[???]

It takes him far too long to realise he’s going under.

It’s as if the current is pulling him, wanting him to give up. To leave the sweet relief of oxygen behind and succumb to the dark, suffocating lake. The vines underneath are getting tangled with his feet.

He’s swinging every possible limb in fear. Trying to reach something solid. Attempting to save himself. His last breath is too shallow and then he’s underwater. His heart hammers too fast, trying to make a bloody hole in his chest.

It's rather ironic how much everything feels like it’s on fire, for he is submerged in water as cold as death. Inside of him, there is only fire, eating his flesh piece by piece. A wave of nausea reaches up to him, causing him to take a deep breath. Except it’s just water surging in his lungs.

Panic surges from within him as his lungs try to cough it out. As if it would help. His arms flail rapidly, attempting to swim. What a silly idea; Regulus can’t swim.

He tries anyway.

His lungs are aching with every breath of water, making his head dull. He’s pretty sure he’s crying, at least by force. Tears combining in the lake, leaving a trace of him. The water is everywhere, inside him and out. The vines are pulling harder. Craving his body to be still, never to move another inch. Sunken in the depths until he becomes one with the earth.

Everything hurts. Nothing in his life is fair.

The surface of the water drifts further from his eyes. It looks mean. Leaving him like that, how could it? Its pale, maybe even beautiful. It resembles something, someone. It’s something Regulus would write about, dedicate a poem or two to the shade of it. The way it flickers, almost like a canvas of the sky. It creates a shelter for him, protecting him from the sun, from the stars, from the moon. From the galaxy that created them. It protects him. It brings him a sense of peace never felt before. Perhaps it’s kind, after all.

He isn’t so sure how far he is from the surface when the darkness hides it. He can barely see anymore. Gulping for the water, his organs protest. His head throbs.

The vines are releasing around him. Or maybe they’re still attached. Does he even have an embodiment or has he already dissolved into the dark? He’s not entirely sure what his limbs are doing at the moment. Perhaps they’re trying to save him. Perhaps they also gave up.

Perhaps he lost them already, like he lost the surface. Oh, how he misses the light of it.

Regulus drifts. Longer than he expects to. The water inside him solidifies, freezing like the coldest winter. The water around him is like the sun, holding him in place. Embracing him with love. It’s so warm he doesn’t even feel the ice spreading within him. Perhaps it will melt, making way to the warmth.

He’s wanted this. To be held.

Regulus smiles, or he thinks he does. It’s hard to know, for his body is no longer his. And that’s alright for him. Let it be gone.

Let him be gone.

He drifts.