Chapter Text
Their plan had failed. Of course, it had. Titan knows, luck and good fortune were not meant to last, things have to crash and burn at some point. And crash they did, in the form of one Golden Guard and a human.
Darius felt sheer exasperation surge through him as they were forced to abandon the spell circle, leaving Raine to create a decoy. Days of work and sleepless nights, all had gone to waste. And all because their resident Golden Guard had sharp ears and a sharper mind. If only he applied that intellect anywhere else and not in thwarting the rebellion, Darius would be inclined to even feel pride. But there was no time to worry about his conflicting feelings; they needed to regroup as fast as possible.
He took one last look in the direction of the alley, Hunter’s shouts distinguishable despite the hustle and bustle of the Night Market. And just as he was about to turn away, a dreaded flash of golden light illuminated the narrow streets. The spell had been activated. All three of them stood frozen, looking up in disbelief and terror. Now on top of having to avoid Hunter’s efforts to catch them, they had to come up with a plan to get Edalyn’s kid out of the Emperor’s mind. The urgency of the situation broke them out of their stupor and they hurried along the busy streets of the market, trying to leave its premises as soon as possible. Can’t have the little prince spot the telltale signs of his teleportation magic after all.
And while their anxiety was palpable, one thought kept Darius from succumbing completely to it. At least Hunter had not involved himself too much in this. The boy was too swift, too capable to make such a mistake and get himself entangled in the spell. He would probably search for them around the market, eventually giving up and going back to the castle. Darius could only hope that Hunter was feeling less inclined to be inquisitive today.
As they ran along the alleys, the nearby forest finally came into view and he quickly teleported their little group into the vicinity of the Owl House. He knew that the Owl Lady would do everything in her power to undo their mistake and as soon as they approached, her worried shouts could be heard. The strange owl demon was being just as erratic, its head going in and out of the house and hollering disconnected sentences.
He observed the creature closely in case it finally spotted them when Raine’s hand grabbed his shoulder, nodding in the direction of the house. They needed to act swiftly and think of a way to give the dispell potion to-
Suddenly a familiar tweet grabbed his attention as a flurry of red feathers approached the house. The palisman of the little prince. He had found them. That certainly puts another wrench in their already desperate situation but what is one more problem, thought Darius bitterly.
In the worst-case scenario, one he dreaded to even think about, they could overpower Hunter and put him under a sleeping spell. Darius' hands had grown cold at that notion, old anxieties rearing their ugly heads.
Concentrate. This is not about your mentor. This is about Hunter.
He took another quick look around. Eber was just as frantic, scouting and trying to pinpoint the location of their troublesome Golden Guard. Raine was no better with their teeth clenched while observing the cardinal.
Where was he? Oh, that boy would be the death of him. If only they were better prepared for-
The sudden screeching voice of the owl tube snapped his attention toward the house. "Oh, hey, your buddy's trapped too, right? The angry blond kid?"
No. No, absolutely not. It couldn't be.
Without a second thought, he ran forward, pushing Raine out of the way and almost causing them to stumble. Fear and a new wave of desperation took hold of him, dozens of different scenarios already invading his mind. What was currently transpiring in the mind of that vile man? What terrible secrets were being unleashed upon the kids? He, Eber, and Raine had been prepared, they knew the dangers, the risks, and the very real possibility of death. They had been ready to face it all.
But Hunter and Edalyn’s kid? They were too young for this, they should not be the ones to bear that burden. He knew he was driving himself crazy but he couldn’t help it. The thought of Hunter practically alone in there, in a place where anything could happen to him and no one would be the wiser to his fate? Where Belos could do whatever he wants with him? It was as if the scenario was pulled straight out of one of his recent nightmares.
"Darius!" Raine whispered curtly, "Calm down. You are going to give us away.”
“Didn’t you hear what the bird just said? Hunter is in there. In Belos’ mind. Alone.”
“First of all, I heard. Second of all, he is not alone in there. Luz is with him.”
“Oh, all the good this would do.” he stared at Raine indignantly, his anger threatening to boil over, “This is Belos we are talking about. Even we had to resort to covert tactics instead of confronting him directly. Edalyn’s kid he may spare but Hunter? He won’t be so lucky.”
Darius looked down at his clenched fists. A new wave of guilt, a new failure to add to his ever-growing list of ‘I should have done better by him'. A single moment on that beach, one act of rebellion, one of many as it turned out, and Hunter had grown to be a different person in his eyes. He could no longer pretend the boy was nothing but obedience and loyalty to his mentor’s killer, and could no longer direct his sorrow and anger at him. All that had gone inwards, towards himself and it was all he deserved. Lead a rebellion but a spineless coward, entangled in years of regret. Darius never thought too kindly of himself and now even less so. But this time it was a mistake he had the chance to fix and none of Raine’s arguments could ever chip away at his resolve.
“We’ve already revealed ourselves too much. We can just send over the potion and go. I cannot put-”
“Cannot put Edalyn in danger, is that what you were about to say? Oh, so you are allowed to be worried but I am not?” Darius took a hold of the potion, his decision already made,”Those kids will come out of Belos’ mind changed, rattled beyond belief and Hunter will be all alone. He won’t allow Edalyn to help him, we both know that. I have to be there for him, for once in his life.”
Raine and Eber stared at him wide-eyed, their surprise evident at his decisiveness. They could not know of the sewing lessons, of the text chats, of the blurry palisman pictures that Hunter sent every morning without fail. The little prince had wormed himself into his heart, the sentimentality already causing recklessness. But he had made that choice and he could not let himself falter, not again.
“Take Eber and go. I will try to reveal as little as possible to Edalyn but know. She was always against the system, you cannot keep her away from the rebellion forever.”
He took one last look at Raine, the pain in their eyes piercing him despite the hood but he did not have time to regret the crass tone. There was a Golden Guard and a human kid at the mercy of a tyrant, who wouldn’t hesitate to lay his hands on them. Everything else could wait.
-
In hindsight, he should have known that approaching the house, hands lifted in surrender, would be futile. He barely had time to deactivate his concealment stone as the bird tube screeched and wrapped itself around him, lifting him in the air. Darius was surprised it even took that long; it must have heard their quiet commotion in the bushes.
“I- Oh, stop squeezing me! I need to talk to Edalyn! It is very urgent!”
“Intruder! She said not to let anyone in!”
“For the love of Titan…” a faint blush crept on his cheeks, “Just tell her ‘goop brain’ is here. She’ll know what it means.”
The demon looked at him again, still suspicious but it relented and extended itself through the window. The seconds passed painstakingly slowly and his ribs started to ache from being squeezed so tightly.
Suddenly the door slammed open with enough force to shake the front walls of the house. Edalyn practically raced towards him, pulling his hood down and looking at him with enough irritation to make him flinch back.
“Darius Deamonne. You better have a darn good reason to show your face here. I am in the middle of a crisis and I don’t have the time to deal with your or Belos’ attempts at my life right now.”
“Said crisis is why I am here in the first place. I can help. The kids-”
A clawed hand, its talons glistening in the moonlight, suddenly came dangerously close to his throat. Since when was she able to do that? “How do you know where they are? Are you the reason for all this? I swear Deamonne, I will-”
“Yes and no. It’s complicated. It was supposed to be me in Belos’ mind but your kid came crashing right into the spell. It was an accident. And we don’t have time to discuss this!” he turned his head towards his bag, “There’s a dispelling potion in there. Take it and use it to get them out. Now.”
Claws still wrapped around his throat, Edalyn quickly rummaged through his bag, finally pulling out the golden vial. She took a careful look at it, swirling it around. “Hooty drop him. And you. If this is a trick, I will not hesitate to hunt you down.”
The bird tube dropped him without ceremony, resuming its defensive stance by her side. Darius quickly got up, not even bothering to dust his clothes, and looked her directly in the eyes. “You won’t have to hunt me down because I’m coming with you. Just go inside. I will explain what I can while we draw the spell circle.”
Edalyn looked as if she was about to protest but the urgency of the situation made her pause. With a frustrated growl, she hurried inside, kicking all the clutter away and rummaging through her stuff, looking for materials. The little cardinal immediately approached him, tweeting what Darius assumed were his worries over Hunter’s disappearance. He beckoned him to perch on his shoulder, patting him on the head in reassurance. Everything was going to be alright. It had to be.
“Catch!” Edalyn tossed a worn-out bag at him and the tell-tale smell of spell sand hit him immediately, “Start drawing and explaining what the hell is going on here.”
“I already told you, your kid decided it was a stellar idea to-"
"That much I understood. What I want to know is why would a coven head attempt to enter Belos' mind."
Darius fell silent, concentrating solely on drawing the markings. He did not relish having to explain any of this to Edalyn; of how he spent the last ten years of his life trying to take down Belos. How he felt he was not living up to his mentor’s legacy and how he felt all this would be for nothing in the end. He had to keep it short and to the point.
"Information, secrets, plans for the Day of Unity. You make your own conclusions on why I would want any of that." he couldn’t keep the irritation out of his voice and nor did he want to. It wasn't the time for such politeness, “Now tell me you have some kind of powerful energy source here. Black Crystals, a Galderstone or-"
"Would Titan's blood work?" the little furry demon approached him, handing him a stained glove.
Titan's blood…how did they even- No, no time for this. Concentrate. You need to get the kids out of there.
"Perfect. More than perfect actually!" he grabbed the glove, immediately extracting its contents onto the sand.
This broke Edalyn out of her stunned silence; she looked as if she wanted to protest but refrained. Darius felt relief at her not prodding him anymore about this, his mental state had already taken enough of a blow.
"And done. Once we bring them out, you take care of your own and leave the little prince to me. Don't ask any more questions, just… do it. Please."
She gave him a somber nod, handing him the potion and opening the little communicator. It was time, the countdown had already started. Darius took a deep breath, schooling his expression into one of gentle neutrality. He did not want to alarm Hunter any more than he already would with his sudden presence here.
"-Three. Two. One. Now!"
Darius smashed the vial, spilling its contents on the spell circle, and braced himself for the overwhelming golden light that swallowed the house whole. The cardinal immediately flew off his shoulder, tweeting and pecking at his witch. The kids looked dazed and out of it; Hunter’s eyes darted around rapidly, breath caught in his throat.
“Don't crowd them.” the Owl Lady slowly crouched to their level, carefully extending a hand towards her kid and whispering a string of ‘Are you okay? What happened?’.
Darius attempted to do the same, taking a careful step toward the little prince. The boy had still not seen him and was starting to breathe more rapidly, his hands trembling. With a sudden gasp, he finally looked up, pure terror clouding his magenta eyes. He scrambled back away from Darius as fast as possible, tripping on his cloak in an attempt to get up.
“No, no, no! He knows. He... he knows we were in there and he has already come for me. I can't... I can't go back! D-Darius, no. Don’t-”
“Little pri- Hunter! Breathe with me. It’s going to be alright, you are safe.”
“Safe?! None of us are safe and n-now you are here. He wants to take me back!”
“Hunter, I am not here to take you back. I am just here to-”
“Don’t come any c-closer! Don’t. Please-” with a choked sob Hunter finally ripped the cloak away and threw it at Darius’ feet, scrambling for the door immediately.
Darius froze only for a moment, the primal fear in Hunter’s eyes catching him off guard. He knew it would be bad, but this…? He shook his head in an attempt to clear it and not wasting a moment more, ran after him. The boy had already disappeared, only the distant tweets of his palisman echoing in the moonlit forest.