Paradox | T. Riddle ✔

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The desolate cave was located near a mysteriously ominous lake with pitch-black water. Regulus could feel a sense of dread creeping up to his heart just by the mere sight of the place. 

He knew it was an aftereffect of the Dark spells used to enchant the place and keep it safe from wayfarers who wandered about there. But Regulus was no wayfarer and he had come there with a task in mind.

No such Dark enchantment would be able to keep him at bay.

"Master Regulus, do you really have to go in there?" Kreacher asked, worrying for his master's safety because he knew death lay in wait at each step.

"Yes," he replied, the morbid feeling not deterring him from his plan, "I can not turn back now."

Kreacher guided him through and both of them undid the enchantments one by one. Since Kreacher had already been there once before, he knew how to deal with the curses.

It wasn't long until they reached the cave. The feeling of dread had worsened but Reg braced himself and stepped inside. Darkness engulfed them except for an eerie green light that was coming from the center. In order to get to the light, a blood sacrifice had to be made and Regulus willingly endured it, despite Kreacher offering to do it instead.

When they reached the basin where the locket was kept, the green light had increased as it was being emanated from the potion. Kreacher told Regulus that the only way to dispose off the potion was to drink it.

At that remark, Regulus conjured a goblet but the house-elf tried to stop him. "Master Regulus, the potion will drain you of your strength. Please do not drink it."

"There's no way I'm going to do the same to you that the Dark Lord did," Regulus filled up the goblet, "you promised that you will obey my orders, so this is an order too. I will drink the potion and retrieve the locket and you will have to leave without me and destroy it by any means possible."

Kreacher looked horrified, "Kreacher can't leave Master Regulus."

"This is an order, Kreacher," his voice was cold because he could see death flickering in front of him, "you have to do as I say."

Much to Kreacher's horror, Regulus filled up the goblet and drank it, the intense parched feeling erupting in his throat. One goblet after another, the potion had started to lessen in the basin but Regulus was getting weaker.

Once the basin was empty, he replaced the original Slytherin locket with an exact replica that he had gotten prepared and the fake locket held a note within. Soon as the locket was in place, the basin filled up once again with the ominous green potion. That task being done, he told Kreacher to take the locket and go but in doing so he had sunk down to his knees, coughing badly.

"Master Regulus, you must come with Kreacher," Kreacher did not want to leave Reg in there because he knew the lake was full of Inferi that would eat him up if he tried to drink the water from there to quench his thirst.

But before he could drag Regulus away with him, a crack was heard, indicating that someone had apparated outside the cave.

"Kreacher, just leave me and go," Regulus managed to get the words out, knowing that the person who had just apparated would be none other than the Dark Lord, "carry out what I ordered you to!"

So despite himself, Kreacher had to leave as he could not disobey his master. He took the locket and disapparated and right afterward, the distinct sound of footsteps could be heard.

Regulus was crouched down on the ground, shaking from the fatigue that had been inflicted on him due to the potion. It was getting difficult for him to even lift his head up and see the entrant.

"Regulus," the much familiar and menacing voice of Lord Voldemort reached him and he froze, even though he had been expecting him to show up. "My dear boy, what have you done to yourself?"

Those words though spoken softly were laced with malice and soon enough, the serpentine features came into Reg's view as the Dark wizard bent down to see him closely.

"Did you really think it would be that easy to betray me?" He had tilted his face up so that he was looking straight into those struggling blue eyes, "ah what agony you are in right now... Such a shame. And to think that you were one of my favorites... My very favored Death Eater attempting to betray me even though you said yourself that you would die before that day came. Then why aren't you dead already?"

Regulus chewed up his words, not saying anything because it was getting even harder to breathe. He badly needed water to quench the fire of thirst that had erupted inside him but there seemed no other source of getting water than the Inferi-infected lake.

Lord Voldemort had risen to his feet again, watching in amusement as Regulus crawled towards the lake, the pull of water too strong for him to resist. He shook his head as if feeling sorry for him and right before the man could reach out to the water in the lake and be taken down by the Inferi, he withdrew the enchantments around the place.

The Inferi in the lake retreated and Regulus filled his palms up with water, drinking it up. It did nothing to lessen his thirst so he filled his palms again and then again but somehow the potion's effects were not fading.

He was aware of the Dark Lord's presence and was even a bit shocked that he hadn't killed him yet. But right then the parched feeling in his throat was keeping his focus on the water.

"Alright that's enough," he grabbed Regulus by the collar and pulled him away from the lake, the enchantments setting up all over again. 

But the water he had consumed had made him somewhat steady as Regulus was standing on his feet and not crouching on the ground anymore. He still felt terribly weak, even lifting a hand seemed impossible.

So he could do nothing to the Dark Lord except endure whatever punishment he had in store for him.

"Punishment? How right you are," Voldemort's thin lips had turned up into an evil smile as he was finally able to read his thoughts, earlier Reg had always used Occlumency against him but right then he was too weak to do so, "but everything happens on its own time, doesn't it? I could kill you right here if I wanted to but what will be the fun in that? Now come, we have to return to the base."

Regulus could not walk properly as it was taking the last remaining strength in him just to keep himself steady. So Voldemort spared him the trouble and tied him up in dark ropes that he conjured from thin air.

The ropes that were bundled up around Reg's shaking form followed Voldemort as he walked out of the cave then grabbed hold of his tied-up arm and disapparated.

Everything in the cave went back to the way it was earlier, almost as if no one had stepped foot in the place for years. And the only sound that could be heard was the dark water splashing against the rocks, stirring up that morbid feeling of dread in whoever was foolish enough to pass by.

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