Chapter Text
Sebastian Sallow nearly catapulted off of his “borrowed” school broom as he landed outside the catacomb. In his urgency, the landing had been less than graceful and the poor broom was properly banged up, tail twigs splintered and sticking out at odd angles. Oh well, he could fix it, it was just a school broom. Not his own. He didn’t really “own” anything anymore, not with Solomon in control of their parents’ accounts.
Sebastian practically flew through the many passages and chambers of the catacomb, feet finding their way easily, even though he had only been here once before. Salazar Slytherin’s spellbook was tucked under his robe close to his chest; he had stuffed the tome full with the notes and diagrams of the student who had first studied the relic, who’s life was now lost to time.
He raced past, dodging the more unsteady trails throughout the maze deftly. Past the puzzles and skeletons, slipping on the ancient dusty floor and lighting torches along the way with a casual flick of his wand.
Finally, he bounded into the main chamber of the catacomb and set his eyes on the relic, still at the table where he and Henrietta had left it. He wanted so badly to tell her he had figured it out, to have her here with him, she had been so helpful, after all. But he knew she just wouldn’t understand. Soon enough. Soon enough, she would see.
He might as well have been walking on air as he hopped the last few worn stone stairs down into the chamber and approached the desk, hands trembling in anticipation. The relic immediately drew his eyes, he couldn’t look away. A small, ruby glow seemed to flicker in the smoky depths of its fragile, pyramid frame. His hand extended without a thought, but he abruptly closed his fist, holding himself back. Not just yet. He had to be sure he did it all right, he couldn’t mess this up.
Sebastian untucked the spellbook from his Slytherin robe, flipping the softening velveteen cover and crackling spine open with practiced ease, breathing in the sheer age, wisdom, and power that wafted enticingly from its vanilla pages. It held the answers to everything, he just knew it, and his heart fluttered in his chest at the thought of saving Anne tonight, after all this time. All of this work. All this pain.
He skimmed the diagrams once more alongside the runes and translations he had worked out himself. Flipping a couple of pages, his permanently ink-splotched fingers found the right diagrams of wand movements, incantations, and illustrations. The relic could do quite a lot, apparently. To study all of its abilities someday would be... enthralling. Some of the other illustrations were quite graphic and grisly, but that didn’t matter. It just meant that the relic really did hold the power to heal Anne, to reverse everything. Power over life and death; trading his life for hers.
He mumbled to himself, fingers tracing the ornate, faded lines of the ancient student’s notes in its leather-bound journal alongside the larger tome.
Possible Relation to Necromancy… Raising Inferi…
Yeah yeah, not what he wanted to do. No Inferi Anne, no thanks.
Ah, yes, here: Wrinkling the fabric of separation between living, dead, and undead… Then, under Reciprocal Laws of Magical Nature… No, not Alchemy Applications… There:
Everlasting Exchange: Theoretical Applicative Spell for the Trading of Souls along the Lines of Fate.
Yes, he would exchange his life for Anne’s, his healthy years granted to her and her curse and death thrust upon him instead. How it should have always been. Whether it would all hit him at once or if he would have time to live out some cursed days afterward was unclear… Well, that was a minute detail compared to the rest. This was guaranteed to fix it.
He straightened his back and set his shoulders, breathing deeply through his nose as his hand brushed the spot in his pocket where his wand lay ready. Everything would be just fine, he had studied the book like crazy and he knew he could do it, whatever it took. It was a fundamental truth, after all: Anne deserved to live a long, healthy life. Always the better twin, the better person. She would live and be healthy again, and that was all that mattered. Hell, he would set himself on fire to keep her warm.
Sebastian shut his eyes tightly and tried to concentrate, brow furrowed as he mumbled the incantations and motioned with his arms, his wand very intentionally not yet in hand. The presence of the relic in front of him was growing more and more heavy on his consciousness. He took one more deep breath.
Sebastian’s eyes flew open and he seized the relic without another second’s hesitation. A gasp rattled through him as it warmed in his hand, a strange sensation throbbing from the center of its delicate frame straight through to his bones. Its red glow spread subtly, lighting his skin like a flickering fire and seeping into his veins, filling him with a restless energy. Begging to tap into that storm of magic deep in his core. A smile spread across his face, he was certain now, it was incredibly powerful. It could do this, it could do even more. It seemed to whisper to him in a wordless language only he understood. Promising him everything.
Anne was all that mattered, though. He didn’t want to use it beyond saving her and he was the one in control, it was his, it would do what he said. Sebastian vaguely became aware he had picked up his wand at some point, and was now standing dead center in the chamber. He hadn’t even started the incantations, he should start now.
There was some kind of rumbling sound in the background, but it was drowned out by the roar of blood in his ears. He let another moment stretch between them to adjust and drink it in. The energy radiating off of it was intense, but as he began circling his wand in controlled, complex figures he felt it respond. He was containing it, directing its energy as he willed. A tingling began, itching underneath his fingernails, raising hairs as it buzzed across his skin, but it was a welcome sensation. Electricity danced through his hair. A strange, source-less breeze had surrounded him, or maybe that was just the pure energy radiating from them.
Suddenly, Sebastian felt he could cry. Or laugh. Or both. Perhaps in succession. This was it. His purpose, his meaning, his contribution to the world. He knew it, so deeply within himself that it couldn’t be anything but absolute truth. The possibilities before him with it were infinite, all of the spells he could use, all of the pain he could take away, it could do anything for him. It really had power over life and death itself. Some part of him was prodding at his overflowing brain, though. A part that said the name Anne over and over again. Anne. Anne. Anne. ANNE.
His twin, his other half, his soul. His tongue loosed and the incantations began, all those difficult pronunciations he had studied flowed freely. In them, he could feel a kind of release. The arguments, the abandonment, the bitterness, the suffering, it hadn’t been for nothing. Tears brimmed in his eyes, tears of pure relief. Anne, Anne, Anne, Anne. Her name sung in his soul, it rolled from his lips in full: Anne Etheldreda Sallow.
Sebastian focused all his energy on her, everything about her and his unbelievably strong, sole desire to save her, no matter what it took. He poured all these desperate wishes and desires into the relic, the one thing that promised to deliver. He felt so close to her now, almost as if he could hear her voice… saying his name…. wait—
“Sebastian!! SEBASTIAN!!”
His head snapped to her unnaturally fast. She was crying, tears leaking from her eyes, hollowed with pain from her curse, wide in terror. The sight physically pained him. It always did. Her wand was raised in front of her. She was scared. Oh, Anne. If only he could put her mind at ease with a word from his mouth or a touch of his hand. There was no need to be scared! She would see, she would see…
Recognizing that she caught his attention, Anne yelled to him, and though she was close by it sounded as if they were separated by some chasm.
“Sebastian! Sebastian, what’s going on?! What have you done?! Please tell me this wasn’t you, that relic— this is dark magic, I can feel it! Sebastian, please! You have to stop! Just- just put it down. Put it down and we can talk!”
She choked on a sob, visibly shaking.
He looked directly into her eyes intently, willing her to see the truth. He bowed his head slightly, lowering his hands a bit, relic still in hand, reaching out to console her. That always helped. He smiled.
“It’s alright, Anne! I’m in control. You don’t need to be scared, everything’s fine. Actually, it’s great! I figured it out, Anne, I finally figured it out!”
He laughed bitterly, gaze wandering as he spoke more to himself now, “They didn’t believe me, no one believed in me but I showed them- haha! yeah I showed them! I can prove it all now!”
His warm eyes rested on her once more, a freeing, genuine smile spreading completely across his face, “Anne, I know how to save you now!!”
She was shaking her head in disbelief, worry contorting her gaunt face.
“Sebastian you’re not making any sense, this… this is dark. It’s bad, just look at what it’s doing!”
She gestured wildly about her to the trembling and dust-clouded walls around her. It was fine, it could hold up. Sebastian shook his head. This was wasting time, he needed to complete the ritual.
“No, you don’t understand. I can control it, the relic and the dark magic. I know you’re scared. But it’s alright, I forgive you. You’ll see soon enough. You all will, you and Ominis and Henrietta, you’ll see. You’re going to be alright, you’re going to get better! I can fix it.”
Frustration started to gnaw at him. Why wouldn’t she just see it?
“I did it, Anne, aren’t you proud of me?”
She simply shook her head at him as her voice cracked through her sobs.
“No. No, Sebastian I’m terrified. Please,” she lowered almost to a whisper but he heard it just the same, “Please just put the relic down. This isn’t you, you’re not yourself. Please.”
Her eyes widened and she stooped further in her pleas, her voice rose once more, vehement now, “Before you hurt yourself, just come here! Just put it down and come back to me!”
His lips twitched a smile sadly at his distraught twin. His words softened, tender and sincere,
“I will, Anne. I will, I promise. And we won’t ever have to be separated again. I told you, I would always protect you. I am, and I will. But I need to complete the ritual first. I’m almost there, I can do it. You’ll see.”
He turned away from her then, focusing fully again on the relic, staring into its depths as he raised his wand to its level, pointing directly at it and beginning the next series of chants. Halfway through the phrase, another pulse of heat bloomed from the relic, like the welcome shock of coming inside to a cozy fireplace right after a blizzard. It surged down the hand that gripped the pyramid, flowing down his arm as he gasped at the slight burning sensation. He welcomed it with open arms. The atmosphere about him rippled around him from the heat, the warmth grew more intense he felt like he was being set on fire. The kind of fire after a strike of lightning, hot and pure and electric. And he wasn’t afraid.
The carved inferi figures on the edges of the pyramidal relic writhed before him, mouths gaping and bones trembling. He stared wide-eyed, lips faltering as their rotting flesh stretched across their small, emaciated forms.
The ground rumbled beneath his feet, and he nearly fell as he glanced toward the ground he saw hands breaking through the dirt floor, legs ripping away from walls, fingers clawing catacomb shafts open. Inferi were rising all around him, but they didn’t attack him. Sebastian inhaled sharply, he didn’t remember reading about this part. But he was assured, they were under his control, he was their master. They would protect him. Good, he couldn’t be stopped now. Protection was good. It was all going to be fine.
With a gasp, he remembered Anne had been right next to him. Would they attack her? They wouldn’t, right? He was in control. He whipped his head about, searching for her, even blasting some of the Inferi aside with his signature confringo to clear his line of sight. She wasn’t anywhere to be found. He tried to calm the panic threatening to seize his chest. This was okay. She didn’t need to be present for him to save her. They were already connected, when he completed the ritual, she would receive it wherever she was on this plane of existence. It was better this way. She had been scared. Sebastian hated seeing her scared.
The relic pulsed its glowing fiery heat once more, he grit his teeth and held on, ready to finally complete the set of incantations. He had only just started, struggling through the growing electric burning. I’m strong, I can do this. A heart-wrenching yell broke his concentration, echoing above him. Once again, he nearly snapped his neck in search of its source and, to his dismay, was met with the sight of his very distraught best friend holding inferì at bay.
Ominis cleared his surroundings with a surprisingly effortless series of incendios, Sebastian’s heart dropped when he realized Ominis also had tears running down his face. Why was everyone he cared about crying? He had sacrificed so much for them, he was about to save them, he was doing a truly good thing for once in his life. Why couldn’t they see that? Sebastian would have thought he’d be angry at the notion, but he was just sad. Disappointed. Let down, once again. Ominis called down to him in a choked voice,
“Sebastian! What have you done? Anne is beside herself, you have to stop! I’m begging you, I can feel how dark the magic here is, you’re going to hurt yourself!”
Sebastian shook his head in frustration. He wasn’t surprised, but that didn’t mean it hurt any less.
“I’m in control, Ominis, why can’t you see that? I did it! I figured it out, I’m fixing everything!”
Ominis was making his way unsteadily toward Sebastian, protego shield up and dodging inferi burning like torches all along the way, desperate to reach him. Sebastian didn’t have time to be surprised and impressed at his friend’s unexplored defensive skill, he was too afraid Ominis would fall. He reached out, intending to go to him, but he had his hands full.
Ominis continued,“No, Sebastian, things couldn’t be more wrong! Dark magic always requires a terrible price, I know you know that. You have gone too far, much too far! I’m begging you, if you care about me and Anne at all, please stop this before it’s too late!”
That wasn’t fair. Sebastian opened his mouth to respond but the relic stole his attention. He gasped and barely suppressed a groan as he felt the jolting rush of electricity yank at him, he really should be giving it his full attention. He did not want to mess this up. Thankfully, at the moment an explosion sounded in the distance so his groans were covered and escaped Ominis’ notice. Ominis turned eagerly to the entrance at the sound, shouting,
“Henrietta! Is that you?! Are you alright? We’re down here!”
Henrietta appeared in the doorway. Sebastian took her in, braced against the door frame, strawberry blond hair wild and covered in ash, warm brown eyes alight beneath smudged glasses, posture noble like some vengeful spirit or warrior princess. What a sight to behold. He called to her,
“Henri! I did it! I can save her!”
She merely shook her head at him, disbelief and a confusing kind of grief painted across her features.
“I’m so sorry, Sebastian. This is my fault. But please listen to me now. This is too far. It needs to stop here, before anyone gets hurt.”
Something flared in him. She, of all people, should understand. She had supported him, sympathized with him. She wasn’t some oblivious optimist, she was like him. She knew that life wasn’t fair, that it was up to them to take care of their own problems, she knew how the world really was. His nostrils flared. He was hurt.
“You just don’t get it! I know you don’t care about her like I do, but why can’t you see that this is right. I am in complete control, and I’m saving her, actually saving her when no one else even cared to try!”
“Control?! Sebastian, I had to fight an army of inferi to get here—“
He mentally swatted her comment away. He was in control. He could do anything. Even now, more inferi were rising to his call and defense. She persisted.
“You are not in control, whatever that relic is telling you is a lie. Put it down, let go before it’s too late! We can still do this, we can save her, but dark magic like this, it isn’t the way!”
Sebastian tried to resist brimming angry tears but they betrayed him, sprouting in his eyes.
“You’re wrong!! You’ll see!” He directed even more of his energy into the relic, it glowed brighter and the sharp current ran all the way up both of his arms straight to his core. The incantations flowed from his lips like water and he could feel Henrietta trying to cast spells through to him, but the aura about him was too strong.
Sebastian was nearing it, the final stage; the power at his fingertips to reverse the curse, to take it upon himself, to reverse any touches of death that he wished. The adrenaline rush the relic had given him was peaking. He smiled.
Then, it all fell apart.
The relic was ripped from him, the tear painful. Shattered by none other than Solomon Sallow. The very plague of his existence.