A/N: So, I'm a bit nervous about this chapter. Mostly because the character who's going to show up doesn't have a lot of screen time, and needed to be reshaped a little for the purposes of this fic.

I still hope I make them entertaining at least, so please, enjoy the chapter!

The pounding on the door continued, unrelenting, demanding that someone there open it and allow whoever "he" was entrance to the manor. Odalia clearly didn't want to answer the door, while Luz and the other Blight children looked confused, and in the human's case, a little scared. What being could possibly be so frightening that even Odalia would not rise to meet it?

Jeeves, on auto-pilot, made for the door, but it's lumbering pace was outdone by Alador, who silently walked past all the people frozen in his Entrance Hall, looking unfazed and unworried. Odalia looked like she wanted to call out for him to stop, but before she could his hand clasped the door's immaculately polished handle and he opened it, revealing the figure of a man.

This man scowled, bounding into the house with purpose, "It's about time someone came to the door. Have you all just been standing there, ignoring me?"

Alador didn't so much as blink at the man's attitude, just giving a low greeting in return, "It's nice to see you again too, Darius."

Darius took a moment to eye everyone in the room, then dramatically turned back to Alador, the magnificent cape he had on fluttering as he did so, "Did you receive my message from Kikimora?"

The other man held up a finger, signaling Darius to wait a moment. Then Alador began to pat at his pockets, fishing a piece of paper out of one of them and unfolding it. After moving it to a point where his eyes could focus on the print, Alador read aloud, "Dear Alador. You are a hack. Signed, Darius."

Darius stomped his foot, "Yes! A hack! Do you know how often your Abomitons break down? And do you know who has to fix your shoddy work? It is a waste of my time and effort and I shouldn't have to stand for it!"

Luz stood as she watched this unknown man berate her host, and leaned conspiratorially towards Amity. "Who is this guy?" She whispered, hoping not to draw any attention towards herself, lest she also be caught up in Darius' tirade.

Amity whispered back out of the corner of her mouth, "That's the head of the Abomination Coven, Darius. He's the guy my parents want me to succeed one day, if I don't join the Emperor's Coven."

Luz stared wide eyed, and gulped. This probably wasn't good, to be stuck in the same room as the head of a coven, who worked directly under the Emperor himself when she wasn't exactly on good terms with him.

Luckily, Odalia chose that moment to bring attention to herself, "Now, see here, Darius, Blight Industries is the best Abomination provider in the whole of the Boiling Isles. We take pride in our work, and the quality of it. It's top of the line! If we worked at your pace for the, quite frankly ridiculous, quality you insist we should have, we wouldn't have any supply to meet the demand."

Darius turned to Odalia , eyebrow twitching in irritation, "And if you didn't push your husband so hard, maybe you could let him achieve his true potential, while still getting decent numbers up! Look at the poor man, when was the last time he slept?!"

Luz was baffled as the man went from attacking Alador, to seemingly defending him. Alador himself didn't seem too surprised over the change of heart, and neither did the Blight children, who watched as if this were a common occurrence.

"I do not push my husband too hard! He works exactly as long as he wants! He enjoys what he does, and you know that as well as I do!" Odalia spat, crossing her arms.

Darius' nostrils flared, and he was about to make a retort when he seemed to catch a glance of Luz out of the corner of his eye. Standing at his full height and composing himself, he spoke with her seemingly in mind, "I apologize, I hadn't realized you had company over. On the day we normally meet for our monthly dinners."

He sent another glare over to Odalia, who rolled her eyes, "A simple scheduling error, Master Darius, not a purposeful slight against you." She insisted through gritted teeth.

Darius ignored her, and approached Luz, who was immensely intimidated by his height, as well as his volatile attitude. He looked her over, and Luz flinched when he moved, only to feel silly when she realized he was holding out a gloved hand for her to shake. "I must ask that you forgive the rudeness of your hosts for the error. It seems we shall be having dinner together tonight."

His eyes traveled to Luz's ears, but didn't linger, "Ah, you must be the human I've heard so much about…"

Luz forced a grin, wondering where he could have possibly heard about her from, "All good things, I hope?"

Darius surprisingly laughed, which made Luz feel better, "You'll have to ask the girl next to you. I like the hair by the way, Amity, it suits you much better than your Mother's green. And your dress looks fabulous, Luz, was it? I believe that's what Amity said your name was the last I visited."

Amity turned away, a blush and her face as she muttered a thanks for the compliment about her new color. Luz meanwhile relaxed completely. If this was someone Amity liked enough to talk about her, then he must be trustworthy. "Thank you! Your cape looks dashing!"

Darius grinned, puffing his chest up with pride. "It does, doesn't it? You have a good eye on you, human."

Darius turned his attention away from the two girlfriends, focusing on greeting the twins next. Luz took that time to try and get Amity to spill any amount of information she hadn't already. "What is with this guy? He seems fun!"

Amity shifted her weight around, trying not to look too flustered, "Like I said, he's Darius, of the Abomination Coven. He's also an old family friend. On my Dad's side, at least. Mom can't stand him. He and my Dad go waaay back, sorta like Willow and I."

Luz looked over at Alador, who seemed as disinterested as always, scratching at his nose while his Wife still looked huffy beside him. "Really? They didn't seem all that close?"

"It's complicated. Dad was supposed to join him in the Abomination Coven, and instead married Mom and opened Blight Industries. I don't think Darius ever forgave him for it. Just think of him as sorta like my uncle, and we all have dinner together about once a month, unless Coven business gets in the way. They all fight as much as they get along. Darius is a bit of a drama queen. It makes things… hectic."

Luz took another look at Darius. He didn't look anything like she'd expected from an Abomination witch. His dark skin was immaculately clean, his clothes flashy and expensive, unstained from the usual purple blots that Alador wore with pride, and even Amity seemed to have on a few of her outfits. There was a bit of irony that someone so clean basically made muck monsters for a living, and was considered the best at it.

Then his hair caught Luz's eye. "Is he using a tiny abomination as a toupee to pretend he isn't balding?" She asked quietly, not sure what to even do with this revelation.

Amity looked aghast at Luz's observation, "Luz, Master Darius is one of the greatest Abomination experts to have ever lived. Most Abomination magic works with a master and servant relationship between the caster and the abomination, but Darius has transcended that, becoming one with his own Abomination. It's magic so unbelievably advanced that he's the only person alive, besides maybe the Emperor, who is able to use it."

Luz let out a low, impressed whistle. "That's so cool! Seems a little extreme to learn such advanced stuff just to cover up a bald spot, though."

Amity snorted, covering her face to hide such an unladylike act, "Just don't bring it up in front of him, he's very sensitive about it."

With everyone caught up and greeted, Odalia called for everyone's attention, "Come now, let us move this into the dining room, shall we? Wouldn't want to keep dinner waiting… or make this night last any longer than it has too." She muttered the last bit under her breath.

Together they walked in pairs, at the start of the pack being the Heads of the household, followed by their two eldest, followed by Amity and Luz, with Darius picking up the tail end. Luz imagined that someone of Darius' status only did that to stay as far away from Odalia as possible.

Amity walked stiffly beside Luz, seeming to have some internal debate, before offering Luz her arm. Luz smiled, taking a step closer to Amity and linking their arms together so they could walk as one. They were so caught up with each other they had forgotten their other guest was behind them and watching their display until a well humored hum met their ears.

Luz glanced back at Darius, who walked with purpose, arms folded behind his back and cape somehow still fluttering despite a clear lack of breeze. She wondered if it was enchanted to do that. The man gave her an approving look, which she hadn't expected.

"You know," Darius said, "I never thought Odalia would let a human inside of her home. Titan knows if it wasn't for my position as a Coven Head, I'd never get a chance to grace these halls."

Luz wasn't sure what he meant, but hoped it wasn't for the reason that immediately popped into her mind. "It's not because you're…" she gestured to all of him, and breathed a sigh of relief when he seemed genuinely confused. She'd forgotten, for all of its dangers the Boiling Isles presented, it had a few ups on Human Society. No racism!

She shook her head and smiled, "Sorry, terrible human thing. Go on?"

Darius bowed his head so he was closer to Luz and Amity's height, "It's because I was born a lower class." He muttered, eyes hardening.

Ah, that would do it. Classism of all forms and levels did plague the Isles. Luz pondered for a moment if she counted as low class, or as a criminal class, but brushed those thoughts off when Amity patted her arm reassuringly, "Well, things are changing for the better around here now." Amity said simply, giving Luz a caring smile.

Darius chuckled, "I always did have high hopes for you, Amity."

The Blight girl felt emboldened from the praise, and strutted along with her girlfriend until they made it to the Dining room.

The Dining room was more of a Dining Hall, a large rectangular room, despite having a family small table set for only six. The walls were lined with suits of armor that wouldn't look out of place in any medieval castle, though in their hands were not swords, but staffs. The eyes of the Palismans perched on top watched their guests, but they didn't dare move while they still served as decorations.

Luz wondered where one of them would sit, with an unexpected seventh guest joining them, but Odalia just gave a twirl of her finger and the table expanded, and another set of chairs appeared. Luz ooh'd and aw'd at this display, realizing that the reason such a small table was in such a large room was because it could expand, probably to fit as many guests as they needed at their dinner parties.

Everyone took their seats, the heads of the Blight family at either head of the table, while Amity and Luz took the right side, and the twins and Darius took the left, with Darius beside Alador. Within seconds of them taking their seats, a small army of Abominations appeared from the far wall's doorway, carrying a variety of steaming dishes served on silver platters.

Luz had been prepared to only be able to eat one or two things, if they even had that much that she could digest, and would just politely make an excuse that human stomachs were so small to avoid offending the Blight's, but to her joy everything brought out was something she was able to eat. She shot a warm glance at her girlfriend, knowing she'd been behind this and likely put together the menu herself. Luz really did know how to pick 'em.

Everyone filled their plates in a strained silence. Luz had always thought that the Blight family dinners must be so energetic, with the twins at the helm, but the two sat with their backs straight, the utter image of refinement. It seemed that even family dinners were considered a formal affair in this household, and the twins had to curb their enthusiasm.

It seemed no one knew exactly where to start with a conversation, either because it would spark an argument, or in the case of Alador, because he was mentally absent and checked out, having not uttered a word since Darius had come inside despite the two seemingly being close friends.

Eventually, Luz couldn't take the quiet any longer. She'd always been too much of a chatterbox and anything was better than this, so she aimed a question at Alador. "Soooo, you and Darius have been friends for a long time, huh?"

Alador didn't even look up from his griffon steak that he was cutting when he gave his gruff answer. "Yes."

Darius gave another well humored grunt, then expanded on his friend's statement. "I met Alador back in our first year of Hexside. Back then, I was poor enough I could hardly afford a lunch to eat, and he seemed like a picky little brat who wouldn't eat the crusts off his sandwich. So I'd sit there every day, and take it when he was finished."

He smirked, a fond expression on his face as he turned to watch Alador, still cutting his meat, "Alador has always been… unique." Luz watched as Alador cut the ends off of his steak until there was just a flat rectangle remaining. Darius held his own plate out, and Alador scraped the extra side pieces off onto it as if it was second nature, then focused on cutting what remained into edible, and equally sized, cubes.

Darius returned the plate in front of him, and dug in with his fork, "Most of the other kids dismissed him because he was different. Even I only kept him around for his scraps. But then one day, Alador brought two sandwiches. He'd noticed I was stealing his food, and brought enough to share instead. I was a little more open about him after that."

Huh. Luz looked at Alador in a new light. He didn't seem to mind the story being told, or if he did his reaction was as understated as always. Instead, he focused on his food, occasionally glancing at his wife and kids, a small satisfied smile on his lips. Despite his tired eyes, Luz thought he looked pretty content.

Darius continued his story, "I started to pay a bit more attention to the resident rich kid, looking for a way to repay him. Nothing in this world is free, after all. We were both in the same Abomination class, but despite his talent for it, Alador was an issue in the classroom. The teacher had a hell of a time getting him to focus. So I switched seats with one of our classmates, and helped Alador take notes and study."

Darius took a drink from his glass, smacking his lips over the taste of what Luz assumed to be wine. Or maybe Grapeblood? "With his talent, and my smarts, we elevated each other to the top of the class. Of course, his parents didn't like that. Not him being top of the class, but that someone of my status was keeping up with him. They told him to cut me out of his life."

Luz was getting some big Amity and Willow flashbacks, but rather than look bitter, Darius laughed and reached over to give Alador a hearty slap on the back, "And my buddy here challenged them."

Alador took a bite of his meal and found something to finally comment on. "A Blight only associates with the best, and you are the best, no matter your status of birth."

"It was all very flattering, even if his parents conceded before the fight could actually begin." Darius finished.

Luz stifled a giggle, sparing a glance at Amity, who this story was starting to remind her of. Seems this delicious pink apple didn't fall too far from the gross abominable tree when it came to picking fights for her friends.

"I always imagined the two of us would be big in the Abomination Coven together. But someone came into Alador's life and turned him into an industrialist." Darius cast his gaze at Odalia, who scoffed, "Can you imagine? This was like cutting the hands off a masterful sculptor. His Abominations used to be, and could have been artful, dazzling. Instead, they're crap."

Alador spoke again, finally in his own defense, "They're really not that bad."

"You Titan damned hack," Darius spit, and then in a bout of childishness Luz hadn't expected from someone who worked directly under Belos, the man flicked one of his vegetables at Alador, pelting him on the forehead. This earned a set of restrained giggles out of Ed and Em, who quickly tried to silence themselves when their mother glared in their direction.

"Wow," Luz breathed in wonder, "You two have been through a lot together, haven't you?"

Alador nodded slowly, "Despite his open distaste for my work, Darius is my dearest friend."

Darius was in agreement, "Damn right. For as much as I despise what he puts out now, I have nothing but respect for Alador. If he ever gave this up and put his mind to it, he'd have my job by the end of the week."

Finished with his meal, Darius took his napkin and patted at his lips. It came back clean of any debris, which hadn't surprised Luz. Minus the precision vegetable strike, she'd never seen someone eat so neat and orderly before, careful not to get even a crumb on themselves. "Speaking of having my job, there is an actual reason I came over tonight that I wanted to discuss."

Odalia cocked her head to the side curiously, "Oh? About your job? Did you perhaps quit? Or were you fired?" She asked, not masking the hopefulness at the idea.

Darius barely held back his contempt, "No, not at all. I'm far too important to the Emperor for him to even consider a replacement right now." It didn't sound so much like he was bragging as he was stating a fact.

"No, I'm here because I hear our dear Amity lost a tutor recently. The now disgraced Lilith Clawthorne." The way he spoke gave nothing away about how he felt about the woman, only that he was stating the truth about her status. "I know how difficult it can be to find a replacement for someone so formerly esteemed, so I have come to offer my own services."

Amity choked on her drink, not expecting to hear that tonight. Luz reached over and patted her back until she stopped coughing, "W-what? Really?"

Odalia herself had eyes wide enough that they looked ready to pop out of her skull, "Yes, I agree with that line of questioning. Really?"

Alador however seemed delighted by the news, a rare smile gracing his lips. "That would mean you'd be around more often, yes? I think it's a wonderful idea."

"Alador," His wife said threateningly, gripping the sides of the table hard enough her knuckles were turning white.

The Abomination Engineer seemed to pick up on his wife's distress, and breathed a sigh. "This concerns Amity's future, dear. But if you're so against it-"

Everyone at the table leaned in, wanting to hear what the man had to say. "- Then I believe we should leave it up to Amity. I believe she's old enough to make the right choice."

Suddenly, all eyes turned to the youngest Blight, who shrank under all the attention. She gaped like a fish out of water, unsure how to answer. This was all so sudden, and she had a lot to think about-

"You don't need to come up with an answer right this moment, Mittens, dear." Her mother spoke up, not out of a motherly sense of duty, or because she could detect her daughter's stress, but because she clearly didn't want Amity to agree and wanted the opportunity to talk her out of it.

"I agree," Darius added, though it looked like it physically pained him to say those words when they concerned Odalia. "This is a big step for your future. I'd advise you to think carefully about what it is you want."

Amity nodded meekly, knowing for sure that the only thing she wanted in her future was beside her. Under the table Luz reached out a comforting hand which Amity was quick to take, squeezing it.

The twins, who hadn't had the chance to speak since they sat down, simultaneously pushed their plates away, "We're done."

They provided a good distraction from such a tense topic, and shortly after, dinner came to a close.

After dinner, Amity took Luz out for a walk in the courtyard. "I'm sorry, we didn't get to talk at all over dinner. This didn't go at all like I had planned." Amity apologized.

Luz bumped her shoulder, "Don't worry about it. There'll be plenty more dinners in the future. Or, at least, I hope." She gave her girlfriend a hopeful look, a faint blush on her cheeks.

Amity nodded quickly, "Oh, oh yes! Definitely more dinners. Just, maybe not anytime soon. This was stressful enough. I'm gonna have to re-dye my hair, I'm going to go as gray as Eda at this rate."

Was it wrong that Luz thought that was kind of a good look for Amity? Maybe not gray, but shimmering silver? She was feeling tingly just thinking about it. Shaking her head and ridding herself of the incredibly pleasant mental image to focus on the now, she asked the question of the hour. "So, it seemed like you didn't know what to choose back there? I thought you really like that Darius guy, wouldn't you want him to be your mentor?"

Amity sighed, throwing her hands in the air, "Yes! But no! It's really confusing. I mean, I used to think joining the Emperor's Coven, or being a Coven Head myself was the dream, the end goal. Then I met you, and… Belos isn't someone in your corner, Luz. You've opened my eyes to just how messed up this system really is, and how dangerous someone like the Emperor can be, even to his own people."

"And then there's Lilith…" Amity turned her eyes downcast.

Luz touched Amity's shoulder, knowing the girl had a bit of trouble accepting Lilith into her life after everything that had happened. Their Student-Mentor relationship had been strained enough after the Covention, with Lilith making Amity cheat against her knowledge, but it had completely snapped when Amity found out that Lilith almost got Luz killed trying to take Eda in. It had taken considerable effort, and Luz mediating, to get them on more friendly terms before Lilith had moved away.

Amity wrung her hands, "It would be an amazing opportunity to learn. Darius is the best of the best, and I know him. But I don't know if I can trust him, or anyone working for the Emperor anymore. And I certainly can't follow in his footsteps anymore. Not if I want to keep you in my life."

Luz pulled Amity into a hug, "It means a lot that you want me in your future. But don't be dumb."

Amity frowned, feeling a bit offended. "What?"

Luz laughed, releasing Amity from her embrace, "What I mean is, I'll always be around, no matter what you choose. Even if you're the Head of a Coven, or just working a tedious desk job. You could be the Empress yourself, and I'd still want you in my life. Be who you want to be, that's the Amity I care about."

Luz rubbed the back of her head, "Besides, if the system is broken, what better way to fix it than on the inside? And who says that just because you let Darius mentor you means that you have to follow in his footsteps? You could be the strongest, most talented librarian, with a library run by Abominations if you wanted to be when you finished your training."

She poked a finger at the center of Amity's chest, "You're the one who gets to decide what to do with what you learn. And you're also the one who gets to decide who you learn it from."

She then took that finger and swiped it upward, booping Amity's nose, causing the lavender haired witch to giggle softly at the Luz-ness of it all, "When did you get so smart?"

Luz shrugged, "I dunno, last I checked I was a C-grade student at best! I'm a dumby!"

Amity pressed a quick kiss to Luz's cheek, fighting the urge to have an emotional breakdown over being able to just do that whenever she wanted. "Well, you're my dumby."

"Then that makes you my dumby, too?" Luz grinned through her blush.

"How am I dumby?"

"It takes one to know one!" The two laughed, feeling unbelievably silly in the moment.

Amity suddenly stopped walking, making Luz pause and turn to face her. The Blight girl bounced on her heels, hands behind her back, looking pensive and shy. Breathing out her nose, she smiled and spoke" Luz? I, uh- Two queero!"

Luz's breath caught in her throat at the utterly butchered Spanish, and she snorted. "Th-that was adorable Amity! Say it again?"

Amity couldn't look Luz in the eye, embarrassment on her face, "Not if you're going to laugh at me! Did I say it wrong? I don't even know what it means, but it seemed… nice, when you said it last night, and I wanted to say it back- look, it was stupid-"

"No, no!" Luz shushed her girlfriend, giving her a comforting smile. "It means… It means that I really care about you, a lot. And I mean it. Te quiero, Amity."

Amity clenched the ends of her shirt in her hands, a nervous, but happy smile on her face. "T-te quiero, Luz" She said in a very shaky imitation of her girlfriend's accent.

Luz was bubbly inside, feeling like she could float up into the night sky upon hearing that. She grabbed Amity into a near crushing hug, and the lavender haired girl embraced her back, though not nearly as tight.

"I'll say it as many times as I have to until I get it right." Amity whispered, sending a chill down Luz's spine. "Te quiero."

Darius watched the two on their walk as he prepared to make his leave from the manor. He felt a small bubble of pride in his chest as he watched Amity laugh and play with her human friend. No, her girlfriend.

"Changing for the better indeed," He murmured, turning away from his hopefully-soon-to-be-pupil and making his way down the dirt road that led off the property, careful to avoid stepping in any mud puddles or kick up an excess of dust.

He shivered at the very idea of ruining his nice set of clothes, like that ridiculous Bard and their cohort had done to his previous cape. He took pride in his appearance, and especially his lavish clothes. They were the things he'd never been able to have growing up. Not like Alador had. Not like Odalia.

He paused mid-stride to calm his blood that boiled at the injustice of it all. He didn't blame Alador one bit for his misfortunes, not after Alador had treated him with kindness. No, he blamed the entirety of society for allowing such disparity to exist in the first place. Having to crawl up from the bottom of society's totem pole had not been easy, even after climbing high in the ranks of the Abomination Coven many didn't take him seriously. Not until he became the head, and pledged his undying fealty to Emperor Belos.

That was when he began to matter.

This is what the Emperor promised he would fix. A day of unity, to make all men and women, human and witch, equal. No more of the classism that rotted the old world. The poor, the rich, would all be one and the same in the new world his Emperor would build, with Darius at his side. It would be beautiful, magnanimous, and most importantly, clean of any filth.

Well, it would be an equal world for those who survived the union, at least.

You couldn't makes pot of Abomination goo without breaking a few Scorpantula egg sacks, after all.

A/N: I think that dinner scene is a big example of me having trouble juggling more than a handful of characters at once. Thankfully, I do get a little better with that later in the fic, when I have to juggle a dozen in a room or so.

I really hope I did Darius' character justice, while also sticking to my own vision of the character that I had planned before he got a name and speaking role.

The version I wrote(under the placeholder name "Apollo") had an incredibly queerplatonic relationship with Alador, also having been friends for a long time. Same backstory, poor kid is friends with rich kid kinda deal.

Then the episode aired and it provided so much info that I knew I'd love using. Then everything changed with one sentence. "Tell Alador he's a hack."

I didn't know what to do, him and Alador being friends was a big deal in the fic, but it did give me ideas. I reshaped their relationship to what it is here. I imagine this version of Darius as having expected to spend his life working, and maybe more, beside Alador, and now he acts a bit like a jilted lover since Alador married Odalia instead. It's a little less platonic, though just as queer.

Tell me if you loved or hated it in the comments, please and thank you! More Lumity cuteness will be available soon, as well as going back to Lucia and Creepy Luz.