It's in my head and I have said / That I must be like him now / He sleeps alone / He sleeps alone / And one last chance to make sense / Of what has long escaped us / He sleeps alone / I sleep alone
Name: Darius Deamonne
D.O.B.: August 21st, 1983 (41 y/o, Leo)
Identity: Gay asexual trans man (He/him)
Magic status: Sorcerer – Animation and Abomination Specialty (Known)
Accent: Ingaran
Appearance: 5’5”, black, dark skin with a fit build, black eyes, bald. His left hand has a rune sigil tattoo that glows when he does magic, and his right arm is a prosthetic made of abomination ooze
Style: Extremely lavish sorcerer style with lots of accessories, extravagant jewelry and earrings, high boots, and capes/cloaks that billow behind him
Occupation: Head of the Animation and Abomination Coven/A temporary leader of the Boiling Isles
Relationship Status: Single
What would my character know?: Arrived in Swynlake and began teaching at Pride University in the fall of 2023. Taught the Introduction to Magical Cultures course during fall/spring semesters and a magi-geology course in the summer. Left Swynlake in April 2025 to return to the Boiling Isles.
If I Google them?: You’ll find his prolific career as a coven head on the Boiling Isles. He tends to be the face for coven public activity, though has a far bigger presence on Isles-specific sites such as Penstagram
Other: Does not appreciate being touched unexpectedly and Will Have A Reaction about it
Previous Readings: Family Ties One-Shot 2023, Family Ties One-Shot 2024
Takes Place: Late April 2025
Summary: Darius returns to the Boiling Isles and surprises his family
“Surprise, surprise, surprise!”
Levy’s sing-song voice cut over the wildlife lining the path they were walking on where they took the lead, humming and skipping along. Directly behind was Keython, keeping close to his beloved nibling, with siblings Stellana and Darius in the back. The former looked particularly perturbed as her eyes scanned the foliage, as if something might jump out at any moment. They were on the outskirts of Bonesborough, where development was less frequent and the land descended back towards demon magic.
“You know I don’t really like surprises,” she muttered, folding her arms and cutting a glance at her brother. “Where are we going anyway?”
“Do you not like the concept of surprises or do you just not understand them?” Darius retorted back with a smirk that made his sister seethe.
“Woah!” Levy called from up ahead as they broke through the clearing, revealing a large, two story manor centered in the foliage. It had dark paneling on the outside and many windows with shutters closed over them. A steep, gabled roof rose above the treetops with a singular round window looking down on them like an omniscient eye. Despite its remote location, it looked well taken care of, with clean walls and trimmed hedges.
“What is this?” His sister asked skeptically as they caught up with the rest of the family.
“It’s the home of a former Belos loyalist who has since fled the Isles. They were a gravekeeper that provided the Emperor with many of the bodies he used for his necromantic army,” Darius explained. With a wave of his hand, an abomination golem formed next to the front door, easily opening it for them. Levy grinned and immediately bolted inside.
“Levy, careful!” Stella called but the youngest Deamonne sibling waved her concern away.
“No worries, I’m keeping an eye on them,” Keython reassured as he followed them inside, eyes shining with his own curiosity. The other two weren’t far behind, entering an expansive foyer that split off into many different rooms, along with a winding staircase up to the second floor. The walls were adorned with tapestries and other strange phenomena displayed along tables and shelves. The room basked in a faint glow of magical lights that had already been lit before they entered, as if waiting for their arrival.
“Pretty big house for a gravekeeper,” Stella muttered to herself, tightening her folded arms together as if a chill came over her. She kept a steady gaze on her child, who was running back and forth taking in all the oddities.
“The Emperor greatly admired their services,” Darius replied flatly, though he did not look at everything with the same suspicion and caution as his sister. In fact, he watched everything and everyone quite fondly, waving his hand to create several more golems that shambled into the other rooms to make unseen preparations. Stella noticed this, her eyes cutting from the abominations back to her brother.
“So, what is this? Are you giving us some kind of historical tour?”
Darius’s lips pursed together as he pondered how to answer that question. He had wanted to make a grand gesture of the whole thing, but he might get his head chewed off if he waited too long for the big reveal.
“Well,” he began, rolling his wrist with a knowing smile. “I was actually hoping to give you all a tour of our new home.”
Everyone in the room stopped, snapping in his direction. Keython was the first to speak.
“Woah, really?” He asked in surprise, though not unpleasantly. Levy leaped up onto their Uncle Key’s back, gripping his shoulder and digging their feet into his back to get a better look at Darius. Their eyes were absolutely sparkling.
“We’re going to live here?!” They shouted excitedly.
“No, we’re not!” Stella cut in, causing everyone to turn to her instead. Darius’s eyes widened in shock while Stella cast him a glare. “You didn’t even talk to us first!”
Oh, so he was going to get his head chewed off either way. Great to know.
Levy hopped off their Uncle, going to approach their mother instead. “What? No way, there’s no way we can go back to that crummy little apartment if we can live here!” They whined, but were stopped in their tracks as Stella put out a hand.
“I’m not discussing this with you right now. I need to talk to your Uncle,” she growled, though this time Darius met her glare with one of his own. Sensing the growing tension between his siblings, Keython stepped forward and took Levy’s hand.
“Hooooow about we go take a look around at the rest of the house? Come on, the upstairs looks really cool!” He offered with an attempted levity that his nibling did not take to. They instead cast their own glare at their mother, a roiling triad of dangerous emotions and resentment that stained the Deamonne family tree right to its roots. Still, Keython was able to pull his nibling along, ultimately wanting to get Levy out of the picture.
It was only when they were out of earshot that Darius spoke up, though his voice was quiet.
“I can’t believe you’re upset with me about this.”
“I can’t believe you would undermine me in front of my own child!” Stella hissed.
“I’m giving you a free house!” Darius shot back.
“You’re flaunting your wealth to make it so we owe you! I know exactly what this is. You so benevolently present this to us in front of Levy so that I would be the bad guy if I said no. I swear, you are exactly like our parents, always trying to hold something over us so that we feel indebted to you.”
The ooze on Darius’s prosthetic arm quivered at her jab and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. “That isn’t what this is!”
“Isn’t it? After all this time, you haven’t changed a bit. You still think you’re better than us!”
“I don’t–” Darius began, his voice raising in volume. This is always how it went with the Deamonnes. Insults would turn into accusations would turn into full blow-out arguments would turn into one or both parties becoming more isolated. By the end of this, Darius would return to his apartment by himself and the rest of his family would return to theirs, everyone steeped in more resentment than ever before.
He couldn’t let that happen. As much as he wanted to scream at his sister, to tell her she was wrong and point out her own shortcomings in this situation, he didn’t. Instead, he inhaled sharply and exhaled shortly, his muscles releasing their tension in defeat.
“You want to know what this is?” He asked, though it was less with venom and more with exhaustion.
Stella’s defensive body language did not soften, hands poised on her hips and head tilted, ready to deal her next blow. “I’m sure you’ll enlighten me.”
Darius’s jaw tightened and he had to hold back every urge to snap back at her. He instead channeled that frustration down his limbs, letting his hands clench into tight balls to keep the acid on his tongue steady. There, it dissolved, opening the way for something softer.
“This is me…trying not to be alone anymore.” He let that admittance hang in the air between them. His sister didn’t move, though her brow furrowed with some mixture of confusion and suspicion. Darius continued, “Growing up, Ma and Pa always touted the importance of family. Family above everything. It didn’t matter who you wanted to be or what you wanted to do, if it went against the family, it was wrong. I hated that. I rejected it and left so that I could become the person I needed to be. And after that, I didn’t allow myself to rely on anybody. I had a man, a mentor, who took me in, but I operated under the assumption that because he was doing something nice for me, I owed him. That’s what our parents taught us. That you owe other people, just for your existence. So not only did I pay him back at every opportunity I could, but I moved out as soon as I was able. And ever since then, I have lived alone.”
Stella’s eyes never left him, though she shifted her weight, moving her arms to fold together once more. Her expression was inscrutable. Darius continued.
“He didn’t want me to move out. He told me I could stay as long as I liked, and that I could come back at any time. But I didn’t want to be in his debt. And you know what that independence got me? Nothing at all. Less than a decade later, my mentor was killed, and I would never stop thinking about the time I lost with him because of my own stubborn understanding of how the world supposedly worked. Then I continued to live alone after that, for another fifteen years.”
Darius’s chest ached speaking of Caleb, of finally admitting to his death as it happened, without the excuses or possibility of another ending. That was the reality, one he was still grappling with. He swallowed the lump that was beginning to form in his throat and forged ahead.
“I always thought our parents were wrong about everything. That I knew better than them. And while I don’t regret the decisions I’ve made and the life that I’ve lived, I do regret rejecting all of their philosophy. Because they were right that family is important. You and Key have always known that, which is why you stuck together through it all. For me, I actually had to learn that, through spending years without it. I thought this,” he said, gesturing around the foyer, “Could be me righting some of those wrongs. For all the time I spent away from the family, I gained wealth and power that I thought I could use to give back. I want to help give you a home you deserve, I want to help you open a shop if that’s what you want to do, and foster Levy’s sorcery talent, and– whatever the Titan Key wants to do with himself–” That managed to draw a ghost of a smirk from his sister, who let her arms drop.
“--but you’re right, I should have said something first. If this isn’t what you want, I understand. I will still live here, as it has the space I need to house Hunter when he returns to the Isles, and to allow visits from my friends, and maybe someday I’ll take in young sorcerers in need of support the same way my mentor did. In the end, I’ll be alright. But…I don’t want to make the same mistakes I have in the past. I’ve already lost so much time with you all. And I don’t want to hold onto that after–” The words caught in his throat and he swallowed them down again. “...Any of us are gone.”
A silence fell over them both as Darius let his words hang in the air. He watched his sister, who eventually turned her gaze away, looking around the foyer with that inscrutable expression. Finally, she sighed, her own exhaustion apparent. “You always have a big damn speech for everything, don’t you?”
Darius smirked small. “Language.”
She returned the smile. “Shut the fuck up.”
Another blanket of silence draped over them. The only sound Darius could hear was his heart pounding in his chest, though he felt like he was holding it in his hands, outstretched to her as he lay himself bare in front of her. He braced himself for whatever was to come.
“It’s pretty far away from Bonesborough. Levy wouldn’t be able to walk to Hexside anymore,” she said. It took Darius a second to realize what she was saying, blinking in surprise before offering.
“I would fly them to school on my way to work.”
Stella nodded once and looked back at the house. “And you’re sure there are no dead bodies on the property?”
“The guy didn’t bring his work home, as far as I could tell. I’ve already gotten rid of anything that might be dangerous,” Darius reassured. Stella nodded once more, and then again, before giving a constant slow nod.
“...Yeah, alright.”
“Alright?” Darius repeated tentatively.
“I mean, I still have to confirm with Key and Levy, but I’m pretty sure I was the only naysayer here. So. Yeah. Levy’s right, it is way better than our crummy apartment.”
Darius’s heart, once held in his hands, instead swelled inside him once more. He started forward to close the distance between them, which had Stella tensing up again as she looked to him in confusion.
“Stel, I know I haven’t said it. It’s not something we ever said to each other in that house. But we’re not there anymore and neither one of us are the people we used to be. Despite all that though…you’re always going to be my little sister, and I’m eternally grateful that you’ve let me be your big brother. I love you.”
Stella jerked back slightly at the words, foreign to her. Darius didn’t know if his siblings grew to be able to use that kind of language that had been unspoken in the house they were raised. Judging from her reaction, he wasn’t sure that was the case. He wondered, in that moment, if that was the kind of language she even felt comfortable using in front of her own child.
Perhaps it wasn’t. It wasn’t the Deamonne way after all.
But it could be.
He watched her expression meld from confusion, to a flash of anger, before her eyes began to well up with tears all too familiar to Darius. Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward to wrap his arms around her, touch given on his own terms. At first she didn’t return it. But with a sniffle and a wail, she flung her arms around him, sobbing into the cloak draped over his shoulder. Suddenly they were both children again, with young Stella leaning on her big sister for support. So much had changed since then, but Darius believed, with enough work, they could get to that point again. They were already on their way.
He didn’t know how long she cried for. Once the audible sobs died down, she still clung to him for several more minutes, quaking and shivering until she pulled herself together enough to feel comfortable pulling away. Darius merely met her puffy gaze with a knowing smile.
“Feel better?” He asked with a teasing lilt. She scoffed and shoved the shoulder she had just sobbed into, sending a jolt of pain that he didn’t want to admit to. Darius merely covered it up with a laugh. “You know, I could give you a tour of the rest of the house. I promise it is actually rather spectacular.”
She sniffled once more and reached up to wipe her face. “Oh, I bet. Nothing less than the best for you.”
“Uhm–” A voice echoed throughout the foyer and both the siblings turned around to see Keython and Levy at the top of the stairs. “We good down here?” He called out cautiously.
Darius smiled, brushing his cloak behind him as he posed with confidence. “Yes. We’re good.”
The remaining Deamonnes descended down the stairs, with Uncle Key leading the way. Levy lingered behind, watching their mother warily as if bracing for their own lecture. Keython’s expression twisted with concern when he got close enough to see his sister’s face.
“You okay?” He asked, eyebrows dipping in worry.
“Yeah,” she said, wiping her face some more as if to try and hide it. “I’m fine. Darius and I talked it over. Hugged it out and everything.”
“What?” Key’s eyes turned wide and wet before he pouted. “You guys hugged without me??”
Darius couldn’t help but laugh. “I know, a rarity for myself. But perhaps I could manage to spare one mo– GGH!” He had already begun opening his arms when Keython swooped in to tackle his brother into a tight hug that lifted him off the ground. Stella chuckled before looking to her own child, crouching down to meet them at their level.
“Levy,” she began, shifting a bit uncomfortably before conceding, “I’m sorry for snapping at you earlier. The whole thing was very surprising, but that didn’t give me a right to yell. I talked it over with your Uncle Darius, and I think you’re right. It would be better to live here.”
The young child perked up, eyes shining once more. “Really?”
“Really.”
Much like their Uncle, Levy wasted no time throwing themselves at their mother, wrapping their arms around her neck tightly. “Good! Because I’ve already picked out my bedroom.”
The two of them laughed together as Stella returned the hug, holding her child close. For a moment, the Deamonne family was silent as they embraced each other. Then that silence was broken as Levy whispered.
“Uncle Key, is it weird hugging Uncle Darius with his abomination arm?”
Darius chuckled. “Why don’t you find out?” He lifted his prosthetic arm, allowing the ooze to stretch and wriggle into one long tentacle that wrapped around his sister and nibling, pulling them into the hug as well. Levy squealed in delight while Stella balked in disgust, but it wasn’t long before Keython was wrapping his thick tree trunk arms around them as well. For this brief moment, the Deamonne family was whole.
Eventually, the moment would pass. They would all separate and explore their new dwellings. They would make the trips back and forth moving their things in, and they would struggle to navigate the new dynamic of them living altogether. The siblings were used to their ways and Darius was severely out of practice, though his brief stint with Willow had at least taught him how to not be a horrendous housemate. An overly tidy one, and a nag, but not horrendous.
Eventually, somewhere down the line, Hunter would find his place among them. Willow would visit for weekly airings of their favorite shows. Darius would host the Parks for dinner for a change, and even invite Lilith, Raine, and Eberwolf as regular guests. The rooms of the manor would fill out with family, friends, sorcerers, and abominations alike, and there would never be true quiet again.
But for now, the silence was warm and the embrace warmer. Darius was finally home.
2 guys who forcibly desensitized themselves to positive emotions and love for other people despite being kind deep down in a house together. what will go wrong
I've been thinking for two years now that these two went to the same school, then were deep in the coven system together for so long. And how their paths went their separate ways. Darius started the rebellion and Lilith wasn't even aware of it.
