Daniel Arlington

Daniel Tabor Arlington V, more commonly known as Darlington, is a supporting character in Ninth House. He is a Senior at Yale University and a member of Lethe House.

Early Life
Darlington — called "Danny" in his youth — was raised at the family estate of Black Elm, a few miles off campus in Westville. The house was originally established by his great-great-grandfather (Daniel Arlington the First), but the building slowly fell into disrepair as the family's factory fortunes started to ebb. The land ultimately became more valuable than the house, but Daniel Arlington III still remained rich enough to provide financial support for his layabout son and daughter-in-law.

Darlington's parents had no interest in actually parenting him, and his grandfather either hadn't wanted him raised by nannies or the man was lonely himself — or both — and so he made a deal, buying the couple an apartment in New York City in exchange for their leaving Danny with him.

So, young Darlington was primarily raised by his grandfather, the housekeeper Bernadette, and a variety of tutors passing in and out, who taught him fencing, world languages, boxing, mathematics, and piano. Eager for validation, he pushed himself to excel at everything he learned.

His mother, Harper, was a professor of Renaissance art, and his father was nebulously involved in finance ("He wasn't entirely sure what his father did—micro-investing, portfolio building, foreign-market hedges. It seemed to change with every visit and it never seemed to be going well"). His dilettante parents lived in NYC off his grandfather's money, and would come back to Black Elm primarily for more money and to argue about selling the house. After enough years of this, Darlington started absenting himself from their visits.

At 11 years old, a formative event occurred during a picnic organized by the Knights of Columbus at Lighthouse Point. Brought there for the day by Bernadette, Darlington wound up playing games with a group of random boys and wandering to the edge of the park, where another boy suggested taking a ride on the rollercoaster next to the pier. None of the others were able to see the rollercoaster, and teased the boy for him until he backtracked.

Months later, Darlington saw a photo of the Thunderbolt rollercoaster in the newspaper, with a note on how it was destroyed by a hurricane in 1938. He cut the picture from the paper and taped it above his desk as a reminder of that strange experience, and a seed for his initial belief in magic and the otherworldly.

When he was 15, his grandfather fell ill with cancer and became bedridden at home, ultimately becoming comatose and passing away. The estate stipulated that the money could only go to the man's son, but Black Elm itself would be held for Darlington until he turned 18, along with money for his college education (although there was less than 30k in the account). Despite his parents pushing him to sell the estate, he stubbornly decided to keep Black Elm, both to honor his grandfather's wishes and because he genuinely loves the house.

His parents left him there. Biding his time until he could come of age, Darlington lived in the rambling empty house by himself, at one point weathering 6 weeks without electricity or heat. He picked up odd jobs where he could — at the luncheonette; laying out manure and seed; ticket-taking at a theater — plus selling off objects from the house to try to make ends meet and keep the lights on.

When he was 17, he obsessively researched and attempted to brew the Orozcerio, a notoriously difficult magical elixir which allows people to see the dead. He failed at the attempt; the UPS man found him on the house steps the next morning, bleeding from his eyes and ears. Darlington woke up in the hospital with Dean Sandow by his side, where he was extended an offer to join Lethe House.

Personality
Daniel has a somewhat magnetic personality, that draws people to him. He is polite and often emphasizes manners and etiquette; he is often referred to as the "gentleman of Lethe." Darlington is intelligent, well-read and well-versed in six languages and several musical instruments. He was also noble, and often saw Lethe as shepherds and guardians, believing in its mission and seeing more in it than others such as Dean Sandow or his former mentor Michelle.

Physical Description
Darlington carries himself in a respectful way, dressing nicely. He has messy brown hair and blue eyes. His skin was described to be pale. He is noted to have a pretty face and a lean frame, and is physically fit.

Life
During his freshman year as Dante, his Virgil was Michelle Alameddine, who showed Darlington the ropes at Lethe House, and he took to his new responsibilities with gusto. For his freshman and sophomore years, he lived on-campus in Davenport College with boys named Jordan and E.J.; the roommates got along, but he fell out of touch with them after he moved back to Black Elm and became consumed by his academics, Lethe duties, and Black Elm renovations.

When the time came for Darlington to select his own Dante recruit in his senior year, the selection is thrown askew by Galaxy "Alex" Stern being appointed as Lethe's new Dante due to her ability to see ghosts — Grays — without the use of magical tools or spells or elixirs. Darlington takes her under his wing and teaches her how to use magic, how to repel ghosts, and how to keep an eye on the magical societies of Yale. The two are complete opposites, and though he initially starts off disappointed in this unexpected selection, he eventually gets along with Alex and likes her, and they work well together.

At a Manuscript Halloween party, Darlington is dosed with a drug which makes him hallucinate, lose control, experience a surge of libido, and make a pass at Alex. He's humiliated by his loss of control; she helps him away from the party and back home to Black Elm to sleep it off, and tells him she'll write up the report to Sandow about Manuscript's misbehavior.

The fall continues, with Darlington also continuing his research on the side into the history of New Haven, trying to understand the nature of the town, why it never properly flourished, and how its magical nexuses are created. This sets him on the path of researching a series of historical deaths which seemed natural or unconnected, but which he's started to connect to the creation of each Yale society tomb.

On December 10th, he and Alex are undergoing a routine purging of electrical energy at St. Elmo's, when she accidentally clues him into the fact that she can be possessed by ghosts, and that she brutally murdered the men in the 'Ground Zero' incident which led to her being noticed by Lethe. Darlington pretends he isn't going to report her, but they both know he will. Before they can talk it out, however, he notices something in the corner of the basement — which he assumes to be a portal left behind by Scroll & Key, but he realises it's a mouth, just as the hellbeast swallows him into hell. Paralyzed by indecision and knowing he was going to turn her in, Alex does not help him.

Later on, a group of people including Alex, Sandow, Dawes, and Michelle try to summon Darlington back, but they bring the hellbeast instead — which makes them discover that it has already consumed Darlington's soul. Even later, Alex realizes that he survived being devoured and has become a demon, which can only happen to those guilty of the sin of murder. The ghosts she sees refer to him as the "gentleman demon", and are frightened of him.

(It's currently unconfirmed, but one possible interpretation of Darlington's sin is that he may have mercy-killed his dying grandfather.)

At the end of the novel, Alex, Dawes, and Michelle decide that they're going to go into hell to get Darlington back.

Powers & Abilities

 * Death words
 * Warding
 * Undoing spells

Relationships

 * Daniel Arlington III: Beloved grandfather, formative influence, and his primary caretaker while growing up.
 * Daniel Arington IV and Harper Arlington: His absent parents. Based in NYC, and with little interest in their own son.
 * Alex Stern: His Dante, the new incoming Lethe representative and Darlington's protégé. They're complete opposites and she isn't what he would have chosen in a Dante, but the pair start to get along, hit a quick rapport, and work together well, and are also attracted to each other.
 * Dean Sandow
 * Pamela Dawes: Oculus, the grad student who maintains the Lethe residences and serves their research assistant. Pamela adores him and Darlington is fond and friendly to her; he's the only one who calls her Pammie.
 * Michelle Alameddine: His Virgil and former mentor, who taught him the ropes and left him a rare bottle of brandy and an inspirational note when he took over the Virgil bedroom.

Quotes

 * He was too old to believe in magic, but he needed to believe that there was more to the world than living and dying.

Trivia

 * Speaks English, French, Mandarin, and passable Portuguese. Understands Latin, Greek, and Dutch.
 * Runs 6 miles every morning.
 * Goes to church every Sunday from habit and family tradition more than earnest belief; his grandfather was adamant about their responsibilities in attending.
 * Knows Brazilian jujitsu, how to fence, and how to rewire an electrical box. Can play the cello, upright bass, guitar, piano, and something called an oud.
 * Rarely uses profanity, and classes it with declarations of love: "Best used sparingly and only when wholeheartedly meant."
 * Drives his grandfather's old wine-colored Mercedes.
 * Had summer jobs at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History.