Chapter Text
Endless on all sides.
That’s how the whole world feels to Andy in this moment.
The field where the two of them stand, bloody wand hands intertwined. The fog that swirls around their ankles…not an oppressive force, but another agent that binds them closer together.
As do the secrets lying at their feet – the kind capable of provoking doubt.
The young Scotsman feels the instinctive desire to look down, but the squeeze of a slippery hand draws his gaze back to his companion.
Novak never doubts. Never wavers. Always knowing Andy’s mind – how to best steady his ship where others tried to steer it off course. Unreliable crewmates on a journey they swore they’d give up everything to undertake as one.
“It’s alright Andy.” Nole sounds confident, as always, his green eyes bright in the misty dark of early morning. “Nothing bad is really happening to them.” His words instantly reassure the other teenager. “You know they can’t die here.”
At this reminder, Andy’s eyes finally drop down to take in the five, unmoving figures sprawled out on the ground. Mentors, friends and contemporaries…
…all brothers and sisters in a movement that lost sight of its purpose.
This is merciful compared to what the real world would do to them. Yes, he knows that. Even so, worried eyes flick back to the raven-haired boy in front of him. “They’ll never find their way out?” Andy questions, his voice hollow.
“I swear,” Novak promises. This, Andy knows, is no small thing itself – and said with such certainty that the young Scot instantly nods in wordless approval. Then, in a more urgent tone, Nole says, “We should go now Andy…”
Light eyes take in all the small details of the Serbian boy’s face. It looks pale and withdrawn and altogether more serious than its normal expression. Has Andy done this to him? Made him look this way?
He’s not sure…not sure of anything but this anymore. Of the bloody hand clasped in his and the comforting notion of solidarity and purpose that seems to keep his heart beating.
Andy takes a deep breath in through his nose. When he releases it from his mouth, he manages to hold the other boy’s gaze. Unable to ignore the pinch of anxiety that still seems to live there.
Hands squeeze together as they recite, in unison, the spell it took them all years to craft. Now, they will be the only ones who ever get to use it.
“Domum revertens aeternalis.”
A dazzlingly light bursts forth from between their intertwined hands – extending impossibly far in every direction.
When it recedes, all that remain are the five figures on the ground.