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The waves of the boiling sea lapping softly at the dark sand, and the sound of retreating footsteps, felt like an anti-climatic end to an otherwise turbulent night. A moment of calmness that Hunter was grateful for as he may not have heard Willow’s parting words had the chaos continued.
“After all, it’ll be fifty-two weeks until Caleb’s next day off,” The Captain said slyly to the other Ember Entrails members.
An invitation? Hunter felt a warm feeling settle in his chest. Foreign, but comfortable, like when Head Witch Whispers listened to his ramblings with an authentic-seeming interest. Or like the rare nights where Emperor Belos’s temper quelled enough to give Hunter the scrapes of affection he would otherwise be denied. Hunter didn’t have long to dwell on the olive branch as the abomination witch in front of him brought his attention back to his own transgressions.
“You befriended them? And then you defied me to protect them?” Darius snarled, raising the scythe made of abomination goo that was attached to his arm. At least this was a familiar dance. The word ‘defied’ may as well have been its own trigger for Hunter’s pulse to start beating tenfold. He hunched in on himself slightly, bracing for the blow that would surely come. Instead, Hunter felt a light thump against his head, one that was no worse than when Flapjack would try to make him a perch. “I’m impressed, I had you all wrong,” Darius said. When Hunter finally straightened he could see a pleased smile pulling at Darius’s mouth.
“Huh?” Hunter asked, ever the eloquent witch.
“You’re— what— sixteen? It’s about time you made connections outside the castle,” Darius said simply, as though it answered all of Hunter’s questions. The man looked off at the waves caressing the sand and hummed to himself as though he were considering his next action. With a wave of his hand, a scroll suddenly appeared in front of Hunter.
The scroll fell into the teen’s hands and upon opening it, the Penstagram sign-up page was already up. He couldn’t. Surely, Darius wasn’t insinuating that Hunter start his own profile. One fact about the Emperor’s coven was that it isolated all of its members from friends and family. When you’re in the Emperor’s coven, your life becomes work and your work becomes your life. Since practically being born into the coven, Hunter never had contact outside the castle aside from what his missions called for. Anything otherwise would be the equivalent of spitting into Belos’s face.
A glance at the Head Witch, and Darius smirked a little wider at the teen’s confusion.
“I was just gonna drop them off at Hexside. We have more than enough recruits, in my opinion,” Darius said with a nonchalant shrug. His vibrant green eyes landed on Hunter once more and the teen swore he could see slight mischief in them. Hunter couldn’t tell if Darius was giving him an out or if this had always been the plan. Why would Darius make the show of taking the other teens if he was just going to return them right back to the school they had been abducted from? Perhaps Hunter had misunderstood his mission from the beginning— it certainly wouldn’t have been the first time that Hunter completed a mission based on a facetious remark. This… wouldn’t be considered treason, would it? Belos never actually gave him this mission, so it’s not like he failed his uncle— not technically. However, if Belos found out….
“Are you… going to tell Belos?” Hunter asked trepidly.
“Are you going to tell him about your secret palisman?” Darius shot back.
Hunter gasped at the thought, a hand automatically reaching for the comfort of Flapjack’s presence. The witch didn’t need to be reminded of just what his uncle would do to his palisman if discovered. He had seen time and time again Belos crack open the wooden creatures and absorb their life force. With good reason, of course! He needed them to survive. Still, the idea of Belos getting his hands on Flapjack was a scenario that often haunted Hunter in his nightmares. Flapjack chirped, telling Hunter that the abomination witch was well-meaning.
“Magic or not, I think you’ll make your predecessors proud,” Darius said, turning back towards his ruined ship. Hunter wasn’t expecting the cloak that was thrown at him as it swallowed his head under its fabric. He isn’t even sure when Darius had reached for it or if the witch simply floated the cloak off the ground with magic. Hunter pulled the cloth off and stared down at the emblem he had stitched onto it that morning. Suddenly, the emblem glowed a violet color and Hunter’s novice stitches were replaced with expert ones. “But,” Darius’s voice caught the teen’s attention, “you could still use a sewing lesson.”
The teen noted the look Darius sent over his shoulder before he turned fully towards the airship. The abomination witch swirled his hand and a purple glow followed before three abominations burst from the ground. Hunter jumped as one clawed its way out of the sand beside him. He side-stepped to keep out of the abomination’s way, not wanting to get pulled under the dirt by mistake. Hunter watched silently as the abominations gathered and Darius pointed them towards the ruined airship. Immediately, the creatures went to repair the vessel.
Hunter wrung the cloak in his hands and looked away before glancing back at the witch that was no longer paying him any attention. He could slip away— pretend this night never happened and ride away on top of Flapjack. He could sneak back into his bedroom and even toss away the new scroll he had been given. Be the good little soldier Belos always demanded of him. He wondered if that’s what Darius would want, for him to just quietly leave so that they can pretend this night never happened.
“Would you like a ride back to the castle?”
Hunter was disturbed from his thoughts at the sound of Darius’s voice. The Head Witch was still paying more mind to the ruined ship than he was to the blond behind him, but Hunter could see his ears slightly turned towards him. Hunter replied in unsure silence. “I imagine you and your palisman must be awfully tired,” Darius continued, “The abominations will have the ship back up and running in a few minutes.” He finally turned his head to settle those piercing eyes on the teen. “You’re welcome to join me if you want.”
The boy looked at the palisman on his shoulder and Flapjack gave an encouraging chirp. Hunter nodded abashedly at the Head Witch before cautiously making his way over. He stood beside Darius, glancing up at a moment when he thought the witch was no longer looking at him. Darius caught his gaze and Hunter quickly averted his eyes. His face grew hot with embarrassment at being caught staring at the older man.
“Why are you being so nice to me?”
The questions slipped out of Hunter’s mouth before he realized that he had asked. The question was supposed to only be an internal thought, one that the Hunter would ask himself— questioning the other witch’s intentions until the early morning rays of light bloomed through his window.
Darius, for his part, only spared Hunter a brief glance. Like an afterthought. That was a far more familiar treatment that Hunter could deal with. “Why not?” Darius asked. The question only further confused the young witch. Never had anyone treated Hunter as inherently deserving of kindness. No, life in the castle was full of subtle politics and ulterior motives. Kindness was equal to weakness; it deserved nothing less than a knife in the back. Sometimes in a literal sense.
“I thought you hated me,” Hunter confessed, looking up at the man. It wasn’t an answer to Darius’s question, he knew, but the thought of trying to explain to the Head Witch that he couldn’t afford such luxuries as kindness made Hunter’s chest hurt.
Darius sighed, “I don’t hate you, Little Prince.” The abomination witch seemed to consider his words before he continued, “I’ve told you that I knew your predecessor, right? It makes me… sad… to see someone so young take his place—”’
“I’m not a child.” Years of having to fight tooth and nail for respect made the response reflex. Behind the mask, Hunter was respected and feared, but the moment his Golden mask fell, the witch often fought for even the lowest of scouts to show him any earned dignity. Darius considered him a moment, but whatever he had been about to say was interrupted as an abomination approached them.
Darius looked over the once ruined ship to see it perfectly intact. He nodded before making his way to the ship, a wave of his hand dispersed all but one of the abominations around them. “Are you coming, little prince?”
While he didn’t appreciate the nickname, Hunter still followed the older witch aboard the ship.
Soon they lifted off and the ship took to the air. Hunter stood in the middle of the deck awkwardly, unsure of what to do with himself. An abomination was steering the ship while Darius had settled against the railing as he flicked through his own scroll. Hunter pulled out his newly acquired device and began setting up his account, ignoring the dark thoughts in the back of his mind of what would happen to him if Belos found out.
Username? Should he go with his actual name? Maybe Golden Guard? No— it was too obvious, it would be just asking for Belos to find his account. Or for Kikimora to and then immediately rat him out. The next thought he had was of his favorite book. He typed in ‘RulerzReachF4n’. It was vague enough that it could be anybody but unique enough that the name meant plenty to him. Almost immediately Hunter found Willow’s own penstagram account. He spent a few moments typing out a ‘hello’ message and was pleased to see she accepted his message. She even friended his account. Hunter smiled to himself as he stared down at the tiny screen. He looked up to see Darius watching him with a small smile before the older witch went back to his own scroll.
Hunter frowned. He had been waiting for the other shoe to drop— for Darius to pull the rug out from under him and threaten Hunter with his newfound knowledge of Flapjack. Or for him to threaten to tell Belos of his failed mission. Instead, the man had given him a device that offered him even more freedom. A connection to a world outside the castle that he never used to know. A connection to new friends.
“Why would he do this?” Hunter whispered to Flapjack. The red cardinal only gave a small shrug of its wings and a short chirp that gave the sentiment of ‘Darius is a good person’. “I should thank him,” Hunter muttered.
But how? Hunter thought that the man deserved something more than just a quick ‘ Thanks for not turning me in for treason to my uncle, the Emperor, because it will not be pretty if he ever finds out any of this happened. ’
He pocketed the scroll and strode over to the other witch.
Or maybe ‘ Thanks for being more attentive than even my own family ’. Of course, that sounded too direct. Too desperate. Hunter stopped in front of Darius. The older witch glanced up in interest as the younger male nervously shifted from foot to foot in front of him. Hunter opened his mouth a few times to say something but all words seem to fail him. Darius, silently waited for the boy to finish whatever thought he seemed to be wrestling with. So kind. So patient. The teen felt an unfamiliar warmth flood his cheeks as he stared up at the older witch that was kinder than anyone had ever met.
Suddenly, Hunter knew the perfect way to thank him. It was the same way Belos showed him the sparse affection he received on nights when the curse wasn’t as ravenous. Affection that felt so good it would make Hunter’s toes curl. Surely, this would show Darius his true gratitude.
The Head Witch put his scroll away to give the teen his full attention. Hunter gathered his courage and stood on the tips of his toes before he threw his arms around the unsuspecting witch’s neck. With the new leverage, Hunter pulled the man close and connected their lips.
Darius froze under Hunter’s touch, his hands hovering in midair as though he had been petrified by the simple contact. The blond pushed forward and pressed himself firmly against the other witch. This time, Darius’s hands landed on Hunter’s waist. His fingers curled into the boy’s tunic but he neither pulled him closer nor pushed him away.
Hunter took the opportunity to run his tongue over Darius’s bottom lip. Hesitantly, the older witch opened his mouth and Hunter eagerly ventured further. The young witch wasn’t usually a fan of when Belos ran his tongue over his own teeth. His uncle always seemed to get upset as his tongue came across the empty space between Hunter’s front teeth. As though he had not been expecting the space to be there. He sometimes wondered if his uncle imagined him as someone else in those stolen moments late at night.
Now though, Darius moaned pleasantly into Hunter’s mouth as the teen let his tongue venture into the foreign territory. Hunter pulled back slightly, grazing his teeth over Darius’s bottom lip before he began to suck and lick at the man’s throat. Another moan and Darius’s breath became more ragged. Hunter felt something stiff press into his thigh. It was just the response he had been hoping for. Hunter rolled his hips forward, ready to follow through in letting Darius know just how much he appreciated the kindness he had shown him.
Darius’s hands suddenly dropped from Hunter’s waist, instead roughly grabbing the boy’s upper arms and pushing him away. Hunter blinked up at the man, needing a second for his thoughts to focus as he looked at Darius’s lustful but angry gaze. “What… in Titan’s name… do you think you’re doing?” Darius hissed, as though he hadn’t just been reciprocating the boy’s touches.
All confidence that the teen previously had vanished under the cold gaze. He had been sure this would be the best course of action— it was how Belos made him feel appreciated despite the abuse he would otherwise go through during the day. Hunter tried to swallow the lump in his throat, but it wouldn’t go down. Suddenly he felt far too hot. “Thanking you?” Hunter heard himself say.
“Kid, that’s not— you don’t— it’s—” Darius scrambled, seeming to be just as at a loss for words as the younger boy was. He sighed and finally dropped his hold from Hunter’s arms. Absently, the teen noted he would probably bruise there later, but that was the least of his worries at the moment. “You don’t thank someone by making out with them,” Darius ground out, pinching the bridge of his nose and standing more straight. “Also, you shouldn’t be trying to make out with a witch more than twice your age.”
“Why not?”
“Why—? Because it’s wrong,” Darius snapped. He leveled a look at the boy that was somewhere between pity and disgust. If Hunter didn’t feel so numb, he may have been more offended by that look. Surely, there were worse people to make out with than him, right? “Go back to your side of the ship and we’ll pretend this never happened,” Darius said, looking away. He couldn’t even bear to look at him. Self-hatred that sounded suspiciously like his uncle’s voice crept into Hunter’s ears. ‘ Do you think anyone out there will love you as I do? They’ll treat you like a leper. Follow my orders and you can stay here, with me, where you’re loved.’
“Okay…” Hunter told the ground. He turned and walked back to the other side of the ship, feeling more like a puppet than a person. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled. Maybe this was why Belos warded him away from the kindness of others, because kindness yanked away was worse than never having it to begin with.