Prologue Part 1
It was a sunny day. Regulus sat outside on the porch and whiled away the time making pottery– a flowerpot to be exact.
His once black hair was now completely white and although his skin was wrinkled, his stormy blue eyes shone like he was still 18 years old.
The door to the house was open so he could hear the news his granddaughter Lily-Luna was watching while she was making tee.
"Treasure hunter Brock Lovett is best known for finding Spanish gold…"
"It's okay. I'll feed you in a minute," Lily-Luna said to the cat, who was impatiently waiting for her food.
"Now he has chartered Russian subs to reach the most famous shipwreck of all, the Titanic. He is with us live via satellite from the research ship Keldysh … in the North Atlantic. Hello, Brock," the reporter reported.
Regulus dipped his hands in water and carefully placed them back on the half-finished flowerpot.
Even if his hands were marked with age, but they were still strong and supple.
"Hello, Tracy," said a second voice.
It was a male voice and belonged to Brock Lovett.
"Of course, everyone knows the familiar stories of Titanic. You know, the nobility of the band playing to the very end and all that. But what I'm interested in are the untold stories. The secrets locked deep inside the hull of Titanic."
This piqued Regulus' interest and for the first time he looked up from his work towards the small television.
"And we're out here using robot technology to go further into the wreck... than anybody has ever done before," the treasure hunter continued.
Regulus grabbed his cane and struggled to his feet. He stepped through the door to get a proper look at the TV.
"Your expedition is at the centre of a storm of controversy… over salvage rights and even ethics. Many are calling you a graverobber," the reporter pointed out.
"Well, nobody ever called the recovery of the artifacts…"
While the two people were talking on TV, Lily-Luna had taken a step closer to her grandfather.
"What is it?" she asked Regulus.
His gaze was still fixed on the small screen the whole time.
"Turn that up, Lily-Luna, please."
The middle-aged woman turned up the volume on the TV a little while Regulus stepped further into the kitchen.
"I have museum-trained experts sent out here making sure… that these relics are preserved and catalogued properly. Take a look at this drawing that we found just today."
The camera swung from the scientist to a small water tank where an old drawing lay.
It was a drawing of a young man.
He wasn't wearing anything; parts of his body were covered by a sheet. Dark curls fell in his face, but you could clearly see a smile on the young man's lips. His eyes were fixed on his hands, which held a Locket.
Old– very old Memories came up. Regulus could not believe he was seeing the drawing again. He thought it would remain on the bottom of the Ocean.
Oh, Regulus knew that drawing all too well. He was the young man pictured.
Although he was not as beautiful as James had sketched him.
"– A piece of paper that's been underwater for 84 years. And my team are able to preserve it intact. Should this have remained unseen at the bottom of the ocean for eternity..."
"I'll be goddamned," Regulus murmured.
~~~~
Far away, in the middle of the ocean, Brock Lovett stood on the Ship with the name ‘The Keldysh’. He and his team was about to launch one of the submersibles.
"Brock!" Bobby Buell addressed him. "There's a satellite call for you."
Brock turned to his teammate.
"Bobby, we're launching. You see these submersibles going in the water?"
"Trust me buddy. You want to take this call," Bobby expanded.
Brock looked at Bobby for a moment. He knew the look. It was something important or otherwise Bobby would not have interrupted him.
"This better be good."
The two men walked a little to the side where they placed the suitcase, in which the satellite phone was installed.
"Now, you gotta speak up. He's kind of old."
"Great," Brock murmured, putting the phone to his ear.
“This is Brock Lovett. How can I help you Mr...?"
Brock looked at Bobby and put his hand on the receiver so the person on the phone could not hear them.
"Peverell. Regulus Peverell."
"Mr. Peverell?” Brock finished the sentence.
"I was just wondering if you had found... the Locket yet, Mr. Lovett," Regulus said.
Brock almost dropped the phone. How could he possibly know abo–
"Told you, you wanted to take the call," Bobby when he saw Brocke's facial expression.
The researcher needed a second to collect himself, bevor putting the phone back to his ear.
“All right, you have my attention, Regulus. Can you tell us who the man in the picture is?”
"Oh yes. The man in the picture is me.”
~~~~
It didn't took long before Regulus and his granddaughter Lily-Luna were invited onto the research vessel.
Only not everyone on the ship was enthusiastic about it.
“He's a goddamn liar! Some nutcase seeking money or publicity,” Lewis Bodine shouted over the noise of the machines. “God only knows why. Like that Russian babe, Anesthesia."
"They're inbound!" reported Bobby. He, Bodine and Brock looked up and saw a helicopter flying towards the ship.
Brock nodded and they made their way to the landing platform to receive the guests.
"Regulus Arcturus Black died on the Titanic when he was 18, right?"
"That's right."
"If he had lived, he'd be over 100 by now," Bodine pointed out.
"101 two months ago," said Brock.
“Okay, so he's a very old goddamn liar. Look, I've already done the background on this man... all the way back to the 20s, when he was working as an actor. An actor. There's your first clue, Sherlock."
"Yes, but everybody who knows about the Locket is supposed to be dead... or on this boat, but he knows."
~~~~
Brock and his colleagues greeted Regulus and his granddaughter and escorted their guests to their cabins.
They were almost done unpacking when there was a knock on the door.
"Yes."
"Are your staterooms all right?" Brock asked politely.
"Oh yes. Very nice,” Regulus said.
“Have you met my granddaughter, Lily-Luna? She takes care of me", Regulus explained with pride in his voice.
"We met just a few minutes ago. Remember, grand-père? Up on deck?" she asked with a small smile on her face.
"Oh yeah."
Regulus tapped his head, slightly angry that he forgot that.
Brocke glanced sideways at Bodine, who was standing with him at the door. Bodine rolled his eyes, but put a smile on his face immediately after.
“Can I get you anything? Is there anything you'd like?” asked Brock.
"Yes. I would like to see my drawing."
~~~~
Seeing the drawing again in person was something special for Regulus. He did not think he would experience that again.
He closed his eyes for a moment and pictured it as if it were yesterday. He still felt like this moment was not over yet.
The cold locket against his bare chest. His violently beating still so young heart. And James warm fingers running down his arms.
James's gaze fixed on him.
Regulus wasn't prepared for a moment like this. It was the first time he had experienced such intimacy. After all, Regulus was just Eighteen at that time.
But he didn't regret for a second that he had sat there with the amulet in his hand. Almost like a doll waiting to be played with.
"It was a dreadful, heavy thing," Regulus murmured, opening his eyes again. "I only "wore" it this once."
"You actually think this is you, grand-père?" Lily-Luna asked.
"It is me, Lily-Luna. Wasn't I a dreamboat?"