Hello all and Happy New Year! This chapter kind of backtracks about 15 minutes to show what Lilith and Darius were up to while Hunter was hanging around with his friends, still trying to find the courage to be honest with Willow, and dancing with Amity. So, let's check back in with the adult chaperones of Grom, shall we? :)

15 minutes prior

({No POV})

Darius and Lilith were still engaged in conversation and almost 'catching up' since they hadn't even spoken this much to each other in years, not even as coven heads and especially not in terms of having a normal conversation.

In fact and despite talking as former coven heads at the castle, it almost did feel as if they really hadn't seen or spoken to each other as people since their graduation at Hexside.

So far they had mostly been talking about Lilith's job as assistant curator that she had just recently resumed after The Collector made a mess of everything and they had to almost reconstruct the museum and whatever of its contents they could salvage and repair before reopening.

Eventually there was a break in the conversation as both of them took a sip of Apple Blood from their glasses, causing Darius to take the opportunity to look around the gym again to see if Hunter ever made his way in.

He scanned around until he smirked when he saw Hunter across the room smiling and laughing as he talked with his friends, particularly since he appeared to be talking to Willow at the current moment. Darius continued to look in with some odd yet pleasant sense of almost 'pride' at Hunter, which did not go unnoticed as Lilith seemed to look on at the 'situation' with a strong sense of curiosity.

Despite not seeing or speaking to Darius for many months since the 'Day of Unity fiasco', she had heard from Eda that Darius had legally taken in Hunter as a ward.

This intrigued Lilith to no end ever since she heard this considering the 'mutually annoyed opinion' both her and Darius shared about Hunter since he became the new Golden Guard, particularly with Darius feeling especially strongly about it with being mentored by the former Golden Guard (whom Lilith also had to agree that she liked more at the time when she was head of the Emperor's Coven).

Lilith kept looking on until she remarked, almost easing into the 'topic', "Never thought you would be the kind to take up a parenting role, particularly in this sort of circumstance."

Darius went wide eyed for a moment as he eventually looked back toward Lilith at her remark. But, rather than get defensive like he usually would in this sort of 'being backed into a corner' situation, Darius just kept calm and took another sip of apple blood before conceding in a way from his past opinions about Hunter, "I know, I know. Honestly, if you would have asked me two years ago if I would have done something like this; and especially for Hunter, I couldn't have agreed more… and you know that. And why would I have wanted to take him in? Taking in someone who took my mentor's place as if he was handed everything on a silver platter like some spoiled, teenage brat who did nothing but kiss the ground that Belos walked on back then? But, and shocked as I still feel sometimes… I had him all wrong. I know, 'what a thing' for me to admit that I was wrong?"

Lilith, although still taking in his words, eventually smirked before saying teasingly, "Those are words from your mouth, not mine."

Darius immediately smirked back and replied, just as teasing toward his former classmate, "But, they would have come from you had I not said them first. You act as if I don't know you at all?"

They both chuckled to themselves in amused agreement for a moment before Darius continued, "Though, in all seriousness and in the weeks before the Day of Unity, I had to admit that he surprised me. A bit of a long story, but suffice to say I saw he was much more of a misunderstood and strong young witch with a mind of his own than I ever gave him credit for. Mostly I realized from there that he just needs a bit of guidance and a bit of a 'push' so to speak at times to maximize his potential… and I never realized how much I actually enjoyed 'mentoring' until Hunter. So, once I heard he returned to the Boiling Isles from the Human Realm and had nowhere else to go… I don't know? All I kept thinking about was what my mentor would have done if I was in Hunter's position. So, and especially once some of the remaining members of the former Construction Coven had my home built, I decided to step up and take Hunter in. And I must admit that he continues to challenge my former opinions I held toward him and a great many other things. Not to mention and despite the fact that I thought I'd ever imagine myself as a legal guardian of a child in any respect, I must admit… I think I rather enjoy parenting. Maybe not to witchlets or small children since they're just so loud and… messy. But, parenting a teenager though? Ha! To me it's no different than trying to 'command the room' when I had the recent graduates join up with the Abomination Coven. And even then, Hunter is even easier than them by comparison. Sure he can have his moments of being a bit annoying with his angst and moodiness over ridiculous things like most witches his age, but he's very clean and organized with things in the house. Not to mention, if I'm speaking honestly, I'll admit it… I've actually grown quite fond of him actually. He's a hard worker. Reminds me a lot of myself at his age actually."

Darius looked back at Hunter only to see him in the opposite corner of the room taking a picture with his friends from his Flyer Derby team, making him smile a little at his unexpected ward in almost 'proud' sort of way again.

Lilith even looked on in intrigue until she smirked and remarked, slightly teasing, "Looks like I'm not the only one who's become 'sentimental' with age."

Although rather than look perturbed or annoyed like he usually would at her 'remarks' as young witches, Darius simply smirked and shrugged before responding, "Perhaps I have… but then again, and to quote my father, 'change may be inevitable, but it's how you take control of the change that matters'. Especially recently things have most definitely changed for me aside from taking in Hunter. After all my 'career change' was definitely a bit of leap for me."

Darius paused to take another drink as Lilith quirked up an eyebrow and asked, "Speaking of, what precisely do you do now? Or do you just spend all your time 'preening' in every reflective surface you can find like I remember so well?"

This did get a bit of an annoyed glare at Lilith from Darius at her calling out his 'habit', making her smirk in amusement right back. After all, Lilith remembered Darius's slight vanity to describe it as anything since she remembered seeing him look at himself in almost any reflective surface he would pass in Hexside and even at the castle whenever they would see each other at coven meetings.

But, rather than continue to feed into her satisfaction, Darius just swirled the remainder of the Apple Blood in his glass before replying with a smirk as she didn't just call him out, "Actually, if you must know… I write now. Once things settled out and my sigil was removed to allow me to practice any kind of magic I wanted, I found I always kept going back to Abominations. Truth be told, even if the coven system never existed, I feel like I would have perfected my expertise in Abomination magic regardless. So, rather than try to resent it, I decided to embrace it and started writing my own series of educational and historical texts exclusively on Abomination magic. After all, I always enjoyed writing and it turns out being a former coven head has its perks since it didn't take long for a publisher to produce my works. So, I like to think I'm doing quite well for myself actually."

He was about to take the last sip of his drink until Lilith chimed in, "Interesting, perhaps as a curator you'd allow me to have a look at your books? Just to be a second opinion." After that Lilith held out her glass with a slight smile, catching Darius off guard for a brief moment. But, he was quick to recover as he wagered, "Perhaps, only if you'll allow me to critique your exhibit? You aren't the only 'history buff' here if you remember anything about me. What's your exhibit about? I don't think you mentioned it."

While Lilith now felt a little standoffish since the head curator of her museum physically laughed out loud at her 'Deadwardian Baluster' exhibit she wanted to pitch even before the Day of Unity but just never got the chance, she was still determined to hold her ground on her idea.

But, rather than risk also possibly being laughed at by Darius, Lilith simply grinned and said in a leading fashion, "Guess you'll have to come see and find out for yourself?"

Darius eventually also grinned back as they clinked their glasses together before looking back out at the gym and downing the remainder of their drinks. Upon finishing his glass; however, Darius looked out to the floor with an expression of visible confusion for many different reasons at seeing Hunter dancing and talking with Amity Blight.

Before he could get absorbed in his speculations though, Lilith let out a scoff-like laugh before saying, "I still can't believe this 'dance party' cover that Bump instated for this. Especially when you compare this to our 'Grom' under Principal Faust?"

Both of them both exchanged knowing glances since they both remembered their 'Grom nights' from their school days quite vividly well.

Considering they both remembered them all just being herded into the gym and just forced to sit there as they watched whatever selected 'champion/victim' fight off Grom and try not to do anything else to get in trouble with Faust for 'not paying attention' and you had to look forward to a detention at best and an expulsion at worst.

Especially since they recalled the day the 'top of their class' was expelled for his shoes 'squeaking' (which didn't make Lilith complain at the time since that meant she was now top of their class and also that it was another thing she could now hang over Darius's head), they knew getting in trouble over anything was 'fair game' with Principal Faust.

It looked like Darius was even about to comment on this until they heard Principal Bump announce over the P.A. network, "Attention students! It's time for everyone to take your seats and get ready for our selected Royalty to face off against Grom!"

With that announcement, Darius and Lilith looked at each other for a moment before nodding and standing closer to the pit opening up in the floor, trying to be ready to 'spring into action' should anything happen.

The floor continued to open as the selected 'Grom King' this year made his way to the edge of the entrance to face Grom and while putting on a 'brave and tough face' for his classmates, he was internally still terrified and had no idea how he was going to face Grom as he grabbed a sword and shield from the wall of weapons.

Mattholomule.

So, before we get to Lilith and Darius, let's talk about Mattholomule for just a moment here. Because you may ask why I decided to have him be Grom King? Well, I have my reasons for the plot here, but I'll keep it simple for now to avoid spoiling anything. Haha. But, for real, with the progression of us seeing Mattholomule go through in the show and add on the fact that other than Edric and Emira Blight, he's honestly been one of the few occasionally recurring characters we've seen that's had any amount of focus or character progression and I wanted to make someone the Grom Royalty here who wasn't exactly part of the 'Hex Squad' but was still somewhat close to them in some way. After all, it is a bit confirmed that Gus and Mattholomule are kind of on their way to being friends-ish at this point in the series so… there we go! Now, onto Lilith and Darius here. For this chapter, I not only wanted to show more of Lilith and Darius's dynamic as former classroom rivals, but I also wanted to give Darius more opportunities to explain his dynamic with Hunter to show how much Darius really has come to care about Hunter. :) Well, even if he also admits that Hunter can also act like a 'typical teen' with 'making a mountain out of a mole hill' sometimes when things really don't need to be that dramatic. Haha. But, I also hope you enjoyed more teasing banter between Darius and Lilith as well as hearing more about their time at Hexside under the menacing and strict Principal Faust. Next chapter will be a long one so brace yourself! Anyway, thank you all so much for taking the time to read and constructive feedback is always very much appreciated!

Happy 2023 and Stay Classy!

Dexter1995