Run Away ✧ Sebastian Sallow

chapter fifty

cross to bear by Balance and Composure

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The next couple of days had been more stressful than Sebastian Sallow had been prepared for. The hours after leaving the ruins of the Repository were a nightmare for him. Suddenly, he had all of this freedom that he hadn't been used to in years, but no idea where to go or what to do with himself. There was so much urgency in those hours and the fear of not being able to help left him with a paralyzing feeling. It felt like things were happening so fast around him that he was simply a passenger to the events only able to go with the motions. Mostly he had just trusted in Ominis' sense of knowledge on what to do.

All Sebastian had been able to focus on was the fact that Antheia had been hurt and he didn't exactly know what their opinions had been. The whole castle had felt the rumbling of the room below them. It would only be a few hours before the staff discovered the Repository and then contacted the Ministry, within a few days they would begin to put the puzzle pieces together in regards to Ancient Magic and begin their search for the person that had claimed it. They needed to get out of the castle as soon as possible before they got caught up in the chaos of it. The only issue was that he had no idea where to go to get away from it. The sudden freedom was overwhelming to him, it wasn't as if he had a place to return to, there was no home to go and hide. It was a quick panic that set in when he realized that he had no idea what to do.

They had first gone to the Undercroft, but they couldn't stay there. Anne healed as much as she could to all of them, focusing on bleeding wounds first and anything broken because the sooner they could get out of the castle then the safer they would all be. The whole castle had come alive during that time. With students pouring back inside to celebrate the end of the Quidditch season and their new cup champions, it was overflowing with people, and that made him more nervous.

Sebastian was still an escaped prisoner. All it would take is one person to catch a glimpse of him and be gone.

Anne and Ominis had both been aware of this fact too. They couldn't just leave the Undercroft without a plan, but they also needed to get Antheia more help. She was alive, but clearly in distress. They had done the best they could heal her, to stop the bleeding and mend the few broken bones, but it wouldn't be enough. 

The greatest injury that she had suffered hadn't been physical, it was her mind. Sebastian didn't let go of holding onto her as she slipped in and out of consciousness for the next several hours. He was afraid that if he let go she'd fall and get more hurt. Although that was one of many reasons that he held onto her so tightly that night. They all agreed that they needed to bring her somewhere she'd be safe.

When Ominis apparated them away from Hogwarts that night he didn't expect to end up in a new town. His friend had mentioned speaking with his brother to work something out, Sebastian had fully expected that was where they were heading, to the Gaunt Manor. Rather he had found himself in a small rainy town that seemed vaguely familiar yet he wasn't sure if he had been there himself before and it had an eerie presence of walking through a dreamlike déjà vu. It was already night by that point and everything was dark. His friend knocked on the door to a tailor shop and a man with one eye opened the door. 

To say that he had been uncomfortable had been an understatement. Ominis did most of the talking, then so did Anne, but he had no idea what to say. In reality, he hadn't even listened that much because he was so worried about being recognized by the stranger.

The man with one eye was kind. He let them all in and out of the rain. It was clear by his silence that he decided there were questions he rather leave unanswered for the night although he hadn't been sure of his reasoning. When the man pointed Sebastian down a hallway to bring Antheia to so she could rest, he hadn't realized until then that he had been speaking to her father. Nor did he realize that he was in her house and bringing her to her own bedroom.