I
Ominis was exactly where Sebastian Said he would be. Not right outside the Common Room but a few hallways off to the side. The brunette quickly wished him luck before hiding behind one of the unlit braziers, keeping an eye on their interaction.
Nathan approached the blonde with loud footsteps, wanting him to know that he was there. Ominous lifted his head at the sound, quickly recognising it as the footfalls of the new fifth year.
"What are you doing here?" The blonde had stopped his pacing as he turned toward Nathan. The teen looked stressed with permanent creases in his brow and a deepening frown, it looked like he was biting the bottom of his lip as well as it was slightly red and swollen, it looked sore.
"Hello Ominis," the black-haired teen kept his voice steady and calm, not wanting the other to know that he could openly see his distress if he didn't want to draw attention to it, Ominous would tell him if he wanted Nathan to know, "Do you have a moment?"
"What is it?" He all but snapped, but there was a hit of worry in his tone like he thought that the other was in some sort of trouble, "what have you and Sebastian been up to now?" 'That's why' as Nathan thought back he and Sebastian was prone to finding trouble.
"Are you alright? You seem a little stressed." He asked, hoping the blonde was comfortable enough to confide in him, especially after the progress they made in potions earlier that day.
"I'm fine." The teen sounded definite but he could see him falter to some extent. "It's just-" he rubbed his forehead, crying to iron out the crease with his fingers, "Sebastian's been pestering me lately about something and I'm frustrated with him." He had given Nathan the perfect opportunity.
"He's not still going on about that 'Scriptorium' is he?"
"He told you about that?" The blonde's voice rose in volume, both shocked and mad at his best friend, "Of course he told you that, you two seem to be joined at the hip these last few weeks."
"We were talking about the Hogwarts founders and he mentioned it, wouldn't say much more though." He hadn't wanted to anger the other, maybe if he retreats a little in the conversation. He had never been a good conversationalist, he usually left the talking to his brother, not his eldest brother, he was an uptight snob when it came to talking to anyone. His other brother, the middle child, had the gift of the gab, he could get anyone to open up. While Nathan was just an awkward mess most of the time, although he had got better in the last few months.
"Yes. Well, he seems to think it contains the answers to saving Anne. I think It's likely full of Dark Magic that is better left untouched."
"Wait. You've never been inside?"
"Of course not!" He exclaimed as he began to pace again, absolutely appalled that the black-haired boy would ever think he would ever want to step foot in there. "I only know about it because of my favourite aunt - Noctua." Nathan kept silent, suspecting this would be something the blonde would want to get off his chest without any judgment, "she thought like I do. Didn't agree with the family on the use of Dark Magic. In fact, she'd hoped to convince my family that there was more to Salazar Slytherin than worshipping pure-blood status. She heard of this 'Scriptorium' and thought its contents might shed some light on him. She even found the entrance - in this very corridor. She wrote regularly to my father about her efforts to gain access and then she simply vanished. No one else ever tried to enter." He stopped his pacing and looked directly at Nathan, 'my gosh his eyes are beautiful, not the time' he thought.
"I'm sorry about your aunt, but don't you want to find out what happened to her?" The devil's advocate finally came out.
"Aunt Noctua went down this path with good intentions and lost her life. I don't want the same to happen again." Ominis argued back.
"You don't know that history will repeat itself. Besides you said your aunt thought like you. This could honour her memory - get you answers about Slytherin and Sebastian's answers for Anne. You aren't pursuing this alone, we could do it together."
"And what would you be getting out of this? Surely you want something." He truly was trying to find any way out of it.
"I would be helping my friends, that's enough for me." The blonde took a moment to genuinely think about what the other had said, then sighed when he made a decision.
"I see what you've done here. And I confess, you've convinced me. I didn't think it possible. Very well. I shall tell you what I know - fetch Sebastian from behind the brazier. I'll wait." Nathan beamed, a daft grin stretched across his face.
"Thank you Ominis, I shan't be a moment." The blonde shook his head, smiling at the gratitude in the other's voice.
"I hope that I - we don't regret this."
"Sebastian - Over here." The freckled teen peered from behind the ornate brazier, figuring it was safe he made his way other to the other two Slytherins.
"These braziers grant access to the Scriptorium," Ominis mumbled as Sebastian looked around the corridor.
"Now you'll share? You wouldn't tell me when I practically begged."
"It wasn't you who told me what I needed to hear." Ominis huffed as he turned back to Nathan, "Opening the entrance has something to do with threes."
"Well - three heads are better than one."
"It's two heads are better than one."
"And by that logic three is better than two. Simple mathematics Ominis."
Nathan left them to argue about numbers, he rolled his eyes as he gazed around the corridor his eyes narrowed at the three unlit braziers. He looked back at his friends about to mention it to them but noticed they were still in a heated battle of wits.
'They really do bicker like an old married couple.' He thought as he cast confringo. The slight explosion startled the arguing boys.
"What in the name of Merlin are you doing?" Ominis asked as he covered his ears. Nate did feel slightly bad about that.
"Lighting the braziers." He spoke like it was the simplest thing to understand. He cast the blasting spell twice more when he heard the sound of stone grinding on stone.
"Wait - something's happening," Sebastian exclaimed as he moved away from the wall.
In the arch stone wall behind Ominis, a dark pathway opened up. Nathan made his way over, grimacing at the sight of cobwebs.
"That's a lot of stairs." He remarked as he couldn't see the end of the spiral.
"I hope we're ready for this." The blonde teen spoke, his voice uneasy and shaking. The new fifth-year worried that he had pushed the boy too far.
II
"Dark, ominous corridors. My favourite." Sebastian tried to lighten the sullen mood as they descended the unlit spiral staircase.
"No comment." Ominis was not amused. The tan teen quietly cast Lumos as the other two bickered, he had quickly learnt to tune them out.
"Come on, that was a good one." There was the sound of stone grating on stone again, he ran back to the stairs only to find it completely blocked off. "Looks like a locked door, we may want to look around." Sebastian sounded way too calm for the situation they had found themselves in.
Out of nervousness, Nathan ran his fingers through his hair, ruffling the tufts and then making sure the fluffy locks fell so they were hiding his right eye. It was a nervous habit he had gained as an early teen, it didn't help that he was told by the majority of his family that he had to hide his right eye, or more so the skin around it. He took a deep breath and walked back into the stone room. He noticed a bit of parchment in a small alcove that was large enough to fit a candelabra.
"A journal entry," he took a moment to scan the words, eyes widening at the somewhat familiar name that had signed it, "signed by Noctua Gaunt."
"Gaunt? Ominis - your family was here."
"I know, she was my aunt." Did Nathan know something about Ominis that Sebastian did not? He grinned at the thought. He made his way over to Sebastian, who was examining an ornate metal door, he tripped over some loose stones and yelped as he tumbled down.
"Are you alright?" The blonde was quick to his side, obviously on edge from being locked in that room.
"I'm fine, just tripped - huh." He glanced at the stones, he noticed there seemed to be part of an image etched in them like a broken jigsaw.
"What is it?" Ominis asked as he helped Nathan up off the ground.
"These stones - they look like they should fit together." He quickly picked his wand up from where he dropped it on the ground and cast repairo on the stones. They began joining back together, like time was reversing on the stone and remade a stone wall carving in the shape of a man holding a snake.
"That must be the voice I hear," Ominis remarked once the wall carving was fixed, "the voice is ancient - sinister."
"You hear a voice?" The tan teen asked worried for his friend.
"It started when you repaired that relief. I hear a whisper saying 'Speak to me'." He took a moment to take in a deep breath, regaining his composure, "I'm a Parselmouth - I can hear and speak to snakes. Nearly all known Parselmouths are descendants from Salazar Slytherin."
"I'd like to be able to talk to snakes, though I think I've been doing that recently." Nathan snidely commented earning a chuckle from the blonde.
"You might not want the ability to speak Parceltongue. It's often associated with Dark Wizards. I hadn't spoken it in ages, but I'd wager if I speak it now, the door will open. I'm hoping you're having second thoughts."
"Believe me, I am having thoughts - but I'm still convinced we should go on ahead."
"It's ironic. When I left home I vowed to leave the Dark Arts behind. And yet, here I am. Stand back." He took a few steps away from the other while Ominis stood in front of the ornate metal door. "I can't believe I'm doing this." It was the most interesting sound to hear coming from another human mouth, the hissing, the rolling of the tongue, it was astounding.
The two entwined snakes on the door glowed as they travelled upwards, unravelling themselves to allow access through the door.
"It worked! Ominis, you possess a rare ability indeed." Nathan couldn't help but stare in awe at the other boy, who had a slight dusting of pink on his cheeks.
"Between the two of you, I'm starting to feel left out." Sebastian piped up. Nathan jolted, he had honestly forgotten that he was there. He took a moment to process what he had offhandedly said, he sent a glare the freckled boy's way. He never regretted telling Sebastian about his not-so-little secret more than in that moment.
"Between the two of us?" Ominis asked.
"I - Never mind." It looked like Sebastian caught Nathan's glare and decided it was best to shut his mouth.
"That's - that's something I'll explain another time." He'll spill his own secrets thank you very much.
"Alright." The three of them pressed forward only for them to come face to face with a metal grate. There was also another alcove but this one seemed to have a statue of a coiled snake placed inside.
"There's no clear way forward." Even Sebastian seemed frustrated with the seemingly never-ending maze.
"Like a maze. Salazar Slytherin most likely wanted this to be difficult to solve." Ominis commented on his ancestor. The metal door they came through clanked and groaned as it shut itself.
"The door we came from - it closed, and there's more than one gate a head." As Nathan moved further in he came to a gate that was half lifted. He ducked to go underneath, the further into the room he got the louder the hissing and whisper became, he could hear them in the corridor, but in there it sounded like it was coming from the walls themself. It unnerved him and to calm himself he brushed his fingers through his hair. He pressed forward, setting his sights on the unlit torch in the corner of the room.
"Incendio." He muttered lighting the torch and letting it chase away the unsettling darkness. Next to the torch was another coiled snake statue. Nathan peered at it curiously, wondering how it fits in with the maze. He took a closer look and there were symbols on the two dials that made up the base. He daren't touch it, not trusting that it wouldn't hurt him in some way once he laid his fingers on it. He went back under the gate into the hallway. He noticed another gate that was fully closed off from the hallway he was in.
The gate was on the left side of the wall, he noticed a diamond shape in the middle of the metal with two symbols etched into it. Symbols that looked the same as the ones on the snake's dials. The top symbol looked a tad bit like a cat with no head, but part of it was scrubbed out so he couldn't be too sure. And the bottom one looked like an unfinished square that was turning into a triangle.
With the new information, he ran back to the room, straight to the snake's dials. He began to turn the bottom to the symbol he was sure of, as the dial moved the snake uncoiled itself, raised and pulled itself back, waiting to strike.
"The dial requires focus." He mumbled to himself.
"Aunt Noctua said the same. It may take practice to solve it." Ominis spoke up. Nathan struggled to find the symbol of the failed cat on the top dial, the longer he took the louder the hissing and whispers in the walls got.
It seemed like his time was up. The snake lurched forward and lashed at his cheek. Nathan yelped in pain and stumbled back upon the impact.
"Nathan!" He heard both boys yell. The clanking of metal was the only indication that one of them was crawling their way over to him. He held his cheek, in utter disbelief.
"I'm fine, just didn't expect that snake to strike." He yelled back trying to reassure the boys. Suddenly his vision was filled with soft brown hair and warm brown eyes. Sebastian's fingers hovered over his hand covering his cheek almost like he was asking for permission.
"Let me see?" It was a good thing it was dark. Nathan's eyes were wide, not expecting the close proximity of the brunette and his uninjured cheek was burning up. He quickly obliged to the other's request, he turned his head to the side and dropped his hand.
"I'm fine, really, just a shock." The black-haired teen felt Sebastian's warm fingers dust over his cheekbones, he winced when he went a bit too close to the bite but did not pull away.
"Merlin! You're bleeding." The brunette quickly searched the pockets of his robes.
"Really, it's-"
"If you say fine one more time I'll smack you upside the head." He threatened and Nathan clamped his mouth shut.
"Here." The gentle voice from next to them caused both of them to jump. Nate had no idea what the blonde had made his way over to them. He was holding out a plain white handkerchief.
"Ah, just what I was looking for, thank you." He eagerly took the hankey and gently placed it against Nathan's cheek.
"There was no need to ruin a perfectly good handkerchief." He huffed, exasperated at the two older Slytherins. He took over, holding the hankey to his cheek himself.
"It's not ruined, it's being used for its purpose. Now - are you alright? Can you stand?" Ominis's voice was like honey, gentle but filled with worry.
"I'm alright," He found himself nodding, "I can stand." The freckled teen finally moved away, he pulled himself up and offered his hand out for the tan teen to take. Nathan pulled the hankey way feeling his blood grow tacky around the puncture. He took the brunette's hand and allowed the other to help pull him up.
"Thank you, both of you. I swear I'll wash this before I return it."
"Keep it, please, it is good to have a spare if you're ever in situations such as this one." Nate nodded and turned back to the snake dial.
"I think I figured out how those work. On each gate there's two symbols, on the dials there's a choice of multiple symbols, I think we have to match them up to find our way out of here."
"That's brilliant." Sebastian patted him on the arm as he looked closer at the snake.
"Although, I believe there is a time limit, I took too long and, well, you saw what happened." At his words the brunette took a large step back, deciding to admire from afar.
"What are the marks for this one?" He asked as he studied the dials.
"The bottom one is a three-sided square with a triangle inside - and the top one sort of looks like a cat with no head." He earnt a raised eyebrow from the blonde at that description. The sounds of the dials turning again caught both of their attention.
"Sebastian - What are you doing?" Nathan spoke at a rushed pace, he panicked for the other boy, not wanting him to be harmed as well.
"Changing the symbols - I trust your judgment." He felt a rush of heat climb up to his ears. Ominis grasped his hand in anticipation, fearing the worst as his best friend put himself in danger. Nathan squeezed his hand hoping that it would reassure the blonde. Sebastian finished turning the top dial just as the snake pulled back to strike. At the correct sequence, the snake coiled back and settled itself. "I think that did it."
Metal clanking came from the hallway. The sounds of a new gate opening. Sebastian and Nathan exchanged a glance, which seemed like all they needed for a plan to form. Nathan ran from room to room where the snake dials were located, while Sebastian called out the corresponding symbols. If he so happened to find another of Noctua's journal entrees he tucked it away in the inner pocket of his school robe, he had planned to give the to Ominis once they were out of there.
Finally - the last gate opened.
III
"Seems Slytherin liked to play games," Ominis commented as they stood outside the last room.
"Must run in the family." Sebastian whipped back.
"Look in a mirror, Sebastian." Nate bit back a laugh at Ominis's sarcastic tone.
There was a long corridor through the last gate, with a black sealed door in the shape of an arch at the end of it.
"I spotted something ahead, looks troubling."
"This whole place is troubling, but, for my aunt's sake, we cannot stop now."
Once the three of them entered the corridor, the torches that lined the walls lit by themselves. The whispering from the walls grew louder, to the point that Nathan couldn't hear anything else around him. The air grew heavy and thick, he struggled to suck in a single breath. He felt unable to move like the immobulus charm was cast upon him.
"Nathan?" Ominis questioned as he noticed his friend wasn't moving, as he got closer he could hear the other's wheezing breaths. He placed a hand on his shoulder and worried about how stiff the boy was under his touch. "Nathan?" He asked again but still received no reply. Ominis started to panic, "Sebastian, there's something wrong." Sebastian was quick to abandon his examination of the corridor and rush over to his friends.
"He's hexed." He noticed once he took a good look at the tan teen. Around the rim of his left eye, since he always had the right eye covered, was bright red and unblinking even when he snapped his finger in front of his face. He was stock still and breaths were coming in at uneven paces.
"Nathan? Can you hear me?" When Sebastian received no answer he pulled out his wand in a rush. "Finite Incantatem." He called out as the blue light rushed towards the new fifth year. Nate swiftly drew in a breath and sagged forward. "You alright, mate?" The brunette asked as the other regained control of his own body.
"Yeah - yes, thank you." He took a moment to straighten himself, "what was that?"
"A Hex, and a nasty one at that."
"Salazar Slytherin probably used it to make sure only pure-blooded wizards could enter," Ominis explained.
"Let's - let's get out of here, please." The three of them made their way towards the black door. Upon closer inspection, the door was moving, like it was made of liquid. An image of a horrified woman graced the door and the word Crucio was carved into the floor. But Nate's eyes pulled his attention to the pile of bones to the right of the door, a page of parchment next to them. He picked up the parchment. "Ominis. A skeleton. And Noctua's last journal entry. She mentions being trapped here - blocked by an unforgivable curse."
"This is where she died. This is where we'll die. I shouldn't have listened to either of you."
"Ominis, I'm truly sorry about you aunt. But, I know what to do. It's going to be difficult." Sebastian interrupted.
"You know what to do?" Nathan asked, intrigued by where this was going.
"Tortured faces on the door and Crucio is etched into the stone. My guess is if we cast the Cruciatus Curse, the door will open. That's why Noctua died. She had no one to cast the curse on. Ominis has the most experience with this. He should cast it. You seem to be in Ominis's favour - will you ask him about this?"
"He does seem a bit cross with you," he sighed as he ran a hand down his face, "I'll speak with him."
"Good, work your magic - so to speak."
"All of this could have been avoided." Ominis was pacing, he sounded as if he was on the verge of tears.
"Ominis, I hadn't imagined we'd end up trapped like this."
"Salazar Slytherin did. He's to blame for many unimaginable things. I overheard you and Sebastian, and I won't do it. The Cruciatus Curse is pure torture, I would know."
"You would know?"
"I'm surprised Sebastian hasn't told you. My family has no qualms about casting the curse on muggles as if it were a sport. The screams - Oh the screams were horrific. The first time I was asked to cast it, I refused - I couldn't do it. As punishment, my family cast it on me - It was the worse pain imaginable - so when they asked me to cast it again, I did. I was only a child - but the pain I had caused, I can never forgive myself."
"Ominis, I'm so sorry - that sounds horrifying. But you were a child and by the sounds of it, you had no choice. But there's one thing that sets you apart from your family."
"That I could not see the pain I had caused." The blonde scoffed.
"No. You regret it. If your family cast the curse like it was a sport, I see no remorse there, and here you are still feeling guilty about it years ahead."
"I'm as guilty as the worst of my family. Unforgivable Cursed won't work unless you really mean them. I had to want to cause pain. And for that, I shall never forgive myself. That spell's the reason I have no family left. You and Sebastian will need to sort out another solution." He went back to pacing, "If you cast Crucio, you will regret it forever." Nathan didn't doubt that. There was something about that Dark Arts that was haunting, it niggled at the back of his mind like a forgotten dream He made his way back over to Sebastian, and a new wave of hopelessness washed over him.
"What do we do now? Ominis is not going to cast the Cruciatus Curse again."
"Ridiculous. As if dying here is a better option than casting a damned spell."
"I don't blame him," Nathan cut off the brunette. "And judging by what Ominis told me, once was enough." Sebastian sighed.
"It's up to us. I can teach you Crucio or I can cast it on you." The ravenette fumed. Sebastian know how to cast that damned curse that whole time but was hell bend on Ominis reliving his trauma.
"Wait-" he held his tongue, "you didn't say you knew how to cast Crucio."
"Because I'm not sure I do. Ominis knows that yet he's left us no choice - I don't yearn to follow in Noctua Gaunt's footsteps. I think I can cast it if I had to."
"I don't want to learn such a spell. You'll need to cast it on me."
"I shan't forget this." Nathan took a deep breath and both boys took a few steps away from each other. "Ready?"
"As I'll ever be." Sebastian's wand glowed red.
"Crucio." Red lightning shot out from his wand and went straight into Nathan's chest.
Ominis was right, the pain was excruciating. His bones felt like they were twisting and rearranging themselves, his chest felt like it was caving in and expanding too far at the same time, and every inch of his skin felt like hot pokers were being dragged across him. He couldn't continue to stand, his knees buckled sending him to the ground. He gripped his stomach, not that it was going to help, his forehead was resting on the dusty stone floor. His head felt like it was overfilled with cotton and it was trying to burst out of his ears. Screams were ripped out of his throat.
Sebastian rushed to his side, feeling instant guilt for causing such pain. Ominis stood still in shock eyes wide and unmoving. Nathan's screams had sent him back to his childhood, it was an iron grip that he could not shake off. He wanted to go over and help in some way, but he was rooted to the ground.
Sebastian gathered Nathan up in his arms, the raven's head no longer resting on the filthy ground. He rocked both of them back and forth, hoping the small gesture of comfort would help. Eventually, his screams subsided, and the intense pains were fading but were quickly followed by aches and muscle spasms. Now that silence surrounded them, Ominis made his way over, slowly and unsure, he joined them on the ground.
"Is it always like this?" The brunette asked.
"Yes - yes, it is." The blonde replied.
Nathan's forehead had grown sweaty, from the excursion of running around and the pain, and his hair had begun to stick to his skin. Not wanting the fluffy lock to irritate his friend any further, Sebastian brushed the tufts out of both of his eyes, he gasped at what was uncovered.
"What is it?" The blonde asked upon hearing the gasp, fearing for the worse.
"Nathan- he, he has a large scar covering his eye."
"Is that all?"
"I just - he always has that eye covered."
"And now you know why."
"But its-"
"Stop being nosy - Nathan will tell us if he wants us to know." Ominis cuts in. His friend really was too nosy for his own good, always wanting to know other people's business.
A soft groan caught both of their attention.
"You back with us?" Sebastian asked the teen in his arms.
"I think so." He moaned as he tried to sit up. With Sebastian's help, he rested against the cool stone. The liquid door next to them melted away, revealing a room that looked like a study.
"Are you alright?" The blonde asked.
"That pain - it was excruciating. But I'll survive. Let's keep moving."
"We made it. We found Salazar Slytherin's Scriptorium." Sebastian peered into the room in awe. He quickly got up, briefly forgetting about his friends and entered the study.
IV
The study was completely made of stone, it looked very much like the headmaster's office with a table in the middle of the lower floor and two staircases on either side heading to the upper level. Above the table was a giant statue of Salazar Slytherin's face with snakes coming out in every direction behind him.
Sebastian was already exploring the upper level of the room, looking through anything he thought looked remotely interesting. He stayed away from the flagon, who knows how long that had been there.
Nathan placed his hand flat against the wall and used that to try and get up. He felt a slender hand on his shoulder, Ominis was already standing up and helped steady his ascent.
"Here." Once Nathan was standing, he used the wall for support, the blonde offered his arm.
"Thank you." The blonde pulled the other's arm over his should so that he took most of the younger teen's weight as they walked.
"I can't believe we're here." The taller teen spoke with a thankful tone in his voice, now that there was a chance for them to escape with their lives. He led the tan teen to an armchair next to one of the golden floor-length candelabras. "Is this alright? I just thought you could rest here and I'll try and find us a way out, but if you-"
"Ominis, stop fretting so much - I'll catch my breath here. I trust you'll find us a way out." The dark-haired teen interrupted him.
"Very well." Ominis took off searching around the room. And Nathan had a moment to himself.
There was a building pressure behind his eyes with shapes dancing in his vision. The headache developing was the worse he's ever had. His chest no longer felt like it was going to cave in, instead, it rattled with every breath. All his muscles were twitching, his thighs were the worse off. He tried to look around to see if anything caught his eye when he spied a large book on the table.
"Sebastian, there's a book down here you should look at," Nate called out, the brunette rushed down the stairs. The tan teen moved a hand to his templet and began to rub his fingers in small circles, hoping to chase away the worse of the headache.
"Mate, you're not looking too good." Sudden worry rushed through Sebastian. His friend looked shockingly pale and sick. He couldn't help but compare the state of him to Anne, but he quickly chased that thought away. They weren't in the same situation, there was no need to compare them.
"Thanks, that's a real confidence boost." Nate didn't even open his eyes when he replied. Sebastian shrugged, he didn't expect his friend's brazen words, but that was probably the exhaustion. After all, he was bitten by a snake statue, hexed for not being pue-blooded and went through the Cruciatus Curse, the filter must have gone out the window.
"Looks like a spell book of some kind. This is incredible. A Hogwarts founder's possession - what an honour. Still can't believe Ominis never told me about his aunt and what she found."
"Oh how interesting," Nathan wasn't really paying attention, too busy trying to hear his over the roaring in his ears, "What will you do with the spell book?"
"What I do with every book: read it. Having professors as parents ingrained that habit early on. But I can do that later. For now, I say we explore this room. It's breathtaking."
"I've been getting an uneasy feeling about this place. We shouldn't linger here. Let's find a way out, please." Ominis sounded desperate and Nathan agreed with him.
"I don't want to leave, but I owe you - both of you. Without both of you, we'd never have made it this far."
"We were lucky - we could have died - we must swear never to do this again." None of them spoke, Nathan out of pain, Sebastian not wanting to make a promise he might not keep and Ominis from being stuck in his own head.
"I think I've found a way out." Sebastian's voice was further away, he had gone back up the stairs to examine a precarious-looking statue. He pressed an oddly placed stone on the statue and it swung around revealing an empty space.
"Let's get out of here." Ominis's voice was closed again. Nathan opened his eyes and was pleasantly greeted by beautiful unseeing eyes. Ominis was offering his arm to him again.
"Yes, let's." They resumed their previous position with the blonde helping Nate walk.
The three of them crammed themselves into the opening, which felt like it was only meant for two people, but they made it work. It briskly spun and threw them out. Sebastian was at the bottom of the pile, Nathan on top of his and Ominis bounced off of Nathan then fell to the side. Nathan groaned as a fresh wave of pain engulfed his body. The brunette helped him stand up against the wall for support. His legs felt boneless as they began to shake.
"Are we outside the Common Room - it was right here, under our noses the entire time," Sebastian spoke getting frustrated. He took a deep breath to calm himself and turned back to his friends. "Ominis, about your aunt-"
"Please, Sebastian. I meant what I said before. We swear right now never to engage in anything to do with Dark Magic again." Ominis raised his voice, his tone full of fear, worry and deep sadness.
"Understood. I'm truly sorry about your aunt, Ominis."
"I suppose after all of this, I am grateful to know what happened to her - thank you." Sebastian already had his head buried in that spellbook, he shot off wanting to find a quiet place to get lost in the pages. Ominis needed some time alone, he needed to grieve properly and Nathan faintly remembered about the other journal entries tucked in his pocket. Before he could call out both of the boys were gone.
"Guys?" That's when Nathan's legs gave out on him. He shoved his body backwards so that it would slide down the stone wall instead of falling flat on his face, he knew better, this wasn't his first time. His legs were sprawled out on the ground, his arms too heavy to move. The pain behind his eyes had gotten worse and he could barely see past the shapes. He felt his body droop, no longer able to keep holding him functioning.
The last thing he saw was something red and orange running towards him with a black shadow following behind.
"Nathan! Professor!" Nate's head lolled to the side as the two rushed to him. The world around him seeped into nothingness.