#this one is another overwritten world salad but at least i can focus on the better wips now

[numericalbridge]

Title: Shards

Fandom: The Owl House

Rating: G

Word count: 2967

Characters: Darius, Odalia, Alador, the previous Golden Guard (Luca)

Summary:

My take on the friendship break-up between Darius and his friends.

*

He whirled around, his new cloak billowing in a swoosh of fabric. And in the mirror his reflection whirled around, colours bright. Neat. Darius stopped and stroked a gallant pose, just like he’d seen his grandpa do in the old Crystal Ball recordings. Almost right. But for the play he’d need to be even more dramatic.

“Like Flexor the Brave, the hero of Ulna...”

“You mean the loser who threw away his life in that one battle?”

The voice nearly made Darius jump.

“Odalia!”

She stood in the doorway of the prop room, arms crossed, looking smug. “If you ask me, it was a pity his family had to suffer because of him. What a waste of magical talent,” she sighed.

“Do you need to be such a cynic?” He wanted to show off his costume, but he doubted she would appreciate it.

“A cynic?” She put her hand over her heart. “I just payed attention during the class.”

She strolled into the room, and a moment later Alador trudged in after her. He looked kind of uneasy, Darius noticed when they did their special handshake. Odalia raised an eyebrow at the prop swords that gathered dust in the corner, “And here you are, playing pretend in this filthy room like a kid.”

“It’s called acting, Odalia,” Darius scoffed. “You can pretend to be sooo grown up and like everything is beneath you, but guess who got the lead role? I did.”

“Sure. Anyway...” she crossed her arms again, then uncrossed them. “We…” she shot a pointed look at Alador, who had wondered over to the other side of the room, “wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Really? Is this about your future wedding?” he winked at her.

“Darius, please,” she blushed deep crimson. “I swear, you’ve been so unusually childish lately! This is a serious conversation. And I mean it!”

Wow, forceful. For a moment she sounded almost like her grandmother.

Darius looked questioningly at Alador, who squirmed, but nodded and then turned away to inspect some carvings on a small worktable. Strange.

“Alright then, what’s the matter?” Darius relented. He put his hand on his hip, checked the reflection in the mirror. The pose was sufficiently graceful and unbothered. But he just wanted to try on his costume and rehearse the role, and then he wanted to play abomination battles with Alador. He barely had time for anything since his training with Luca had started! Sometimes he even had to skip his walks with grandpa. But Luca would say that avoiding a serious conversation with his friends was immature.

“This is about the Golden Guard,” Odalia's voice was terse.

“Luca?” Why would she bring him up?

“Yes, this Luca... You’re always busy training with him, talking about him, how great he is…” She rolled her eyes. Was she... jealous? So weird. “You even missed my Oracle Convention,” she continued.

“And you never have time for our abomination battles anymore!” Alador chimed in. He created a small shaggy-looking abomination and made it run circles on the table.

“I… Well, OK, I’m sorry,” he supposed he could see why his friends were unhappy, even if he always warned them that he would be busy. It isn’t Luca’s fault, though. “I won’t miss your Convention next time, I swear! And I’ll find time for our battles too.” He pointed a finger and created a small crew of little guys to chase Alador’s abomination. “This whole thing with the mentorship is just a rare opportunity to see by myself how the Emperor's Coven works, Luca says. But I won’t miss another time when you need me to cheer for you…”

“Yeah, there might not be another time,” Odalia interrupted him.

What? That came out of nowhere… Is she… Darius’s stomach dropped.

“Are you, like, fatally ill?!” he blurted out. This can’t be real!

“What? No!” she sputtered. “Of course not!” Her eyes narrowed. “Don’t tease me like this, Deamonne,” she sounded like her grandmother again. “I am thinking about what is best for you here, even if it’s unpleasant to hear.”

“Alright, alright, sorry!” I really thought… his ears burned. “I’m glad you’re OK.” The embarrassment was going to eat him alive.

“And you know what is not good for you? That Golden Guard!” She caught Alador, who was clearly trying to sneak out of the room, by the elbow. “Everyone knows it!”

What?

“My aunt mentioned it too,” Alador whispered.

“What are you two talking about?” Darius clenched his fists. They were surely annoying him on purpose! “Stop being so vague and just explain!”

“We are telling you! My parents, my uncles, Alador’s family – they all say that the Golden Guard has fallen out of the Emperor’s favour, and everyone with connections to the Castle knows it. They say he has angered the Emperor, and his position within the Covens is extremely perilous.”

Was that true? She wouldn’t lie like that, of course, but did Luca know? He promised to show me his favourite fishing spot, he looked happy… Darius’s hand gripped the hem of his cloak. Did he miss the signs of his mentor’s troubles? Just like that, so caught up in the excitement and the novelty of the mentorship...

“If, if it’s true, then we need to warn him!”

“Oh, I bet he knows,” Odalia suddenly leaned in and touched him on the shoulder. “He displeases the Emperor constantly, so he probably doesn’t care, thinks he is irreplaceable. Or... or maybe he believes he is stronger than the Emperor. Won’t surprise me if he thinks himself invincible, that brute...”

“Don’t call him that!” Darius swatted her hand away. How dare she? She liked to tease and was at times judgmental, but not like this! He looked over at Alador for help. His best friend since preschool. Alador was staring at the abominations, mouth downturned like he was solving a difficult equation.

“Luca is smart, and he cares,” Darius insisted. “And all you do is repeat some stupid gossip!”

Odalia groaned. “Listen! This is serious. When he falls, he’ll take you down with him.”

Darius shook his head. Luca would have a plan... Would he? He insists he is a humble soldier, not a politician… Darius’s hand found the side of his cloak again. The fabric was rough to the touch.

“And, maybe it’s just a gossip for now, and maybe he does care,” Odalia shrugged. So confident, even smug. But her speech was getting faster. “Or maybe he won’t hesitate to throw some high schooler under the falling blimp! He is the Emperor's Coven personified, they say, and everyone in the Emperor's Coven is cut-throat.”

“You don’t know him!” Why can’t she just leave him be?

“Well, even if not, he is a danger – to you, and your future career, even to your family’s prosperity! Do you understand, Darius?” she grabbed his shoulders again. “You have to cut your ties with him, until it’s too late!” She shook him. The nerve!

“Ah, stop this, just stop!” He freed himself from her grasp. “He’s my mentor, I can’t just abandon him!”

“And I am your friend!” Her voice became shrill, “Please, I don’t want to… My father was talking about you too.” Her mouth trembled, “You’ve changed, Darius. First you endanger yourself with that transformation-into-abomination nonsense... and I bet your Luca encourages it! It’s like you’re self-destructive or something. Even my parents noticed. So stop all this nonsense, right now! Please, I don’t want to…”

Darius twisted the fabric of his – prop, fake – cloak. “You don’t want to do what, Odalia?” he whispered.

“Well,” she blinked like she was going to cry, “well, my parents say you can’t help someone who won’t help themselves. Soon they will start talking about forbidding me to hang out with you!” she stomped her foot for emphasis. “And I don’t want to…”

Twisting and twisting. This feels so weird.

“But will you?” His temples were pulsing with sudden pain. “Will you just stop being friends with me if they order you?” What was this sinking feeling he was experiencing? “Like I’m nothing to you? Eh?”

“I am your friend,” she insisted. She pointed at Alador, who still stood with his head down, “We are friends! But do you want to drag us into your mess? All because of him?”

“Answer me!” The abominations jumped up and liquefied. Alador flinched.

“If you insist on endangering our future and the success of our families, then perhaps I will.” She jutted her chin out. “If you don’t care about us anyway!”

No crying.

His lips curled into an unpleasant grimace, “You do look just like your dear old grandmother right now.”

She sputtered like an angry cat. Ha, didn’t expect that!

“How dare… well, you know,” she collected herself, “at least she cares about her family’s legacy. You just want to throw it aaall away, like one of those ‘heroes’ from your play pretends.” Odalia shook her head. “But I don’t know what I expected. You were always weird, treating your abominations like pets and clinging to your grandfather like a baby. Bet you’ll be lucky not to get petrified!”

“Well, then,” his voice broke only a little, “maybe then I’ll spare you the trouble and cut ties with you right now!”

She recoiled, shocked. Then she remembered herself.

“Fine, fine,” her smile was a tad too forced. “When you have no future, and you are broke, don’t come begging for my... for our... help,” she hissed.

Darius didn’t grace her with a response.

“Come on, Alador, he’ll regret it!” Odalia turned, and, heels clacking, stormed out of the room.

And good riddance! A wave of abomination hit the wall. Splat! Darius’s anger suddenly dissipated, and he felt exhausted. Purple goo dribbled down the mirror.

Ugh. At this rate he would need to take anti-headache potions like some elderly witch. And what will grandpa think about all of this? Everything is changing so fast... In the dirty mirror the boy drooped his shoulders.

Darius felt sad, and he was anxious about Luca too. Luca was strong and very serious, but he always cared. He wanted to help, even when Darius acted out in frustration. It would be unthinkable to betray him. Of course, Darius wouldn’t know how to explain it to Odalia. She would call me childish again. She just can’t see… More and more she was absorbing her family’s attitudes.

Well, when – if – Odalia calls him, he won’t even answer. Fine by him, if she would just do whatever her parents ordered her to do!

A movement startled him.

Alador froze, his hand near Darius’s shoulder. “Sorry. Odalia didn’t mean it about petrification, I’m sure. And she doesn’t really want to stop being friends with you.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Darius twisted the fabric of the cloak. Fake, just so fake... “But you know that she will, if they tell her.”

Alador looked at him reproachfully. “Still, you shouldn’t have, ugh, insulted her either. Comparing her to old Mrs Blight was too much.”

“Then she shouldn’t act like that.”

“Why are the two of you always so difficult,” Alador muttered under his breath.

“She’s acting like her family put an earwig spell into her brain or something,” Darius summoned a handkerchief to wipe the mirror. “She will stand by them whether they are right or not, and they can’t be right about Luca! You should talk to her later – you are closer, maybe you can talk some sense into her…”

“My family talks about the Golden Guard too.”

Just stop.

Alador sounded like he was reading the news on the Crystal Ball, “Being close to him has the potential to be dangerous.”

“Oh, come on, Al! You were with us during the trip to the Knee. You actually know him. I can’t betray him!”

“I... well... Still, I think maybe Odalia is right. And he isn’t the only way to get those Coven connections...” Alador wasn’t looking in his direction. “I don’t want to stop being friends with either of you.”

“What?” Darius felt like his throat was constricting. Like he couldn’t breathe. Friends since they were six. “Not everything is about your Titan-damned connections...”

He didn’t even shout, but Alador took a step back. Coward.

“You… is this whole mentorship thing really so important to you? If you won’t stop... being like this, Odalia will be angry with me too! And my parents might also see this situation as a problem. They’ll stop liking you! Maybe you’re right about the Golden Guard, but it’s not like he is your family or anything!”

Why does this feel so heavy? Why is everything happening so quickly?

Alador lifted up his hands, as if to plead with him, “Ah, I’m not explaining it right... All this is so much trouble!”

“And you can’t be bothered, right?” Darius wondered. “Too much distraction from your precious studies...”

“Come on, Darius! You should just make up with Odalia and stop the mentorship thing, at least until it’s safe again! Then everything will be just like before,” Alador bobbed his head up and down, like it was so simple.

“What a smart plan,” Darius sneered. The abomination matter around the room was bubbling, and his temples were throbbing.

“Yes!” It was Alador’s turn to stomp his foot. “I just don’t like trouble between my best friends! It’s simple!”

“You don’t even have your own opinion on Luca and whether he is dangerous,” Darius shook his head. Heavy. He still wasn’t crying. “You just want to stay in your little safe bubble like a coward... No trouble for Alador! And I know you won’t break up with Odalia if she cuts ties with me. Admit it! If I were in Luca’s place you would’ve already abandoned me… You are worse than her!”

The abomination matter boiled up and erupted into whirling columns all around the room, scattering the props around. The mirror cracked.

“Please, why are you so mad…”

Why? Well, Odalia was a heartless bitch poisoned by her family, and Alador was a spineless hack with no opinions of his own! Why should he care about them?

Darius darted towards the exit, and when Alador tried to grab him, shoved him away.

“Don’t touch me ever again!” Darius spat. More like sobbed.

“Fine then! Run! Odalia is right about you and your... theatrics!” Alador tried to shove him back. No matter. Darius ran.

He wanted to go back and punch Alador, but he wasn’t crying. He wasn’t acting immaturely! They wanted him to just abandon Luca… It hurt.

He ran out of the school building, tore the – stupid, childish, fake – cloak off and threw it to the ground.

It hurts.

*

Luca found him an hour later at the back of the school grounds, hunched down under the char tree, head in hands. The Golden Guard watched in silence, until Darius reluctantly raised his head.

“Bad day?”

Darius sighed. He didn’t feel so angry anymore. Odalia’s betrayal didn’t seem real now, yet – unlike their previous spats – he couldn’t imagine simply making up with her next day. And Alador… oh, that Alador... Darius’s head still hurt.

“It’s nothing… just my stupid so-called friends,” he muttered.

Luca sat down beside him. “Alador and Odalia?”

Darius nodded, “She can be so stubborn and forceful, but he… he just follows her around, always choosing what will trouble him less so he can quickly return to his abominations. I don’t know... we were friends for so long, but it’s like we are from different worlds…” Like they were always ready to throw me away.

“Then, do you want to try and reach out to other kids? Find new friends?” there was an uncertainty in Luca’s voice.

Darius couldn’t help but snort, “I don’t think it’s that simple. Sorry.”

As if those other kids won’t be the same.

“Oh, was it bad advice?” Luca wondered. “I am not very familiar with, um...”

“Teenager drama?” Darius rolled his eyes. “I know, I know it’s stupid...”

They wanted him to betray Luca…

But was Luca really in danger? And what does it mean? Would he simply be dismissed from his Guard position, and then they’d still be able to train together? “Or he just won’t care about you anymore,” Odalia’s voice offered smugly. Darius dismissed it. He wanted to question Luca, but he didn’t dare – Luca always evaded any talk about his relationship with the Emperor and the Emperor's Coven. He isn't your peer like Al and Odalia.

“Darius?”

Ah, yes, friends...

“I don’t know,” he said bitterly. “We had fights before, but now it seemed deeper, somehow. I just don’t know…”

Luca reached out and hesitantly put a hand on his shoulder, “And it’s scary?”

“I.. guess,” Darius admitted. They made me feel small and useless...

Luca patted him on a shoulder in an almost gentle manner. “It’s alright. You don’t have to find the answer immediately. Talk to your grandfather, he can probably give you better advice,” Luca smiled ruefully. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out. And whether you want to mend your friendship with them or not, I’ll support you.”

“Thanks,” Darius replied weakly. Luca was really trying.

He always cares.

“I’ll stand by you too, no matter what! I swear!”

“Oh,” Luca barked a laugh. “I appreciate the sentiment, but it is my job to keep you safe, you know. Not the other way around.”

Darius blinked. Luca was in a rare sentimental mood. Or you look that terrible. But it sounded nice. Safe.

“It’s getting late,” Luca got up to his feet. “You should go home before your grandfather gets worried. I'll move our training to another day.”

Darius was tired. He hesitated. "Can you walk with me to the town?" I just don't want to be alone.

Luca nodded. "Of course," his voice was almost soft.

Safe.