Bonesborough was known among many things, for its horrendous education system. It was an incredulous joke of fate that being one of the biggest cities in the Boiling Isles, that it only had 3 schools.
This brought about very awkward encounters with people that knew you in your teenage years. The bad takes you had about bipod demons, or that time you were very into dream potions, or the phase that everyone goes through: trying to make a peace treaty with the giraffes.
Eda knew about every single one of Darius' bad hair days and when he cried in front of the whole school because his eggplant colored cape got destroyed through a game of grugby. Darius knew that for all the revel front Eda had, she had been a looser that eat her lunches with the detention pit, and that one time she tried to pull of mint green hair to impress Raine.
And they were both present when the bard they both love piss on their leggings after the violoncello autumn's performance.
Darius didn't think a lot about Raine's relationship with Eda. The one time he remember himself wondering about, was after the Coven's Day Parade. Raine knocked on his quarters at the emperors castle, and when he opened the door the new coven head threw themself at him, hard.
Eda compared her past self as a lover, with Darius present time as Raine's lover. It was in the little things, sometimes the abomination master would say something and Raine would smile and she would wonder if they smile like that because of her too. It wasn't jealousy, but it was a terrible habit.
They both found the restoration/reconstruction movement meetings to be a little uncomfortable. It had to do with seating, for some reason they always ended up sitting right next to each other with Raine in front of them. Awkward hellos where exchange, after that it would be easier, focussing on the best ways to built a new world, and before that a long silence would fall until one of them will be forced to comment about the weather.
"It's getting cold again," said Eda.
"Ugh, don't tell me. I hate it, winter fashion is the worst."
"It isn't great for scavengers either, but at least coven scouts give you a shorter sentence. Something about the cold makes them more lazy."
"You won't have to worry about that again though," Darius sighed, "I still haven't found how to make giraffe's necks look great with my capes."
"A world without a conformatorium, petrification, or any other type of punitive system. Can you imagine?"
"I hope so. If no one imagines it who knows if it'll ever be reality. Now that wild magic isn't criminalized, isn't it all obsolete?"
"Right! Lili is still talking about 'what about the evil wizards'. Those poor guys need help, not to be lock up!"
"And even if you did something bad… Edalyn you have to promise to never tell anyone what I'm about to say." Darius said.
"I promise."
"Cross your heart." Eda did as told and Darius drew a circle spell.
A swear spell, whatever Darius was going to tell her it wasn't his average comments at Raine's lack of fashion.
"The old golden guard, Hunter's predecessor, he killed my parents." Darius took a break.
"Do you want some apple juice?" Eda asked.
"No, I need something stronger. Do you have fairy tears?"
Eda took to glass cups from her shelf and reach to the very back for the only bottle she had of fairy tears. Then went back where she have left Darius sitting alone on the table, and pour his cup to the brim. Darius took a long sip.
"I didn't even know it was him at first. I was five and knew not to talk about my parent's business, said they trained hippogriffs instead. Years later when my mentor came to visit the witchlings and demonlings' home, it had been so long. He didn't even tell me until I was in a position where I could afford hating him, and I hated him.
But he also taught me about all the forms of magic there were before mine got stolen away, and then he showed interested in my abomination's craft. He listened, he cared and he loved me and I still love him,but I don't know if I forgive him.
He told me he didn't knew back then, that he 'knows better now'... locked away in a cell, or hiding in a corner, he might had not hurt anyone else, but he could have never made up for it, and I would have always had a festering wound of hatred ready to explode."
From the walls of the house you could hear how the young witches and the couple of demons had started a grudgby match. You could hear Luz's delight at Hunter scoring a goal.
"When I hurt my father, and my family, and far too many people…I hide for such a long time. But when I met my father again, he welcomed me back to his life with open arms, he forgave me. I still wished for the punishment though, isn't it weird- whenever someone does something wrong we looked at how they can be punished instead of how they can fix it."
"They won't always be able too but…"
"We have to let us try."
Both adults finish drinking their cups.
"If it's cold in here, it is worse outside."
"Right, the kids my get sick."
Darius sighed again and constructed 9 jackets out of abomination goo.
"Now you find someway so that they'll put them on." He said and walked out of the room.