Chapter 6
After a much-needed, but no less difficult, heart-to-heart talk, they do not rest as much as their mangled bodies would like.
Regulus breathes slowly, building up patience for the journey ahead, and opens his eyes to see his companions once again checking the contents of their bags, giving him time to collect himself.
The vague silhouette of the cave floats before his eyes, the sight of which makes his heart clench in a sharp vise, but his legs carry him forward despite his hesitation.
Like an old man, he grunts as he rises to his feet, but he feels a growing resolve in his chest, even as anxiety swirls in a dense fog at the bottom of his stomach.
"Let's go."
***
Regulus wasn't even sure if they were heading in the right direction, guided only by scraps of memories that were nothing more than fragments of a past life, but the threads of his soul knew the way better than he did.
His magic, represented by a blue glow as cold and refreshing as the summer sea, floats before his eyes, the sound of the waves calling to him. The sound of the dead, whose thin and sharp fingers clutched him in a tight grip, overlaid on such a peaceful sound from above. Along with the distant echo of laughter invariably following Regulus, it doesn't seem like a good omen.
***
They take a break closer to nightfall, when their legs are numb from walking and their hands are tired from removing branches climbing into their faces.
Finding a clearing is unlucky, but it's for the best, Regulus thinks as they are surrounded by towering trees, safely sheltered behind them.
Dry branches have been placed in the center, but his hand reaches for his wand, saying the coveted "Lumos" instead.
Barty pulls a Muggle lighter from his bag, a wide grin spreading across his face.
And so they sit in the firelight, eat a hearty dinner, filling their rumbling stomachs, and fall into a much-needed slumber.
Evan volunteered to be first on duty, but when Barty wakes up, only one eye is open.
"How did you fall asleep with one eye open?" He's still amazed, even after an hour.
"Fuck off," Evan mumbled, falling back into sleep, this time closing both eyes, "I was alert, but thank Merlin no one came."
***
In the morning they continue walking.
The dense coniferous forest is replaced by a barren steppe, among which occasionally appear small houses, in which clearly no one has lived for a long time.
Eventually there are more of them, until a village appears before their eyes, first a small dot on the horizon and then larger buildings. It is relatively small and noticeably old, the planks of the houses hardly save from a great calamity, but inside there are loud shouts of joy.
Children run around, looking curiously at the newcomers, but soon return to their play, quickly distracted, unaware of the danger reigning over the world. The colors on the ball have faded, turning gray rather than black, and there are obvious scuffs on it, but Regulus knows he's looking at the soccer ball so popular with Muggles.
The adults are dressed in long dresses and shirts, darned and seen many troubles, but their faces reflect tenderness and gentleness, even in such cruel lands.
"How did you get here?" asks a grandfather with a long, white beard so reminiscent of Dumbledore.
"We are passing through."
"We are travelers!" exclaims Dora enthusiastically, throwing her arm over Regulus' shoulder, the friendliest of all.
The old man doesn't look even a little suspicious, cracking a smile in a kindly, almost paternal way.
"Welcome, then! I know our village is quite humble, but we'll be happy to host guests. We promise warm shelter and delicious food!"
Regulus' feet race him forward and his lungs fill with the promise of water, but his heart pounds as he pulls a smile on his face and agrees.
***
They are welcomed as welcome guests. Days in the welcoming village are a welcome respite for both road-weary bodies and exhausted souls.
Regulus walks further out until the houses disappear from view, and he is confronted with a marvellous sight that takes his breath away.
The sea waves crash against the cliffs that stand unwavering, adorned with blooming greenery.
Any semblance of breath freezes in the throat as one's own screams and deadening wheezes ring particularly loud in the ears. A shadow of cold touches grips his wrists, legs, and throat. Misty claws run over fragile, untouched skin (yet untouched).
He doesn't notice how he finds himself at the very edge, unable to tear his gaze away from a certain point in the rock that makes his heart stop beating.
Regulus swallows hard and struggles to step back, barely able to even blink, not wanting to lose sight of the spot where he knows the entrance is. But when he does, and turns his back to the rock in which the cave is located, there is a bit of relief on his heart (even if the constant tension of being so close to his burial place has now settled in him).
Regulus walks back to the village and almost collides with a child rushing to meet him.
"Mr. Mister, I've been looking for you!" The child exclaims excitedly, gasping for breath.
"Really?" Regulus grinned, arching an eyebrow.
Looking at that child, he feels his heart beat faster in unknown anxiety.
"Yes! You see, my daddy's busy with work right now, and I so-and-so need help building a castle!" and the kid makes the most puppyish expression Regulus has ever seen on his face, "you're helping everyone, but will you help me?"
For a moment, just a second or so less, Regulus sees before his eyes this same kid criticizing every castle he's built, though his eyes are shining with delight. In his mouth at the same time, ash falls, the agonizing Crucio dancing on his tongue (he knows for sure he hasn't used it... not in this lifetime). His head begins to crackle with pain, sharp as a thrown curse.
"Sure..." he pulls uncertainly, watching the child light up like a star at the top of a Christmas tree, "kid."
"I'm Henry, mister!"
His head explodes with blinding pain, and the last thing Regulus sees are the child's shocked eyes.
***
He woke up on a soft mattress, covered by a blanket that looked like a cloud, fluffy as it was.
Regulus opened his eyes and squinted against the bright light, a familiar tension growing in his chest, threaded tightly with the anxiety of his upcoming visit to the cave. Both of these feelings the boy carefully pushes away as he looks around.
He's in a house he's never been in before. The wooden boards inside are painted with all sorts of patterns that gather into colored beasts whose skins blaze with fire and whose wings touch the other wall. Above is like a real sky, so masterfully done.
The shelves on the walls are decorated with carvings: small cats, large wolves, elves holding swords, wizards with staffs, ogres with clubs, there doesn't seem to be a single creature that hasn't been done by skillful hands.
Regulus rises from the bed, feeling an abyss instead of his stomach - so very hungry.
He carefully opens the door, in the center of which is a bear with its mouth wide open, with birds perched on its back.
Regulus finds himself in a small living room, with two blue couches in the center of it, one with Evan and Barty sprawled out on it, and the other with Henry, who jumps up when Regulus comes into his field of vision.
"Mister! Mister!" he squeaks.
"Reggie!" squeals even louder, his two friends (he wouldn't want to know them at the moment so as not to embarrass himself) leap at him.
With a rumble, the toni find themselves lying on the floor, Regulus buried beneath the two boys, barely able to breathe as insistent hands examine every part of his body. He sighs lovingly.
"I'm fine," he whispers, touching Barty and Evan, stopping their frantic movements.
Two pairs of eyes stare at him intently, calm at first glance, but Regulus knows them enough to see the boiling waves of worry deep within, bitter on the tongue but sweet to the lonely heart.
"Is this it?" Evan exhaled.
Regulus only shrugs his shoulders, smiling contritely.
"I'm here too!" squeaks the child whose patience they had been testing for so long.
As Barty and Evan rise, the boy lunges at Regulus, who has just begun to rise, and topples him back with the force of his sprawl.
"I thought you were dead!" he shouts, putting a particularly strong emphasis on the last word, eyes already filling with furious tears.
Regulus sighs and strokes the child's hair gently, unable to resist casting a pleading glance at his friends, but those traitors only grin widely now that he's okay.
"I'm not dead," he says, though it sounds like a lie, the distant memory of water in his lungs and pulling deep into his arms laughing at him.
They sit in this position in silence, occasionally broken by a sniffle of the nose, until the door at the side opens, letting in Pandora, accompanied by a woman with red hair braided into a long braid, with a ray of warm light.
"Welcome to the land of the living," the stranger laughs and comes over to kiss the baby on the top of his head, "how are you feeling?"
"Fine," Regulus replies and sees Pandora's shoulders slump in relief and her eyes lose their tension.
His friend walks over to him and hugs him roughly, pulling him tightly against her.
"Don't ever do that again."
And if her voice sounds on the verge of tears and Regulus's shoulder gets wet - he won't tell anyone about this, not even on pain of death.
***
The woman, not surprisingly, turned out to be Henry's mother.
She introduced herself as Miriam and was extremely gentle. Her hands are soft as she adjusts Regulus' clothes and apologizes for her son, even as her eyes look at him with warm affection.
"I apologize to my husband, he's completely swamped with work," she smiles worriedly, but her hands are firm as she sets the table, "surely we were all worried about you! It's not often that illness can take a toll so quickly, but Henry is a smart boy, he knows what to do, especially in that area."
The named child proudly juts out his chest, smiling broadly, cheeks smeared with gravy.
"However, just because my beloved didn't show up doesn't mean he doesn't care about you!" assures the woman fervently, quickly hiding in one of the rooms, lifting her wide skirts.
Just as quickly, she returns, holding four statuettes similar to the ones Regulus saw in the room where he woke up.
Pandora gets a raven, wings spread wide, holding a snake in its beak. Evan gets an eagle, captured in flight, a snake coiled around its neck. Barty, a spider with its paws spread wide but firmly closed, clutching a snake in its vise. And Regulus is confidently handed a scorpion in his hands. He stares at his gift for a moment before looking up, smirking.
"No snake?" He can't help himself.
"It's not for me to ask the creator what the meaning of his work is," Miriam shrugs, "apparently he saw you that way, who knows what the message behind it is."
And they continued eating, but something was gnawing at Regulus from within, and he could see that it was gnawing at his companions the longer they sat there.
"I'm afraid we should go," he said at last, unable to sit any longer.
Miriam turned pale, and Henry exclaimed indignantly.
"Come, what about the castle?" He groaned, instantly looking even younger.
Regulus swallows uncertainly. He doesn't want to lie, but he desperately wants to reassure the child.
"We'll build him up on the way back," he says, and Merlin, he hopes he isn't lying.
He realizes by the look on his companions' faces that they hope the same thing.
Henry is triumphant, and Miriam doesn't look like she believes them. For a moment her gaze falls on the cliffs outside the window, looking divine in the light of the setting sun, but so much like the site of the last battle.
***
Reluctantly, they are still released, equipped with food as if it were the last time. Not that they mind.
"I don't like the fact that we all have a snake in our statues," Pandora says as they walk away from the village.
"Everyone?" Barty grins, but there's worry in his eyes too, "Reggie's been left out."
"Have you seen a snake, Dora? In this life or the other?" Regulus ignores Barty, turning to the girl.
She presses her lips together and frowns, remembering.
"I'm not sure."
And considering the village is made up of Muggles, as far as they can tell, it doesn't seem like a good omen.
"Did you see Miriam go pale when we were about to leave?" Evan remembers, and they fall silent.
"She's a gentle soul, maybe she's worried about Regulus leaving so soon?" Pandora suggests, but it doesn't seem like the truth.
They drop the subject because they don't have time, and a cave comes into view, the entrance of which takes Regulus' breath away.
Three pairs of eyes turn on him.
"This is it," he whispers, and he feels a smirk spread across his face.
Water boils in his lungs, his skin feels the promise of claws digging into it, but Regulus clenches his hands and looks at his friends, closer to him than family.
"Destroy the Horcrux," he exhales disbelievingly.
Three voices echo him.