Chapter 16: Galtea plant

 The strange mushroom like plant was not actually a mushroom, or so Andy had told him. Raw, it was a poison. Boiled, it helped people produce more blood. It was a common plant for people who dealt with vampires. That made Darius think. What if, one day, he could travel with Anastasios? 

The memory of the night before, when they had talked and traded stories until the early hours of the morning brought a good smile to the young demon's face. Sure, the prince must have never known what it was like to go hungry.

Or to wear rags, but he had looked understanding during the time that Darius talked. Never interrupting him, and not treating him like something that could break. 

Darius was grateful for that, but now he had to come to the topic at hand. The Galtea plant had a white stalk, and purple leaves. It was boiling now on a slow fire. So far, there was only a single dose, to see if Darius could stomach the taste. The young demon thought that Andy was being far too careful. For, Darius used to eat trash not too long ago. His stomach was tough. There was no denying that. 

His father took the brew off the fire, and added some sugar to it. For even better effects, Andy had explained. Now, Darius just needed to wait for the stew-like brew to cool down. 

"You don't have to do this," Andiel told Darius with a serious expression. "I am certain that you can sacrifice animals." 

"I don't want to do that," Darius murmured. Just the thought of the trusting eyes of some chicken or even a rat, as he neared it with a knife, made Darius's stomach turn. Back then, when he had been Beggar, he had eaten rats on occasion.

 It was never easy to kill them. They fought for their lives, screamed, when he cut their throats with his claw-like nails, twitched until the life they held oh, so dear left them. Darius began to shake his head like a wet dog. 

"Are you ok?" Tender arms were wrapped around him, and Darius took in Andiel's scent. Unlike Anastasios the scent that Darius could only describe as home was not there. Instead, Andiel smelt of earth and herbs. As if he were one with nature. Darius loved his scent. It made him just as calm as Anastasios's scent. 

"It is just that, I remembered a few things," Darius tried to reassure his father, but the man had seen more than one patient battling with old scars. He could tell the signs of trauma. 

"You are brave, to have considered this. Most people would take the easy way out," Andiel murmured, and Darius shook his head again. 

"Not a hero, though. Heroes don't kill the innocent," Darius said, determined to live up to the name he wanted for himself. 

"They don't, no," Andiel confirmed, and then stood up. He nodded to the door. "How about you go and read, while this cools down? If you burn your tongue, you will just postpone being a hero for quite some time." 

Darius hopped off his chair, and headed towards the door. He lingered in the doorway, as he watched Andiel crush other herbs in a pestle. With one last look, the young demon boy exited the room. He made it to his room, and then flipped through the many notebooks on offer. He knew that he couldn't get to the B and up ranked runes straight away. They needed time; he needed more practice. Still, it didn't hurt to look around. 

He flipped through the pages of the final, and golden colored notebook. All the runes there were A ranked. He rather liked some of them. There was one that let limbs be regrown without a scar left behind. Then there was another rune, that allowed for the person to breathe underwater. 

Could vampires breathe underwater? Anastasios had told him he still needed to breathe. Until he became thirty, he would grow up as if he were a human. He would have to breathe, drink water, and eat normal food. Even though he could drink blood, and had to drink it too, even now. 

Not wanting to make a present for Anastasios that he wouldn't need, Darius took the mirror, and poured mana inside. Anastasios soon replaced his image in the glass. 

"Hey, you are up already?" Anastasios said with a yawn. 

"I don't need much sleep," Darius told him, and then his pointy ears perked up. Anastasios knew what that meant. His friend wanted to ask him something, but he was too embarrassed. "Come now, say something." 

"Can you breathe underwater?" Darius asked, blushing. 

 "No, I will be able to, once I become immortal. Then I will lose the ability again, once my heart restarts when I meet my soulmate," Anastasios said with a deep frown.

"Soulmate?" Darius was hearing the word for the first time. Was it an important object?

"Demons have soulmates too. But you don't turn corpse-like before finding them," Anastasios said, his frown deepening. "Can you imagine? Sharing your life with just one person?"

"What is wrong with that?" Darius asked, frowning himself. Was Anastasios reluctant to spend his life with just Darius? Because they must be soulmates. What else did the nice smell of home meant, but that?

"I want to live a little, before I get tied up," Anastasios said with a huff. "Can you imagine a life where I will have to stick to just one partner?"

"If the partner was me, would you go behind my back and hurt me?" Darius asked, his voice raising. 

"Why would it be you? We are both men," Anastasios asked, nose scrunched up. 

"You smell like home," the demon said, and Anastasios chuckled. 

"I have a sister, you know," the vampire told the demon. Darius tilted his head to the side, not understanding where this was going. "She must be your soulmate, and I, your destiny brother. That is why I smell like home to you." 

"But what if you are my soulmate, and your sister is just my destiny sister? Would you cheat on me, then?" Darius asked, and Anastasios sighed. 

"If, when I become thirty, my heart restarts by the very sight of you, then you will be the only one that I want," Anastasios told him, but then grinned. "I should get you to meet Prisila. I tell you what, I will get her to come with me to Fairstar next Saturday. Archery ring, after one o'clock. Be there." 

And with that, the prince stopped the connection and left a very disgruntled demon on the other end.