ZILLIAH walks with Layla, a little behind Theo and Blaise who leads the way. The paths they had to take would split into two only after two miles, so for now she and Theo had the company of Blaise and Layla. The pine and maple trees to the side crowd upon the narrow pathway, providing them much shelter from the sun's burning heat. She walks, enjoying the crunch of the dry leaves beneath her feet despite how her head and her body ache with the slightest movement. Her mind remains on Draco wondering if he was alright until it gets diverted.
"So", Layla's voice is hollow and awkward as it comes out, leaving the word hanging in the air uncomfortably.
Zilliah tilts her head to her companion, arching an eyebrow as she makes sure to not trip over a branch on the ground.
"I've been meaning to ask you something", Layla says, her eyes focused up front, her hands jittery.
As Zilliah realizes she is waiting for her approval, she nods, very well aware that she can see her in her peripheral vision.
"Theseus was your fiancé in your past life?", asks Layla, releasing a gasp of breath like she has been dying to get that question out.
Zilliah had seen this coming. She knew it was only a matter of time before she was asked this. "Ezra was, yes", she replies.
Layla inhales a sharp breath and nods her head. "Do you think that's why.. you know, Theseus was- he was in love with you in this lifetime too?"
"I suppose so", Zilliah shrugs. "Though I only replicated the person, not the feelings."
Layla nods and remains silent for a long long while. It's the kind of silence that threatens your peace. The kind of silence forcibly held when there are so many things to say. And with the growing irritability in her, Zilliah can handle it no more.
"You still love him?", she throws the question at Layla, taking her by shock.
She recollects herself in a moment and sighs. "I think a part of me will always love him. But I know I can never have him. Not when his heart is full of you."
"Have you ever told him about how you feel?"
Layla tilts her head and meets Zilliah's eyes with a dejected expression. "If he couldn't see what was in plain sight, then I don't think my words would make much of a difference. I'd only be making a fool out of myself."
And that's true. It wasn't like Layla hid how much she loved Theseus. Her love for him overflowed in every look, every word, and every action. He just pretended to be blind to all of it. Now not even Jesus could cure that kind of blindness.
"I'm sorry, you know", Layla says, taking Zilliah by shock this time. "I couldn't hate Theseus for not loving me. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't. But then you showed up and it was easy.. to hate you, I mean. I could finally project the spite I felt toward someone. I treated you poorly because of it. But I realize now that you never deserved it."
Zilliah just stares at her blankly, never having expected this sort of openness.
"You don't have to accept my apology", she says, stopping in her step and looking at her feet, like she can't bring herself to meet her eyes again. "Just.. just know that I'm sorry."
Zilliah stops in her steps too and does something she thought she would never find herself doing. She hugs Layla, tightly, so tightly it might just reduce her bones to dust. But she didn't care. Neither did Layla. They stood like that for a solid minute, until they realized that the boys had walked far off without them. They pulled back and smiled at each other, and it was peace like Zilliah had never known.
Without another word, they separate to catch up with Blaise and Theo. They walk together in silence. But this time, it wasn't a silence that sucked all the oxygen out of her lungs. It was a silence that helped her breathe better and make some part of her uneasiness calm down. It's as they reach their separate paths that Zilliah breaks it.
"I've thought about what you said last night. And I think I am ready to do it."
Layla smiles then, turning to her with crinkles near her eyes. "You sure?", she asks, trying to compose herself but Zilliah can see how pleased and relieved she is by her decision.
"Yes, I'm sure", she assures her, offering a genuine smile herself.
But Theo groans, having been in earshot of them now. "I still don't think it's a good idea."
"I don't see much harm here", Blaise chimes in, taking Layla's side. "So after you do her, do me."
"That sounds weirdly sexual", Layla scrunches her nose up in disgust, the smile on her face still intact. "You ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be", Zilliah mumbles back, edging closer to her and clasping her head, and invading her mind. It's easy as there is no resistance and she instantly finds herself in a garden, little Layla picking peonies, humming a low tune to herself. She gathers them all and makes a run towards the village, and finds young Theseus and hands it to him. He offers a smile and a thank you, and walks back into his hut. Later that evening, she finds the flowers thrown away in the backyard. Considering it put a knife even through Zilliah's heart, she doesn't want to find out what it did to Layla.
So she instantly gets to work and mutters the mirage spell under her breath, weaving through her mind and altering it so that that particular instance never happened. It's obvious that it was what Layla wanted her to do for it was at the forefront of her mind. So she respects her wish and removes it from there, thereby claiming her mind as her own. After that, she builds up the duplicate wall and erases all traces of herself from it, safely tucking all the original memories behind the real wall. It takes merely five minutes and a great deal of concentration. But at last, when it's done, she pulls back. Blaise takes out his wand and invades her mind, but he finds no traces of Zilliah, even though Layla is putting up little to no resistance.
"It worked!", Blaise exclaims, smiling at Zilliah.
She shoots a smile back at him and turns to Layla. "How do you feel?"
"I feel completely alright", she replies, and one look at her and Zilliah knows it's true.
"Me now", Blaise approaches her and she repeats the same process to his head. To claim his mind, she erases the memory of him fucking a random girl in his dorm. It makes Zilliah want to throw up but it's what he wants to be erased, so she wills herself to do so. After that, she does the same as she did to Layla and when it's over, Layla invades his mind, bringing about the same result.
"I don't feel any different", Blaise's eyes shine with relief. "Thank you, Zilliah."
She feels like she should be the one thanking them because they were doing this to keep her safe. But before she can voice it, comes Theo's words, accompanied by a scoff. "I'm not putting up with this", he says, backing up and walking towards their path.
"But mate-", Blaise makes to convince him but Zilliah's look tells him not to.
"He'll come around. It's better if he is not pressured into it", she tells him and pulls him into a hug, wrapping her arms around him tightly. "Be safe."
"You too", Blaise gives in and mumbles into her ear, picking her off the ground and spinning her around a little, making her laugh out in pure joy. He sets her down and cups her cheek, peering deep into her eyes with an emotion so intense it nearly makes her knees give out. "We're going to get that cure and we're going to keep you safe". he says, and she realizes that the emotion is the very fear of the possibility of losing her.
She smiles up at him and nods, tears threatening to draw to her eyes. "Yes, we will", she breathes, her heart melting as she realizes how lucky she is to have such people who care for her deeply in her life.
He nods too and presses his lips against the top of her head. "See you soon."
"See you soon, Blaise."
He pulls back and walks away without another look as if he will glue himself to her if he lets that happen. Layla offers her a reassuring smile and follows him. And Zilliah watches until they're out of sight.
"I can't believe you made me walk all the fucking way back", Theo grunts from behind, throwing her over his shoulder and walking on their pathway. But his voice wasn't gentle nor was his actions.
"Theo, put me down. I'm not a grain sack. I can walk!", she huffs out, fighting against his grip, feeling annoyed all of a sudden.
It only makes him clutch onto her tighter as he treads through the woods into an open ground with several hills before them.
•
Zilliah and Theo had walked a long way through the opening between the hills so that they wouldn't have to exert too much energy by climbing them. But it still wore them down after an hour so they decided to rest inside a cave for some time. Theo had instantly gone to sleep using his backpack as a pillow but no matter how many times Zilliah tossed and turned, she couldn't bring her mind to shut down. So she had made her way out of the cave and sat outside it, with a paper, quill, and inkpot in hand. After adjusting her position comfortably, she also takes a book out of her bag to provide as a surface for her to keep the paper upon and write properly.
My dear beloved,
She writes thinking back to the time Draco had asked her to write a letter for him when he saw her writing one to Sirius. So she glides her quill against the paper now, dipping it into the inkpot occasionally, pouring her heart and her soul out into it, the very things that belong to him. It seems essential that she does this right now. She cannot understand why but something in her tells her that she might not be able to do this later. It was a worrying thought but she managed to push it back into the farthest corner of her mind while writing that letter, telling herself she is only doing this because she wants to, not because she felt like there is some impending danger that is awaiting to doom her.
After half an hour, Theo comes out of the cave, looking as energetic as ever. Zilliah folds the letter she has been reading over and over again and stuffs it into her pocket before he can see it. She gets up quickly, throwing everything else into her backpack and slinging it over her shoulders. "Ready to go?", she asks him and he nods.
There is a certain hostility in him that she has never sensed before. She doesn't know what to make of it so she just lets it be as she follows close behind him, up and over a hill.
He is dead silent as they make their way into the depths of a large cave, the only way to cross over to the other side. They walk deeper and deeper into it until they emerge out into an opening where a waterfall presents itself alongside the step cuts of a hill. The terrain and the beauty of it all mesmerize Zilliah. But what brings her relief, is the stream that originates from the waterfall, extending out to the exit of the cave, and disappearing in plain sight. Because floating on that stream was a small chest, that could hold the key they were searching for.
"I'll get it", Theo says blandly, like this is of no real value to him. Zilliah chooses not to respond as he takes off his backpack and dives into the water, fully clothed. He reaches the chest and takes it easily enough. And she can already tell something's not right.
He swims back to the ground, pulling himself up and making his way toward her with a bored expression on his face. He hands her the chest and walks behind and out of her view, after snatching his backpack and taking a towel out of it to dry his hair.
Zilliah disregards his behavior and slowly opens the latch on the chest with a great sense of disquietude. Like a punch to the guts, she finds it empty. The hoax path. They had undertaken the hoax path. That is why it was so damn easy to retrieve that chest. She should've figured so.
She shuts her eyes, feeling the intense throbbing in her head increase. She tells herself that it's fine- that the others will find the keys and join her at the place where the cure is. She tells herself that she is going to be alright. She takes a deep breath and decides to inform Theo of the circumstance at hand. But her breath gets knocked out of her as she spins on her feet.
Theo stands right in front of her, water dripping down his head and his body, a large and thick piece of wood in his hands. His eyes are narrowed down on her with a look that tells her that she needs to flee this instant. But she reminds herself this is Theo. Theo. He would never do anything to harm her.
Wrong.
She knows that's wrong the instant a crooked smile grabs hold of his features.
This isn't the Theo she knows.
But before she can shake the shock off and react appropriately, he swings the piece of wood at her, knocking her down. All she can see now is black. And all she can think about is how this isn't the Theo she knows.
Because the Theo that struck her down- he wasn't the same person who cuddled against her in the common room sofas or brought her hot chocolate when she was stressing over tests. This wasn't the Theo who used to race her in the hallways or make fun of her for her obsession with Magical History.
This Theo looked evil and vindictive.
Like a true psychopath.