《 Skip a Beat 》

EPILOGUE: Out of the darkness

This place had never known light. Never known warmth. Never hosted so much as a dust particle in its swirling depths. Until now.

Now, the room shone brighter than a thousand suns, as the glow from the prophecy orb radiated throughout.

The clock had started ticking faster.

The race against time had begun.

For the orb didn't shine in achievement. It shone in warning.

For the past few months, the smooth glass had grown hotter and hotter, until it was barely possible to touch.

Deep, deep down, beyond magic so ancient that it had almost entirely ceased to exist, an eye opened. It had begun growing within the orb, gradually stirring from an eternity of slumber. The time was approaching now.

The prophecy itself was, in a way, growing ripe. It glowed brighter and brighter, warmer and warmer.

The time is coming.

The magic, the ancient magic, was roiling within the orb, growing more and more raw with every passing second. Begging, pining, to be let out.

The time is coming.

And yet, no one entered the room.

No, this room- this particular one hidden deep in the Ministry of Magic, deep in the Hall of Prophecies- hadn't been entered for months.

So when someone stepped in at that very second, the entire room tensed taut.

The person didn't make a sound, their footsteps softer than snowflakes settling upon the ground.

They were dressed in black, entirely, with a hood concealing their face. Their elegant hair, however, was still visible in a single curl. The invisibility charm had worn off some time ago, but no matter- nobody would still be working in the ministry at this hour.

But the toned clothing would do little to shield her in the presence of such brightness.

Once again, it didn't at all seem to vex the figure. She knew just what kind of power she was dealing with.

Gradually, she slunk, sleek as a fox, to the middle of the room, unafraid of striding right down the middle. No, she only halted once she was barely a foot away from the orb, not even bothering to shield her eyes.

A beat of undiluted silence seemed to vibrate through the room. The slender figure didn't hesitate, no, but she paused for a minute. Weighing the tension in the room, perhaps.

The air was charged with magic. It swirled in invisible hoops through the room, pining for freedom from its shadowed enclosure. It was unsafe to be there, especially alone.

Trembling ever so slightly with restraint, she stretched a gloved hand toward the heated orb. Lifted it off its pedestal with equal tenderness.

It settled perfectly in her closed fist, the heat already seeping through her black glove. The figure raised her eyes to the black ceiling, sensing the shift in power.

She had the prophecy.

Her work here was done.

Several hushed steps back towards the exit, and, as swift and silent as the night, the figure was gone.