Dantalion stares at the duo in front of him. One the doctor believing himself to be a good person. Laughable.
And then his Star, his Love, his beating Heart. Her glow is dim, no fault of his own. He wants to pick Her up and take Her far far away.
He pretends he's the same friendly Dantalion that had been sent back and the contract is made. If the Doctor had tried to make a contract, he would have slaughtered him where he stood.
The Infernal had not been kind to him, and when he walks out of the house, his Love in hand, he feels reborn. To Her it has only been weeks, but for him it was centuries, calling, praying, hoping She would answer.
At the Shoppe, he adores his Star with the proper adoration She deserves. As She falls asleep, he is filled with fear. If something were to happen to Her, he would never forgive himself. And although he could always be by Her, there was no chance he could trust the people around them.
He makes a plan then. He would keep his Love and Life safe.
He builds a house, high up in the sky. It's quite far, even the most dedicated traveler would have trouble locating it. Of course for him it is no issue to simply teleport himself and his Star to the area.
She looks up at the island, and Dantalion points to the elevator block, "This will take you up my love, I'll follow right behind."
The instant She goes, he breaks the block connecting to the mainland and uses their connection to teleport upwards. She doesn't notice, staring at the garden and the house they were going to live in forever.
"What do you think, Starlight?" He asks Her, wrapping Her in a hug from behind.
"It's beautiful!" She's glowing so radiantly, and takes his hand in Her own, "can we go inside?"
It's after the tour that Dante curls up by Her side in the living room. He's playing with her hair and he starts the next phase of his plans.
"Beloved, I seem to have lost my communicator, would you let me borrow yours so I may let some people know we have moved away?"
Thea, so trusting, hands it over with a nod, and he pockets it away, "Let me do that in the morning. I don't want anyone to bother us right now." Or ever.
In the night he travels to a little location he'd scouted, and drops the communicator there. Even if they were to track it, it would lead them nowhere.
His Beloved Light would eventually understand what he was doing.
Thea comes to him one day, concern on Her face, "Dante, I think the blocks to go down are broken?"
And Dante lies, "Oh really? Maybe a monster broke it last night, I'll check it out after I tend to the farm. Why did you want to go down, there's nothing there?"
"Oh I wanted to see how close the Valley was! I was going to visit Endymion!"
Dantalion pretends he doesn't see red at the moment, leaning over to kiss Her, "Mm, well you can visit him when I fix it. For now, how about we make the house a little nicer?"
"Yes!" Thea says, "Oh we should plan a party for us moving into it! We can invite all our friends!"
She's glowing so brightly, Dante almost feels bad about needing to crush those bonds. They would only hurt Her. She didn't need any of them, only him.
"Oh then can you hand me a list of people you want and I'll plan a day for them all to show up?"
The day of the party Dante has fixed the elevator, and has brightened up the area around, building a wall just far away enough so Thea couldn't escape his grasps.
She's bouncing around, helping him prepare food, thank Infernal he picked food that wouldn't spoil, so they could keep eating over the week.
When the time passes and Her glow begins dimming, Dante knows it's time.
"Starlight. I'm sorry I didn't think they'd all agree and then ditch us like that."
He holds Her tightly, pressing kisses to her cheeks, "They promised us they'd show up, I'm sorry love."
"W-why would they lie then?" She sobs out.
"I don't know dear, but I want you to know I will always be with you."
She's dim for the next few days, and Dante expands the garden underneath their island.
Finally She holds out Her hand, "I want to see my comm, I want to ask them why they didn't show up."
Dantalion shakes his head, worried his lie would be caught, "Dear you don't need to think about why they would betray and hurt you like this. Just forget about them."
"Please Dante. I just want to know."
When he shakes his head again, she runs off. He walks over to the fence, and watches as She makes Her way through the land. She'd come back, there was no way to escape him.Night falls, and even though the place is safe from that which lurks in the night, he uses the contract to locate Her. She's attempting to climb past the wall. She's clearly exhausted, but She looks stunning with complete focus on Her goal.
But he can't let her do that, so he picks her up, "Let's go back home dear." And teleports them back. She's struggling against him, and he waits until She's tired out to set her on the bed.
"Dante. Why did you lie to me? How far away are we? Did you even ask them to come over? Where is my communicator?" The questions pour out one by one, and Dante kneels next to her.
"Thea. My Starlight, I just did what was right to protect you! You don't need them, they'll only hurt you and betray you." His expression is manic, "If you were to get hurt or if I were to lose you, I'd destroy this whole world."
Thea shakes Her head, "I don't want that. And… you're the one hurting me. I didn't ask for this."
"It's fine Thea if you don't understand right now, but this is all out of love. I love you Thea."
Her breath stops in her throat. This was the first time he's admitted it. That what he felt for Thea was love. But was this what love was? Locking her away from those she's grown to care for? She doesn't understand. She can't understand.
The silence has Dante standing up, and he tilts Her head up to make eye contact, "everything will work out perfectly dear. Just put your faith in me, my Starlight."
He takes Her hands into his own and presses his lips to them, hoping his eternal devotion to Her could be felt.