Chapter Text
Being a puppet gave Darius plenty of time to think.
More than he was comfortable with, really.
He spent the first few weeks thinking about escape. When none of those ever ended up going anywhere, though, his mind wandered to other things.
How many witches had survived the draining spell? How many of them resided in the ‘Archives’ he heard the Collector speaking about?
But the question he found himself dwelling on the most was whether or not Hunter was alright.
He remembered hearing his voice on the platform, begging him to get up. He could still hardly believe Hunter had the strength to be up and about during the spell, especially right at the center of it all. Perhaps it was his young, sprightly bones. Darius was certainly leaving the prime years of his life, even if he hated to admit it. He was able to glean that Luz and her friends had made it through the portal into the Human Realm from the hushed conversations Eda had with King in their alcove behind him. At the very least, the boy had been spared from the fate of the Archives.
Hopefully.
Darius found himself fretting over whether or not Hunter was coping well, but he was a strong child. Surely a life of caring for himself in the Emperor’s Coven would have been worse than having to spend time in the Human Realm. He might even be thriving, to an extent. He got along well with Luz, and in the Human Realm, his lack of natural magical ability might even serve as a boon when it came to blending in.
Maybe he wouldn’t even want to come back to the Demon Realm.
Darius wasn’t able to immediately identify the unease he felt when that thought first passed his mind, but deep down, he was afraid of Hunter deciding to leave. They had only just started to connect to each other in a meaningful way. Darius certainly wasn’t relying on a teenager for closure, but he couldn’t say that it wasn’t helping him process his feelings by getting Hunter out of the situation that killed the Golden Guard before him. Being able to nurture the creative spirit that lived inside of him was the most fulfilling thing Darius had done in his years of serving the Emperor’s Coven.
If Hunter wanted to stay in the Human Realm, though, at the very least Darius would like to say goodbye. Maybe even give him one last sewing lesson before he went off to live someplace else. Darius tried to concentrate on the fact that it was safe in the Human Realm. There was no Emperor’s Coven to continue to abuse him there.
And it was certainly nice that he wasn’t a puppet. Darius would never have wished this upon him. There was something so wrong about someone else having complete control over your body.
He found peace knowing that, surely, nothing like that could happen to him in a place like the Human Realm.