he could do more though, because just scheduling times to force him to eat the measliest of morsels felt like the absolute bare minimum.

Darius wanted to somehow take all his work away and make it so his days were only filled with free time in which he could do whatever he wanted. He wanted him to lose those dark circles and be happy, getting a healthy amount of sleep and never having to worry about pleasing anyone else again. Darius couldn’t do any of that, though. So, he just had to settle for doing what he could- giving him food and occasionally helping out with work if Hunter would allow him. 

When he wouldn’t allow him to help, he would often still seek out Darius so that they could at least keep each other company while they focused. It was nice to know Hunter at least wanted to be around him again instead of trying to act like they meant nothing to each other. After his bout of illness, Hunter had gotten better about his strict and uncaring attitude, slowly recessing into the boy he’d once been, but it was a long and bumpy road on the path to fully remembering himself, especially when Belos insisted on him being nothing more than a diligent little pawn during every single one of his waking moments.

Raine and Eberwolf were there in the common room as well, sharing the same concerned glances as they watched the child struggle to keep his head up. It was late- far later than any of them should be awake but especially the kid who had been forced to do the work of two people and probably hadn’t slept more than a couple hours in the past week.

At some point, after watching Hunter continuously almost smack his head against the desk, Darius decided enough was enough. He pushed his own stack of papers away from him and got up, walking over to the other side of the desks and taking Hunter’s paperwork instead.

“Hey!” Hunter said, trying to grab at it but ultimately being too sluggish to even make a real attempt.

“It’s late and you are not going try to pull an all-nighter and end up falling asleep with your head on this desk,” Darius said, setting the paperwork down on his own desk, out of Hunter’s reach.

“Again,” he added. He did not want to keep walking into that study in the mornings to the same sight of an overly exhausted boy every day.

“I have to get this done,” Hunter complained, voice groggy, “I have to…,”

His eyes closed and his head started falling for a moment until he shook himself awake again.

“I have to get this done,” he said again, as if he had forgotten he already said it.

Darius was unrelenting. He rolled his eyes and pulled Hunter up out of his seat, Hunter far too tired to really fight that much as he did.

“The paperwork will still be here in the morning. For now, you’re going to bed,” he said, picking up Hunter’s mask and clasping it onto his face for him, pulling up his hood afterwards. He held him at arm’s length, worrying over him. Darius hoped he would even be able to make it to his bed in this state.

“Bed…still be here…,” Hunter said, head lolling about, and Darius frowned. This kid was absolutely exhausted. Darius kept his hands on his shoulders as he moved behind him, pushing him towards the door.

“You need rest,” he simply said as he felt Hunter start to struggle slightly, still too weak right now to really do much to push back though.

“Mm,” Hunter hummed as Darius led him out into the hallway where the man summoned an abomination.

“Make sure he gets to his room,” he commanded it and it nodded in acknowledgement.

“Need…to work,” Hunter continued to try to argue, moving a hand to rub the sleep out of his eyes, forgetting that his mask was on now. His fist collided with the metal before falling back down limply at his side.

“You can work more in the morning,” Darius said, pushing Hunter forwards towards the abomination and removing his hands from his shoulders, “Get some sleep. I promise everything will be fine if you just rest for at least a few hours.”

Hunter turned around to face him and took a deep breath, still trying desperately to stay awake. The prospect of sleep had to at least appeal to him slightly and Darius was relieved when, after a few seconds of thinking, Hunter finally gave up and nodded.

“’Kay, dad,” he slurred, “G’night.”

“Goodnight, Little Prince,” Darius said. Hunter turned and let the abomination lead him away, Darius watching as they walked down the hall and turned the corner.

Darius closed the door and sighed, making his way back over to his seat and pulling his paperwork back in front of him, glad that he’d gotten the stubborn kid to listen for once. He started writing but keeping his concentration was proving to be difficult when he kept hearing hushed snickers from the room’s two other occupants.

“What in Titan’s name is so funny?” he harshly asked, turning his attention to Raine and Eber as they huddled together, staring at Darius and trying to quiet their laughter.

“Nothing,” Raine simply said, still smiling as they waved their hand dismissingly, “We were just sharing a joke.”

Eberwolf nodded in agreement.

“You should just get back to your work. Don’t worry about us,” Raine reassured.

They turned their attention back to their own work for only a second before their pen stilled and they grinned mischievously, glancing quickly back up to Darius.

“…dad,” they added, prompting another giggling fit from Eberwolf.

Then, it hit Darius. He hadn’t registered it at the time, too preoccupied with getting him to bed, but Hunter did, in fact, call him dad. And Raine and Eber heard it.

His face heated up in embarrassment which only led the other two into more giggling fits.

“I’m not…he’s…,” Darius tried, unsure of what even to say. Finally, he settled on, “He shouldn’t have called me that.”

“He was sleep deprived, Darius. One could argue that any kind of filter is gone when you can’t think straight,” Raine said.

Darius knew what they were trying to suggest but he simply would not accept the idea. Darius was not a father at all but especially not to Hunter and there was no way Hunter saw him in that way.

“We’re just coworkers,” he tried to argue.

Raine gave him that knowing look that he was starting to find entirely annoying.

“Darius…,” they started, expression morphing into sympathy, like Darius was a child who needed something explained to him in small words, “You scolded him for staying up late and then sent him off to bed. That’s not something coworkers do.”

Darius was surprised his face was able to heat up even more. He might pass out if this kind of embarrassment continued.

“It’s, well, he…,” Darius tried again, still having no real idea how to clear up this misunderstanding, “It’s just that…his constant falling asleep was a distraction. I can’t work like that.”

Eberwolf got up and strolled over to him, patting his arm in a sympathetic gesture, clearly not buying the excuse. Raine was still giving him that knowing look and Darius was getting thoroughly annoyed with both of their pestering. Nothing he said was going to convince them, he realized.

“Forget it, I don’t need to explain anything to you two,” he simply said, forcing himself to return to his work.

Raine and Eberwolf shared a look that Darius chose to ignore as they both also returned to their work, deciding to take pity on him.

Hunter hadn’t meant it. He was just sleep deprived. Sleep deprived people don’t necessarily say what they mean. The kid had been practically incoherent that whole interaction. Darius was not going to get hung up on one word he said. He wouldn’t think about it. He wouldn’t worry about it. It was just a word. It didn’t mean anything. Hunter probably hadn’t even realized he said it. He probably wouldn’t remember saying it in the morning. It didn’t mean anything. It didn’t mean anything. It didn’t mean anything.

“Darius, you’re starting to hyperventilate. Try and calm down,” Raine said, voice bringing him back to the present.

He glanced over to Raine and Eber who were both staring at him concerningly. He was breathing a little too fast and his skin was starting to feel clammy. He sat up straighter, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, trying to take Raine’s advice and calm himself down.

A beat passed before he opened his eyes again, not wasting another second and picking his pen back up to continue his work. He just wouldn’t think about it. The only thing that would occupy his mind right now was the paperwork laid out in front of him.

This wasn’t his work. This was Hunter’s.

Hunter, who had called him ‘dad’.

He dropped his pen and slapped his hands over his face, letting out an audible groan.

“Does it really bother you that much?” Raine asked.

Darius picked his face back up, just enough to peek over at the bard and the demon.

“It’s just…,” he started, unsure how to explain, “I, um, wasn’t expecting it, is all.”

Eberwolf cocked his head, not quite understanding. He growled, asking for clarification. Raine smiled, answering Eber’s question for Darius.

“I don’t think he’s bothered by it because he hated being called that. I think he’s bothered by it because he liked it and can’t admit to himself why.”

Darius, for the umpteenth time that night, felt a blush rise to his cheeks again as he stammered out, “T-that’s not it at all! I know what you’re implying bard, and you’re wrong. I do not see Hunter as a son.”

“He sees you as a dad, though.”

“He does not! He simply misspoke, is all.”

Raine cocked an eyebrow at the response, clearly still refusing to believe him.

“Darius, that kid absolutely adores you. I’d be surprised if he didn’t see you as a parental figure, especially with the way you act towards him.”

Darius was not having it. He simply would not accept it.

“How I act? I don’t do anything special. I just treat him like I would anyone else.”

…and protect him, listen to his ramblings, treat his wounds, teach him new skills, care for him when he’s sick, scold him when he’s done something wrong, make him a new binder, spend New Years with him instead of with everyone else at a party because it was his birthday…things parents would do.

Darius shook his head. No.

“Except you don’t,” Raine pointed out, voice soft as if they were speaking to a wild animal, “You like both Hunter and Eberwolf, right? But you don’t treat Eber like he’s your kid.”

“Eberwolf isn’t a child.”

“That’s not the only reason and you know it. I know you, Darius. Hunter being a kid isn’t the only reason for your attitude towards him. Any other kid you couldn’t care less about but you care about this kid, specifically, for a reason,” Raine slowly responded, like they were trying to make sure Darius heard every single word they said as clearly as possible.

“You don’t need to talk to me like I’m a child,” Darius said, growing annoyed again at the condescending tone, whether Raine meant for it to come off that way or not.

“I just think it’s important for you to understand how you feel. Not just for you, but for him as well,” they said.

Raine studied Darius’ face for a moment before they asked him a strange question.

“Do you love him?”

“I care about him.”

“Yes, but do you love him?”

Darius simply stared at the bard for a moment, not quite comprehending. Was his answer not enough?

Darius just wanted this conversation to end. He was annoyed, it was late, and he simply did not want to continue being psychoanalyzed and forced to talk about his feelings. It was frustrating him.

“My feelings don’t matter. The kid belongs to the Emperor. Even if I did want to think of myself as some type of parental figure to the boy, which I don’t, there’s no room in his life for me. If you think he’s fond of me, then you’ve never seen him around Belos,” Darius said.

Maybe Hunter’s relationship with the Emperor was unhealthy for him but it’s not like Hunter realized that. He loved his uncle more than anything. He was deathly loyal to that man and there was no way Hunter would replace Belos’ guardianship with Darius’. He was probably sure that Belos was the only guardian he’d ever need.

Raine frowned and looked as if they wanted to say more to that but Darius didn’t give them the chance. He stood up, pushing his paperwork off to the side. 

“It’s late. I’m going to bed and finishing this in the morning,” he announced, walking towards the door.

Hopefully in the morning, a certain demon and bard would be missing from that room so he could work in silence. Eberwolf growled at him, trying to stop him from leaving but he ignored him, turning the handle and exiting the study, making his way to his room.

‘Did he love him?’ Hah! What an absurd question. What was he supposed to say to that? 

After the Empire falls, Darius’ idea for Hunter had been to find him a home with a loving family who was not Darius. No one knew Hunter was the Golden Guard and so perhaps it would be easy to just continue to keep that a secret so he could have a normal life after everything was said and done. Sure, there were quite a few logistical problems with that plan, but what else could Darius do? He’d just have to work out the details later.

Perhaps Darius had been thinking as of late- ruminating on the idea of possibly becoming a parent at some point. That’s all it was though- an idea. It was a small, back-of-his-mind idea that he only considered very occasionally and in that idea, he’d never imagined Hunter in his child’s place. It was always some random child, features obscured, that Darius would imagine.

But of course, then there was the small snippet of his conscious continuously reminding him as he walked back to his room, that despite the anxiety it caused, his heart swelled at the prospect that Hunter would like to call him ‘dad.’ Then, it became far too easy for that random child’s features to focus in his mind to form into an all-too-familiar face, one with unusual magenta eyes, a hooked nose, and a wide, silly little toothy smile with a silly little gap in the middle- the image burning a hole in Darius’ brain as he was suddenly unable to push it away.

Darius had imagined himself teaching his child all kinds of things- things such as essential life skills, like sewing or personal care or just general information about the world. He’d imagined taking care of that child when they were sick, hugging that child, comforting them when they needed it. He’d imagined himself giving them gifts on their birthday and showing them new things to make them happy. He’d imagined himself doing anything it took to make sure that child was safe, protected from the cold reality of the world around them to the absolute best of his ability.

But he’d already done all of that. 

And just like that, that random child of Darius’ was no longer a stranger- a blank slate in which Darius could project his constant stubborn refusal to admit what he’d been feeling for a long time. That child was real. That child already existed and Darius already knew him. 

Chapter Text

The past few weeks were spent wading through an overflowing pool of thoughts and emotions, all of them far too muddled together at this point for Darius to make any real sense of.

Hunter never remembered calling him ‘dad’ after that night, which was expected. The boy didn’t even remember Darius sending him off to bed, waking up in his room thoroughly confused on how he got there until he asked Darius about it the next day.

Darius did not bring up Hunter’s slip- giving into the fear that acknowledging it would change something between them or, at the very least, embarrass them both. He was sure Hunter hadn’t even meant it in the first place. He never would have let himself call him that while he was awake and coherent, so why would Darius think he’d ever actually want to use that word for him? Hunter may not have a father, but he already had someone he considered a suitable guardian. Darius was never going to replace Belos in the child’s mind, no matter what Hunter might accidentally call him.

It would have been easier if Darius could continue to ignore this new, blossoming realization about himself but he couldn’t, continuing to allow it to overwhelm his mind and confuse him in his lack of understanding about what it could possibly mean. That blurry, indistinguishable amalgamation of a random child that Darius had gotten used to imagining himself as the parent of wouldn’t stay that way for long- Hunter’s face always popping into the thought, replacing what used to be a purposeful blank slate, only a second after the fantasy sprung back into Darius’ mind. No matter how hard he tried, Darius could not imagine himself being a father to any other kid but the one who had already invaded his life.

So, he supposed he would just never be a father at all.

The thought didn’t make him feel any better but there was no universe where he was ever going to bring up these strange new parental feelings to anyone, especially Hunter. Hunter would just think it strange. He wasn’t looking for a parent and he didn’t need Darius to act like one towards him. Darius was simply his subordinate or, in the best-case scenario, perhaps a mentor or even a friend. Never a father.

There was still a little part of Darius that was even refusing to admit it to himself, still stubbornly clinging onto the idea that his heart could never be swayed that easily- that his protective feelings over Hunter were anything more than an innocent child needing any adult, Darius or otherwise, to help him out of a desperate situation. If Darius could not imagine himself being a parent to any other child, then he would not be a parent at all because in no world would he ever be Hunter’s father. He simply would not allow himself to think of a future where he was. It was never going to happen. So, When Darius imagined his future, he imagined it alone, no matter how out-of-place the idea felt at this point.

Raine and Eberwolf, thank the Titan, never brought it up again. They must have realized how much it was upsetting him and decided to back off. Darius was already struggling enough. He didn’t need for them to potentially make him even more confused about this whole situation with their ideas and suggestions about his feelings. Darius didn’t even understand what he was feeling; there was no way they possibly could.

Whatever his feelings even were, Darius had decided that it ultimately didn’t matter right now, anyway. He had far bigger things to worry about than what his own personal life should be like. He was the leader of a secret rebellion, for Titan’s sake! He had far too many responsibilities and obligations to ever want to try tacking on another. He had to make sure their efforts weren’t in vain- that Belos could be taken down once and for all. Then, and only then, could Darius ever seriously consider doing things like starting a family.

Luckily the rebellion was starting to pick up, though not as much as Darius had hoped. For awhile, it had just been him and Eber, with a few odd witches here and there. Most of them either mysteriously disappeared or got arrested for other things, unfortunately. It really didn’t help when most of the aid they could receive were from wild witches high up on the Scouts radar. Though Darius and Eber were making valuable progress in discovering Belos’ plans, Darius worried it wouldn’t be enough. Reconnaissance was one thing but eventually, the Emperor would need to be defeated through force and while he and Eber were very strong on their own, Belos was incredibly powerful in comparison. He was starting to doubt it could ever be done.

Then, there was a saving grace- one he really should have expected if he were being completely honest. Raine had finally been formally announced as a Coven Head and not long after, Darius and Eberwolf were sent to stop a band of traitorous rebels. He had always been interested in recruiting whoever they were but was thoroughly elated when the leader turned out to be none other than the Bard Coven Head themself.

Raine was incredibly powerful and having them on their side would hopefully prove to be a tipping point in their favor. Furthermore, it meant that Darius wouldn’t have to fight his former friend should it have come down to that in the end. Just like Lilith’s treachery forced a breath of relief from Darius, so did Raine’s.

It did mean that every single one of Hunter’s newfound companions were secretly his enemies, however, and Darius truly felt sorry for him. Lilith’s betrayal had broken him severely but once it was out that the other three adults he trusted were also rebels, Darius was concerned about how exactly it would impact him. He’d never be able to trust again. Darius, truly, completely, felt bad for him. He really did.

He wished the kid would be less of a nuisance right now, though.

Thanks to the fact they were the only three people in the castle Hunter wanted to be around besides Belos, he was constantly trying to cling to them whenever he could. It wasn’t so bad before but now that Raine had joined their cause, they found themselves sneaking off more, holding more meetings about the rebellion in order to formulate a real plan to stop the Emperor and put a halt to the Day of Unity and the Golden Guard could absolutely not be around when they did.

It was painful having to brush Hunter off or turn him away when he was clearly feeling lonely and just wanted company but what else were they supposed to do? If Hunter knew the truth, everything would fall apart. Not just the rebellion, either. Darius’ entire world shatter.

He knew it was inevitable it would happen, whether it was now or later. Hunter was eventually going to hate him no matter what. He was just hoping to avoid it for as long as possible, both for the sake of his own heart and for the assurance of the rebellion’s survival. At least if Hunter hated him later, it would be after the Boiling Isles was free from the Emperor’s grip. At least he’d be able to hate him from the safety of a home with a family who actually cared about him. He couldn’t exactly turn away from Darius and run back into Belos’ arms if Belos was dead.

“You’re hiding something from me.”

Darius lifted his head towards the boy standing in the doorway of his study who apparently had the audacity to just waltz right in now without even knocking first.

“It’s rude to just burst into other people’s rooms,” Darius casually responded, dismantling the abomination he had summoned to help him with his research and standing up from his desk.

“It’s rude to hide things from your superior,” Hunter said, crossing his arms as he watched Darius walk up to him.

“I’m not hiding anything, Hunter. I think you’re being paranoid and trying to see things that aren’t there.”

“I’m not! You keep brushing me off and you’re always busy but I know it’s not with Coven Head work because I’m the one who goes over all your work and it’s all the same amount of stuff you’ve done before!”

“And what do you possibly think I could be hiding?” Darius asked, motioning for Hunter to move out of the way so he could close the door. This was probably a conversation that should be had in private where passing scouts couldn’t eavesdrop in.

“I don’t know. That’s why I asked,” Hunter said.

“And, if I were hiding something, you think I’d just tell you because you asked oh-so-politely?”

“So you are hiding something!”

“No.”

Darius sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, putting on his best loyal Coven Head persona. Luckily, he’s had years of practice.

“Little Prince, I promise I am not trying to hide anything. The extra work I’ve been doing is personal research. I’ve been reading up on recent reports of rebel groups throughout the Boiling Isles and trying to come up with plans to stop them. After all, Eberwolf and I did do a wonderful job last time we tried,” Darius lied.

Raine’s treachery had only been made known to a few people and despite being one of the most deserving people to have that information given his position, Hunter had not been informed. Darius was very grateful for that because it made it so much easier to hide everything from him.

Hunter and everyone else knew something happened to Raine. They knew they got into some kind of trouble. They just didn’t know the extent of it. Belos wasn’t going to risk shaking everyone’s loyalty so close to the Day of Unity by admitting he was keeping a rebel around but he also didn’t want to just replace Raine with so little time left after having just announced them as a Coven Head. Besides, with Belos and Terra thinking they could mind-control Raine, they probably thought they didn’t have anything to worry about anymore. So, as far as Hunter was aware, the leader of the band of rebels that Darius and Eberwolf went after was locked away in the Conformatorium and was most certainly not Raine Whispers.

“And what about Raine and Eberwolf? Are they helping you?” Hunter asked, having picked up on the fact that they were always going off together.

“Yes,” Darius confirmed without a moment of hesitation, “Eberwolf was my partner last time, after all, and when Raine heard about what we were doing, they insisted on joining.”

Hunter still looked unsure, thinking hard about the words like he was still trying to catch Darius out.

“Then why couldn’t you just tell me that? Why were you always acting like it was something I couldn’t be a part of? What if I wanted to help, too?”

Darius smiled warmly at him and put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it just slightly in fondness.

“My Little Prince, I wasn’t trying to make you feel left out, I promise. I just didn’t want to burden you with more work when you were already so busy. I was worried about you.”

Darius was a horrible person. He was a terrible, no good, filthy liar who deserved only the worst punishments for the sinful, manipulative statements that were coming out of his mouth right now. He might as well sit on the throne and call himself Belos at this point for the way he was using Hunter’s trust and care for Darius against him.

It did the job, at least.

Hunter looked at him for a moment and the way his eyes softened at the excuse almost made Darius drop the façade then and there, pulling Hunter into a crushing hug and apologizing profusely for betraying his hard-earned trust. Instead, he continued his act, keeping his composure and waiting for Hunter’s response.

“I…guess that makes sense,” Hunter finally responded, though still clearly a little unsure based on his hesitant tone. Darius needed him to fully believe the lie, however.

“You have nothing to worry about, Hunter. I know you’re still a little shaken up from what happened to Lilith but that was a special circumstance,” Darius assured.

Titan strike him down now. He would deserve it.

“I don’t care about Lilith,” Hunter lied, huffing at the reminder, “…but promise you’re not hiding something? Promise you aren’t gonna be like Lilith?”

“I promise.”

Forget Belos- there has truly never been a worse person to ever have lived on the Boiling Isles than Darius.

Okay, maybe he was exaggerating but there were few instances in his life where he’s ever felt like a more terrible person than he did right now.

“Okay…,” Hunter said, sheepishly looking down at the floor and ringing his gloves together, “I’ll trust you.”

He shouldn’t.

“Thank you, Little Prince. Now, if you don’t mind, I should get back to my research,” Darius said, reopening the door behind him.

Hunter nodded and left and once he was in the clear, the sigh of relief Darius let out was so audible he feared it could be heard from outside the door.

He didn’t want to lie to Hunter. He didn’t want to betray him. He simply had no other choice, however. It was either that or allow Belos to carry out whatever evil scheme he was planning, the effects of which would no doubt change the Boiling Isles drastically for the worse. Every new snippet of information they were able to find out was only an even darker piece of a grim and bleak puzzle that would eventually tell them exactly what the Day of Unity was about. No matter what, Darius and the other rebels had to find a way to stop it.

Darius couldn’t think about Hunter right now. He couldn’t allow himself to get distracted by his confusing feelings surrounding the boy, the potential to slip up around him far too great to risk. Darius had almost blown his cover just because of a single look Hunter had given him and he couldn’t allow that to happen. As unlikely as it was, Darius just had to hope that when everything was over, in some slim chance of a miraculous future where everything turned out perfect, Hunter would forgive him somehow for his treachery and they could be a nice, happy, peaceful family and Darius could be allowed to be Hunter’s father.

Hunter’s…

Oh.

Suddenly, like a storm cloud dissipating after a bout of boiling rain, Darius’ feelings no longer felt muddled. Maybe it was the soft look Hunter had given him when Darius said he cared or perhaps it was the way Darius’ heart absolutely shattered at betraying Hunter’s trust despite it being for the greater good that made him finally decide to come to terms with everything. He had wanted to stop thinking about his confusing thoughts but he didn’t think he’d do that by having a sudden epiphany and clearing up that confusion. He’d thought he’d just have to push them aside and sort them out later but now, his vision of what he wanted his future to be like felt so clear.

Chapter Text

To knock on someone’s door in the middle of the night could be considered rude. To wake someone up from a deep sleep when they have important business to attend to early in the morning was inconsiderate. Yet when Darius groggily opened his eyes and sat up, there was no anger evident within him because he had an inkling of who the potential disturber was and if he was knocking on his door at such a dreadful hour, then there must be good reason for it.

As expected, when Darius strolled over and opened the door, he was met with none other than the child who had so easily inserted himself into his life on the other side.

Hunter startled when the door opened, as if he were not expecting Darius to actually answer. He was shaking slightly and his face was red and tear-stricken, the sight causing a stake to force its way through Darius’ heart. Something was clearly wrong.

“Is everything alright, Hunter?” Darius asked, reaching over and putting his hands on Hunter’s shoulders, leaning over slightly so he was more on his level, “Are you hurt? Sick?”

Darius’ eyes glossed over his body but he didn’t look to be injured. He felt his forehead and there was no fever.

Hunter hesitantly shook his head but didn’t speak, eyes trailing the floor like he was afraid to look at Darius. He was fidgeting with his fingers, picking at his skin in the absence of his gloves and Darius put a hand over his to stop him.

So, he wasn’t hurt or ill. Then why was he here? Something was obviously distressing him. Darius looked him over again, wanting nothing more than to soothe him somehow.

“Did you have a nightmare?” Darius guessed.

Hunter jumped slightly and his eyes widened, face growing red in embarrassment, still refusing to look at Darius. The reaction gave Darius his answer at least, Hunter still unable to vocalize his problem.

Suddenly, as if the reminder of why he had stopped by in the first place was too much to handle, Hunter burst into tears again, the salty fluid freely leaking from his eyes as he struggled to control his sobs.

“Come on,” Darius said, wasting no time ushering him into the room before any scouts strolled by and saw him sobbing in the hallway.

He closed the door and knelt down in front of him, putting his hands on his arms and trying to calm him down.

“It’s okay, Hunter. It was just a nightmare. You’re safe,” he tried but Hunter didn’t seem to hear him, continuing to cry, his body shaking so violently Darius could feel the vibrations travel up his arms.

He stood back up slowly and with only a moment of hesitation, reached down and picked Hunter up, cradling him against his chest as he carried him over to the bed. Hunter did not fight or even make any indication that he registered the action other than taking his hands away from his eyes to clutch tightly onto Darius’ shirt, burying his face into the fabric.

He sat down and rested Hunter on his lap, wrapping his arms around him protectively, gently rocking him back and forth in the hopes of calming him down at least somewhat. Hunter kept his face buried in Darius’ chest and he couldn’t even bring himself to care about the tears and snot that would be soaking into the fabric. Hunter could ruin his clothes as much as he wanted as long as he would gain some comfort by doing so.

Whatever Hunter had dreamt about must have been thoroughly terrifying if it caused him to seek comfort from Darius. That child had never had anyone else in his life who would hold him like this- care for him enough to wake up and coddle him as he cried. There was no doubt that Hunter had had terrible nightmares before, given the kind of things he’s witnessed in his terrible mess of a life, and he had likely been forced to do nothing about it except sit in his room, trembling under a blanket as he warily watched every shadow that passed by his window. He never had anyone, parents or otherwise, to take care of him when he was in this state. His only real parent had ever been fear, an anthropomorphized entity that would creep into his room and cradle him as he slept at night.

Hunter was used to handling this fear on his own but he didn’t have to anymore and it made Darius’ heart swell that the boy realized that. He could have just stayed in his room and sobbed himself back to sleep like he was probably used to doing but he didn’t- he sought out Darius so that he wouldn’t be alone.

Hunter trusted him.

Darius pulled Hunter along with him as he leaned back onto the headboard, resigning himself to the fact they would probably be here for a little while. Hunter’s cries had quieted somewhat but he was still far too shaken up for Darius to be comfortable letting him go like this. He continued to rock him slightly, one hand firmly gripped onto his arm while the other rubbed soothing circles onto his back, feeling the trembling with every stroke.

Hunter’s head was situated just below his chin and without thinking, Darius leaned down and kissed it as he continued to try and calm him down. He almost kicked himself for the action, fearing Hunter would think it strange and dislike it, but to his great relief Hunter instead tightened his grip on Darius’ shirt and snuggled somehow impossibly closer to his chest.

Darius never wanted to let him go. Even if Hunter eventually stopped crying, Darius wanted to keep holding on tight, as if by letting him out of this embrace it would cause him to lose him forever. It was that strange feeling that blossomed forth in his chest again, forcing a strong ache in his heart, that made him finally put into words the feeling he’d been experiencing all this time.

He loved Hunter.

He didn’t just care about him- he loved him. It was then that he finally understood the true difference between the two emotions, not comprehending the subtle nuances that each word suggested. He loved this child as if he were his own family, his own flesh-and-blood. He wasn’t sure when that switch happened- when that general care and concern turned into genuine love but it didn’t really matter. It was just as unexpected as when he first realized Hunter meant something to him except now, Hunter didn’t just mean something to him- he meant everything to him.

This boy, this child he was holding tenderly in his arms- this was his baby. 

It happened without him even thinking about it. It was impressive- how effortlessly Hunter became his. Darius had been internally debating the idea of becoming a parent eventually but he didn’t want to be a parent to just any kid. He wanted to be a parent to this kid. That was what he wanted his future to be.

And yet, with a harsh reminder to himself, he thought about how Hunter never actually could truly be his- the idea only a distant dream that he’d likely never be able to grab a hold of.

Right now, Hunter belonged to his uncle. He had no desire to be anything else but the Emperor’s right hand. Even if Belos was brought down, who’s to say Hunter would ever forgive Darius for lying to him all this time about his true intentions? Hunter loved Belos. It was unlikely he wouldn’t care that Darius would be one of the ones helping to bring about the man’s end.

Even if the rebellion didn’t succeed, that just meant that Hunter would live out the rest of his life under the Emperor’s thumb and Darius would be nothing more than someone who Hunter occasionally turned to for comfort. A friend. A mentor. That was it, in the best-case scenario. No matter what happened, Darius would never truly be allowed to be the guardian Hunter needed.

Hunter had stopped crying a few minutes ago but neither of them moved. Neither of them wanted to.

Belos would never hold him like this. Belos would never care if he had a nightmare or try to soothe him as he cried against his chest. It didn’t make sense to Darius how that man had the love of such a wonderful child and somehow still decided to take him for granted. Hunter deserved so much better. Darius just wished Hunter would realize that, too.

Maybe Darius was jealous of Belos. He didn’t care. He could admit that to himself now. Even if Belos wasn’t a terrible ruler and planning something evil for the Isles, if he was still just as cold to Hunter, Darius would rebel against him just for that. He would be willing to risk everything and fight the Emperor one-on-one for the child in his arms. He would do anything to make sure Hunter was safe.

Hunter was still clinging to Darius as if he were his only lifeline but he unburied his face from the fabric of his shirt just enough to quietly say, “I’m sorry.”

Darius squeezed him just a little bit tighter and rested his cheek on the top of his head.

“It’s alright, Little Prince. I don’t mind,” he said. Hunter sniffled and Darius gave his head another kiss.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Darius asked.

Hunter thought for a second before he shook his head and reburied his face into Darius’ chest. Darius reached up and started running his fingers through Hunter's hair, resuming rocking him. Hunter had already calmed down, but it didn’t matter. He would continue to hold him. No matter what, Hunter would know that he would always be safe and loved in Darius’ arms.

Hunter eventually fell back asleep in the embrace. Darius realized with a soft chuckle that Hunter tended to get tired out far more easily when he was being hugged. At least now he knew how to get him to rest occasionally.

He didn’t let go of Hunter just yet, continuing to rock him as he listened to the soft breaths that escaped his parted lips. He hoped his dreams were peaceful now. He hoped the nightmares that plagued him would know to stay away as long as Darius was there.

Then, without warning, a small sniffle escaped Darius, followed by another. Soon enough, his body was wracked with sobs just like Hunter’s had been and it took everything in him to try and control the shaking so he wouldn’t wake up the child in his arms. He felt the sorrow wash over him in waves, drowning him as he struggled to breathe through the intense emotions that plagued him, seeping down his throat like medicine and choking him.

How in Titan’s name was any of this fair? What had this child ever done to deserve this awful life? Darius understood if his own messed up life was punishment for his choices. Darius was an adult who had been able to decide his own path. Hunter never had that luxury. He was innocent in all this and yet was still being cruelly treated as if his existence alone was criminal enough to justify it. It was as if the universe was playing a cruel joke on the both of them- pairing together the Emperor’s loyal right hand, a boy in a desperate situation, and the man who would inevitably betray him after spending too long being useless in helping him- forcing them both to have a taste of what could have been but never fully allowing them to experience it in truth in the end. Darius could forever scream at the heavens, simply to ask ‘why?’, and he was sure he would only ever hear that sullen word echoed back to him in the silence.

He couldn’t even try to say it was the Titan’s fault, pinning the blame on an entity that may or may not even exist anymore. No, he would not even think of absolving the true perpetrator of his actions. If anyone else ever found out about the Emperor’s abuse of his nephew, would Belos try to justify it away or would he be unbothered by the allegations? Would he feel any remorse in the face of his people?

It didn’t matter, even if Belos tried to claim he was simply carrying out orders. The ‘Titan’s Will’ propaganda that Belos continuously spewed would not be allowed to sway anyone in this case as long as Darius was around. What kind of so-called ‘benevolent’ deity would call for the pointless abuse of an innocent child? No, those action were only the result of a power-hungry man who was unable to feel love for anyone but himself, turning all that anger and hatred into a physical manifestation against the only person who was truly forced to take it in silence.

It took an awful long time, but Darius finally got himself to stop crying, trying his best to pull himself together before he cautiously picked up the boy in his arms. He struggled to hold him steady while he maneuvered out of the bed, attempting not to wake him up. Unfortunately, he failed, feeling Hunter stir in his arms and looking down to watch him groggily open his eyes.

“Mm,” Hunter mumbled, glancing around the room and then back up to Darius like he forgot where he was for a moment and had to remember, “What are you doing?”

“I’m taking you back to your room. You need to get some rest,” Darius softly explained, swinging his legs off the bed and planting  his feet on the floor, ready to stand up. There was no point in being subtle now that Hunter had already woken.

Then, without warning, Hunter started crying again, forcefully throwing himself against Darius’ chest to the best of his ability while he was still being held, catching Darius off guard enough to stop him from standing.

“No!” Hunter cried, voice muffled by the fabric against his face.

“Hunter, you need to go back to bed,” Darius tried after collecting himself from his shock over the sudden force.

“No…,” Hunter simply said again, clutching onto Darius’ shirt even tighter in emphasis.

Hunter moved his face slightly so that his next words could be heard clearly, an embarrassed blush creeping up onto his face. 

“Can I stay here? Please? I don’t wanna be alone.”

And how could Darius possibly say no to that? How in Titan’s name was he supposed to tell a frightened child who just wanted to be comforted that he wasn’t allowed to be? Whatever work Darius had in the morning be damned. There was something far more important he had to deal with right now.

“Okay,” he said, maneuvering them back into the bed, fully laying down this time with Hunter laying on top of his chest, “Okay.”

He rested his hands on Hunter’s back, moving one of them up and down between his shoulder blades in what he hoped was a comforting gesture.

Darius wished there was something he could do for Hunter- more than just comforting him when he was upset. The nightmares were never going stop as long as he continued to live in the situation that was causing them in the first place. He was never going to be okay as long as he continued to walk his days on a wire, desperately trying to mold himself to fit the impossible vision of someone who was never going to truly love him no matter how hard he struggled to grasp onto the idea. He was never going to be content if he was forced to continuously struggle over who he wanted to be- who he was supposed to be. He was never going to be happy if he was never allowed to accept that he was more than just an old, beat-up mask and a cloak he had to grow into- more than just some made up persona whose only purpose was to further aid in the efforts of a man who had only ever been manipulating him.

The boy behind the mask did not exist. He was nothing but a shell, a pawn to be used in a cruel man’s dangerous game. That was the only reason he was alive, the only reason he was allowed to take up space in a world that otherwise would refuse him, discarding him as if he were nothing more than a broken toy. The boy behind the mask was not worth anyone’s attention, worth anyone’s love, and he had been conditioned to believe that as fact since the day he was born.

And yet it wasn’t true. Despite all odds, there would always be at least one person in the world who considered him more than deserving of their love, whose heart he had burrowed himself so far into that it would be impossible to disentangle himself. No matter how long it took, how difficult of a task it would be, Darius would make sure to change his mind because even if no one else in the world loved him, Darius would. That was the only fact Hunter needed to believe.

Even if Hunter hated him in the end, he would be sure to still make it as clear as possible that Darius’ love would never leave. Hunter could spit at him, call him terrible names, mock him, hurt his feelings all he wanted and Darius would still love him. The anger would be deserved and he would never blame Hunter for any of it.

At least Hunter wasn’t alone for right now. At the very least, he understood he had someone he could turn to during his time in the castle when he was hurt or sick or upset…There was someone who loved him more than anything, whether he realized it yet or not. He just wished he wasn’t the only one. As much as Darius wanted to be the one to make Hunter realize Belos was wrong for him, the past two years had done nothing to aid in that. It would be nice if there was someone else out there who could help him see reason. Then, and maybe then, Darius might still have a chance to save him in the end.

“Darius?” Hunter asked, voice quiet like he was still fighting sleep even though he didn’t have to anymore.

“Yes?” Darius said, waiting for Hunter to continue. He was curious as to what kind of question could be plaguing him enough to cause him to stay awake thinking about it. He was obviously exhausted and Darius had fully expected him to fall back asleep by now, his tired voice breaking the silence and pulling Darius out of his thoughts quite the surprise.

It must be a serious question or, at the very least, a matter that had been plaguing Hunter’s thoughts for a while now. Maybe he wanted something? Maybe he wanted to talk about his nightmare now? Perhaps he wanted to discuss his feelings, finally letting himself open up, the words rolling off his tongue and eager to finally be understood? Maybe he was going to miraculously admit he hated Belos now and wanted to have a more loving guardian to take care of him? Maybe he wanted to admit that he loved Darius, too?

“What’s a flapjack?”

Or maybe not.

“…What?”

Chapter Text

Darius somehow miraculously woke up before his alarm, making sure to carefully turn it off without waking up the boy currently laying on his arm. Hunter was snuggled close to his side, fast asleep, his expression relaxed like his dreams were entirely peaceful. Darius was not about to wake him up right now. Their work could wait a little while longer if it meant Hunter could get some actual rest for once.

Darius turned back onto his side and wrapped his other arm around Hunter, pulling him in a little closer against his chest as he closed his eyes again, intent on falling back asleep for a bit. After all, Hunter may have had a long night but so did he.

He let himself drown in the presence of the child beside him, listening to the soft breaths that escaped him and feeling the warmth radiating off his body as he held him tightly to his chest, burying his face in his hair slightly.

Hunter was here. He was here and he was real and Darius had never been more grateful for anything in his life.

They’d certainly come a long way, hadn’t they? That strange boy in the study was now Darius’ baby- his absolute pride and joy. The Golden Guard, who used to be the bane of Darius’ existence, was now his most beloved person in the entirety of any realm- no longer a disdained enemy but rather a precious child of his whom Darius would not hesitate to wrap his arms around and hold tightly onto.

He wanted to hold onto this boy forever. He never wanted this serene moment to end. He couldn’t fathom a world where his arms were suddenly empty of the child beside him, as if their true purpose had always been to wrap protectively around him.

He did eventually fall back asleep, not letting himself worry about all the boring meetings he was going to miss. He’d choose this over work any day.

When he woke up again just a few hours later, it did not happen naturally. It was the sound of a camera shutter that forced him awake, groggily opening his eyes at the intrusive sound, the rising sun nearly blinding him as it filtered in through the window.

It took him a minute to register his surroundings again. The first thing he looked for was the feeling of Hunter beside him and sure enough, Hunter was still fast asleep at his side, not having moved an inch, head still laying on his arm. Then, he turned so he was on his back, eyes finally landing on the two annoyances who interrupted his sleep.

Eberwolf didn’t even bother looking ashamed, still sitting at the end of the bed and smiling as he held up his scroll and took another picture.

“Delete it or I’m going to make myself a new fur coat,” Darius quietly warned, leaning up as far as he could without waking Hunter.

Eberwolf just snickered and put away the scroll, not bothering to delete anything first. Darius narrowed his eyes at the demon about to threaten him again when he was interrupted.

“You missed our meeting,” Raine explained, trying to calm down the situation before Darius got too upset, “We just stopped by to check on you. It’s not like you to skip out on work.”

They glanced quickly over to Hunter before returning their gaze to Darius and adding, “At least we know you’re okay.”

The teasing tone they added was a bit unnecessary.

“He…had a nightmare,” Darius tried to explain, feeling his face heat up in embarrassment. The explanation probably just gave them more fuel to tease him, however. After all, coworkers do not comfort each other after nightmares.

Raine’s face contorted in sympathy for Hunter at the statement, forgetting their need to poke fun at Darius for a moment to pity the kid.

“He had a rough day yesterday from what I’ve heard. Apparently, he disobeyed the Emperor and ran off to Eclipse Lake for some reason,” they explained.

“Really?” Darius asked, shocked by this news. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what would make Hunter do such a thing.

Raine just nodded, solemnly looking at Hunter again. The sympathy was only reserved for the boy, though.

“And look who he turned to,” they said, smiling mischievously, returning to their teasing.

“I don’t want to hear it.”

“Don’t be so bashful about it. Every kid just wants to be comforted by their parents after a nightmare.”

“I’m gonna hit you if you don’t shut up.”

“Go ahead.”

Darius paused, glancing down at his arm that was still trapped under Hunter’s head and then back up to Raine and Eber.

Eberwolf growled, teasing him, telling him to just get up and try.

When Darius still didn’t move, the grins on their faces just continued to grow and Darius made a mental note to himself that they both deserved to be smacked later when he could manage it.

“Just…let me be,” he begged, flopping back completely down onto the bed and putting his other arm over his eyes, “You came to check on me. You found out I’m fine. Now go.”

“As much as we’d like to let you rest, we have a meeting with Kikimora in 20 minutes,” Raine reminded.

Oh yeah. Darius had forgotten about that. Of course there would be something he’d be forced to do that day.

Groaning, he leaned up again, carefully trying to pull his arm out from under Hunter’s head. He somehow managed without waking him, breathing a sigh of relief until the still-unconscious boy darted his arms up to grab a hold of Darius’, pulling it back to him and snuggling close to it.

The silence that encompassed the room was unbearable, Darius’ face just proving it had the ability to continuously grow even redder somehow.

Eberwolf broke the silence, growling out a sympathetic growl, the tone unusual and not one Darius was aware the demon was capable of.

“I know I should wake him up but he rarely gets this kind of sleep. I’d feel like a monster,” Darius responded.

“I’m sure he wouldn’t be happy if you let him miss work,” Raine said, trying to speak some sense into him. It’s not like Darius wasn’t already aware of that, however. He just figured that an apology later would be worth Hunter getting some much needed rest for once.

Darius stubbornly tried pulling his arm away again but Hunter just tightened his grip and kept him close.

“Wow, he’s kind of strong,” Darius helpfully observed.

As much as it pained him, he realized Eber and Raine were right. Darius could make up some excuse for why Hunter missed the meeting but he could only do that if he was able to even get out of bed without dragging the kid along with him. They couldn’t just both miss the meeting either. That would be entirely too suspicious and would probably not go over well with the rest of the Coven Heads.

Darius let out a frustrated sigh, realizing he really had no choice.

“Fine, I’ll wake him up. You two…,” he started, pointing his index and middle finger towards his bedroom’s intruders and forcing a serious expression on his face, “…need to leave first. He’ll already be embarrassed enough to wake up like this without you two making it worse.”

“Okay, okay,” Raine said, putting their hands up defensively, “We’ll go. We’ll see you at the meeting.”

They left with a quick wave goodbye, Eberwolf jokingly saluting at Darius before following them out. They might be fully willing to tease Darius over these things but luckily they understood to keep Hunter out of it. After all, Hunter seeking comfort in these kinds of ways was rare and a hard-fought-for occurrence on Darius’ part. The last thing Hunter needed was some incentive to stop doing it like the other Coven Heads making fun of him for it or making him feel childish.

With great reluctance, Darius turned his attention back to the sleeping boy at his side and gingerly reached over to try and shake him awake.

“Hunter. Hunter, wake up,” he whispered.

Hunter groaned and snuggled closer to his arm but did not wake up.

“Hunter,” Darius said again, a little louder this time, shaking him a little harder.

Hunter finally woke up then, slowly opening his eyes and glancing up at Darius in confusion, likely forgetting where he had fallen asleep last night and having to take a minute to remember. He let go of Darius’ arm and Darius took the chance to fully lean up.

“I’m sorry to wake you but we have a meeting soon,” Darius explained, his assumption that he’d feel like a monster for waking Hunter having been correct.

Hunter’s brow furrowed in annoyance and Darius almost thought it was directed at him for a moment until Hunter groggily said, “Ugh. Kikimora…,” in remembrance of who the meeting was with.

Darius chuckled and got out of bed, stretching to work out the kinks in his back and rolling his arm around in the hopes of ridding it of the numb, tingly sensation that overwhelmed it after having been trapped under Hunter’s head all night. Then, he stood up and walked around to the other side of the bed where Hunter was just getting up himself, planting his feet on the floor and standing up on tired legs.

“Are you ready?” Darius asked him.

“For what?” Hunter questioned.

“I imagine you won’t be too interested in walking all the way back to your room like this right now,” Darius said, gesturing towards Hunter’s clothes. It was one thing for Hunter to roam around in the middle of the night when the castle was slumbering but to try sneaking out of Darius’ room, which would already be embarrassing enough if he were caught, in nothing but his PJs and socks while the hallways were crawling with scouts and Coven Heads would probably be best avoided.

Hunter looked down at himself and scowled, thinking about Darius’ words.

“Oh yeah. I guess you’re right,” he said upon careful consideration.

“Of course I am,” Darius simply said, smiling as he drew a quick spell circle and transported Hunter away to his room.

Darius’ normal morning routine took about an hour. Right now, Darius had to do whatever he could manage in 15 minutes. The thought of that alone made him groan in frustration but when he actually got started and realized how little he’d actually be able to do, he could already feel the tension filling his body at his dawning understanding of how uncomfortable he would be the whole day thinking of himself as an absolute mess.

It’s not like he had much of a choice, though. So, he hurried as fast as he could to get ready, darting out the door without even bothering with breakfast. He could eat later.

Despite having to rush, he was somehow not the last to arrive to the meeting room. They were still waiting on half of the Coven Heads when he went in. Hunter was already there, which Darius was unsure if he should be surprised by. Hunter likely didn’t have an extensive morning routine like the rest of them. He probably just woke up, threw on his armor, and went about his day. 

Raine and Eberwolf were there, along with Terra who was sitting just a little too close to Raine for comfort. Kikimora was standing at the front, throwing strange glances at the Golden Guard constantly like she expected him to jump her or something. Darius went in and took his seat, the rest of the Coven Head filtering in not long after.

When everyone was settled, Kikimora gave Hunter one more quick glance before she started the meeting.

Clearing her throat, she said, “As you all know, the Day of Unity is quickly approaching. As Coven Heads, you are all very important assets to the success of the event…”

Darius nearly groaned in frustration. Again. Of course this stupid meeting was about the Day of Unity. They all were these days.

His real frustration was more over the realization that he absolutely could have let Hunter sleep longer. The Emperor’s Coven Head did not have a part in the Day of Unity. Hunter was here as their superior and to stay updated on events, but it would have been perfectly fine if he had missed this one meeting, especially since it wasn’t even an important one for any of them, really. It was just a quick refresher meeting to go over their places for the Day of Unity. There wasn’t any information spewing out of Kikimora’s mouth that any of them didn’t already know.

The fact Kikimora was leading this session and not Hunter was weird though. Usually Belos would conduct these meetings but if he were busy, he should have entrusted his Coven Head with this, not his assistant who didn’t have any real power over anything.

Darius glanced towards Hunter, wishing he could see his face. Raine had said he got into some trouble yesterday and disobeyed the Emperor. Was there some sort of silent tension happening between Belos and his nephew lately? Was Belos disappointed with him and didn’t want to trust him to handle things such as this?

Darius wasn’t sure if he should be happy to think that or not. Hunter breaking away from his shallow, overly loyal soldier persona would be fantastic if it weren’t for the fact that Darius had no real way of protecting him should Belos decide he wasn’t worth the trouble anymore. 

Then again, the Day of Unity was almost upon them. If Hunter was finally starting to rebel a little, perhaps it was the perfect time. Maybe Belos would tolerate it just so he wouldn’t have to replace him so close to the end and Darius could sweep in at the last minute to steal Hunter away from him once and for all.

This was all just speculation, of course. Darius couldn’t be sure Hunter was starting to question anything and Raine could have just been spreading mindless gossip for all he knew. Maybe the Emperor had other reasons to not allow Hunter to conduct meetings. Maybe he just didn’t feel like Hunter was ready or perhaps he just didn’t care about assigning this meeting to his assistant since it was such a pointless session. Maybe Kikimora had just been begging for a chance to show her leadership so Belos gave her the chance to lead the most mundane, boring meeting possible just to get her off his back. Darius could still hope for the rebellious explanation, though. After all, thinking about ripping Hunter away from Belos’ abusive claws was far more interesting than whatever dribble Kikimora was going on about right now.

When the meeting ended, Hunter was surprisingly one of the first ones out of the room. He normally liked to stay behind and wait for everyone else to leave but based on Kikimora’s strange behavior regarding him, maybe he just didn’t want to be left alone with her. Darius didn’t blame him. Darius didn’t even have any kind of personal beef with Kikimora and he still wouldn’t want to be alone with her, either.

Darius continued about his day, hating every moment and only able to focus on getting back to his chambers at the end of it so he could do his nightly routine as normal and finally feel like he wasn’t a walking bag of dirt. As the hours ticked by, he was becoming more and more self aware of every speck of dust and grime that dared touch him. All he wanted was to get clean and relax finally. There always had to be something to throw him off though.

Hunter was acting weird as of late. Darius was aware of this. Still, Darius was surprised, walking down the hallway towards his room, to run into the Golden Guard. 

That wasn’t strange of course. The strange part was that Hunter was just standing in the middle of the hallway, where anyone could see him, fully equipped in his normal armor- all of it save for his mask. His mask that hides his identity.

“…Hunter?”

Hunter turned to him, startling at the sudden voice. When he realized it was just Darius, he relaxed a little.

“Oh! Darius. Hello.”

Darius frowned at the casualness of his tone, like Hunter was completely unaware of how out-of-place he was right now.

“Hello,” Darius cautiously said, glancing around to see if there was anyone else in the hallways, “Are you…forgetting something perhaps?”

“I don’t think so,” Hunter said.

“Really? Nothing important?”

“Nope,” the boy responded, popping the ‘p’.

“Are you sure?” Darius continued, starting to grow increasingly concerned, “I think you might. Perhaps something that covers your face, maybe?”

Hunter stared at him for a moment before bringing a hand up and feeling his face, like it wouldn’t have been obvious otherwise he didn’t have anything marring his vison and weighing his head down.

“Oh,” Hunter simply said, though he didn’t seem too concerned upon realizing he was maskless.

“Let’s…get you into a room,” Darius said, deciding he could figure out what the issue was somewhere private where Hunter wouldn’t be seen. Something was clearly wrong and Hunter’s identity being compromised would do nothing to help the situation.

He turned Hunter around and starting pushing him forwards towards Darius’ room, which was only the next hallway over. Hunter just allowed it, his mind clearly not entirely there at the moment.

Darius jumped when they nearly crashed into Kikimora around the corner.

“Will you watch where you’re…! Oh, it’s you,” she said, narrowing her eyes at Hunter.

At least Darius didn’t have to worry about Kikimora discovering Hunter’s identity since apparently, she was already fully aware. He seriously needed to get a list from Hunter so he wasn’t continuously surprised by this.

“Hi, Kikimora,” Hunter greeted, his usual cockiness slipping into his tone, “How’d your search for Titan Blood go?”

Kikimora, somehow, narrowed her eyes even more at him, opening her mouth to say something before quickly glancing up to Darius like she was just now realizing he was there. She quickly shut her mouth and gave Hunter one more seething look before walking off, angrily grumbling to herself.

“Is it possible for you to just not step on anyone’s toes?” Darius asked him, annoyed that he also had to be worried about whatever was going on between these two now.

“What do you mean? Kikimora loves me,” Hunter sarcastically replied. Darius just sighed and continued to lead him towards the room.

When they arrived he made Hunter sit down, Hunter doing so without any complaints and relaxing into the chair like he hasn’t sat down in days.

“Are you doing alright?” Darius asked, concern etched into his brow as he watched Hunter pull his boots off unprompted and pull his feet up underneath him on the chair. That boy might as well be a stranger at this point.

Hunter looked up at him and just stared at him for what felt like an eternity, like he was having trouble processing the question.

“I’m…um…,” Hunter started, shifting side to side in the chair, “I’m fine.”

“Clearly,” Darius stated, the disbelief apparent in his tone.
 
Hunter continued to fidget, the silence in the room overly awkward until he finally broke it again to ask a strange question.

“Do you think I’m a good Golden Guard?”

“Yes. You’re a wonderful Golden Guard.”

“Better than your mentor?”

That was the question that truly threw Darius off. He paused, staring at Hunter for a few seconds, trying to come up with some kind of response. His honest answer would probably hurt the child’s feelings but Darius’ lack of response apparently gave it anyway, the boy wilting in the silence.

“Oh,” Hunter sadly said, glancing away in shame.

“Hunter…you…you’re…,” Darius fumbled, unsure how to fix this. He eventually gave up and sighed, deciding he couldn’t really do much else besides be honest, “No. I don’t think so but Hunter, you’re just a child. You shouldn’t be trying to live up to the legacy of someone who had years on you.”

Not surprisingly, Hunter didn’t accept the answer, huffing and crossing his arms and acting like, well, a child at the response.

He was angry for a moment until his expression fell again and he returned to a more despondent demeanor. Then, just as quickly, the sadness turned into a strange sort of elation as Hunter turned his gaze back onto Darius. The fluctuating emotions nearly gave the man whiplash.

“Maybe I can be better,” Hunter said, half-whispering, giving Darius a strange look and smiling a chilling smile before jumping up and trying to run off towards the door.

“Mask,” Darius reminded, twirling his finger and stopping him with abomination goo before he stupidly turned the handle.

“Oh, yeah,” Hunter said, feeling his face again as if he forgot.

Darius simply sighed and moved the matter to encase Hunter, transporting him to his room. So much for finding out the problem. All he’d done was somehow let Hunter back him into a corner with such a surprising question and then gave the boy a mysterious idea of some kind that he had no doubt would turn into trouble. He just wanted to find out what was wrong with him but he was worried he might have just made things worse somehow.

Chapter Text

“No.”

“But you let me go before!”

“Correction: You snuck out on your own before and I just let you stay.”

Hunter huffed, narrowing his eyes at Darius like the man was being completely unreasonable. He wasn’t sure why Hunter was even asking him for this in the first place. Darius had no place allowing him to leave the castle for mundane things like watching the Coven Day Parade.

“Why are you even asking my permission anyway? You’re my boss,” Darius reminded, turning his attention back to his scroll, not even bothering to bring up how Belos was the only person who could actually give Hunter that permission. Hunter already knew that, which was why Darius was so perplexed on why the boy was asking him.

“I know that! I just…um,” Hunter started, suddenly turning embarrassed, wringing his hands together as he tried to get his words out, “It’s not that I’m asking your permission, per say, I just…I, uh, need… your help.”

Darius pointedly kept his attention on scrolling through Penstagram, just waiting for Hunter to continue.

“I…can’t go out like this. I’m not allowed,” Hunter tentatively explained, so far not saying anything Darius wasn’t already aware of, “…and we both know how well my plan went last time…”

“Mhm,” Darius simply responded, cocking an eyebrow, still waiting for him to get to his point.

Hunter took a deep breath, clearly a little scared to ask whatever it was he wanted.

“I can wear my scout uniform and look less suspicious…,” Hunter continued, pausing after his statement in the hopes Darius would pick up on what he was asking so he didn’t have to say it out loud. Darius did, but he wasn’t going to make it that easy for the kid.

“Yes, I suppose you could,” Darius responded.

“But then I’d have to keep busy with scout duties instead of watching the parade,” Hunter said.

“What a dilemma.”

“Darius.”

“Yes?”

Darius could see Hunter glaring at him from the corner of his eye and cockily smiled, boredly flicking his finger up to continue his scrolling.

“Use your words, dear,” Darius teased, still waiting.

“You know what? Never mind. It’s not that big of a deal,” Hunter huffed, childishly crossing his arms in stubborn annoyance.

Darius simply chuckled, rolling up his scroll and standing up to walk over to him.

“You want me to sneak you into the festivities,” Darius said, finally pitying Hunter and giving in.

Hunter hesitantly nodded and uncrossed his arms.

“A scout escorting a Coven Head wouldn’t be pulled aside to work on other things,” Hunter explained as if Darius wasn’t fully aware of that already.

The fact that Hunter was even asking him to do this was bizarre to Darius, in all honesty. As far as Hunter was aware, Darius was a loyal man who diligently followed the Emperor’s orders. Sure, he’d defied Belos before for him, but those had been dire circumstances. Risking everything to save his life and sneaking him out of the castle just to watch a silly little parade were two entirely different things.

Of course, it’s not as if Darius hadn’t snuck Hunter out of the castle before for mundane things. This was still a slightly different circumstance, however. It was one thing sneaking him out of the castle late at night on a day where everyone else was distracted by a party but sneaking him out on a day that was arguably one of the busiest in the castle where his disappearance had a high chance of being noticed sounded far too risky.

Hunter was suggesting that not only did he want to rebel against his uncle a little, but that he wanted Darius to do so as well just to make him happy. The audacity of such a request filled Darius with a certain pride that he had to struggle to contain.

Darius looked at him for a moment, considering what he should do. A loyal Coven Head would continue to say no. An even more loyal Coven Head would tell Belos Hunter even tried this. Darius obviously wasn’t going to do that, though. He was already in defiance of the Emperor just by entertaining the thought but it’s not as if Belos could read his mind from across the castle and know what he was thinking.

Darius opened his mouth to reply but stopped when something shimmered on Hunter’s belt. he gave it a closer look, realizing it was Hunter’s bird charm that he must have attached to a string and sewn onto his clothing so he wouldn’t keep dropping it. Darius hadn’t realized what it was at first because something was different about it.

“You painted it red?” he asked, distracted, pointing towards the charm on Hunter’s waist.

Hunter looked confused for a moment, following the trail pointed out by Darius until he looked down at his own waist and realized what Darius was talking about.

He grew frantic all of a sudden and Darius wasn’t sure why. Did he think Darius would be mad that he painted it? It was his charm; he could do whatever he wanted with it.

“Oh! I, um…, it’s, ah…..,” Hunter fumbled, voice cracking slightly as he tried to think of an excuse, eventually lamely deciding on, “…I just…like red…”

“Right…,” Darius said, cocking an eyebrow in question but ultimately deciding to drop it. He really didn’t care. He was just curious but whatever the reason, Hunter wasn’t ready to admit it for some odd reason. He could ask Darius to sneak him out of the castle against orders but couldn’t tell him why he painted a cheap little trinket a different color. Wonderful.

Getting them back on topic, Darius said, “So let me get this straight: You are asking me, a Coven Head, to defy orders and risk the Emperor’s wrath and my job just to sneak you into a parade?”

“It’s…important,” Hunter simply explained, refusing to look at Darius. Getting the facts laid out for him in that way did seem to give him pause, at least.

Darius gave him another questioning look but decided to just drop it. Whatever Hunter’s reason was for this sudden, unexpected delinquency, Darius didn’t care. He was far too elated by the behavior to want to think about it too much past what might happen should they be caught. That was, unfortunately, the fact that Darius had to force himself to get hung up on the most. He couldn’t let himself be swayed by Hunter’s strange behavior as of late if it could mean trouble for the both of them.

Two years ago, when Darius had allowed Hunter to stay after he had snuck out to see the parade- that had already been stupid enough but the risks on Darius’ end had still been fairly minimal given that Hunter was the one who took it upon himself to disobey his uncle’s orders to stay in the castle. If Darius actually did this and snuck Hunter out, then Darius would be just as guilty, risking his cover just so this kid could watch a silly little parade. Furthermore, should Belos find out about Hunter’s delinquency, Darius worried what might happen to Hunter as punishment. As much as he wanted to see Hunter happy and having fun, it just wasn’t worth the risk.

“I’m sorry, Little Prince. I have to decline,” he informed, giving Hunter a sorry look over the statement, “You must understand that while I am willing to do a lot for you, this isn’t a request I can reasonably consider.”

Hunter wilted at the answer, clearly distraught that despite building up the courage to ask such a thing, he was thoroughly shot down.

“Okay. Um, thank you for hearing me out anyway, I guess,” Hunter mumbled, picking at his gloves, “You won’t tell Belos I asked, will you?”

“I’ve always been good about keeping your secrets, haven’t I?” Darius simply asked in answer.

The statement was meant to be just a lighthearted one but the thoughts that started spiraling in Hunter’s eyes over it and the way he moved his hand down to start absentmindedly playing with the bird charm had Darius very curious as to what was going on. What else was he hiding?

“Is everything okay?” Darius asked, trying to bring him out of his thoughts after a minute of no response.

Hunter jumped, pulled back to reality, and quickly answered, “Fine! Everything’s fine!”

Then, without another word, he threw his mask back on and dashed out of the room to avoid any further conversation.

Hunter had always been a strange boy but it was impressive he was somehow able to surpass himself still. Darius simply shook his head as he watched him go. Whatever was going on with the kid, he was sure he’d find out eventually.

Darius was ultimately glad he had declined to sneak Hunter to the Coven Day Parade when he sat on his usual rooftop and watched the absolute wreck that went down that year. He couldn’t even be bothered to get up and help the scouts take down the rampant creature masquerading as a parade float. He just didn’t care enough, thoroughly annoyed by the development.

His only concern was Raine but from his hidden perch, he could easily see who the perpetrators were and it was obvious the bard was not in any danger with them. As bad as he felt leaving Raine to deal with Eda, he knew they could handle it. Butting in while Terra was around, especially, would only make things worse. So, Darius did nothing, continuing to watch the rest of the parade as it filtered by, as if it was somehow still more interesting than whatever spectacle had just occurred.

The parade this year felt a little different, aside from the obvious, and it took a second for Darius to realize why. Lilith had always organized this event as Emperor’s Coven Head, being the main task manager for the festivities. Now, since Lilith was no longer around, that duty would of course fall on the new Coven Head.

Darius suddenly felt terrible. Of course Hunter wanted to see the parade this year, going so far as to be willing to disobey the Emperor and risk asking a fellow Coven Head for help. He had played a major role in organizing it and would never get to see the fruits of his labor. Darius didn’t regret not sneaking Hunter out for all the reasons he’d previous thought of, but it didn’t help the ache in his heart at the recognition that the poor boy wasn’t even allowed to attend a ceremony he’d worked so hard to plan. The kid wasn’t allowed a crystal ball either so he couldn’t even watch the festivities from inside the castle.

Darius almost stood up and left then, upon realizing just how unfair the situation was. He was stopped, however, when the Emperor was projected before the crowd and with a disgusting feigned caring demeanor, Belos removed his mask and revealed his face to the entirety of the Boiling Isles.

Darius didn’t really care. He could see the Emperor for who he really was and this display only filled him with disgust when the crowd below him began to cheer. They were all so brainwashed- made to care about a man who only wanted to hurt them. Darius truly pitied them.

Darius should have cared for other reasons, however. The Emperor’s sudden interest in appearing as an open book should have been a warning and Darius should have been more concerned over the reason why Belos suddenly cared so much as to reveal his face. Darius had just foolishly assumed the Emperor had made his play and would leave it at that but of course, the man had to go and make matters worse. Of course, Darius should have assumed that when the Emperor decided to no longer keep his identity a secret, that decision also fell onto anything, or anyone, the Emperor considered an extension of himself.

Just after the parade, every Coven Head and a handful of scouts were called into the throne room for an important meeting. The Emperor stood before the throne, still unmasked, smiling at them as they made their way in and bowed in greeting.

“Thank you all for arriving on such short notice,” Belos stated, walking down the platform steps and making his way past each of them as he spoke, “You are all so very important to me and to the success of the Day of Unity. I feel that at this point, it is much deserved on your parts to not have any secrets withheld from you.”

The Emperor made his way back onto the platform after he had looked each of them over, continuing to smile that annoyingly fake smile of his as he continued his speech.

“You all were already aware of my appearance, so that of course is no surprise to you. I do believe it is important, however, that you all are fully aware of everything else that might have been kept from you.”

Belos then turned and took a few steps towards his Golden Guard and the action spurred a genuine worry to ignite in Darius’ chest, trying to figure out what the Emperor was planning to do based on his speech.

Hunter curiously looked up at the man as he smiled down at him. Belos finished his thought, placing his hands on either side of Hunter’s mask.

“I don’t believe anyone should be keeping secrets from you anymore.”

And with that, the Emperor unclasped the Guard’s mask and slowly pulled it away from his face.

There was no sound in the room but that wasn’t unexpected. No one would dare utter a word if the Emperor had not allowed them to. However, Darius could easily imagine the kinds of thoughts that were rolling through the heads of the rest of the throne room as they finally discovered the mighty Golden Guard, their superior and the Emperor’s feared right hand, was just a little kid.

Darius couldn’t care less about them, though.

His concern was solely on the hesitant glance Hunter gave to all of them before his eyes moved back onto his uncle, clearly trying to fight back the feeling of betrayal in the gaze. The internal conflict present within him must be great- the immediate urge to feel angry with Belos for exposing him like this clashing with his conditioned response to push down the feeling and convince himself his uncle must have a good reason for it.

How cruel- to make the child believe it was best to hide his identity, force him to isolate himself his entire life in fear of other’s portrayals of him, just to suddenly and unjustly rip away the comfort that was thrust upon the mask he wore in front of everyone.

No, Hunter shouldn’t have to hide himself away from other people but his circumstances right now were not optimal for a child who was forced to act like an adult. The other Coven Heads had trouble taking him seriously before. This just gave them even less reason to do so and would only prove to further shake Hunter’s confidence.

Maybe that was why Belos did it? Hunter was getting too comfortable in the man’s eyes and he needed something big to force him back into his arms- to bring back that fear of the world around him. The Coven Head’s belittlement of him was bad before but if this proved to double their efforts, Hunter may be forced to recede into the belief that the universe around him was cruel and unforgiving.

Or perhaps the Emperor was aware of Hunter’s attempts to leave the castle and this was some sort of punishment for his misbehavior? It was already hard enough for Hunter to sneak out solely as the Emperor’s nephew but if everyone knew he was also the Golden Guard, it would give him less incentive to do so since everyone who might catch him would be more eager to get him in trouble considering he was hated by most.

Or, maybe, this was just an effort to get everyone to trust Belos even more at the expense of his nephew. Darius could easily see the Emperor purposefully making Hunter uncomfortable and betraying him for such a selfish reason. The child only existed to further Belos’ goals; of course he would continue to use him for that purpose. The other Coven Heads would be angry with the boy for keeping this secret but their beloved, trusted Emperor allowed them to finally see the truth.

No matter the reason, to make Hunter so purposefully uncomfortable and to expose his secret against his will was entirely evil. Darius was glad he’s had years of practice in self-restraint because his urge to run up there and rip Hunter away from Belos then and there was nearly overwhelming.

Furthermore, aside from just blatantly betraying his trust, the decision to reveal Hunter’s identity had Darius concerned for another reason. Darius had been hoping that once Belos had been taken down once and for all, he could get by with passing him off as an ordinary, innocent child. No one, save for a few people, knew Hunter was the Golden Guard and so he could have easily avoided any punishment for his place at the tyrant’s side. If Belos was going to expose his identity to the castle, however, then soon enough he may want to expose it to the rest of the Boiling Isles as well. Even if he didn’t get that far, the other Coven Heads would certainly be willing to share their knowledge just to get back at Hunter and Darius.

If everyone knew Hunter had been the Emperor’s right hand, Darius feared they would not take kindly to him receiving no retribution for Belos’ crimes. They would be angry at the Emperor, and rightfully so, and may choose to direct that violence on the person who had been closest to him. Darius could try and convince them that Hunter didn’t know better or that he was just a poor, abused child but there was no guarantee they would want to listen.

The meeting ended and Darius ignored the grumbles of the other Coven Heads as they all exited the throne room, annoyed by this new revelation. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked over to Raine, the apologetic look in their eyes far too much for him to handle right now. He simply shook their hand off and walked away to stew on this in silence.

Chapter Text

Darius was used to weird things happening in the castle.

He had spent his entire adulthood within those walls and he thought there was truly nothing that could surprise him anymore. He was unshakeable to strange happenings- a solid foundation against the unusual and unexplained.

The red cardinal palisman casually perching itself on the desk in the common study was definitely unexpected, though.

Those working for the Emperor were not permitted to have palisman, with only a few ever having been an exception, such as Lilith, for example. Generally, it was considered forbidden, given that palisman were dubbed wild magic. Most palisman knew this as well, keeping a good distance from the castle to avoid meeting an unfortunate fate at the hands of the Emperor. It was fairly common knowledge what the man did with them.

The bird looked up at him curiously and chirped, completely unbothered by the fact it had been discovered. Did it belong to someone or had it flown into the castle on its own by accident? Either way, there was either a really stupid witch in this castle or a really stupid palisman.

Darius sighed, “You shouldn’t be here, little one. It’s dangerous.”

The bird just cocked its head at him and made no attempt to leave.

From behind him, Darius suddenly heard the unmistakable click of the doorhandle being turned, the sound causing a sharp dread to fill his heart. Thinking fast, Darius grabbed the bird and stuffed it under his cape, hoping the stupid little creature would keep quiet so neither of them would get in trouble.

The door opened and Darius’ dread only increased when it was none other than the Golden Guard who entered. He had witnessed first-hand how little Hunter cared about palisman and how willing he was to hand them off to Belos. If Hunter discovered the bird, it was inevitable the palisman would meet the same unfortunate fate as so many others before it. 

Hunter jumped upon seeing Darius, like he wasn’t expecting anyone else to be in that room. Sure, it was a study only meant for Coven Heads and most of them didn’t use it, but that didn’t mean it would automatically be unoccupied.

“Oh! Um…Hi, Darius,” the boy awkwardly said, shuffling from foot to foot.

“Hi,” Darius greeted in return, curious about the strange behavior.

Hunter didn’t move, continuing to stand in the doorway, staring at the man.

“Can…I help you with something?” Darius asked, urging him to do something, the feeling of feathers in his grasp only quickening his nervous heartbeat. The awkwardness of this encounter wasn’t exactly helping, either.

“I…was just looking for something,” Hunter said, still not moving.

“…I see,” Darius simply responded. Okay, he was acting way too weirdly for everything to be so normal. Sure, Hunter had been acting strange as of late but this was just uncomfortable.

“Perhaps I can help you look?” Darius tried.

Without missing a beat, Hunter responded, “No, thanks.”

He still didn’t move.

“Do you want me to leave?” Darius took a guess.

Very bluntly, Hunter said, “Yes,” and Darius frowned a little at the rudeness. What could he possibly be looking for that he couldn’t search while Darius was in the room?

Letting it go, Darius began to make his way out, Hunter stepping out of the doorway to let him through. Just as he was about to pass it, Hunter spoke up again.

“Oh, Darius. You, uh, haven’t seen anything unusual in here have you?”

The feathers tickling his palm could certainly be categorized as unusual. He wasn’t about to tell Hunter that, though.

What a strange question, however. It was quite a coincidence that Darius would find a palisman in this study just for Hunter to come in here right after claiming he had lost something and being very dodgy about what it was. There was one possibility that passed through Darius’ mind, but it simply couldn’t be possible.

He opened his mouth to try and press for details to support his hypothesis but quickly shut it when there was a soft chirp emanating from underneath his cloak. Hunter was still wearing his mask, but Darius could imagine the look he was giving him right now.

“Darius?”

Suddenly, the bird wriggled free from Darius’ grasp and shot out from under his cloak, barreling straight towards Hunter.

“Flapjack!”

Hunter instinctually brought his hands up, catching the palisman just as it reached him, holding it gently in his palms as he snuggled it close to his chest.

“I told you to stay in my room,” he whisper-scolded to it. The bird chirped in some sort of response forcing a frustrated grumble from Hunter and it wasn’t difficult to draw the conclusion that he could understand the palisman.

Darius flicked his eyes towards the painted-red bird charm still dangling from Hunter’s belt and back to the cardinal being coddled in the boy’s grasp. It was fairly obvious what was going on at this point but still, Darius had to ask.

“Hunter, is that your palisman?” Darius asked, making Hunter jump at the reminder he was not alone.

“…No,” Hunter tried. It was impressive how after all these years, he was still so bad at lying.

“Do you want to try that answer again?” Daruis asked, crossing his arms.

Hunter stalled, looking at Darius for a moment in complete silence. Then, he hesitantly brought the bird closer to him and protectively covered it with his hand, turning away slightly.

“Please, don’t tell anyone,” Hunter begged, his voice cracking in the middle of the plea.

No wonder he's been acting so strangely lately. He’s been harboring an illegal palisman for Titan knows how long, probably fighting with himself over whether he should keep the bird or not. Darius knew for a fact that Hunter didn’t just stroll off one day, find a palisman, and then immediately accept the fact that he’d ended up bonding with it. Everyone knew the Emperor’s feelings surrounding palisman. His Golden Guard having one would likely not go over well should he ever find out. Truly, Hunter’s feelings of self-worth and his need to be the perfect henchman were at great risk here; the bird serving as a true symbol of rebellious spirit and the shattering of Hunter’s blind devotion to Emperor Belos.

And still, Hunter had kept it.

To say Darius was elated would be an understatement. That little bird that Hunter was holding so lovingly in his hands was the first thing in two years that had ever truly given Darius hope that Hunter could eventually see reason. Suddenly, his vision of a future where Hunter didn’t hate him for being a traitor felt just a little more in reach. His hope that Hunter could eventually understand what Belos really was returned full force and stronger than it ever had been before.

So, of course, Darius replied, “I won’t tell anyone,” and gave the boy a reassuring smile. Hunter still had his mask on but Darius liked to imagine that he smiled back at him.

“Thank you,” Hunter said, the gratefulness apparent in the breathiness of his voice, a relieved sigh escaping him with the words.

“Be more careful with it, though,” Darius warned, lightly making a chopping motion on Hunter’s head in stern teasing, “You’re lucky I was the one who walked in here and found it.”

“He’s usually more careful in staying hidden,” Hunter defended, stroking the bird’s head with his finger.

“It’s not the palisman’s responsibility- it’s yours,” Darius argued. 

Despite how happy it made him to find out Hunter had a palisman, he needed him to understand how serious this was. Should Hunter be caught, Belos would not be merciful to him or the bird. The last thing Darius wanted was for Hunter to face even more trauma than he already had. He could easily imagine the Emperor forcing the poor kid to watch him kill his bird before punishing him in a more physical way as well. He shuddered at the thought.

Hunter hesitantly nodded in acknowledgement. The bird nestled down in his hand and he hid it under his cloak.

“You really won’t tell anyone?” Hunter asked again and Darius could understand the wariness.

“I promise,” Darius said, hoping he would believe him, “I’ve told you before; I’m great at keeping secrets.”

Hunter nodded again and without another word, turned and left the study. Darius watched him go, letting himself smile as he thought about the love that was apparent in the kid’s heart for that bird. Hunter was truly changing and Darius was overjoyed that it was for the better. He was glad that despite Belos’ constant teachings and manipulation throughout Hunter’s life; deep down there was still a boy with a heart of gold.

And then of course, Hunter had to ruin it.

Aside from hiding the palisman, Hunter had been acting strange for other reasons. Ever since Darius mentioned how he thought his mentor was a better Golden Guard than Hunter, Hunter had been adamant about ‘proving’ himself to Darius. The behavior was entirely confusing simply for the fact that Darius’ opinion of Hunter’s worthiness of the Golden Guard title didn’t matter. There was only one person’s idea of what he should act like that was ultimately important and yet Hunter was so concerned right now about changing Darius’ mind.

It had started off fairly innocent. After he left Darius’ room that night with a newfound determination to try and get Darius to admit he was better than his mentor, Hunter began regaling all of the successful missions he’d ever been on in clearly exaggerated detail whenever he had the chance. He was constantly reminding Darius that not only was he Golden Guard, but he was also a Coven Head- a title his mentor had never had bestowed upon him. Every time he learned a new spell with his staff, Darius was the first to know about it, Hunter eagerly asking if his mentor had been able to do the same ones.

It was entirely annoying but not anything Darius couldn’t put up with. He hoped that this was just some weird phase of Hunter’s and that he’d get over it eventually. He was a teenager. Teenagers had phases, right? This surely wouldn’t last. So, he’d listen to Hunter ramble and ask questions for a while and soon enough, it would end.

Then, it started to get worse.

When none of that managed to sway Darius, Hunter decided to start upping the ante. He’d be more stern with the scouts if he noticed Darius was in the vicinity. He was normally overly commanding but these were new, Belos-level reprimands and orders. Hunter would also come up with new, crazy ideas for restructuring personnel and streamlining work in the castle, which was impressive in its own regard in the fact they could actually work but had Darius wincing at the knowledge that Hunter’s ideas would also lead to placing more burden on already overworked scouts and scout commanders- a fact Darius had brought up and Hunter immediately disregarded, as if it wasn’t something he particularly cared about. Hunter had also personally doubled the castle’s efforts in finding wild witches, ordering more searches and raids throughout the Isles.

Hunter wasn’t a better Golden Guard than his mentor- just a far more strict and uncaring one. He was trying so hard to prove himself to Darius but Darius had no idea how to tell him he was just working in the wrong direction. He was so used to doing these things in order to please Belos that he probably thought they were the kinds of things Darius would like as well. Darius didn’t care for them, though. They just made him think Hunter really didn’t mind being that heartless.

It came to an unfortunate peak during what was supposed to be their day off, however, when Darius got a call from Hunter, rudely disturbing his relaxing time.

Hunter calling was unusual and that fact already told Darius that Hunter wasn’t in the castle. Otherwise, he would have just preferred to wander over to his room to talk to him in person.

Secondly, Hunter stating he was at Hexside was another red flag because there were few reasons Darius could think of why he would sneak out of the castle just to go to a school.

When Hunter finally excitedly told Darius why he was there, Darius had to practically force back the groan of annoyance that threatened to escape him at the explanation, the knots he’d just managed to unfurl in his back coming back full force somehow.

In some last ditch effort to get Darius to admit that Hunter was the superior Golden Guard, the little idiot had decided to sneak off to Hexside, pose as a student, and kidnap a bunch of kids in order to force them to join the Emperor’s Coven.

Darius was at a loss for what to do. Technically, besides sneaking out of the castle, Hunter hadn’t done anything wrong by Belos’ standards. If he ever found potential, viable recruits for the Coven he was practically required to make an effort to get them to join. The fact he went after some random kids was annoying though. No one was really forced to join a Coven until they finished school so no one ever bothered to go after children to try and recruit them but there was absolutely no reason they couldn’t other than the fact it felt immoral to create child soldiers. Hunter was a child soldier himself, though, and saw no problem with it. Of course he would target other kids and feel no remorse.

Once the call ended, Darius allowed himself to let out that groan, reluctantly making himself get up and get dressed so he could deal with this situation. He sent an order to some scouts to pick up Hunter’s recruits, deciding he could just entertain him for now. If he pretended to be on board with this, he could just take the kids back to Hexside later without Hunter knowing about it. That way, Darius would still look like he was obeying orders and Hunter would get some satisfaction over thinking he’d done a good job and finally got Darius’ approval, despite the fact Darius couldn’t hate this situation more.

To say he was irritated with Hunter would be an understatement. After everything, he couldn’t believe he’d just go off and do something like this. It was evil and cruel and the fact that Hunter saw no issue with it seriously concerned him. Just when he thought Hunter was changing, he had to go and somehow dash Darius’ hopes again.

He got ready and took an airship to the prison where the scouts had taken the kids, teleporting them from the cell and taking their palisman up with them. Hunter burst out of the entrance and looked up at him in surprise for a moment before a wide smile spread across his face.

“Darius! I did good right? Am I a better Golden Guard now?” Hunter called up to him.

Darius glanced over to the kids being held prisoner on his airship before turning his gaze back to Hunter, forgetting to hide the disappointment on his face. He was so terribly distraught over the situation and Hunter’s enthusiasm was not helping in the slightest. 

“Yes, fine. Whatever. You’re a model Golden Guard. I’m sure the Emperor would be proud,” Darius spit, furrowing his brow slightly and turning away, ordering his abomination to steer them back into the sky.

He ignored the way Hunter’s face contorted in confusion as the airship pulled away. Darius really couldn’t deal with him right now. He would take these kids back to Hexside, go back to the castle, and then finally take advantage of his day off to try relaxing, as impossible as the prospect seemed after what just happened. The children on the airship were either glaring at him or warily watching his every movement, occasionally trying to escape, but he just ignored them or easily brushed off their attempts, pulling out his scroll to try and distract himself until they arrived at their destination. 

Darius could not let himself think too much right now. He could feel his anger simmering just at the surface and he needed to try as hard as he could to keep it under wraps. These kids didn’t look particularly scared but considering they’d just been kidnapped and thought they were being taken back to the castle by a Coven Head, Darius didn’t want to risk frightening them even more because of his short temper. The obnoxious posts that kept popping up on Penstagram were not really helping, though.

Then, as he was distracted, Hunter suddenly popped up beside him in a flash of gold, startling him. The other kids used his shock as an opportunity to trick him and crash the airship to escape and his thoughts were now solely about how he just wanted to spend the rest of his day not dealing with anymore Titanforsaken children.

Darius wasn’t exactly a difficult man to anger. Still, even if he wasn’t, he was sure it would be fully justified in this situation.

Hunter managed to teleport away again to save himself from the crash so Darius at least didn’t have to worry about that. The other kids managed to free their palisman so he didn’t have to worry about them, either. Since there was nothing for him to worry about, it just made it easier to feel the anger as it filled his entire body and overwhelmed him in the absence of any other emotion.

Once the ship was in the sea, Darius let the rage consume him. He wasn’t a monster; he wouldn’t actually hurt anyone but he felt the strong urge to scare them just a little for pulling such a stunt. He would feel bad about not controlling himself later but for right now, he just didn’t care. He needed an outlet.

He blocked the kids from escaping and easily cut through any attempts to barricade themselves from him. In the back of his mind, he could hear his conscience yelling at him, telling him how wrong this was, but he pointedly ignored it. He was frustrated that his day off had been ruined; he was frustrated with Hunter’s behavior as of late; he was frustrated with these kids for their reckless endangerment of everyone’s lives and he was going to take it out on someone and it’s not like these kids meant anything to him.

The one that dashed between him and the others, though, was a different story.

“Out of my way, Little Prince,” Darius said through gritted teeth, glaring down at Hunter in an attempt to scare him enough to move. Surprisingly, he didn’t, even as Darius’ scythe arm was raised in a threatening manner.

Then, the words Hunter spoke next had the anger fleeing Darius’ body in an instant, leaving the man feeling cold in the absence of the rage and the realization of what he was doing.

“These four aren’t fit for the Emperor’s Coven. I was wrong. Please, don’t hurt them,” he begged.

The fear in his eyes and the way his gaze quickly darted up to Darius’ scythe and then back to Darius made Darius suddenly feel like the worst person in the world. He had worked so hard to get Hunter to understand he would never hurt him and he may have just ruined that completely. He thought Darius was willing to attack some random kids. Why wouldn’t he think he might redirect some of that rage onto him for defending them?

When Darius didn’t respond, Hunter hesitantly turned back to the other children and urged them to leave and it was then that Darius fully registered that Hunter was, indeed, defending them. He was defending them against him.

Darius lowered his arm and re-transfigured it.

“You befriended them?” Darius asked, bewildered by this new development.

Hunter flinched, ever so slightly, at the words and Darius realized he needed to try and soften his voice more. He was already on edge thinking Darius was still angry with him.

He looked down at this child- this boy who he had been so worried about lately would follow too closely in the Emperor’s footsteps and realized just how naïve he’d been. Hunter’s palisman was perched on his shoulder, a blaring statement to Hunter’s subconscious need to break free, and the boy had just stepped in, blatantly defied Darius, despite having been so eager to prove himself lately, in order to protect what was most likely the first witches his own age he’s ever talked to and somehow befriended.

“Good for you,” Darius finished, smiling a little, letting the happiness over the development fully replace his previous anger.

Hunter cautiously looked up at him again, wringing his gloves together in nervousness.

“You…aren’t angry?” he hesitantly asked.

“I’m angry you made me work on my day off for such a ridiculous idea,” Darius said, pinching the bridge of his nose and sighing, forcing himself to just let it go. Then, he decided to admit, “I was just going to take them back to Hexside. We don’t need any more recruits, in my opinion.”

“Oh,” Hunter simply said, sadly looking at the ground in front of him at the admission.

Darius looked over him a moment, taking in his sudden despondent demeanor. The poor kid had been trying so hard to do something good in Darius’ eyes that there was no doubt he was thoroughly disappointed that his plan wouldn’t have worked out anyway, even if he hadn’t made friends with those other kids.

“Why have you been so eager for my approval, anyway?” Darius asked. He should have asked before but he supposed now was as good a time as any.

“I just…,” Hunter started, the wringing of his hands growing in intensity as he still refused to look at Darius, “…I just wanted you to be proud of me.” 

Darius leaned over and put his hands on Hunter’s arms, the statement forcing his heart to fill with an overwhelming love that he simply could not overlook. Hunter wasn’t a bad kid. He just wanted Darius’ approval and didn’t understand how to go about getting it. Of course he’d try doing things that made Belos happy since that was the only frame of reference he’d ever had. Darius would make sure to fix that.

“Hunter, I am proud of you. You’re becoming your own person; making friends, trying to have fun…You don’t need to overwork yourself or pull stunts like this. It doesn’t matter to me who the better Golden Guard is. I don’t care about the Golden Guard. I care about you. All I need from you is to know you’re doing things that make you happy,” Darius said, squeezing his arms a little in assurance.

“Things that make me happy?” Hunter reiterated, clearly confused by the statement. He had spent his life bending over backwards trying to make other people happy that the idea of seeking his own was such a foreign concept.

It was okay, though. Darius would help him learn.

“Yes, things that make you happy- like getting a palisman or making friends, for example,” Darius said gesturing towards Hunter’s bird who chirped in agreement of the statement. Darius then leaned away and formed a spell circle, dropping a brand new scroll into his hands, finishing his thought, “And I’m sure it would make you happy to actually be able to talk to your new friends, wouldn’t it?”

Hunter stared wide eyed at his new scroll, clearly excited by the idea, before hesitantly turning his gaze back up to Darius to ask, “Are you sure?”

“Only if you are, Little Prince.”

Sure, Hunter wasn’t allowed to have things like scrolls but the kid was already harboring an illegal palisman. In comparison, the scroll was barely even an issue and Darius was happy to provide it if it gave the kid the chance to have a life outside the castle.

He had his abominations fix the airship and then took Hunter back home, making sure to teleport them both to Darius’ room so Hunter didn’t have to try sneaking back in. Darius had wanted to spend the rest of his day off relaxing but he really should have expected it when Hunter eagerly asked him how to use the scroll.

Teaching a kid who’s never had to figure out technology like this before how to do everything was not an ideal scenario but it’s not as if Darius didn’t do it to himself. He shouldn’t have just expected to give the kid the scroll and have Hunter immediately know what to do with it. Still, watching the way Hunter’s eyes lit up when he sent his first message to one of his new friends and had her respond, excitedly reading the message out loud with more glee than he could contain in his little body, made Darius think that maybe this wasn’t so bad, actually.

Chapter Text

A draining spell.

Darius stared at the correspondence he’d received from Eberwolf in shock, brain barely processing the words on the page as he read them.

A draining spell.

They were always fully aware that the Day of Unity was a sham to cover up a much darker goal but they had never known exactly what it was that Belos was planning. They knew it was something big- something that would change the Boiling Isles forever. They didn’t know it was something like this.

A draining spell.

Belos was planning a mass genocide of anyone who bore a Coven sigil, draining them of their magic and leaving them lifeless husks to wither away to dust. The way Darius’ heart sped up at the thought, dread encompassing his entire being and forcing the world around him to fade away to black almost made him think he was going to die then and there from shock. The Emperor wanted to kill everyone. Most everyone, anyway.

The draining spell would only hit those who had sigils so children would largely be unaffected unless Belos was planning on forcing all of them into Covens before the Day of Unity, which wouldn’t be a surprise. Either way, the scenario seemed hopeless. Either everyone, including children, would perish at the Emperor’s hands or the Boiling Isles would be inhabited by a mass group of sudden orphans who had to learn to take care of themselves. He honestly wasn’t sure which outcome he would have preferred.

He was on the verge of vomiting just thinking about this but he simply could not pull his mind away. Truly, which was worse? At least in the second scenario, witchkind wouldn’t be mass eradicated and the children would have the chance to grow up and start anew. Still, a world in which every child was forced to live with the trauma surrounding the murder of all their parents sounded like a nightmare come to life. All children except one, of course.

Hunter had a sigil. Darius’ mind so helpfully decided to supply him with this information at this time when his world was already being turned upside down. Then, he couldn’t stop thinking about which scenario he would prefer for Hunter. Obviously there was no more choice for Hunter but what if there had been? Would Darius want him to die or would it be better for him to survive despite the overwhelming trauma, difficulty, and pain that would haunt him the rest of his life?

He just didn’t know. Of course he didn’t want him to die but he didn’t want him to suffer, either.

He wasted no more time in forming an abomination and sending this information off to Raine so they were aware as well, making sure to ask, yet again, for the bard to recruit Eda. Their insistence on keeping her out of it was annoying considering she was already involved. If the rebels could gather more recruits and find some way to stop Belos, then they wouldn’t have to worry about anyone dying. So, that was what Darius would force himself to focus on.

The next few days were spent in a frenzy, trying to keep up appearances around the castle while Darius, Eberwolf, and Raine snuck off as much as they possibly could to formulate a plan. The Day of Unity was almost upon them and they were running out of time.

Hunter was, surprisingly, a lot of help in that regard.

Every plan they could come up with had far too many pitfalls, the risks far outweighing the benefits. They couldn’t just attack the Emperor and try to kill him because not only was Belos powerful, but there was no doubt the scouts and other Coven Heads would immediately come to his aid and they would be quickly outnumbered. They couldn’t just release this information to the public, either, because it would either just create mass hysteria or, more likely, not be believed and passed off as negative propaganda. If that happened, then there was also a good chance Belos would be eager to trace the information back to the perpetrators who spread it and then they would ruin their one chance at saving everyone.

However, as Darius listened to Hunter ramble about his newest informational fix, he managed to give Darius an interesting idea.

“Mindscapes reflect the individual, molding themselves to represent someone’s personality. Everyone’s memories and emotions can be found inside their mindscape in painting galleries and there’s usually some kind of physical manifestation of their thoughts- that would be their ‘inner self’.”

“How fascinating,” Darius boredly replied, trying to read a book but barely able to make out the words past his frazzled mind.

“It is fascinating!” Hunter exclaimed, completely unbothered by the lack of any real reaction, “Also, I read that, apparently, it’s possible to go into a mindscape. It’s really hard to do, though, and illegal because it’s easy to mess stuff up while you’re in there.”

That caught Darius’ attention.

“Mess stuff up? How?”

“Like I said: mindscapes hold all of a person’s memories and emotions. Theoretically, you could enter someone’s mind and destroy all those things.”

The rebellion had been wracking their heads for days trying to find a way to stop Belos to no avail but it appeared that his loyal right hand may have accidentally given them an idea.

They couldn’t attack Belos from the outside but if they could somehow get into his head, they could do it from the inside. No one could come to the Emperor’s aid as easily and burning a bunch of pictures sounded far easier than fighting a physical battle. If Belos’ memories were suddenly missing, then the Day of Unity couldn’t proceed because the Emperor wouldn’t even remember why it was happening in the first place.

“You know for once, you’ve actually piqued my interest with your rambling,” Darius said.

Hunter smiled up at him, completely oblivious to Darius’ real reason for the borderline praise. The poor boy probably thought he was just genuinely finding the chatter about mindscapes interesting on its own.

“So, how does one actually get into a mindscape?” Darius asked, hoping it just sounded like he was curious and not plotting on actually doing it.

Hunter’s smile fell as he startled from the question, glancing away so he didn’t have to look at Darius while he lied.

“…I wouldn’t know exactly. It would obviously be wild magic and I stay far away from that stuff,” Hunter said, slicing his hand through the air in emphasis.

He was actually getting better at lying. Darius was impressed. The slight hesitancy in his voice and the way he lowered it in mild shame still gave him away, though.

Not that it wouldn’t have been an obvious lie, anyway, for other reasons.

“Hunter, you literally have a palisman. Just tell me the truth.”

Hunter frantically sprang up from his sitting position, trying to shush Darius.

“Shh! Would you keep it down?”

“Who’s going to hear me? The spider making webs in the corner of my room?” Darius sarcastically asked. Not that he’d ever allow spiders to mar his clean space, but it still got his point across.

“I just…I don’t want anyone else finding out about him,” Hunter explained.

His worry was understandable, Darius supposed, deciding to just give this battle to Hunter. Darius was the one to tell him to be more careful, after all.

“Fine. My apologies. I’ll be more vigilant with my words,” Darius reassured. Then, getting them back on his previous topic, he said, “So, about the mindscape?”

“Why do you want to know anyway?” Hunter asked and Darius nearly kicked himself for being so careless at the suspicion creeping into Hunter's tone.

“Simply curious,” Darius quickly said, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible, “You said it was possible to enter the mindscape and since I was not aware of that before, I just wanted to know how it was done. I understand if you want to talk about something else, though.”

He really hoped Hunter didn’t want to talk about anything else. Sure, the rebels could just go off and try to find this answer themselves but if Darius could get it out of Hunter right then and there, it would save them a lot of valuable time and effort.

Hunter scanned Darius’ face for only a second before his expression softened, clearly buying the excuse. The past two years of his hard work getting the boy to trust him seemed to be finally paying off, Hunter’s suspicion leaving in an instant to be replaced with mild excitement at the idea he gets to openly talk about wild magic with someone. He had no reason to think Darius was lying to him.

As always when it came to the rebellion, Darius felt terrible for misleading him. Darius was just using Hunter right now without his knowledge and it made him sick. He needed this information, though. He needed to do this in order to save Hunter and the rest of the Boiling Isles. He had been so worried about Hunter hating him for being a traitor but maybe he should be more worried about him hating him for all the constant lying he was doing straight to his face.

“Okay, so, I can’t say for certain because texts don’t generally go into a lot of detail on this kind of thing but…,” Hunter started, pacing around slightly and waving his hands in the air as he rambled, “…it could be possible to enter the mindscape using a special kind of potion and glyph combo.”

Darius thought about asking where to acquire such a potion but that would definitely be suspicious. Why should he care if he wasn’t going to try it for himself?

So, instead, he simply said, “How interesting. Well, at least since it doesn’t seem to be common knowledge, we don’t have to worry about it ever happening.”

Hunter stopped and narrowed his eyes a little and Darius realized he was really pushing it. Hunter wasn’t stupid. He’d probably figure out sooner or later what Darius was planning but hopefully it wouldn’t be until the rebels were actually able to make it into Belos’ mind. At that point, they were going to be outed as traitors anyway, so it didn’t matter what Hunter knew or not. Darius just needed to keep him at bay for now so he didn’t try ruining their plans.

“Yeah, I guess,” Hunter simply said, plopping himself back onto the floor beside Darius’ desk.

Deciding it would be best to change the topic now, Darius asked, “So, how are you doing with your scroll? Are you still getting along with your new friends?”

“I wouldn’t really call them friends,” Hunter said, but still perked up nonetheless, immediately going into a tirade about all the new features he was discovering and how much faster he was getting at typing- a statement which Darius had trouble actually believing. Hunter was excited though and had clearly forgotten about their previous conversation and so Darius let him speak.

That very same afternoon, Darius made sure to suggest this plan to Raine and Eber. The next few days afterwards were spent doing heavy research and reconnaissance trying to get their hands on that mindscape potion.

This plan was still risky and dangerous but it was far better than any other they had come up with so far and had a higher probability of actually working as long as they could get all the moving parts into place in time. They just needed to get that potion, figure out that glyph, go into Belos’ mind, destroy those paintings, and then get out. Darius wasn’t sure it would kill Belos like he wanted but at least it would render the Emperor useless and they could worry about whether he should be allowed to live or not later.

Darius would not feel bad should Belos die. He had never even considered the idea that he would ever feel remorse over the Emperor’s death, even if it would be by his own hand. Ever since the death of his mentor, Belos’ demise had been something he dreamt about in hopeful aspiration and it only increased in voracity when Hunter entered his life and he learned of how horrible Belos was to him. Perhaps it was distasteful, but Darius sometimes liked to fantasize about how exactly Belos would die. The slower and more painful the death, the happier it made him. Perhaps this was the sign of a disturbed man but Darius was far past the point of caring about his own image. He would gladly revel in the wicked tyrant’s death if it meant he couldn’t hurt anyone else ever again. Every time he ever encountered Belos, the encounter would only further ignite that want.

Erasing the man’s emotions and memories seemed particularly cruel and Darius was unsure if it was better or worse than him dying. As much as he didn’t want to let the Emperor live, if a life of numbness and unsurety over his entire existence up until that point forced a certain kind of harsh suffering, then maybe it would be worth it to let him stay alive like that for a while. Either way, whether Belos dies or stays alive to suffer, Darius would be content. He would not feel bad in the slightest.

He passed through a hallway where he heard music, curiously making his way to the Bard Coven practice room to peek in on who he knew had to be playing the song. Eberwolf was with him and happily followed along, eager for a break in work.

Hunter and Raine were inside, Hunter excitedly playing music on his cittern as the bard sat beside him and kept time with the tapping of their foot. It was impressive how much Hunter had improved in such a short time, though not all that surprising the more Darius thought about it. Not only was Raine one of the best music teachers out there, but Hunter was a fairly quick learner on his own when he had actual help. His songs were no longer discordant chords and harsh notes that made Darius want to cover his ears but rather actual music that didn’t immediately grate on the senses.

Hunter struck an odd chord and stopped, Raine quickly stepping in to help him correct it. That was when Darius and Eberwolf decided to enter the room and make their presence known.

“My, how wonderful. You’ll be a musical prodigy in no time,” Darius remarked, strolling in and clapping his hands.

Hunter glanced up at the intrusion and smiled wide when he noticed Darius and Eberwolf.

“Raine’s been teaching me a lot! I’m having a lot of fun,” he happily said before realizing something and perking up even more somehow, “Oh! This kind of thing makes me happy, Darius.”

Darius smiled at the statement, internally fighting with himself so he didn’t burst into joyous tears and run over to give him a crushing hug. At least it appeared Hunter had taken his words to heart. 

“I’m glad,” he simply said instead, coming up next to him, Eberwolf climbing up to perch on his shoulder.

Eberwolf growled out a compliment and Hunter thanked him.

“Hunter is a natural,” Raine stated, smiling at their student before asking, “Why don’t you play Darius and Eber that song I taught you last week?” 

Hunter’s cheeks flushed in embarrassment at the prospect of putting on a performance and he shyly tried to hide behind his cittern.

“I’m…not that good yet,” he simply said.

“It’s just us, Little Prince,” Darius assured, pushing the cittern down from in front of Hunter’s face, “You don’t need to be so frightened. Just imagine we aren’t here.”

Hunter hesitated a few more moments before he finally relented and took a deep breath to calm his nerves, repositioning his instrument and beginning to play for them.

Despite the shakiness of his hands, it actually wasn’t that bad. It was clear he’d been practicing quite a lot and though it wasn’t perfect, Darius was immensely proud of him. It was apparent how happy Hunter actually was when he played and the soft smile on his face as he plucked the strings made Darius sure that the cittern was the best gift he could have gotten him.

Hunter’s smile immediately fell and the song abruptly ended when the door was pushed open again and his gaze was pulled up to a sight no one would have ever expected to see in that Bard Coven room- the presence making everyone tense up like statues, warily wondering what he could possibly be doing here.

The familiar, menacing figure of Emperor Belos stood framed in the doorway as he took in the sight of everyone in that room before his gaze finally landed on Hunter. Kikimora was at the Emperor’s side, holding a clipboard and nearly bursting with excited energy over whatever she thought was going to happen.

“I was just on my stroll around the castle when I heard such lovely music,” Belos announced, leaving the doorway and striding across the room.

Hunter immediately stood up and met the Emperor halfway, bowing in greeting. Eberwolf hopped off of Darius’ shoulder and he, Darius, and Raine bowed as well from their positions at the back of the room.

“Emperor Belos,” Hunter greeted, clearly trying to hide the waver in his voice, “It’s a pleasure to have you stop by.”

Belos regarded him for a second before motioning everyone to stand up straight. Then, he reached over and took the instrument from Hunter’s hands, looking over it curiously.

“How interesting. I was unaware you had developed such an affinity for music,” Belos said.

Raine spoke up then, trying to help Hunter out at the slight accusatory tone peeking through the Emperor’s statement.

“I took him up as a student and asked him to play a song for the other Coven Heads as practice,” they announced, forcing all the confidence in the world into their voice in the hopes that Belos wouldn’t be angry if this was something Hunter had been asked to do.

Why Belos would be angry was beyond them but anything was possible at this point. As far as they knew, there was no reason why Hunter couldn’t do things like this but the Emperor was unpredictable when it came to his strict rules regarding his nephew. Maybe Hunter had never been expressly forbidden from this before but now that Belos knew about it, he would suddenly decide he didn’t like it.

Darius had only been theorizing but unfortunately, that was what happened.

“That is kind of you, Raine. I do appreciate you looking out for my nephew in this regard,” Belos said, nearly making them all sigh in relief. Then, he had to continue.

“However, I feel it is important for my Golden Guard to stay ahead on his duties.”

Belos turned his attention back to Hunter, his eyes cold and icy behind his mask. It was clear in his gaze that there was not even a hint of love present within him for the boy he was staring at.

“If you have time to play with toys, then perhaps I can find more work for you. There will be no more of this fooling around, do you understand?” he asked his nephew.

Hunter hesitantly nodded and said, “Yes, I understand.”

Belos could have left it at that. His declaration had already been bad enough but Darius should have expected something even worse to come out of it, knowing that man.

“Good,” Belos simply stated.

Then, everyone watched in absolute horror as the cittern caught on fire in the Emperor’s grasp, the flames busting forth to overwhelm and consume it, casting ominous shadows on the walls around the room until there was nothing left of the instrument but ash that filtered out from in between Belos’ fingers into a pile on the floor in front of Hunter. Then, without another word, the Emperor turned and left the room, Kikimora throwing back an annoyingly smug look at Hunter before she followed Belos out.

When the door shut and a few moments had passed where they could no longer hear the Emperor’s footsteps in the hallway, Darius hesitantly took a step and reached out towards the boy who was continuing to stare down at the ash pile at his feet.

“Hunter…”

The small sniffle that escaped Hunter and the way he brought up an arm to try and wipe away tears before Darius could see them nearly broke his heart in two.

Without even turning back to the Coven Heads, Hunter responded, “Forget it. This was stupid, anyway,” and quickly stepped over the remnants of his instrument and made his way out of the room as well.

Darius watched him go, feeling his heart finally shatter at the hopelessness in Hunter’s voice- the child’s joy having been zapped from him in a single instant for no other reason than because Belos thought of him as some sort of toy he could control. 

Darius turned his gaze to the ash pile on the floor, his heart aching for that boy who would always have any discovered happiness cruelly ripped away from him. Belos was never content unless Hunter’s life was nothing but suffering- a pitiful existence where any individuality at all was seen as a mockery of the Emperor.

No, Darius would not feel bad about taking Belos down, whether that meant killing him or not. He would not feel bad at all.

Chapter Text

Between keeping up his appearance as a Coven Head and planning a traitorous plot to destroy the Emperor’s mind, Darius was completely overloaded with work. Any scrap of free time he might have was put to better use researching mindscapes and glyphs or meeting up with Raine and Eberwolf to try and discreetly go over their plans. It was thoroughly taxing but Darius only hoped it would be worth it in the end. If they succeeded and managed to stop the Day of Unity, then he wouldn’t mind the exhaustion that overwhelmed him during this time.

All of this sneaking around also had him on edge constantly- the worry that someone would find them out and arrest them continuously pushing itself to the forefront of his mind. He was ever vigilant in making sure he was never followed and that his secret correspondences remained secret. Any slip up could cost the rebellion everything and Darius could only hope the other rebels were being just as cautious.

Perhaps it made him too overly wary sometimes, but he supposed it was better to be careful than to be found out. That was what he told himself as he strode down a hallway with the intent of slipping into a secret passageway to converse with his fellow cohorts but decided against it when he had the unmistakable gut feeling that he was being watched.

He turned and looked behind him, eyes quickly darting around the hallway behind him for any sign of life. There was no one there. He frowned and just continued on his way.

The feeling continued to nag at him, settling in his stomach like rotted food and threatening to push up passed his throat. Darius knew better than to ignore an instinct like this, deciding it would be best to avoid doing anything that may out his intents and, despite what the prickles on the back of his neck were telling him, he still hoped he was just overthinking everything. An overactive imagination would be far better than actually being followed.

Then, the gut feeling became more than a gut feeling when he heard the soft thud of footsteps other than his own lightly tiptoeing across the tile in the otherwise empty hallway. He turned again, quicker, hoping to catch the perpetrator but again found no one there- the absence of someone actually behind him odd considering the footsteps sounded like they were not too far behind him and he was at the end of a fairly long hallway. He doubted this person would have been able to run to the other end and hide before he caught them.

Thoroughly confused and fully on edge, Darius turned back and continued walking, purposefully striding past the secret passage now that he was fairly sure he was being followed. He would just have to explain to Raine and Eberwolf later why he missed their meeting.

He eventually just made it back to the main part of the castle, taking root the common study to act as if that had been his destination the entire time. Whoever had been following him might think his pathing strange but if anyone asked, he could just say he wanted to walk around a bit and stretch his legs. After all, there was nothing illegal about taking a stroll around the castle.

This occurrence was worrisome, however. If someone had the forethought to follow Darius, then that meant someone was suspicious of him. He couldn’t think of any instance where he might have given himself away by accident. Every interaction he had with the other Coven Heads or other castle denizens was entirely about work or other mundane happenings. The only person he had regular casual conversations with beside Raine and Eberwolf was Hunter, but Darius had been extra careful in what he said to the boy. Besides, he hadn’t been able to talk to Hunter much lately anyway given how busy he was.

It could be possible that Raine or Eberwolf let something slip, he supposed. He didn’t like to think they would be so careless but he would have to bring this up to them as soon as possible. All the moving parts to make the mindscape plan work were almost together but it would all be for naught if they were found out by a stalker.

Maybe it was nothing and the footsteps he thought he heard were just echoes of his own and he had gotten spooked over nothing. Maybe the footsteps had been coming from another part of the castle and were just echoing down the hallways. Maybe they hadn’t been the sounds of footsteps at all, but just random creaking as a result of a poorly built foundation.

So, Darius would be careful and try to calm himself down and hopefully he wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore. Hopefully, he could get to his next secret meeting without any trouble and he could laugh his worry off and then promptly forget about it afterwards.

He really wished he could have done that.

The next time Darius tried to wander off, he heard those footsteps again. This time, he listened for the timing which told him they were unlikely to be echoes and they were too close to be someone loudly walking down the adjacent hall. He continued to hear them as he passed through hall after hall and at that point he knew, without a doubt, that there was someone keeping close and watching his every move and he felt his heartbeat quicken at the knowledge. Every possible scenario played out in his mind of why they would be doing such a thing, invading his thoughts as he struggled to figure out what to do to get them off his tail.

Perhaps it was a scout who wanted to ‘prove’ themselves and get promoted. Perhaps it was another Coven Head who wanted to prove Darius a traitor and get him caught. Maybe Belos was on to him and sent a spy to keep watch over what he did. Maybe, it didn’t even have anything to do with the rebellion. Maybe Darius just had a normal stalker- someone who wanted to follow him because they were infatuated with him. Maybe the castle was haunted and Darius was being pursued by a pestering spector who decided he would be a fun target to torment.

Whatever the case, Darius had to put a stop to it. He needed to be able to meet discreetly with the other rebels and he couldn’t do that if someone was constantly watching his every move. He had to be quick enough to catch them when they weren’t expecting it and then figure out what to do with them afterwards. He could possibly tie them up and hide them somewhere until the Day of Unity was over or perhaps knock them unconscious, put them on a boat, and hope that by the time they managed to get back the rebels would have already invaded Belos’ mind. He wasn’t sure but if he caught them, at least, then he could get some suggestions from Raine and Eber as well as their help in keeping this secret.

So, as Darius continued to walk, he carefully listened for those soft footsteps and without looking back, discreetly twirled his finger to summon an abomination behind where the footsteps last landed. He only hoped it actually worked when it was probably obvious he knew someone was onto him.

When he heard the muffled sounds of struggle coming from the person the abomination managed to catch along with the clatter of something metal falling to the ground- that was when Darius finally turned around, sighing in relief that the plan hadn’t been a bust.

And then his heart dropped at the sight.

Hunter was still struggling in the abomination’s hold, mouth muffled by one of its hands. His staff, which must have been the metal that Darius heard hit the ground, lay dropped on the tile, out of Hunter’s reach so he couldn’t just teleport away like he must have been doing when Darius tried to catch him before.

Darius took a deep breath and ordered the abomination to drop him. Now that Hunter had been caught, he hoped he wouldn’t just immediately try to run away from him once he was let go. Darius did not want to go through the trouble of catching him again, even if it would be easier now that he knew who it was.

“Why have you been following me, Little Prince?” Darius asked, getting straight to the point.

Hunter dropped out of the abomination’s arms and landed on his feet, immediately reaching down and picking his staff back up but luckily did not try running away. He shyly looked to the ground and gripped the staff tight, the leather of his gloves crackling under the pressure. He really needed new ones, Darius couldn’t help but think as he watched a few leather chips fall to the floor.

“First, promise you aren’t mad?” Hunter asked, voice hesitant.

Darius had every right to be mad that Hunter had been stalking him but the fact he was asking that made Darius think it wasn’t for the reasons he was thinking. If Hunter thought Darius was a rebel, then why would he still care if Darius was angry with him or not? There was one possibility, but Darius found it highly unlikely. He would just have to hear him out before trying to draw his own conclusions and getting his hopes up.
 
So, Darius lied, “I promise I’m not mad. I just want to know.”

Hunter hesitated for a second, opening and closing his mouth as he tried to get the words out, a small blush creeping up on his face.

“I…um…,” he tried, rolling his staff around in his hands while he thought. Finally, he sighed, seemingly giving up and just saying whatever embarrassing statement he was trying to admit, “You’ve been ignoring me a lot lately and I guess I was…scared that you hated me or something. I thought if I could figure out what you’ve been doing all this time and if it was something important, it would make me feel better.”

“Then why didn’t you just ask me?” Darius asked, slightly shocked by such an admission and nearly slapping himself for making such an oversight. 

He had been ignoring Hunter more than usual so of course that would give the boy questions and make him suspicious. They’d done this song and dance before but apparently, Darius just never learned. Maybe part of him thought Hunter would still just think it was extra side work that was keeping Darius busy and that he wouldn’t have to suddenly try explaining his absence again or maybe Darius was putting too much faith in Hunter’s trust of him- overestimating how much Hunter was willing to believe when it came to these kinds of things. He shouldn’t have assumed that he could give him a half-thought-out excuse once and then never have Hunter be suspicious ever again when the same thing started happening for a second time. Once was annoying yet understandable but to have Darius suddenly start ignoring him again must look especially suspicious.

“If you hated me then why would you tell me the truth?” Hunter simply explained, shrugging his shoulders like the answer should have been obvious.

Darius walked over, closing the distance between them, and put a hand on Hunter’s shoulder as he reassured him.

“Hunter, I don’t hate you, I promise. I’ve simply been busy with work. The Day of Unity is coming up, after all. All of us have to put in more effort to make sure it goes off without a problem.”

“So that’s all you’ve been doing? Preparing for the Day of Unity?” Hunter asked, the skepticism apparent in his voice.

“Yes,” Darius simply said, reveling in the fact that it wasn’t completely a lie this time, “As you know, the specialized Coven Heads all play a big part and I want to make sure I’m fully prepared for mine.”

Hunter looked down for a second, like he was thinking about the explanation. Finally, he solemnly accepted the excuse.

“Okay. I guess that makes sense,” Hunter said, though the sadness in his voice did not get past Darius.

He doubted Hunter was sad because Darius was so busy with the Day of Unity. Hunter knew how important that day was to Belos so of course he’d want everyone to try to do their best to make it happen. No- he was sad because the only people he’d ever gotten close to were constantly brushing him off now more than they ever did before. The realization that he was probably feeling especially lonely right now hit Darius with a force that almost had him backpedaling, though he made sure to keep his composure in front of the child he was currently backstabbing.

As much as Hunter cared about work, it’s not like he could deny his own feelings. Maybe before, when he had no one, he would have been able to get past these emotions of his- push them down just enough to not worry about how isolated he was but now it was practically impossible for him. He knew what it was like to have good company so of course he would crave it when it was suddenly ripped away.

“After this Day of Unity business is over with, I promise I’ll spend more time with you,” Darius said, hoping it would be enough for now.

That was, if there was an after the Day of Unity and if Hunter didn’t fully hate him by then.

“…Okay. But I’m gonna hold you to that promise,” Hunter said, thankfully perking up a little.

“I hope you do, Little Prince,” Darius responded, sending him a small smile.

Hunter smiled back before blushing a little again, still embarrassed to ask for highly reasonable things in Darius’ mind.

“If you’re not too busy right this second, can you give me a quick hug before you go back to work?”

Darius chuckled a little and bent forward to wrap his arms around him, squeezing a little and feeling Hunter’s arms circle around him to hug him back. It lasted only a second before Darius pulled away and ruffled the child’s hair in teasing.

“Just talk to me next time if there’s something bothering you. You don’t need to spy on me just to know what I’m doing,” Darius said.

Hunter nodded.

“Okay. Sorry.”

“You should get back to work as well, I presume?” Darius asked.

“Right. Yeah. I’ll go do that,” Hunter said, smiling a small smile at Darius before turning and running off in the opposite direction.

Darius watched him go, sighing in relief that this ordeal had been solved and nothing bad came out of it. Darius’ stalker had just been an interaction-starved boy with no idea why Darius had been ignoring him. Hunter still had no idea about the rebellion as far as Darius was aware. He had no idea about their plan to go into the Emperor’s mind. Truly, if anyone found them out, the Golden Guard would have been the worst person to do so.

At least now, Darius could actually meet with Raine and Eberwolf. So, that was what he did, finally discovering that Raine managed to find a potion to enter the mindscape and Eberwolf figured out a possible glyph combination using some research Darius sent him. They had everything they needed and since they were fully prepared, they decided it would be best to not waste another moment in enacting their plan.

That very same night, they found themselves in the night market, disguised and ready to do what needed to be done. This was their one chance at saving everyone and they couldn’t mess it up. There was a high likelihood of getting into danger while they were in the mindscape and if they died in there, then the entirety of the Boiling Isles would perish at the Emperor’s hand.

Darius, especially, was nothing more than a pitiful bundle of nerves and regret- not regret about being a traitor but regret that he didn’t at least say goodbye to Hunter before all of this. No matter what happened, this was probably the end of that bond they managed to forge in the last two years. Either the rebels destroy Belos’ memories and Hunter grows to hate Darius for either hurting his uncle or lying to him or both, or they fail and Darius dies in the mindscape, ultimately leading to Hunter dying on the Day of Unity along with everyone else.

He should have told him he loved him, at least, instead of their last interaction just being him lying to his face. Sure, Hunter knew he cared but he had no idea about the parental feelings Darius had developed for him. Maybe he would have thought it to be weird but at least he would have been aware. Darius wondered if there was a small chance Hunter wouldn’t have minded and welcomed those feelings but he supposed now he would never know.

It didn’t matter now. The rebels were already in place and it wasn’t like Darius could interrupt the night to rush back to the castle and admit these things to him. He just had to hope they could stop Belos and save everyone because even if Hunter hated him, he still wanted to see him again, just one last time.

The universe didn’t usually give Darius what he wanted. This time, however, it seemed to hear his wish and give it to him the most inconvenient way possible. Perhaps he should have been more specific. Perhaps he should have clearly thought about how he wanted to see Hunter again after going into the Emperor’s mind. Maybe then the universe had less of a chance of being a jerk.

They were just about to enter the mindscape, Darius’ hammer-arm raised and ready to smash the potion bottle, when an annoyingly familiar voice rang out and an unfortunately familiar sight of the Golden Guard made himself known, jumping into the alleyway with the intent to arrest them.

A million thoughts rushed through Darius’ head at that moment- most of them centered on how Hunter could have possibly known they would be there. They had been so careful. Sure, the boy had been following Darius before but Darius made sure to never give anything away when he did and when he caught Hunter, Hunter made it clear that his purpose for stalking had not been for nefarious reasons and Darius knew how bad of a liar that child was.

So why was he here? Were they really about to be arrested by the Golden Guard before they ever got their chance to even do anything?

Darius should have told Hunter the truth. Apparently, whether he did or not, it would have led to the same outcome. Maybe Hunter wouldn’t have believed him but there was still the small, miniscule chance that he would be willing to listen to reason if Darius told him Belos was trying to kill him, too. That probably would have been their only chance, as unlikely as it would have been to have worked.

Instead, they would be arrested and Hunter would hate Darius and he wouldn’t even get the chance to stop the Day of Unity. This was the absolute worst scenario that could have come out of this situation.

Then, to add to the already messy and confusing mix, that human girl Hunter liked to complain about jumped on top of him, distracting him, and Raine grabbed Darius’ arm to pull him out of his stupor, determined to take this as an opportunity to get away. They pulled him out of the alleyway and around the corner, Eberwolf dashing along right beside them. Darius took one look back in the direction they came from while they ran and the small flash of light that emanated from the alley where they had left the two kids sent a slight chill through his spine as he wondered what it could mean.

Just like before, his gut started to twist uncomfortably as his mind raced with all the possible scenarios that could have happened to those two. The potion bottle and the glyph had been left intact when they ran away and the most likely scenario that could have come from that did not settle well in Darius’ mind and stomach. He hoped he was wrong. He really did.

But Darius knew better than to ignore his gut instincts and he was especially worried about whatever this new one was telling him.

Chapter Text

“We are not going back, Darius. Do you want to get caught?”

“Something is wrong, Raine. What if something happened to them and it’s our fault!?”

Eberwolf growled from down beside his leg, trying to reason with him as well.

Darius groaned and started pacing around out of frustration, clenching and unclenching his fists at his side to try and control his anger. He knew they had a point- that if they went back and Hunter was still there they would out themselves to him after just barely getting away but Darius needed to know he was okay. He needed to know he was safe.

“You two can leave if you wish but I’m going back,” he announced, knowing he’d never live with himself if he didn’t even bother to check.

Raine put a hand on his arm to stop him as he tried to walk past and Darius did not hesitate to send a glare their way, vaguely warning them to let go before things escalated. They nor Eberwolf nor the Titan themself were about to get in his way right now.

“Don’t be stupid,” they said, squeezing his arm tighter.

Darius didn’t respond, instead just forcefully ripping his arm from their grasp and continuing on his way. They didn’t try to stop him again and he could feel their worried eyes on his back as they watched him walk away.

He was thoroughly surprised when, after a few moments of hesitation, he started to hear both of their footsteps begin walking behind him, seemingly deciding that they were all in this together, no matter what. Darius wondered if Raine had to be at least partly worried about what might have happened since Eda’s kid was also involved. If it had just been two random children who got sucked up into this mess- that would have been bad enough, but these were two kids who were actually important to them.

Darius’ agonizing worry only grew as they found themselves back in that alley, staring down at the broken potion bottle, its contents drained and the two kids nowhere in sight.

“Maybe…it broke some other way,” Raine suggested, trying to hide their concern but the waver in their voice betraying them, “Maybe they left and then a rock fell on it or…something.”

Darius didn’t say anything, scrunching up his face so he could force himself not to cry out in anger. They could all gather what really happened. No amount of deliberating on other possible scenarios would ever be enough to convince them considering the evidence was laid out before their eyes.

Mindscapes were dangerous territory when they belonged to normal witches but Belos’ mind was probably on a completely different level. Darius had been fully prepared for the possibility that he could die in there, Raine and Eberwolf having been prepared for their own deaths as well. They all knew the risks and were willing to put themselves on the line in order to save everyone from the Emperor. None of them had been prepared to send children to do it in their place.

“We have to get them out of there,” Darius said.

“You realize the second we do, Hunter is going to know we’re traitors right? We’d be giving up any chance of stopping the Day of Unity,” Raine responded.

“Give me the potion, bard,” Darius simply spit, speaking through clenched teeth and stretching his hand out to wait for the potion to be placed in it. He wasn’t in the mood to fight.

Raine solemnly looked at his outstretched hand before saying, “I don’t even know if we can. The potion requires a large power source and we were going to use Belos’, remember? We don’t have anything outside of his head that would work.”

The realization that they were right dawned on Darius and weighed him down, his heart dropping at the knowledge that they couldn’t just get the kids out then and there. They were on borrowed time here- every second that passed making it more likely that those two would never get out of there alive.

“Then let’s find one,” he suggested, determined to do something besides sit around and argue.

“Where? Where are we just going to find a massive power source like that?” Raine shot back, clearly frustrated with this entire situation.

Darius was frustrated as well, his anger starting to boil up uncontrollably the longer this went on. This situation may be out of Raine’s control at this point but he needed someone to direct his anger towards and the bard was just conveniently making themselves a good target. He opened his mouth to retort but was interrupted by a low growl from Eberwolf who stepped in between them and pointed out of the alleyway, distracting Darius from his anger momentarily to give them an idea.

Curiously, they followed the demon to whatever had caught his attention and hid as they came upon Eda and her demon talking into a walkie. They listened closely and it didn’t take them long to learn she was talking to Luz who confirmed they were, indeed, in the mindscape. When Hunter’s voice came through the other end, Darius nearly bolted up to rush over and talk to him but at least had the sense enough to stop himself.

He shared a look with Raine, sure that both of them were coming to the same conclusion. They could potentially help save the kids while still keeping their cover if they could get Eda to use the potion. They could be confident that she would be willing to do anything to get her kid back safe.

So, they followed her back to her home, watching from the bushes. When it became clear that Eda didn’t know how to get the kids out herself, Raine quickly slipped the flowers for the potion onto her doorstep and they all waited to see that bright flash of light envelop her windows from the spell. Or, at least, Darius wanted to wait.

“We have to go, Darius. I promise she’ll get them out,” Raine said, urging him to follow them as they started to walk away.

Eberwolf growled, taking Raine’s side, mentioning how their disappearance would likely be noticed soon. Their mission to go into the mindscape had failed and so they had to go back and continue to keep up appearances around the castle so they could scramble for some other way to stop the draining spell from happening.

Darius was split on what to do. He wanted nothing more than to stay there and wait to make sure everything really would be okay. He wanted to make sure Hunter hadn’t gotten hurt or worse while he was in Belos’ mind but he understood his friends’ points. As much as he wanted to stand there and wait to make sure Eda did the spell, he couldn’t give up on stopping the Emperor. Even if Hunter survived Belos’ mind, he wouldn’t survive the draining spell should Belos be able to actually enact it.

Darius hesitantly nodded, reluctantly following along as they started marching through the woods, none of them saying a word as silence enveloped them, drowning them in their own, restless thoughts about everything that happened that night.

If Hunter died, Darius was sure he’d never be the same again. When his mentor had disappeared- that had been a life-altering event that sent Darius into a downward spiral, forcing him to close off his heart and sink into a deep depression that he just barely got himself out of, but he was sure it would be far worse if the same thing happened to Hunter, simply for the fact that it would be Darius’ fault.

Sure, Hunter would technically perish at Belos’ hand but Darius had been the one to put him into this situation by lying to him, using his trust against him to get information out of him, and then blindly believing he wouldn’t get suspicious enough to try and stop them from doing this. Hunter would never even have had a chance to get trapped in the Emperor’s mind if Darius had just been more careful or at least a little less selfish.

It didn’t matter to him if everything he’d done had been with good intentions because none of that would matter to Hunter. All Darius had done was manipulate and lie to him to the point where it got him killed. Hunter would die and none of it would even matter because his death wouldn’t even mean anything. It wouldn’t stop the Day of Unity and it wouldn’t take down Belos; all it would do was drain Darius of any hope that he could ever have happiness in a world that seemed determined to steal any shred of it away from him. It wasn’t even confirmed Hunter was dead yet but Darius could already feel the universe ripping him away- forcefully pulling his baby out of his arms and dragging him off to an untimely demise. He couldn’t even allow himself to fully mourn the loss just yet, not just because he had to focus on the rebellion but because he simply felt nothing.

He thought he would break down, cry, lash out in anger, or do anything, but he couldn’t, even if he wanted to. He simply felt numb, like his mind and heart had exited his body and truly left him nothing more than a hollow shell where any feeling refused to take root and fester. His limbs were attached to strings as a force outside his own body controlled his movements just enough to give him the barest hint of life, puppeteering him against his will and he just let it happen, too lifeless to even care about struggling against the restraints. The world around him didn’t exist anymore and he felt weightless, drifting along with nothing more than a mild tingling throughout his body that told him that, unfortunately, he was still alive.

In fact, if it had not been for Eberwolf pulling his arm down and dragging him to crouch, he wouldn’t have even registered the vague rustling in the forest that rushed ever closer to their group, the heavy footsteps made known with the continuous crunch of leaves underneath them. They hid and waited- for what Darius wasn’t sure. Perhaps they were just hiding until this person missed them and dashed out of sight or maybe they were going to ambush whoever it was. Whatever the reason, Darius just sat with them and waited since his mind was too far removed from his body to be able to make his own decisions anymore.

His inability to think for himself continued, even as the person came closer and they could hear the strangled sobs that choked them as they ran. It continued even as Hunter burst through the trees and tripped on a root, falling flat onto the forest floor before sitting up on his knees and continuing to bawl. It continued as Darius did not waste a single moment standing up and rushing over, despite his cohorts’ attempts to stop him. It continued as he stepped towards the boy and pulled his hood down, despite what hesitance he might have had in doing so if the rational part of him still existed in that moment.

Hunter didn’t seem to notice his presence at first, eyes clouded with tears that rushed down his face to accompany the wailing that forced Darius to finally start feeling again, the sound slowly becoming less muffled as he regained his senses. He took a step closer and at the sudden noise, Hunter finally opened his eyes and quickly looked up, the fear present in his expression somehow intensifying when he took in the sight of the man in front of him.

“No!” Hunter screamed, scooting backwards as much as he could to get away from the hand that Darius had used to reach out for him.

Hunter’s breathing was erratic, hurried gasps escaping him in between every sob as his body desperately tried to pull in air. He was in an absolute panic, throwing his arms over his head to shield himself as if he thought Darius was going to hurt him.

“Don’t take me back! I can’t go back! He’s gonna kill me! He’ll kill me! He’ll kill me!”

The words were barely coherent, nothing more than broken gasps between his cries, but Darius could still understand them. He knelt down in front of Hunter, hoping that the sitting position would help get across that he wasn’t a threat.

“Hunter, we aren’t going to take you back. I promise,” Darius quietly assured, trying to calm him down.

It did the opposite of calming him down, in fact. Hunter’s brows furrowed in sudden anger as he narrowed his eyes at Darius and screamed, “Liar!”

He continued to wail, moving his hands to ball his fists in his hair.

“You’re a liar! You’ve just been lying to me this whole time! Everyone has! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!”

Darius’ heart dropped into his stomach at the words and he had to force himself to ignore the way the color started seeping out of the world around him. He knew this would happen and yet it still hurt him in all the ways he imagined it would and more. Even if Hunter didn’t know it was him in the alleyway, there was no way he didn’t realize it now as Darius sat before him in the same cloak that he remembered the rebels wearing.

“I’m sorry, Little Prince. I didn’t have a choice,” he tried to explain, knowing they were empty words to the child.

“You lied to me! You lied and Belos lied and everyone else lied!” Hunter cried, the words raspy and hushed as he struggled to form them over his sobbing. 

His face was completely red and his breathing had not improved in the slightest. At this rate, Darius was worried he’d pass out from lack of oxygen.

“Hunter, you need to calm down…,” he tried, but was quickly interrupted.

“Shut up! You can’t keep pretending like you care! How much of it was a lie? Were you just trying to get me to trust you so I’d stay out of your way!?” Hunter asked.

“Of course not…,” Darius quickly said but was interrupted again when Hunter loudly started groaning and shaking his head to drown him out, not really caring to hear the answer. He’d already made up his mind about the situation.

“No one was trying to hurt you. We just couldn’t tell you the truth in case you turned us in,” Raine tried to explain for Darius.

Eberwolf growled out another assurance from behind him. Darius wasn’t sure when they had come out of hiding but he imagined they must have been there longer than he thought since Hunter didn’t even make any indication that he hadn’t realized they were there before.

“And I’m supposed to believe you? After you lied to me?” Hunter spit out, finally pulling his fists from his hair so he could claw at the dirt in front of him instead, swaying slightly with the action. 

He was practically gasping for air at this point, clearly lightheaded if he could barely keep his balance anymore. Hunter may hate him now, but Darius still wanted to get him to calm down and make sure he was okay- or at least as okay as he could be in this situation.

“Hunter, please breathe. Take deep breaths,” Darius instructed, demonstrating in the hope that Hunter would at least be rational enough to follow along so he didn’t pass out in front of the three Coven Heads who he was convinced had it out for him.

Instead, Hunter balled up his fist in the dirt he’d loosened in front of him and chucked it at Darius in anger.

Before Darius could even react, Eberwolf jumped on his lap to try and keep him down, possibly thinking Darius would do something rash in retaliation for the dirt that now marred his face and clothes. The lack of trust was insulting. Sure, Darius felt his anger grow at the knowledge of his sudden uncleanliness but it’s not like he would lash out at the boy who was currently having a panic attack and already more terrified than he’d probably ever been in his life. He might have terrible anger issues when it came to these types of things, but they weren’t that bad.

There was a fluttering sound coming out of the forest and Darius looked up to watch Hunter’s palisman fly into the area they were in, clearly frantic at having been separated from its witch. When it spotted Hunter, it wasted no time in shooting towards him, landing on his shoulder and nudging his face with its head, chirping at him in some attempt at comfort. At least Hunter still had someone, Darius supposed.

Darius sighed and removed Eberwolf from his lap, doing the unthinkable and moving to sit down completely on the forest floor knowing he would be getting even dirtier by doing so. It’s not like it mattered at this point, anyway.

“It’s okay if you hate me, Little Prince, but I didn’t lie about caring about you,” Darius said, hoping Hunter was still listening, “You are everything to me.”

“No,” Hunter simply said, the word barely audible.

“Yes,” Darius retorted, forcing as much confidence in his voice as he could at that moment, “I know I lied to you and you have no reason to trust me- trust us- but we do genuinely want to help you. We aren’t going to take you back to the castle.”

“Maybe you should,” Hunter said, bringing up a hand to subconsciously stroke his palisman’s head, “I’d deserve it. I knew what you were doing and tried to sabotage it. I betrayed you and ruined your plan.”

“I betrayed you, first. I don’t blame you for stepping in,” Darius simply responded.

He could vaguely register hushed whispers behind him and the soft press of footsteps as Raine and Eberwolf quietly walked away to give them space. He appreciated it but quickly pushed it to the back of his mind, choosing to keep his full focus on the boy in front of him.

Based on Hunter’s statement, it made Darius wonder if he knew he was a rebel even before he stepped into the alley and confronted them. If that was the case, then why not just turn them in instead of going through all this fanfare of trying to arrest them at the last moment? What if he had known back when he had been stalking Darius? Why not just immediately report the behavior to Belos and be done with it? Maybe Hunter was confused- hesitant to turn in the only people who had ever been nice to him before finally deciding to in order to stop them from hurting the only person who he thought loved him. What a sad decision to be forced to make. Darius didn’t blame him one bit for being angry at having been put through that if that was truly what happened.

“You should!” Hunter cried, wails having died down somewhat but with tears still streaming down his face, “You should hate me! You should wish I just died! You should turn me in and get rid of me and be done with it because that’s what I’d deserve!”

Flapjack chirped in concern over the statement and Darius couldn’t help but agree with the bird, even if he couldn’t understand its words directly. Hunter had been terrified of them turning him in when he stumbled upon them but now that they’d assured they wouldn’t, he’d completely flipped and was practically begging for it. It was clear he didn’t know what he wanted anymore. He was just a terrified, lost little kid who had suddenly been made aware his entire life’s purpose had been a complete lie and everything he went through to gain his uncle’s love had all been for nothing. Every adult he’d ever trusted had lied to him, manipulated him, and he had nowhere left to go anymore and no one he could turn to.

“I don’t hate you, Hunter. Like I said, you mean the world to me,” Darius assured, trying so hard to keep his composure so he didn’t burst into tears as well.

“I don’t believe you,” Hunter said, choking the words out through a throat that Darius could easily guess was sore from screaming based on the rasp and the way Hunter winced slightly as he spoke.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I really didn’t,” Darius said, unsure of what else to say at this point.

Hunter’s palisman had done a decent job of calming him down and Darius envied how easily it had done it just by sitting on his shoulder and letting him pet it. Hunter had finally stopped screaming, though the tears still continued and every few seconds he would sniffle and almost send himself back into a panic, only for the bird to nudge his face again to remind him to keep calm.

“I loved you,” Hunter suddenly said, voice quiet as he blankly stared at the ground in front of him.

And those were the most painful words Darius had ever heard in his life. He thought Hunter outright stating his hatred would hurt more but the boy might as well have personally ripped his heart out and crushed it in front of him with how much pain he caused him in that moment.

Darius still tried desperately to keep his composure but he did feel a single tear break free and rush down his cheek. He thought he’d be able to handle this. He had been preparing himself for this moment for two years but no amount of preparation, no amount of imagined scenarios and conversations, would ever have been enough for Darius to not be blindsided by the amount of agony he was drowning in at that moment as he listened to Hunter’s words and watched the unadulterated hatred filter into his eyes every time he looked at him.

Even if they stopped Belos and saved the Boiling Isles, Darius still would have lost everything. Hunter lost everything, too. There they both were, two pitiful beasts who would be left with nothing in the end but regrets and ruined pasts- only one of them having deserved it.

Still with no other idea what to say, Darius simply and quietly responded, “I’m so sorry. I love you,” hating how out of place the words felt in the moment.

Hunter gave no immediate reaction to the statement, instead suddenly standing up and stretching out his arm so his palisman could change into a staff in his grasp. Before Darius could say anything else or try to stop him, Hunter narrowed his eyes in anger and spoke again, somehow still able to wound Darius with his words.

“I hope you choke on your lies and die.”

And with that, he teleported away in a series of gold flashes, jumping through the trees until Darius couldn’t see him anymore.

Chapter Text

The mindscape plan may have failed but at least the rebellion had finally grown in numbers and they were able to come up with a new idea to stop the draining spell on the Day of Unity. Everyone was on edge, and rightfully so, trying to prepare themselves for what might be the biggest moment of their lives, praying that it would go smoothly and Belos’ reign of terror would finally come to an end. No matter what happened, whether they succeeded or failed, the Boiling Isles would never be the same again.

Darius sat at his desk, head in hands as he tried to cope with the fact that all of this was actually happening. Everything about this situation was messed up and entirely out-of-hand. None of them should ever have had to do any of this or go through life living in the hell that man had created. Truly, Darius could blame Belos for almost every bad thing that had ever happened in his pitiful excuse of a life since he’d moved into the castle and possibly before it. He wondered if the Emperor never came to power, then what would the world have been like? The Coven system wouldn’t exist, of course, but would the world still be just as toxic, the people just as bloodthirsty, or would everything have been fine- Would there have been nothing but joyous memories and kindness that overpowered the Boiling Isles? Would Darius have been allowed to be happy in such a world as that?

Darius, despite his best attempts to be someone otherwise, had a habit of finding his happiness in the presence of other people. Outwardly, he was a loner- someone who preferred his own company and would scoff at the idea of allowing others to occupy his time but inside, he craved the warmth and comfort that came from the embarrassing prospect of letting others into his heart.

Growing up, he had never been close with his family- a rich, pompous group of people who were the kind of witches Darius wished he could be. He didn’t mean much to them other than as a body to carry on their name and he envied that effortless detachment to one’s own emotions and feelings surrounding someone else. It wasn’t until he started school at Hexside where he discovered his love of company in the friends he made while he was there.

Then, just as swiftly as they entered his life, they were gone- their journeys into adulthood and their determination to go down different paths marring their abilities to keep in touch. Darius wondered if the Empire had not existed, would they all still have been friends? Would it have been impossible for their lives to branch off so drastically from one another that they couldn’t even talk every once in a while?

When he thought he’d lost that warmth, he was surprised when it returned in full force when the Golden Guard took him under his wing, becoming not only his mentor, but someone Darius considered more his family than those who shared his blood. He craved that company and the blissful knowledge that it was possible to actually be important to someone. He loved the feeling of loving and being loved.

And just like his friends before, that light had been ripped away from him as well- what was most likely a brutal death at the hands of a tyrant hurting far worse than the minor pain of drifting away from someone as he grew. He was empty- a hollowed out witch with nothing more than a learned apatheticness towards most everyone and everything and when he wasn’t being apathetic- he was working hard to appear callous in order to push away any attempts at getting to know him, fearful that allowing himself to love was a mistake that would only end in bitter tragedy.

Then, of course, he failed. Despite years of building up those defenses to avoid any more pain, it was a small, overly talkative child who managed to sneak into his heart and force him to feel that overwhelming warmth he had wanted to avoid getting addicted to again. Just as before, Hunter grew to be more than just another person in his life but rather someone he wanted to consider family- the boy forcing forth newfound parental feelings that Darius didn’t even know he had been capable of having. 

He expected that bond to be ripped away from him as well, given how used to it he was, but he had still been burned far worse than he’d ever felt before when it actually happened- Hunter clearly stating his hatred for a man who never deserved his love to begin with. Hunter should have had someone who never bothered to be unnecessarily cruel to him or lie to him or manipulate him- someone who was not Darius. He felt like he was almost as bad as Belos himself for the way he’d treated that poor child. Sure, Darius might have never hit him, but he imagined that in Hunter’s eyes, it didn’t matter. In Hunter’s perspective, Darius and Belos had both done nothing more than use him as if he were just a mindless pawn in their little game of chess that each of them was trying to steal away for themselves.

Hunter hated him. That was simply a fact of life now that Darius had to learn to accept. That didn’t mean, however, that Darius could just ignore his concern for the kid who he watched have a panic attack in the middle of the night and then run off to Titan-knows-where to deal with one of the most traumatic moments of his life all alone.

It didn’t take long after Hunter’s disappearance for Belos to brand the Golden Guard a traitor and send every scout to scour the Isles in search of him. Of course Darius was terrified of them finding him knowing Belos would not be merciful once they did. He wondered what the point was if Hunter was meant to die by the draining spell anyway. Darius had to imagine it was to keep up appearances because why else would the Emperor be wasting resources to find a child who was already doomed? Whatever the reason, Darius just had to hope the search would be fruitless and Hunter could hold out until after the Day of Unity. It would be unfortunate for Hunter if the rebels were actually able to stop Belos but he ended up dying by the Emperor’s hands beforehand anyway.

That was why the news of Adrian’s mission to Hexside thoroughly worried him.

It wasn’t necessarily the branding of the children there that held most of his concern, though that did answer his horrifying question from before about what would happen to the kids of the Boiling Isles. Belos was not sparing a single person, it seemed. Darius was worried about the children, sure, and of course it would be a shame for them to get sigils but he had to keep his focus on the main part of just making sure they didn’t die because of it. 

No- Darius was concerned because while Adrian was at Hexside, the miniature abomination that Darius had somehow had the rational thought to plant on Hunter before he ran away returned to him with news of his whereabouts and he couldn’t help but think about how unlucky of a situation it really was.

If Adrian found Hunter, it was inevitable he would be brought back to Belos and Darius’ absolute worst fear would come true. Hunter hating him was one thing but Hunter dying would truly be worse. If he was brought back to the castle to face punishment, then Darius didn’t even know what he’d do. Would he cast aside the rational part of his brain to step in and help, despite how stupid and reckless it would be to do so or would he stand back and do nothing only to selfishly mourn the loss afterwards? He liked to think he’d step in but he was coming to terms with the fact that he was nothing more than a coward- a useless witch who could never even help the one person he cared most about and would likely continue that trend up until his death. Truly, Hunter never deserved him.

Even as he learned where Hunter was and worried over Adrian finding him, he still did nothing, sitting at his desk like a pointless statue waiting for the news that Adrian’s entourage had returned. Why would he ever think he’d be brave enough to go up against Belos when he couldn’t even force himself to move and face Adrian?

When the news finally did arrive of Adrian’s return, Darius made sure to be the first to greet them, frantically looking around for the inevitable prisoner they’d managed to catch. What would he do if he spotted him then? Would he steal him away? Would he blow his cover to fight Adrian and the scouts so he could hide Hunter somewhere and hope he could keep him hidden for the next few days?

He wasn’t sure, but he supposed he could figure it out once he actually saw him. He continued to scan the small crowd of scouts that exited the airship, just waiting for his eyes to land on a familiar mop of blond hair.

But Hunter wasn’t there.

“So, how did the mission go?” Darius asked, eager to know what Adrian had done with the boy.

Adrian simply gave him a side-eyed glare, huffing and responding, “Just wonderful,” in a tone that told Darius it was quite the opposite. He wasn’t sure what that meant but he supposed it didn’t matter. If the children at Hexside gave him some kind of trouble, Darius couldn’t care less. All he cared about at that moment was the lack of Golden Guard in their company.

It was clear they hadn’t found him and Darius nearly audibly sighed at the realization. That meant Hunter was still safe for now- at least he hoped. The more Darius thought about it, the more his mind supplied him with terrible alternative explanations for Hunter’s absence. Maybe Adrian never found him or maybe he found him and decided it wouldn’t be worth the trouble to drag him back alive, ridding himself of Hunter then and there to avoid any trouble he might have caused him on the way back to the castle. Darius wasn’t sure if Adrian would be willing to murder a child or not but he wouldn’t put it past him if he was- especially when that child was the Golden Guard.

Darius had to speak with Hunter. The sudden, overwhelming urge to see him again burst forth in his chest and he simply couldn’t ignore it. He knew where he was so he could just go there to see him in person and confirm with his own eyes that he was okay.

It was risky, selfish, and entirely reckless but he simply didn’t care anymore. He was willing to take that kind of risk when it came to his most precious child. He needed to know if he was still alive- the fear permeating his entire being over the thought that Adrian might have killed him masking any other feeling that tried to filter through him in that moment.

Maybe, if Belos did end up finding Hunter, Darius would have tried to help him. The idea of Hunter dying was far more terrifying than risking his own life and the rebellion. The plan to stop the Day of Unity would still work without him anyway and if Hunter did not survive, Darius was sure he would have no more reason to live either.

He wasted no time in setting off, sneaking himself out of the castle and making his way to Hexside as quickly as he possibly could.

In retrospect, Darius could have tried harder not to spook all the other children when he arrived at the school given how they’d just been visited by a different Coven Head and branded against their will. The relentless and immediate attacks on him the second he stepped through the front doors were annoying, though he did feel a little proud at the immediate distrust of anyone they thought was working for Belos. He easily fended them off- they were still just children, after all,- but it didn’t take him long to notice the variety of attacks they each were using. Sure, some of them had specialties they chose to lean on for the most part but if they had been branded, then none of them should have been able to just switch back and forth between different types of magic like some of them seemed to be doing.

Still, those ones could have been given Emperor’s Coven Sigils, the difficulty of getting into that Coven likely discarded since the Day of Unity was just around the corner. Upon closer inspection, however, as the children lifted their arms to form their attacks, their sleeves slipping down slightly in the process, Darius could not see a single mark on any of their wrists.

It hit him then why Adrian had been so dischuffed upon his return to the castle. He had failed. None of these kids had Coven sigils.

If the situation ahead of them wasn’t so bleak, Darius would have laughed and mocked the other Coven Head at having lost to a bunch of children- the image of these tiny little witchlets kicking him out of their school and him returning to the castle emptyhanded like a weak, pitiful puppy almost too much to handle. Darius himself was barely lifting a finger in defense against them and somehow, Adrian and his scouts had still managed to be bested by the tots. Sure, Darius was far more skilled in actual battle than Adrian and the other illusionists he’d brought with him but it’s not like a little detail like that would have stopped Adrian if the positions were reversed. 

Principal Bump didn’t take long to arrive and assess the situation at the front of the building, taking in the sight of the Coven Head and narrowing his eyes in disapproval, various teachers trailing along behind him and preparing themselves for a potential fight.

“Call off the brats. I’m not here to hurt anyone,” Darius said, still boredly twirling his finger to bounce attacks off of him with goo.

In all fairness, these kids did look a little worse for wear, their eyelids hanging heavy on their faces and bruises littering their bodies. They’d just gone through defending their school from Adrian and the scouts just before Darius had arrived. Their exhaustion was apparent and Darius only felt more pride at the idea they were still so willing to fight despite that. As horrid as the thought was, the idea that these kids would be the future of the Isles if the adults were all killed off gave him a little bit of reassurance.

“A likely story,” Bump simply responded, glaring at Darius with clear suspicion in his gaze. The man didn’t move but the small twitch in his wrist told Darius that Bump would be willing to fight as well should Darius give him reason to. Holding off the kids was one thing but Darius wondered if he’d fare as well should Bump and the other teachers join the fray. He’d certainly have to put in more effort, at least.

It was then that more children rushed into the room to see the commotion, ready to come to the aid of their peers. Darius recognized a few of them as the kids Hunter had tried to kidnap before and at the very back, was none other than the boy himself, Hunter’s eyes widening when they landed on Darius and he realized who it was.

The immediate relief upon seeing him was so overwhelming that Darius almost forgot for a moment that he was still actively being attacked, lowering his finger a little before quickly remembering and going back into defending himself.

Thankfully, Bump raised a hand to get the kids to settle down, though they all remained in battle ready poses should Darius try anything. Darius sighed, bringing his palms up to try and convey he wasn’t a threat.

“I’m on your side,” Darius started to explain, easily coming to the conclusion that Bump was rebelling against Belos’ wishes for the sake of his students, “I’m not here to hurt or brand anyone.”

“And why should we believe you?” Bump said, his suspicion completely reasonable even if it was frustrating.

Darius was about to open his mouth to respond but the silence was interrupted by another voice.

“He’s telling the truth,” Hunter said from the back of the group, voice quiet, eyes darting quickly to Darius before his gaze fell to the ground instead.

Bump didn’t respond, still warily eyeing Darius for a couple more seconds but at least accepted Hunter’s reassurance enough to finally allow Darius to take a few steps towards him, some of the kids moving out of the way to let him through. He wasn’t sure what exactly happened for Hunter to gain their trust but he was thankful for it. Hunter could use some real allies and apparently had managed to get an entire school full of students and teachers willing to defend him, which was far more than Darius could have ever hoped for.

While most of the children moved out of the way, the kids from Hunter’s flyer derby team remained positioned in front of him, one girl sticking her arm out in front of Hunter to defend him. Darius had attacked these children previously- those actions now coming back to haunt him as they refused to let him by for fear of him doing something rash. He didn’t blame them, of course, but he didn’t really have time to deal with them right now.

So, he chose to ignore them, stopping just before them and glancing behind them at Hunter.

“Can we talk?” he asked Hunter directly, hoping that Hunter would be willing to hear him out now that he’d calmed down somewhat.

“He has nothing to say to you,” the girl Hunter was standing directly behind said. Darius remembered her as the captain of the team, given that’s what Hunter almost always called her, and it took Darius a moment to remember her actual name because of that.

Willow narrowed her eyes in an attempt to appear brave and clenched her fist at her side. She was adamant about protecting Hunter from him and Darius just knew she would not hesitate to attack should he move another muscle. He wasn’t about to fight a child, though, and intimidating Hunter’s friends would probably not be in his best interest right now.

So, Darius didn’t try moving any closer. He stayed perfectly still, continuing to ignore the other kids as he looked towards Hunter and tried again, just praying the boy would get her to back down.

“Please?” Darius asked him, practically begging at this point. He wondered how apparent the pain was in his voice at that moment.

Hunter glanced back and forth between him and the floor, thinking about it. Just the fact he was considering it at all was a miracle, filling Darius’ chest with a miniscule amount of hope. Hunter could just say no, turn him away, and ask the entire school to get rid of Darius through force if need be, but he didn’t. Darius had asked him to talk and Hunter actually thought about it.

Finally, after a few, stressful seconds of deliberation, Hunter made up his mind. He put a hand on Willow’s shoulder and said, “It’s okay,” before sending Darius a quick nod.

“Are you sure?” she whispered back to him and he nodded to her in answer. 

She seemed hesitant but thankfully put her arm down and stepped aside to let Darius through to Hunter, though not without sending Darius a threatening look to warn him not to try anything.

“Let’s go somewhere more private,” Darius said, putting a hand on Hunter’s back, ready to lead him away. 

“We’ll keep close if you need us,” Willow quickly said before they could leave, sending Hunter a reassuring smile. Hunter smiled back and the interaction warmed Darius’ heart.

Surprisingly, Hunter even instructed his palisman to stay behind, picking the bird up off his shoulder and handing it to the girl who held it up to her own shoulder so it could perch there instead. Darius wouldn’t have minded if Hunter wanted to bring Flapjack to give him a sense of safety but the idea that Hunter felt he didn’t need it in Darius’ presence forced even more hope to flare up in Darius’ chest that their relationship could still be salvageable. At the very least, even if Hunter hated him, Darius could relish in the fact that he still felt safe with him despite that.

The youngest boy of the group stepped in front of them for a moment to address Darius, the threatening tone of his voice almost laughable given he wasn’t even half of Darius’ height.

“We’re watching you,” he warned, crossing his arms and pointing two of his fingers at his eyes and then back at Darius.

Darius simply hummed in bored acknowledgement and side stepped the child, beginning to lead Hunter away. The younger boy continued to glare at Darius as they passed him until Hunter whispered, “Thanks, Gus, but I promise I’ll be fine,” and smiled at him to reassure him.

Normally, Darius would have found their animosity towards him and the way it was making things harder than need be annoying, but the concern they were showing to Hunter and how relieved it made him to know the child had finally found some real friends outside the castle that he could turn to in desperate times far overwhelmed any negative feelings he had over the situation. The fact they were so willing to fight for Hunter was incredible, even after what he’d done to them in the past. They’d clearly forgiven him and cared about him enough to be willing to stand up to a powerful Coven Head in order to protect him and Darius truly admired them for that.

They made their way to a nearby empty classroom, Hunter immediately making himself comfortable by pulling out a chair and sitting at one of the desks. Darius chose to lean against the wall, wracking his brain for how to start the conversation.

In all honesty, he hadn’t prepared himself to actually talk to Hunter. His plan had just been to go to Hexside to make sure he was still alive but now that he was here, he felt like he couldn’t just leave things as they were. He needed to try and fix the situation, especially now that he felt it might not be as hopeless as he thought. Hunter had just gone through something terrible back in the forest where Darius had talked to him last. Perhaps, now that he’d had time to calm down and think more about everything that had happened, Hunter would finally be willing to listen to what he had to say. All he had to do was figure out what that was.

He was still trying to think of the right words when Hunter spoke first, continuing to surprise him.

“I’m sorry.”

He was taken aback by the words- an apology having been the last thing he expected.

“For what?” Darius asked.

Hunter started fiddling with his gloves as he explained.

“For…for what I said before. I don’t actually want you to die.”

“Oh,” Darius simply said, still confused for a second before he finally remembered what Hunter had said to him in the forest right before he ran away. He had said a lot of hurtful things that night that wishing he would die had somehow not been the one Darius chose to focus on.

“…Thanks,” Darius responded, the awkwardness of the reply not lost on him. 

It was rare for Darius to be so bad with words. Sure, he could say the wrong things sometimes- his abrasiveness and lack of respect for most people continuously poking through his speech at every turn but for him to not know what to say at all was unusual. Words could come to him easily as long as he didn’t care how they would affect the person he was speaking to. If they took offense, it was not his problem.

This was different, though. This, he was sure, might be the most important conversation of his life- or at least one of them. He cared what Hunter thought and he definitely didn’t want to say the wrong things and somehow make everything worse. His anxiety kept him tongue-tied, forcing him mute in the presence of the one person who could truly do such a thing to him.

But he had to keep trying. Hunter was sitting there, willing to listen, and Darius had to take advantage of the incredible opportunity to try and avoid losing him forever. If he had a chance to make Hunter love him again and blew it just because he was afraid to speak, he would never be able to get over it. That simple blunder would surely ruin the rest of his life, however long that would be.

“Hunter…,” Darius finally started, taking a deep breath and leaning away from the wall to convey his seriousness, “I know you’re angry with me and you have every right to be. I’ve been lying to you this whole time about who I was, after all…”

Hunter refused to look at him, picking at his gloves and staring at the floor in front of him with an intensity that should have burned a hole in it as he listened to Darius.

“…but I didn’t lie about everything- just the rebellion- and I’m sorry for that,” Darius finished, the explanation not feeling like enough. So far, he hadn’t said anything that they hadn’t already tried explaining to Hunter back in that forest.

“You knew the whole time… who Belos was?” Hunter asked, ignoring what Darius had just said, making him think that he had already ruined everything with that horrific excuse of an apology.

“I knew he was evil,” Darius explained, not completely sure if that was what Hunter meant.

“Did you think I was evil?”

“No,” Darius quickly said, shooting down that idea immediately before figuring it would be best to give that one a little more context.

“Back when I only knew you as the Golden Guard I did,” Darius explained, crossing his arms, unsure what to do with them, “But when I started to get to know you more, I didn’t think that anymore.”

“But I was helping him,” Hunter tried, like he wanted Darius to admit he had negative feelings towards him still.

“He was manipulating you, Hunter. I’m not stupid enough to think you had any real choice in anything,” Darius said, frowning a little at the persistence.

“But I wanted to help him!”

“Do you want to help him now?”

Hunter scowled, huffing at the response before shaking his head. Darius sighed.

“You didn’t know any better, Little Prince. You aren’t a bad person. You aren’t like him,” Darius said, risking a step towards him and wondering how this was how this conversation ended up going. He should have been sitting there, apologizing profusely and begging for Hunter’s forgiveness- not having to reassure the kid that he wasn’t a monster.

“I would have told him about you being a traitor if I had known,” Hunter solemnly admitted.

“I know, but I still wouldn’t have blamed you if you did,” Darius reassured.

A few moments passed where neither of them said anything, the silence enveloping the room until they were drowning in the tenseness of it before Hunter spoke up again.

“You know, my entire life, I don’t think I ever remember Belos telling me he loved me,” Hunter said, voice just above a whisper, “I just assumed he did.”

Hunter slowly lifted his wrist and pulled down his sleeve to stare at his sigil, looking it over as if he’d never seen it before and was truly taking it in for the first time.

“He was always going to just let me die,” he said and Darius could hear every ounce of pain he felt in every syllable he uttered.

“You deserved better,” Darius said, taking another step to close the distance between them, crouching down in front of him and grabbing one of his hands to squeeze it a little. 

Hunter watched him curiously as he did but made no indication that he was frightened of the approach or uncomfortable with the closeness. When Darius took a deep breath to start speaking, Hunter glanced away to stare at the desk, like he was afraid to look at him anymore. Darius could have sworn he saw a slight tremble in his lips, making him wonder if Hunter was trying not to cry right now.

“I know I’ve hurt you, but I swear I was telling the truth when I said I cared about you,” Darius started, using his other hand to turn Hunter’s face and force him to look at him as he spoke, “You’ve made yourself a little home in my heart and I don’t think I’m ever going to get you to leave.”

“That’s corny,” Hunter said, his lips upturning just slightly at the words. A single tear broke free informing Darius that Hunter was, indeed, trying to hold them back- his efforts starting to fail him.

Darius smiled, though he was sure it was the most bittersweet smile he’d ever forced upon his face. He took his hand off Hunter’s face and just used it to grab his hand with that one as well, encasing Hunter’s hand protectively within both his own. He chuckled.

“It is, but it’s the truth. I love you, my Little Prince. I love spending time with you, I love listening to your rambling, I love teaching you to sew…”

He reached up and took Hunter’s face in both his hands, tenderly cupping his cheeks to convey how precious he was to him. He was practically holding his entire world between his palms.

“I love you. I’m sorry I never said that before but I should have. Admittedly, I was scared of what you’d think. I thought you’d find it weird if I started to think of you as my child,” Darius finished.

“Your child?”

Darius nodded.

“Yes- my child,” he confirmed, pushing down any residual embarrassment he felt at finally admitting that.

“But I’m not a kid.”

Darius chuckled again, standing up and ruffling Hunter’s hair in jest.

“Sure,” he simply said, deciding that was an idea he could try drilling out of his head later, if they were lucky enough to have a later.

Hunter smiled a little at the attention before his expression grew worryingly serious, the tone in the room suddenly shifting as he remembered why they were even there in the first place.

“We have to stop Belos,” Hunter said, abruptly standing up and beginning to pace as he tried to explain everything he’d found out, “If we don’t stop the Day of Unity, then he’s going to kill everyone with a sigil by using a draining spell and draining their magic and…”

Darius quickly stopped him, putting a hand on his shoulder to end his pacing.

“I already know and I promise, it’s being taken care of,” Darius assured.

Without missing a beat, Hunter announced, “I want to help.”

“No.”

Hunter narrowed his eyes at the immediate response, huffing and crossing his arms.

“You can’t stop me,” Hunter said, the determination that flashed across his face telling Darius that he was probably right.

Despite what Darius might say or tell him to do, Hunter wasn’t the type to just sit around and do nothing. He was going to do everything in his power to help in whatever way he could and Darius couldn’t have that. Hunter hiding out somewhere was the best-case scenario for him right now because the second he tried standing up to his uncle, he was sure Belos wouldn’t hesitate in killing him then and there, not even bothering to wait for the draining spell to do it for him.

No matter what, Hunter could not be allowed anywhere near the events of the Day of Unity and especially anywhere near Belos.

“It’s not that,” Darius quickly assured, realizing there was a way to keep Hunter away from everything quite easily, “I have another mission for you.”

That, thankfully, soothed Hunter a little and also, unfortunately, turned back on his ‘soldier’ mode that Darius hated so much. 

“What is it?” Hunter asked, his posture stiffening and his arms flying down to his sides as he awaited his orders.

“Luz is trying to save one of her friends and she’ll need help,” Darius said, the idea coming easily to him. He had assumed at the time that Eda had allowed the human to go in order to keep her away from the Day of Unity, so it made sense to send Hunter for the same reason.

“The human?” Hunter asked, his stoic attitude faltering slightly at her mention before he quickly composed himself again.

“You can count on me,” Hunter said, voice filled with sudden confidence.

“Wonderful,” Darius said, twirling his finger in the air to summon some clothes from Hunter’s old room and dropping them into his hands, “But please change first. You look dreadful.”

“Does it matter?” Hunter asked, frowning at the clothes in his grip.

“Yes. No child of mine is going to walk around looking like a street rat, even in the apocalypse,” Darius responded.

Hunter groaned in annoyance but thankfully didn’t argue further, simply uttering, “Fine,” and setting the clothes down on the desk until they said their goodbyes.

Darius gave him one last smile and put a hand on his shoulder, staring at him like he was trying to commit his face to memory as if he didn’t already know the location of every single freckle or could vividly imagine the way his eyes would light up when he was happy. As much as it pained him to think about it, he couldn’t disregard the fact that this could potentially be the last time they ever saw each other should the rebel’s plan fail.

“I need to go now,” Darius solemnly announced after a few moments, squeezing Hunter’s shoulder slightly before taking his hand away, “Please, Hunter, be careful.”
 
Hunter still didn’t speak- just sadly nodded in acknowledgement of the farewell. Darius turned and started walking away but only took a few steps when he heard the boy suddenly and without warning surge forward, grab his cape, and cry, “Wait!”

Darius stopped and turned around, waiting to hear what Hunter wanted to say. Hunter’s eyes widened when he realized what he’d done, ripping his hand away from Darius’ cape and pulling it back to his chest like it had been burned.

But Darius wasn’t mad. He made that fact clear in his expression and in the worry in his tone when he asked, “What is it, Little Prince?”

When Hunter realized he wasn’t angry over the action, he put his arm down and opened his mouth as if to speak. He still didn’t say anything, though, closing his mouth like he wasn’t sure what words were appropriate. Instead, his eyes darted around Darius’ face for a second while he deliberated something before he finally threw himself forward, jumping up and wrapping his arms around Darius’ shoulders and holding on with an intensity like he was afraid he’d float away the second he let go. Darius was caught off guard for a moment but the second he felt Hunter press his face into his shoulder and heard the small sniffles that escaped him, Darius wasted no more time wrapping his own arms around him, squeezing slightly and planting a kiss on the side of his head, feeling his love for the child in his arms fully overwhelm his heart in that moment.

Darius wasn’t a broken or hollow man- he had simply been missing the thing he needed to fill that void within himself. He had been so adamant about his heart being permanently ruined that he never even realized that all he needed was someone to help him mend it back together. Hunter was that someone- the child forcing himself into Darius’ life and bringing back a light within it to scare away the darkness that he’d let envelop him all those lonely years. This boy was his baby, his son, and he loved him more than he’d ever loved anything in all the years he’d been alive.

Once Hunter’s sniffles eventually died out and he was content with the hug, Darius reluctantly allowed him to pull away, Hunter stepping back and wiping away the residual tears onto his sleeve.

“You’ll be careful, too?” Hunter hesitantly asked.

“I promise,” Darius simply responded, sending him a small, reassuring smile before saying, “I’m so proud of you- I want you to know that.”

Hunter smiled back and that was when Darius decided it was time to twirl his finger and abruptly magic open the door, revealing the two kids who had been peeking through the crack to spy on them this whole time. The second he saw them, the light blush from Darius’ praise that had formed on Hunter’s face immediately intensified into a comically dark shade of red.

“You two- why don’t you make yourselves useful and help him prepare for his mission,” Darius ordered them as they hesitantly made their way into the room, ashamed at being caught. Flapjack shot off Willow’s shoulder and straight towards Hunter, overly excited to be with his witch again like they’d been separated for eons.

“What do you mean? We’re going with him,” Gus announced, pointing to himself and the girl next to him in emphasis.

“No. It’s too dangerous,” Hunter tried to argue before he was immediately shushed by Willow.

“Hey, Luz is our friend, too. Just think of us as company,” she said.

Hunter opened his mouth to continue to try and argue before Darius spoke up first.

“I think that’s a great idea.”

Hunter gaped at him but Darius ignored it. He wasn’t exactly thrilled at the idea of putting more children out on the field but the more help Hunter had, the better. Sure, he and Luz might be able to hold off some threats well enough on their own but they’d have a better chance with more numbers and since Hunter’s friends seemed adamant about this, then why not? Based on their behavior so far, Darius had to imagine they were the stubborn type and no matter how much Hunter tried to reason with them, they were going to be practically inseparable from him now.

Darius ruffled Hunter’s hair again, if only to embarrass him a little more in front of his friends, before finally leaving to return to the castle with a feigned confident reassurance to his boy that everything would be fine, inwardly praying that this wouldn’t be their last encounter.

There wasn’t much the rebels needed to do to prepare for the Day of Unity now that everyone was aware of the plan. It was unfortunate- the lack of work forcing Darius’ mind to focus on every way things could go wrong with their idea- his brain supplying him with all the possible different scenarios, all of which led them to the same, unfortunate fate. Then, when his mind filtered through every horrible possibility it could imagine, it started thinking about every way Hunter’s mission could go wrong. Hiding would have been the safest option- sending him out to do anything always having the potential to backfire and put him at more risk.

Truly, he understood what it was like to be in Eda’s shoes at that moment, frantically worrying over a child that had forced themselves into their lives and only hoping that the miniscule amount of safety they could offer them in that moment would be enough to get them through the disaster they were about to face. The rebellion had always been about saving the entirely of the Boiling Isles but Darius couldn’t deny that at some point, when he thought about why he was going through all this effort, he started to imagine Hunter’s face, smiling up at him with that familiar toothy smile that never failed to light up Darius’ day.

His child had been what he continued to think about, every moment until everyone was finally pulled into the area where everything would take place. As he stood beside friends and enemies alike on top of that podium, it took everything in him to keep his composure and push down the bile that threatened to rise up his throat with his nerves. He had to keep telling himself that if he faltered or even so much as gave the slightest indication that they were planning anything, then he would truly never be able to see his son again. That was what kept him going- the idea that once all this was over, he could finally be free to hold Hunter in his arms and truly allow himself to care for him in all the ways he desperately wanted- to be the guardian Hunter needed in a world free of Belos.

He continued to tell himself it would all be worth it in the end, only for the steeling of his nerves to have been for nothing when their plan immediately went south- Eda being discovered in her disguise as Raine and the three rebel Coven Heads being forced to have their energy zapped from them along with the rest of the Boiling Isles.

They failed. As Darius fell to the ground and lay there, feeling the draining spell suck the magic out of his body, he couldn’t help but think of what a failure he truly was. His life seemed to be defined by his inability to do anything right so he supposed this ending should have been expected. Everyone was going to die. He would die. Raine, Lilith, Eberwolf, Eda…all of them would die. Hunter would die.

He had been wondering before- whether it would be better for Hunter to live or die in this situation and he finally decided he wanted him to live. Hunter’s friends didn’t have sigils and they could all carry on together once all the adults had perished but even if Hunter hadn’t found them, Darius still would want him to live. By Titan, there was nothing he wanted more in that moment than for Hunter to live.

The draining spell was painful and while Darius had no idea if Belos meant for it to go on as long as possible or not, it didn’t matter. He’d never felt such intense agony in his life, his body feeling as if it had caught fire and was slowly melting from the inside out- the knowledge that his baby was going through the exact same pain he was in right now only adding to the hurt.

What was the purpose? What use did Belos find in eradicating the entirety of his people? Darius never bothered to think of the reason before, too focused on just stopping his plan, but since he’d failed in that he couldn’t help but finally start to wonder. Maybe he should have thought about it before but he doubted it would have changed anything. Perhaps, no matter what, they had always been doomed to fail from the start.

It seemed like he had been lying there for eons, his body overly wracked with pain but at some point he finally started to grow numb to it, the intensity slowly ebbing away as he felt his eyes close, knowing he was slipping into unconsciousness. He tried to fight it for as long as possible, as pointless as his struggle seemed, but he knew once he passed out, that would be it- he wouldn’t wake up again.

At least he finally told Hunter the truth. At least the boy didn’t hate him in the end. Truly, that was the only solace Darius could find in this predicament, even if it was only a miniscule comfort to offer himself as he lay there dying. The sound in the world around him grew muffled, his thoughts growing more and more incoherent as he felt his life slipping away. The last thing he remembered before he finally lost the battle was a hand on his arm and a familiar voice calling his name. He wasn’t sure if he imagined it or not but either way, he was glad that had been the last thing he would ever hear.

Death wasn’t anything like he’d imagined. He thought there would be something but he just felt like he was asleep, his mind suspended in a dreamless state of being. He had never imagined that vividly before what the afterlife would be like- if there was even such a thing in the first place- but it was unfortunate to find out how boring it was.

But Darius didn’t die. He wasn’t sure at what point he realized that and he wasn’t sure if that new knowledge made him happy or not. His life after the draining spell was not his anymore, his mind belonging to another for the majority of the time, but he still remembered bits of his own consciousness trying to break through sometimes, waking him up from his pitiful slumber just enough, just for a few seconds each time, to try and make sense of what was happening.

He could never control his body but he could feel it- feel the way in which it had become lifeless and wooden, weightless as it was held up by strings. At one point he became aware that he was not alone- the other Coven Heads lined up beside him in whatever new hell they’d found themselves in. He remembered bits and pieces of whatever went on around them; Eda visiting Raine, Lilith passing by, solemnly glancing at them as she did, Eda’s demon continuously pulling Eda back into hiding, and occasionally, the voice of a child speaking to them and giving them orders.

Since his lucid moments were short and far in between, his time as a puppet truly did not feel as long as it actually was. When everyone had miraculously woken up, he would have guessed they’d only been in that state for a few short days at most. Lilith was the first to find the Coven Heads, filling them in on what had happened and informing them that they had been trapped like that for a few months, the news of the ridiculous amount of time they’d just been standing in that hallway causing an already horrible situation to feel even worse in that moment.

A few months. The Day of Unity had happened a few months ago, Belos’ plan having been a failure only for a new challenge that most of them couldn’t even get a chance to defend against rising up right after.

“So, what happened? Why aren’t we still puppets?” Darius asked.

Lilith frowned, glancing away as if she were afraid to tell him the answer. He hoped it wasn’t that bad and that she was only thinking of how to say it.

It was that bad.

He knew sending Hunter on that mission had the potential for consequences, but he never would have imagined it would be bad enough to lead him straight back to Belos. Lilith tried to tell him it had been for the best- that if the kids never got trapped in the human realm then they never would have been able to find their way back and save everyone. It didn’t matter. It didn’t make Darius feel better.

What did make him feel better, however, was Lilith leading him into the area where everyone was reuniting with their families, guessing at what Darius wanted before he could even ask.

His eyes scanned the crowd of people, frantically trying to land on the boy he knew was there. He couldn’t see him, his heartbeat quickening though his rational mind told him it didn’t mean anything. Lilith had confirmed Hunter was there. That was the whole reason she bothered to bring him into that room in the first place and she wasn’t so cruel as to play a trick like that on him. Darius knew Hunter was there- it was just the desperation to see him finally, to confirm with his own eyes that he was actually safe and alive, that kept him on edge as he failed to find him.

Eberwolf appeared beside his leg, sniffing the air and patting Darius’ calf, pointing away from them to their right. Darius wasted no time following the demon’s lead, nearly sprinting to get across the room and through the sea of people it took all his self-control to not just push out of the way.

Hunter was standing beside a window, quietly watching his friends reunite with their parents. Darius had truly never felt so much relief in his life at seeing him alive and well after just being convinced he would surely die- the events of the Day of Unity still feeling like they happened just the other day for him.

Of course he noticed the new scars that adorned his child’s body. Of course he noticed the lack of companion that had been a permanent addition at Hunter’s side up until that point. Of course he noticed the sorrowful look in his baby’s now brown eyes, despite the joy he should be feeling now that everything was truly okay.

Darius would ask about those things later when Hunter was ready to talk about them. He and Hunter could have a long chat later about what had happened and what would happen now that Belos was gone and the Collector had been stopped. They could worry about all of that when the time came to worry about it. 

For right now, as soon as his eyes landed on him, Darius cried out, “Hunter!” and before the boy could even fully turn his head to the source of the sound, Darius had already rushed over, wasting no more time in throwing his arms around him and holding him close, his arms no longer feeling the weight of the emptiness that plagued them up until that point.

Hunter stood still for a moment, trying to process what was happening before his brain caught up with him and he burst into tears, wrapping his own arms around Darius and burying his face in his chest. Darius stood there and held him for Titan knows how long, squeezing him slightly to make sure that he was really there and that his mind wasn’t playing tricks on him. Hunter, his Little Prince, his baby, was here. 

He was here.

There was no question of who Hunter would stay with from that point onward. Even if any of the other adults were willing, they would have to pry him out of Darius’ cold, dead arms to have any chance of taking Hunter away from him. Now that Belos was dead and gone, there was not a single soul who would ever be able to separate him from his baby ever again. For the rest of Hunter’s life, for as long as the boy was willing, Darius would make sure he would be thoroughly safe and loved, right where he’s always belonged, protectively encased within Darius’ arms.