Chapter Text
It was silent.
The trepid calm that comes after a storm, interrupted only by a distant rumbling. It was all so far away except the stillness and the pain, this dull ache that flared up even by thoughts alone.
Darius’ mind sat in near silence, unable to will himself to even open his eyes. If it wasn’t for the ache, he would have thought himself dead. But even in a moment such as this, where he was indeed at death’s door, the stinging feeling of failure was threatening to invade his mind. Oh, he was alive. Alive enough to start contemplating everything that went wrong, everything that he did wrong until he wills himself to get up.
Plans years in the making, waiting, biding his time, working for his mentor’s murderer, and wishing some days, to be far away from it all because it hurt too much. But he had persevered, he had survived, and when it had mattered the most? He failed. Leader of the rebellion, pragmatic, ready to do whatever it takes to take down Belos’ tyranny? Darius was none of those things and yet choosing Eber over the isles, choosing to send Hunter away when he could have been a valuable asset to the rebellion? He felt no guilt for those actions and he hated it.
He should feel guilty, they all knew what they were signing up for but Eber’s whine, now forever haunting his mind, had made him stop as if on instinct to protect. And Hunter, used his entire life, treated as nothing but an asset? How could Darius possibly do it to him again when he had already wronged him in so many ways? The guilt of a soft heart was unimaginable but even now, he could not find it in himself to regret any of his actions even if all of them might have been futile.
And even so, he was alive, not consumed by the spell Belos had implemented as their doom. Questions of how and who had managed to stop that man, if not him and his comrades, were swirling as well, trying to get him to get up. It felt impossible, opening his eyelids was like ripping open envelopes with a dull knife. The darkness was barely replaced by a heavy blur, smearing his surroundings into one.
There were no more screams to be heard or dark eclipses to be seen. No more red skies and yellow tendrils that seeped the life out of everyone on the Isles. No more reaching out for his brother and friends, a last effort as he too succumbed to the spell. Just the stillness and the movement of something in the distance far above him, something Darius couldn’t even begin to understand.
He tried to take a deep breath, to finally focus his eyes, to move even a centimeter but all of it took so much effort. There was nothing he wanted to do more than to get up and check on everyone, to see who was alive and who he had lost. To see if Hunter was alright, hopefully still safely away from it all and unaffected by the pains of the draining spell. Darius remembered how taxing and excruciating it had been, and the last thing he wanted was for the little prince to have gone through it as well. Pain should not be something present in his life anymore if he could help it.
So he tried to lift his arm, to chase away the blur from his eyes but he found himself unable. It was heavy with something more than the soreness of his muscles as if there was a weight right on top of it. And the more he thought about it, the more he felt that weight pressed on his arm and against his chest which finally found a way to begin breathing properly. It was unnerving and unexplainable, and it made him do another effort to refocus his eyes.
There was the ground, his arm, and a tuft of blond hair close to his shoulder. It threw him into a frenzy and he quickly tried to prop himself up, wincing from the effort.
It was like he was looking at a vision from his recent nightmares. Hunter was lying still, pressed against him, his arms limp around Darius’ waist. Still and unmoving, pale and face slack in a way, only a dead person was.
His own needs, his body screaming at him to stop with the sudden movements, were promptly ignored as Darius turned himself over in a panic.
“Hunter! Hunter!” he shouted, his voice ragged and choked. He tried to shake the boy despite the weakness in his arms. Hunter remained limp and stone-cold, only jostled by Darius’ efforts to wake him up. The man’s panic was rising and the surroundings started to bleed even more into each other until only he and Hunter remained.
Why was he here?! He should be far away, at the Blight manor. That was his mission, Darius had told him the adults would handle it, and that he should stay away with his friends. And yet here he was in his arms, in the eye of the storm, and far too close to where Belos had been. And the more Darius looked at his kid’s pallid face, at those closed eyelids, hiding bright and warm gems that sparkled with intelligence and gentleness, the more he found himself unable to breathe and think.
He should check his pulse, his heartbeat, anything to indicate life but his mind was a fog and his body felt not his own. A sudden chirp is what snapped him out of this stupor as a little red bird crawled from under Hunter’s arms. The boy’s palisman, worried and frantic, pecked Darius’ hands as he looked back and forth between him and his companion, urging Darius to do something, anything.
The man shook his head violently, trying to chase the fog away, and pressed two fingers against Hunter’s pulse point. Barely anything, he could have imagined it. Then an ear against his chest and again heard nothing that sounded like a heartbeat or proper breath. He desperately tried to resuscitate him, pouring any and every medical knowledge he had learned through the years but it wasn't working. Hunter was still as stone in his arms and there was nothing he could do. The little red bird looked at him with wide eyes, his frantic chirps increasing as he started to pull on Hunter’s hair bang.
It was futile.
And if the crushing weight of failure was palpable just a moment before, it was nothing compared to the torrent that swept him.
Never has there been a man more unable to do anything right. All his plans and all his strategies ended in flames. And the one thing he thought he could do right, this relationship with Hunter that had just started to blossom, now lay wilted in his arms. It was too much, the dam of emotions he had kept at bay ever since his mentor died, was cracked and hot tears spilled from his eyes. With a struggle, he lifted Hunter in a full embrace, a desperate one as he held him tightly.
“I am so sorry, so s-sorry. I couldn’t protect you. I failed…I failed you.”
The boy was still unmoving and cold, so different from the light hug they had shared when they had reunited after the fiasco with the mindscape potion. It had been unsure but a comforting one, just the two of them glad to find each other in the chaos.
The chaos persisted but there was no comfort to be found anymore. Darius was alive yet he felt unliving. For a time there was this timelessness as he held Hunter close to him, as he cradled his head, and pleaded for the boy to come back to him. It was just the two of them, the rest of the world unimportant, the voices of the people around him inconsequential.
And only one question was left in his mind. Why was he alive when Hunter wasn’t? He did not deserve it after everything he had done and failed to do. The little prince had leaned on him for protection, believing that this one adult will be there for him and Darius had even promised that nothing bad will touch him now, not if he can help it. He had offered Hunter the future, something that the boy thought he had not had at the time, and in his mind, he could still see the bright, hopeful eyes. Darius desperately wished he could have kept that promise but instead the only thing he could do for Hunter now was to hold him, long after he had left this earth. He felt useless and he thought that was all he has ever been.
So he could only cradle the little prince and he didn’t know for how long they stood this way or when the red palisman had perched himself on his shoulder, letting out mournful sounds of his own. He didn’t feel at first when a small hand had clutched the fabric of his shoulder and when magenta eyes had opened themselves to the world.
Only the quiet ‘Darius?’ broke him out of this sorrowful trance as he quickly lifted his head from Hunter’s shoulder and looked at him fully.
The boy was barely aware of where he was, eyes opening and closing slowly and breathing labored. He looked worse for wear as his complexion was still pale and clammy but he was alive. Alive and breathing, awoken enough to say the name of the man in whose embrace he was.
Darius was stunned just for a moment, praying this was not an illusion created by his grief-addled mind so he quikly removed his glove and gingerly placed a hand on the boy’s cheek. It felt warm, warmer than before and this action caused Hunter to widen his eyes in surprise. They stood like this, eyes locked and neither knowing what to say until Hunter closed his eyes and leaned on Darius’ hand. The small gesture made the man sigh fondly and he finally found some of the words stuck in his throat.
“I…I thought you had died…when I woke up and found you in my arms, so still and cold, and...and…” he tried to swallow away the dryness of his throat, to say all he wanted to say now that fate had given him a chance, “And I am so glad you are alive! So, so glad. And I am sorry…I am so sorry…”
He brought Hunter closer to him again, in yet another hug but this time one that the boy could return. Hunter clung to him almost desperately, savoring the warmth and the comfort, and eventually, Darius felt him quietly crying against him.
“I thought y-you had died as well! I…you were so still and I didn’t know what to do! And I just laid here with you when I couldn’t go on anymore,” an embarrassed blush crept all the way up to the tips of his ears as he whispered, “I hope you don’t mind..”
Darius brought him out of the hug and looked at him in surprise, “So that is why I found you in my arms! I was wondering about that. But it doesn’t matter how it happened cause I do not mind in the slightest. I am happy that you found some comfort in me. In fact, I am quite flattered!”
Hunter looked as if a weight had fallen off his shoulders and his eyes immediately got that tell-tale bright shine to them despite how tired he looked. A shine Darius had lost hope of ever seeing again but now wanted to preserve more than anything else. He couldn’t help but bring Hunter in for another hug, just basking in the fact that both of them were alive and breathing, despite everything.
He felt Hunter sigh contently against him and the little palisman, previously perched on his shoulder, finally jumped to his witch to greet him back to life. The boy giggled at that, glad to see his companion and the warm feelings made him tighten the hug even more.
As they all held each other in this way, things felt right again, whole and no longer shattered into small pieces as the world had crumbled down around them. And while the world may still be falling apart at the seams, they were at least ready to face its strife together.