Darius' house, as it turned out, was much bigger than Willow's. It was more akin to a manor, which made sense since he was very high ranking in the Emperor's Coven. It was also incredibly neat and tidy, and though the furnishings were sparse, they were of high quality. Darius was rich.
It was funny, Hunter had never really thought about his co-workers salaries before. Until now, it didn't even occur to him that the other coven heads were probably all quite well-off. He'd personally never even thought of it as a job; it had always been an honor to him-a great honor he was incredibly excited to fill. It was his calling.
Or…At least it used to be. Now Hunter had no idea who or what he was supposed to be. He didn't even know where he'd be living now. Sure, Darius was kind enough to let him stay here for now, but that wouldn't work long term, would it? Darius was bound to get sick of him eventually.
Long term plans were difficult to think about right now. Hunter didn't know how much longer he would be safe from Belos. And there was the Day of Unity to think about-oh Titan, he completely forgot about that!
Not long after Darius helped Hunter get settled in (he had several guest rooms, so Hunter got his own room for now) and gave him a quick tour of the house, he said that he had some coven business to attend to and left the manor. Hunter didn't feel particularly comfortable being left alone in this big house, but Darius assured him that security measures were set up and that he wouldn't be away too long anyway.
So Darius left. He was only gone for a couple of hours, but it felt like an eternity to Hunter, who couldn't do anything but pace mindlessly along the hallways. He was afraid that if he let himself sit down and relax, then those memories would start to flood back in.
After a while though, Hunter made his way back down to Darius' living room. He felt exhausted right now, like he had been for the past two days. He was used to being physically exhausted from all of the training he usually did, and from his missions, but this was something else. It was more akin to a mental exhaustion, and he sort of felt like that was even worse. His mind just felt so hollow, yet so heavy at the same time.
He took a seat on a couch, and stared at the paintings on the wall across from him. Then he looked down at his hands. He was wearing his gloves right now, like he usually did. He preferred not to see all of the tiny scars that littered his hands. Most of them were just from training or his missions, so they didn't hold painful memories like the one on his face or the notch in his ear, but still…Whenever he looked at his bare skin, he was reminded that he was nothing more than a soldier. He was quite literally trained from birth…No, creation, to be his uncle's perfect little soldier.
And now it bothered him more than ever. So for now, he'd really prefer to keep these gloves on.
Luckily, before Hunter could delve any deeper into thought, a lock clicked, and he heard the front door open.
"Darius!" Hunter exclaimed, standing up from where he'd been sitting on the couch, a blanket sliding off his shoulders. "What-what's happening at the castle right now? What's Belos' next move?! Is he-am I-"
"Kid, slow down," Darius sighed, unclasping his cloak as he shut the front door. "You have enough to worry about right now, there's no need for you to get involved in this any further."
"But I know! About-about the Day of Unity, I mean…You do too, right? I know you at least suspect something, or you wouldn't have…" Or he wouldn't have plotted with the other rebels to enter the Emperor's mind, and none of this would have happened. He quickly shook that thought out of his head. He couldn't dwell on that right now.
Darius walked over to a rather fancy looking armchair and sat down, his head leaning back and staring up at the tall ceiling. He looked tired—more tired than he'd been before he left. "I do."
"He-he's going to use a draining spell—"
"I know. Believe me, I know. It's horrible and dangerous, and it's no place for a child to get involved."
"I'm not a child!" Hunter turned his head, a grimace coming to his face. Then his expression fell. He was trying to hide how upset he still was about all of this, but since Darius had already seen him break down twice (once very briefly in the woods, and then at the Park residence), he decided that there wasn't much point to that anymore. "It's not…It's not like I want to get involved." He sunk back onto the couch, pulling the blanket back over his shoulders, then his head. "I really, really don't." He gulped and closed his eyes, trying to keep himself from panicking again. Every time those memories crept back into his mind, he felt like he was drowning. "I never want—" his voice broke, and he quickly cleared his throat, trying to keep himself together. He was supposed to be strong; he was supposed to be resilient. He wasn't supposed to be like this.
Darius lowered his gaze to Hunter again. "To go back to the castle? To see the Emperor again? To have anything to do with the coven?"
Hunter nodded, and Darius only sighed again, then hummed thoughtfully to himself. "Then I'll make sure you'll never have to. Not alone, at least. Things will be different now; they'll be better after the Day of Unity passes."
Hunter could tell Darius cut off that sentence short. He was probably about to add, if things go our way. Things were already looking pretty bleak, so Hunter wasn't sure he could bring himself to hope for the best right now. He was scared that if he started to hope for the best, everything would just fall apart all over again.
There was a moment of silence between the two. Hunter brought his knees up to his chest. Then, "So…the castle…" His voice lowered to a faint whisper. "Belos…What's happening there right now?"
Darius tensed at that, so Hunter immediately knew there was bad news of some sort. "Belos needs every witch in the Boiling Isles to have a coven sigil for his plan to work."
Hunter nodded, not sure where this was going. "Right, I know that," he replied. He knew that all too well. "And?"
"And so he ordered the Illusion Coven Head-"
"Graye," Hunter murmured in annoyance. The two of them had never gotten along well. Adrian's affinity for theatrics made him difficult to work with. Then, of course, there was the fact that he had always undermined Hunter's authority (though, in all fairness, almost every coven head except for Raine Whispers did the same).
"Yes, Adrian Graye-," Darius continued exasperatedly. "-To trick the students of Hexside into getting branded with coven sigils.
Hunter stared at Darius. "What?!"
"Unfortunately, our little group of rebels is currently running low on members, and we need to save our full strength for the Day of Unity, so we won't be able to lend aid."
"Wait, wait, wait, hold on-you're telling me that Graye is about to forcibly brand a bunch of students with sigils soon?! And you're not going to try to stop this?" Gus, Viney, Skara…Willow… If Graye's scheme worked, then his teammates-his friends-they were all in danger.
Darius shook his head. "I wish we could help, truly, but we have more urgent matters to consider. If we don't put a stop to the Emperor's plan, then all of us are doomed. Not just Hexside."
Hunter understood where Darius was coming from, but that didn't mean he liked it. If Belos won, then everyone with a sigil would die. As much as Hunter hated to admit it, there was a very, very good chance that Belos would win, and he didn't want his newfound friends, the only people who cared about him now, to die. If he could save them at least, he would.
"What's that look on your face?" Darius questioned suspiciously. "You're not thinking of stopping Graye, are you?"
Hunter didn't answer.
Darius raised an eyebrow. "I don't recommend it. He'll have dozens of scouts with him, and your priority right now should be hiding from any coven members. If you get involved, there's a good chance it won't end well for you."
Hunter still didn't say anything. What could he say?He was terrified of either option. He was terrified of leaving Gus and Willow and the others to deal with the Illusion Coven Head alone, but he was also terrified of helping. He wanted to help them so badly, but just the thought of getting captured and taken back to the castle-back to Belos-made him want to throw up.
"I…" He didn't know what to do. "I…" He took a deep, shuddering breath, and dug his fingernails into the palms of his hands. He had to be brave. His friends needed him right now. Willow, one of the first people to give him a second chance, needed him right now.
"I have to. I have to go. I have to make sure the draining spell won't hurt any of them."
There, he said it. He said it, and he meant it too. Terrifying or not, he would not let Belos hurt his friends.
"When is this going to happen?"
"Tomorrow."
Hunter bit his lip and nodded. Tomorrow. Fine then. Tomorrow, he would infiltrate Hexside.
