The crimson lion.
The nightmares were the same, Lucien pretending to be dead on a pyre of corpses and stones.
He never knew how long he stayed in the dungeons. The scent of rot and the countess's lifeless gray eyes haunted him for years.
It was a snake that saved him from death surrounded by corpses, long and black. It slithered through the bodies and caught Lucien's heavy breathing. Minutes later, two wizards appeared in the dungeons.
"Help. Help. Help." He repeated, lashing out a rock on the floor of the place. A man with black hair and brown eyes pulled him out from among the bodies.
Lucien trembled; the days he had not eaten or drunk made him unable to stand up. The wizard carried him in his arms, and Lucien clung to his neck as well as he could. The Harvoor stronghold was reduced to nothing.
There were more wizards and a witch. Her brown gaze looked at him with all the pity in the world. She extended her flask and gave him water to drink, also some bread and cheese. Lucien cried as he felt his stomach burn at the sensation of drink and food inside him.
"What will we do with the boy?" The magician who had a snake entwined in his right arm asked.
"What is right." The man who saved him answered. "The child needs a father, and I need an heir."
"Are you sure, Godric?" The witch questioned very delicately. Lucien looked at the adults and understood his situation. He was an orphan, his parents dead, and his whole life destroyed by hunters.
Godric walked over to him and held out his hand.
Lucien took it.
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Prometheus Slytherin became his brother in arms.
They both started their dueling, horse riding, and sword learning simultaneously. They supported each other. They took their magic lessons together. They became sworn brothers.
As the years progressed, his interest turned to Lord Slytherin's daughter.
The first time he saw her, he thought she was a fairy. Her hair looked like spilled blood, and her eyes could dazzle a wide spring. Over the years, he witnessed how her round childhood cheeks melted like snow at the arrival of the first light, revealing fine features that made her look like an ethereal being.
Knowing that Rhea reciprocated his feelings was a relief to his soul.
There was only one obstacle: Lord and Lady Slytherin.
They both showed him courtesy for being their son's best friend, but Lucien was good at reading glances. There was something about him that they disapproved of.
Lady Slytherin taught Rhea the art of swordsmanship and archery, which Rhea perfected and adapted to her. In single combat, Rhea was disadvantaged by her slim build. But she managed to use it to her advantage with broader agility and an Amazon's aim.
When he realized it, he fell under the charm of the Sun and the Moon.
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"Well done, my boy," Lord Godric said, patting him on the back. At Lucien's feet stood three hunters, all with the blank expression of a corpse.
The usual crusades with hunters were happening more and more. Wizards were on their side, either out of fear or safety.
Cowards. Traitors. Muddy Bloods.
That was what they were; to wield weapons against theirs was totally despicable.
Lucien looked up at the branches of the many trees in the forest. Like a playful faery, Rhea hid among the leaves, her eyes shining at her handiwork with her bow and quiver full of arrows. She single-handedly knocked them down, and Lucien landed the final blow.
"Time to go home, boy." Lord Gryffindor warned him. "Maybe we'll catch a deer; I have an appetite for a good stew."
》》》》》》✧《《《《《《
When they fled from Hogwarts in the middle of the night, their goal was to get to Rome and then, ultimately, Egypt. First, they would look for a druid to marry them. It was already serious to travel without being married. Lucien would not make Rhea's honor look even more compromised; they would wed before leaving the continent.
But plans changed quickly on their trip. Children were hanging from the trees. Yet, they could still perceive a magical core forming.
Wizard children.
Lucien remembered the dungeon, and his dead friends piled high.
The stench of corpses and the lifeless eyes of the countess staring at him.
Lucien witnessed Rhea cry heartbreakingly as she desperately lowered the children's bodies. She carefully cleaned their faces and kissed him on his forehead while he was in charge of digging graves in the ground.
"We can't leave." Rhea enunciated, cradling the body of a girl who didn't seem to be more than five. "The network that Ariadne Black formed must be re-established."
"We must find a place to put up wards." Lucien replied, setting the shovel aside. Carefully he took the girl from her arms and gently placed her in the hole. "Our parents would take us back to Hogwarts."
"We have to find someone who can talk for us.' She wiped the tears from her face. "We will save as many children as possible and send them to Hogwarts."
Lucien, after covering the grave, hugged Rhea, allowing her to cry.
》》》》》》✧《《《《《《
"Slytherins always get what they set out to do," Prometheus had told him once, and Lucien witnessed that for the following years after marrying Rhea.
Their support network slithered like a snake through the grass under the hunters' noses.
"Slytherins are cold and ruthless when necessary."
Lucien watched as Rhea slashed the throats of hunters and poisoned traitors.
"Slytherins are born leaders."
Rhea personally managed her network of spies within Muggle courts. Witches who volunteered as servants, singers, innkeepers, mistresses to great keep lords, or clerics for information.
Despite that cold and bloodthirsty facet, Lucien's favorite version of Rhea was with her hair loose as she slept next to Darius, read to him, or played the harp for him.
Lucien followed her every step, every crusade.
Rhea forged a sword for her, and Lucien held it in his hand to protect it.
》》》》》》✧《《《《《《
Darius was not a child to throw tantrums. Despite being four, Rhea had raised him well.
But Lucien's heart broke to see his son crying as he clung to Rhea's skirts. It was not easy to tell him that they would have to go, even more knowing that Rhea was staying.
"Mommy will be fine, my love." Rhea soothed. She would have leaned down to be at Darius's level, but her heavy belly wouldn't allow it, so she just stroked his hair.
"I don't want to leave." Darius sobbed. "I'm staying here."
"Darius." Lucien said seriously. His son's eyes, the eyes of Rhea's heir, filled with tears.
"You can't leave mom here." His son scolded him.
"She'll be fine. She'll have Marigold and two more." Lucien replied as he separated him from Rhea's skirts, forcefully carrying him in his arms.
Rhea looked up at him and removed her necklace, a silver forged sun and moon, carefully handing it over to Darius.
"Would you take care of this for Mommy?" She asked carefully. Darius, still tearful, nodded. Rhea smiled and kissed her forehead.
Lucien left him in the wagon with the other children, and the witch who watched over them returned with Rhea.
The years favored her ethereal beauty, blood-red hair, bright eyes, and sharp features.
"I'll be-" Rhea said, her voice cracking, her nose turning slightly red when she felt like crying. "We'll be fine."
"I'll come for you and our baby."
"I know." As she adjusted one of the leather cords of his armor, she stated, "You always keep your promises."
Lucien and the others marched before dawn. From the head of the caravan, he led them to safety.
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A man without his soul is a man without a reason to live.
The death of his soul devastated him. If he had not lost his sanity, it was because of Darius, the last vestige of Rhea in this mundane life.
Rhea didn't even have a grave to mourn her. Lord Slytherin cremated her body next to the baby's and scattered the ashes into the sea.
Lucien destroyed himself, and with the help of a Druid, he cursed them.
If the descendants of Prometheus raised their wand against the descendants of Darius, they would be cursed, their magic would consume them, and they would wander the world like a shadow chimera.
》》》》》》✧《《《《《《
Again he was piled on top of a pile of corpses.
He could feel death closing in on him, its claws brushing against his neck.
They were ambushed; a traitor gave notice. The banquet turned into a butcher shop. A rain of arrows fell on his body, and a soldier stabbed him in the chest.
But, as the blood rose to his throat, Lucien knew that the children in the dungeon were free.
The cold went through his body.
Darius was in good hands.
Looking towards the woods where the bodies were dumped, Lucien caught a glimpse of an apparition.
He knew he was dying because he saw his beautiful Rhea, her hair brushing his knees, and her eyes of eternal spring. She smiled to herself as she went.
Lucien was dying because he felt the warmth of her touch brushing against his cheek.
"Rhea..." Lucien said, smiling, the taste of his blood drenching his mouth.
"Come on home." She beamed at him, and the world darkened for Lucien.