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“What is this?” Darius asked, looking at the slip of paper in his hands.
“A ticket! To my game! It’s the team I’m on with my friends, you’ve already met them.” Hunter said and Darius raised an eyebrow. “What friends?” He asked.
“The ones you captured for recruits but weren’t really recruits. We have our first official match on Friday, I want you to see how skilled they all are!” Hunter said and Darius hummed at that.
How skilled they are, Darius thought. Not how skilled Hunter was, he wanted to show Darius how talented his friends were. The kid really was changing.
“I’ll have to see if I’m free,” Darius said dismissively but it was enough to make Hunter smile even wider, jumping up and then rushing out of the room in seconds. Darius watched him go before grabbing his scroll and messaging Raine.
THE1NONLYDARIUS: are you absolutely positive i cant tell Hunter about our plan yet?
Rainey.day: YES!!!!!
Rainey.day: We don’t know where his loyalties stand!!!!
Rainey.day: He could rat us out to Belos!!!
Rainey.day: What made you ask *this* time???
THE1NONLYDARIUS: he just asked me to his flyer derby game
THE1NONLYDARIUS: he wants me to see how talented his new friends are
THE1NONLYDARIUS: im so proud of him hes making friends
THE1NONLYDARIUS: i just want him safe when everything goes down
Rainey.day: I know you do, but to keep him safe right now, we have to keep him in the dark.
Rainey.day: I know it sucks, but he could get into a lot of trouble if he tried helping us right now
THE1NONLYDARIUS: i know
THE1NONLYDARIUS: hes just been thru sm recently
THE1NONLYDARIUS: well he has his entire life
THE1NONLYDARIUS: but ive only realized it recently
Rainey.day: Yes, yes, you had an epiphany where you realized the kid you’ve been bullying for replacing your old mentor is actually just a kid and has a lot of trauma.
Rainey.day: You’ve told me the entire sob story a million times now.
THE1NONLYDARIUS: im sorry that belos literally abused that kid physically and mentally and i just want to make sure he is safe
THE1NONLYDARIUS: especially if your theory about grimwalkers is correct the kid would be heartbroken to find out
Rainey.day: A million and one.
Rainey.day: You can’t let him know you care either yet, remember that!
THE1NONLYDARIUS: i know i know hell get suspicious if i do
THE1NONLYDARIUS: im still acting nonchalant
Rainey.day: But you want to go to that game, don’t you?
THE1NONLYDARIUS: how bad could it hurt???!!!
Rainey.day: Fine, go to the game, make sure to talk to Bump about keeping the children sigil-less while you’re there at least.
THE1NONLYDARIUS: yeah okay *MOM*
Rainey.day: Says the one acting like Hunter is his son.
THE1NONLYDARIUS: I DO NOT ACT LIKE THAT
THE1NONLYDARIUS: i can see you read my message
THE1NONLYDARIUS: raine stop ignoring me
THE1NONLYDARIUS: RAINE
Darius scoffed and closed the scroll, standing up straight.
Raine had no clue what they were talking about, Darius didn’t act like the golden guard was his son.
Yeah, there had been that slip up during their mission with Kikimora where he accidentally called Hunter his son, but it wasn’t intentional, they were surrounded and those guards were hurting Hunter, it was a slip of the tongue in the heat of battle.
Darius just thought the teen deserved better, Belos was no picnic but Hunter just dealt with anything the emperor gave him without hesitation.
He’s come far, from the immature kid who would mess around on every assignment, laughing and teasing the people they were attacking and keeping to himself, to the now mature kid, who was getting a better grasp on reality, making friends and allowing himself to be happy.
There was still a bit to go, Hunter was scared of everyone and everything, if you even blinked too fast he would flinch and Darius wanted to pull apart Belos bone by bone for invoking such fear into a child, but he had to wait.
Hunter would break his loyalty to Belos eventually and Darius would be able to get revenge soon.
For now, Darius had to clear his plans to make room for a Flyer Derby game.
~~~
Darius stood at the edge of the rail, arms crossed behind his back and trying to appear calm, but he was buzzing.
For starters, he’d never been to a public event like this for years , everyone was cheering, there was a group of girls yelling chants and getting the crowd excited, a few kids selling snacks, and a lot of people were cheering as they waited for the teams to come out.
And second, Darius was excited to see Hunter in action, the kid has never allowed himself to have recreational activities, only training his magic and fighting skills, so Darius hoped to see him relaxed and enjoying something fun for once.
The teams came out and Darius was low enough he could hear them talking.
“Guys, remember, Hunter is our second best player,” The captain said and Hunter rolled his eyes with a fond smile, something that made Darius grow a matching one. “So make sure he’s clear at all times.”
“And our best player,” A small kid said, pointing at the captain who just smiled. “They’ll probably try and get me out first.” The captain said.
They went over their plan a bit more before breaking, waiting to be called onto the field and that’s when Hunter noticed him in the stands.
He rushed over to the walls and jumped excitedly and Darius has never seen him with such positive energy before he struggled to hold back his smile.
“You came?” Hunter asked with wide eyes and Darius shrugged. “Yeah, had to see what all the buzz was about, I heard this kid Caleb is their second best player.”
Hunter grinned widely and pointed at his chest. “My cover name,” He explained but Darius figured that out already. “It’s cool, right? The team knows who I really am, obviously. It’s- This is fun!”
Darius let his smile peak out a bit at that and Hunter seemed a little shocked.
“Good luck out there kid.” Darius said and Hunter opened and closed his mouth before it broke into a blinding smile. He nodded and ran back over to his team.
Someone came rushing up to his side and he was shocked to see it was a smiling teen, stepping back in disgust, he hated kids.
Well, kids who weren’t Hunter it seemed.
“You’re Darius!” The kid said and Darius almost laughed. He was a known covenhead, it’s like she pointed at the sky and went “there’s the sun!”
“Yes, Luz, that’s Darius,” A new voice crooned and Darius deadpanned. “Oh no,” He mumbled as the owl lady approached.
“So what’re you doing here?” Eda asked and Darius crossed his arms and gestured towards Hunter. “He invited me to watch his game. I’m assuming he invited you two?”
Luz shook her head. “Oh no, all students have to attend. Besides, all students only get one ticket to give out.”
Darius… did not know that. He had assumed he was one of many people Hunter had invited to come watch but now he learned he was the only one Hunter had invited.
Pride swirled a little in his chest.
“Any messages from Rainestorm?” Eda asked and Darius frowned. Raine had told him he wasn’t to let the owl lady in on their plan because she would want to help and Raine wanted to keep her safe (this led to Darius teasing them about their crush for an hour). Darius was to keep Eda under the impression Raine was brainwashed.
“No, they don’t want to see you, Edalyn.” Darius said and Eda huffed but Luz interrupted, trying to steer the conversation away from being sad.
“Have you seen Hunter, or, a- hem! Caleb, play before?” Luz asked and Darius shook his head. “No, this will be a first.”
“Oooo-Hoooo! You are in for a surprise!” Luz crowed and Darius rolled his eyes. “He’s so fast! It’s cool seeing him happy, he was a bad but sad boy when I met him.”
Darius raised an eyebrow at that but turned back, watching Hunter interact with his team.
He seemed a lot calmer, smiling, though it was a little strained, and even leaning against his teammates as they all came up with a solid game plan.
Darius was hit with the fact that Hunter was happy, he was at ease being able to be a kid and Darius felt a small flame of anger and hatred grow in his chest realizing how much Belos took away.
He breathed out slowly, trying to relax himself and Eda approached him. “He really is doing better,” Eda informed him. “Kid could hardly even be near people without jumping a foot in the air, now he, although a little begrudgingly, accepts Luz’s hugs. You’re doing good with your kid.”
Darius turned red and he scoffed. “He’s not m-” He paused when he saw Eda grinning at him. “You knew that though.”
She shrugged and then put a hand on Luz’s shoulder, talking about finding a better viewing spot and the two left, Luz waving goodbye.
Darius turned back and the game began, teams hoping onto their staffs and flying across the field with ease.
Darius watched intently, watching how easily Hunter slid into this group’s, the Emerald Entrails Darius had been informed, dynamic, moving flawlessly with them, smiling and enjoying himself.
Hunter was right though, his team was amazing, Darius watched, impressed, as they all had close encounters with the other team, doing complicated maneuvers to avoid their scarfs being stolen.
Darius found himself getting into it a bit, cheering whenever Hunter stole the other team's scarf and brought it to their “goal,” shouting words of encouragement when Hunter was having a close call. He was getting weird looks from the other parents near him but he didn’t care, Hunter was doing great.
There were a few matches to the game, Hunter’s team winning some but losing more. Darius watched the team with careful eyes and noticed none of the team lowered their energy they put in the game, none deterred by how far their points were getting from the others.
The game ended and the Emerald Entrails had lost, but they didn’t seem to let that get to them, all laughing and shoving each other around with smiles. Hunter had a familiar expression on his face that Darius loathed but he tried to cover it up with a smile.
Darius knew what was happening, what Hunter was thinking because no matter how easily he fit with these new kids, there was still almost two decades worth of trauma on his shoulder and it would take more than a few games to abolish that.
The crowd thinned out as everyone went home and Darius ran down to find Hunter, the blonde teen sitting behind the bleachers, crouched with a hand in his hair.
“Hey kid,” Darius said, slowing his walking and trying for nonchalant like he had promised Raine he would be.
Hunter’s eyes shot over to him, wide eyed and brimming with tears. “Sorry you came, I lost so it probably wasn’t worth the travel out here.”
Darius frowned. “What? Hunter, it’s a school game, it doesn’t matter if you lost, you had fun, right?”
Hunter scoffed at that, using the hand that wasn’t gripping his blonde hair to draw circles in the dirt. “You sound like Willow. “It’s not about winning, it’s about having fun.” But if that’s the point why have a winner or loser anyway? Why celebrate the winners if there’s no point in winning? And I- I failed. It wasn’t even a serious thing and I failed at something as silly as a school game.”
Darius sighed and crouched besides Hunter.
“There is no point. It’s a game to help kids have fun, the point of winning is to motivate the kid to keep playing but there is no punishment if you fail, Little Prince.” Hunter turned his head away from Darius. “And you failed because you were having fun. It wasn’t a mission or anything serious, you were focusing on having a good time, laughing with your friends, making memories.”
“It’s fine to fail sometimes, Hunter.” Darius said firmly and Hunter laughed.
“For you maybe,” Hunter said and gripped at his team shirt, one that Darius had to fix only a week ago because Hunter had ripped it while training. “For me ? Failing could mean disappointing Uncle, or- or getting hurt! If I fail, Uncle will punish me and-”
“Belos doesn’t know about your Flyer Derby game, he can’t punish you for something he doesn’t know about.” Darius interrupted.
Hunter paused and he turned to Darius. “You didn’t tell him?” Hunter asked.
“I told you, I wouldn’t. There’s nothing bad about some teenage rebellion every now and then. You don’t have to tell Belos everything.” Darius said.
Hunter was doing a great impression of a computer short circuiting right now as he took in that information.
“But he has to? How else will he keep ruling if things are a secret?” Hunter asked.
“Kid, Belos doesn’t know much about anything. And he doesn’t know about Flapjack, right?” As if on cue, said bird flew out from under Hunter’s arm and tweeted as it circled Darius’ head.
“I- I guess not.” Hunter mumbled. “He doesn’t have to know about this, or that you failed. And you had fun, made friends, that’s what is mostly important.” Darius informed him.
Hunter nodded slowly. “Yeah, he- He doesn’t have to know. And I did have fun. And,” Hunter paused, sitting upright and fidgeting with the edge of his gloves. “It was nice, you cheering for me.”
Darius flushed. “You heard that?” He asked and Hunter erupted into giggles, curling in on himself again as he tried to hold back his laughter.
“How could I not, you were so loud!” Hunter yelled and Darius scoffed. “I wasn’t that loud.” He said and Hunter just chuckled.
“I’m pretty sure they could hear you from the Owl House.” Hunter exaggerated and Darius stood. “Okay, you’re being dramatic. Come on, let’s get back before Kikimora rats us out for leaving or something.”
Hunter was on his feet in seconds and Darius got ready to use his abomination to teleport them when Hunter suddenly hugged him. It only lasted for a moment but when he pulled away he had a shy smile.
“Thank you for coming today.” Hunter said and pointedly avoided meeting Darius’ bewildered eyes. “It meant a lot.”
Darius was left speechless but just nodded and soon they were back at the castle.
“Anytime, kid.” Darius said before departing.
Raine ended up blocking him on Penstagram later that day because of how much Darius was spamming his inbox with excitement.