Chapter Text
Cold on his face, his fingers, his toes.
Regulus slowly blinked away the fog in his eyes, and saw white light engulfing him and everything around him. Carefully he pushed himself up into a sitting position, when a paralysing headache struck.
“Argh” He winced, running his hands though his hair before locating the source of pain and applying pressure with his hands on both sides of his head, as if that was going to help. He sat still for a few moments, breathing deeply, before the pain faded slowly but never fully. The numb throbbing lingered.
He looked up and around. He was at a beach. He reached down and touched the black sand. “What is this” he muttered to himself.
“It’s your personal limbo, wizard.”
Regulus turned around but saw no one there.
“Who said that!”
“Here, look up.” A voice screeched above his head.
On a rock to his side, perched a small Raven.
“A speaking bird? Am I truly dead then.”
“I imagine death feels more like nothing, this place is miserable cold and gloomy, quite a state of being you subject yourself to.”
Regulus got up quickly and tried to startle the bird away “Off you go, shoo!” but a sudden sharp pain in his head made him grab onto the rock instead to steady himself.
“Careful boy, you may not have fully crossed into the afterworld but you sure drowned in pursuit of that ugly old locket.” The raven dipped his head to the side.
“Is that what this headache is? How am I not dead if I drowned?”
“I think you know”
Regulus looked at the bird, breathing heavily as the pain slowly faded again. He slid down onto the sand and sat with his side rested on the rock. He searched the inside pocket of his long-coat where a small shiny stone rested secured. He removed his hand without taking it out, not wanting to look at the possible way out of his current predicament.
“You’re just in my head, this place, none of this is real” he gestured to the things around him.
“Oh it’s certainly real. The question is what are you going to do about it?”
It was pretty simple wasn’t it? He drowned and was no longer a part of the living world. The love of his life was gone. The stone in his pocket changed nothing. He couldn’t go back, he didn’t want to. Not to the worst possible scenario turned reality he just managed to escape.
“Nothing”
“Nothing? You’ve been given a choice not many are afforded”
“I have nothing to return to, it is better that I am gone.” Regulus shifted to the side, and rested the back of his head on the rock. Looking into the sea he closed his eyes and heard the bird no longer.