Basilisk (Dark Ominis Gaunt x OC gothic romance)

Chapter 32: The Keeper's Struggle

Another double basilisk today!

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~~Ariadne~~

She had been admittedly a bit nervous in the way here, but as the brunette man hugged Ominis so tightly in the doorway of the small home, it was worth all the worry. She'd been afraid that they wouldn't find Sebastian or Damien, or that something terrible would have happened to them, but Sebastian looked fine, if not a bit weary.

"Why did you not write me?" Ominis asked in a strained voice, leaning back from Sebastian again. "A year, Sebastian. I haven't heard anything in a whole year!"

"I'm sorry, I really am. I couldn't... it was too risky." Sebastian said softly. It was then that he looked behind Ominis again and saw her, his expression turning confused at the sight of her, before turning to Marie who stood nearby looking out at the countryside around the house.

"Ominis, who are these two?" Sebastian asked in confusion.

"Oh, this is my wife, Ariadne, and her sister Marie." Ominis introduces them.

"Your... your WIFE?!" Sebastian balked in shock. "YOU GOT MARRIED?!"

"Yes," Ominis chuckled in amusement at his outburst.

"It's good to meet you, Sebastian. Ominis has told me a lot about you." She smiled happily at the chance to meet someone Ominis thought so much about.

"Why wasn't I invited?" Sebastian asked, sounding a bit hurt.

"It was... an arranged marriage." Ominis said uneasily. "Brought by my father."

"Oh." Sebastian said, giving Ariadne a suddenly cold and wary look that made her shrink back.

"Oh come off it, they like each other now so it turned out well. Don't give her a look like that." Marie hissed from behind Ominis.

"Look?" Ominis said in confusion. "Oh, Sebastian she's fine, she doesn't have any ties to my family at all. It's a bit of a long story, actually."

Sebastian glanced back to her, and she tensed under his judging gaze but held her chin high defiantly. Fuck him for judging her like that! Though she supposed he was just looking out for Ominis.

"Where's Damien, anyway? Is he still in Hogsmeade? I tried stopping at his house but no one answered." Ominis added, leaning forward as if trying to listen for someone further in the house.

"He's... in the forest, probably." Sebastian sighed. "A lot happened, Ominis... a lot. You need to be prepared for when you see him again, so I'll tell you along the way." Sebastian sighed, suddenly sounding tired again as he walked outside, taking a key out of his pocket to lock the door tight.

Ominis turned tense, a frown coming over his face. "Does this have to do with why you didn't write me?" He asked quietly.

"Yes." Sebastian answered sadly. "Come on, let's walk. I don't want to say anything while we're in town." He looked around warily, and Ariadne glanced around too, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. What was he so worried about?

Once they were a fair distance outside of Feldcroft Sebastian finally started talking, breaking the heavy silence that had fallen over them. "About a year ago we were hunting for dark wizards in the woods like usual. They'd started to hole up in little cabins and camps in the trees, so we were hunting them down. It was pretty normal, we encountered a few that were pretty tough, but we got through them still. We rested for a few days before going back out and found a little hut in the woods. Pretty normal, except for the shield around it."

Ominis hissed softly in alarm. A shield around a hut? That was alarming. "Don't tell me..."

"We broke through it, of course." Sebastian continued.