All The Magic We Made (Sebastian Sallow x Fem!OC)

I Enter The Cave Of Possibly Giant Fucking Spiders (Maybe)

When the world falls back into place, I stumble on an desolate, grassy field. I barely notice the shock of Apparating this time; I'm too disoriented and panicked to think of anything but a long string of highly colourful words. I gently lower Helen to the ground, kneeling next to her and watching helplessly as she writhes in pain. The skin around her wound had been tinted green, like a sickly bruise spreading. This isn't just a regular scratch.

I feel the nausea build up in my stomach again, only managing to whisper, "You're hurt."

"Go," she wheezes, breathing heavily. "The cave. You're safe now. I'll be alright...once I---"

Before she can even finish her sentence, she Apparates out of the field to God-knows-where. I'm left kneeling there, my heart pounding in my chest and overcome with worry.

But there's only one thing to do now, isn't there? Go to the cave in Upper Hogsfield.

Shakily standing, I do a quick scan of my area. A wooden sign that reads UPPER HOGSFIELD points up the path. Helen Apparated me right where I need to be. 

I follow the path, keeping my wand accessible in case of any altercations that might come up. The empty land starts to show more signs of life as I go along, the occasional cottage or cart scattered across the wide fields. I cross a rickety bridge, smiling hello at one of the villagers passing by, his arms loaded with cargo. 

It's a quiet place, Upper Hogsfield. But a nice type of quiet, the type that puts you at peace. It may not be the most beautiful or interesting place I've seen, but look, a dandelion growing at the edge of the cobblestone road! Look, a small cat, nestled on an abandoned cart and basking in the sunlight. This place is full of tiny little pieces of magic.

After a little while, I wander off the beaten path and into a cluster of trees that somewhat resembles a small field. As the rocky mountainside becomes more and more visible as I go on, the distinct outline of a cave opening begins to take shape. It must be the one Anne told me about.

The entrance is dark---so dark, in fact, I can't see a single thing that might be in it. Am I about to shit myself? Yeah, probably. I mean, who knows what's in there? Another dragon? Another troll? A giant-ass spider?

Despite that fear, I need to see this through. I'm too far in to back out now, and I don't want to. The truth deserves to be told. For Helen, if nothing else.

God, I hope she'll be okay.

This is something I've had to do more often lately, it seems. Swallowing my fear and stepping forward. Being afraid and then doing it anyway.

So here we go. Deep breath, light my wand, continue forward. 

The cave is a dank place, the whisper of lumos the only thing guiding my way. However, it only takes a few steps into the cave before I come across a lit torch. A lit torch in an abandoned cave?

Maybe it's not as abandoned as it seems.

"Nox," I whisper, putting out my lit wand. The cave fills with the warm glow of fire, shedding light on my every step.

After wandering deeper into the cave, I find myself in a circular room. How odd, there are no lit torches here. And no way forward. And I don't remember how I got here, which winding path I took that led me here from the outside. What if I lose my way out? My chest clenches slightly in a sudden bout of claustrophobia lightheadedness washing over my mind. 

Then, for some strange reason, I remember Sebastian. That troll attack, something that feels like a forever ago. How he put my hand on his chest and guided my breathing---calmly, patiently, gently. I place my palm over my own chest, my eyes fluttering shut as I take myself back to that moment, pretending my palm rests on the chest of some other. That I'm not the one breathing slowly, deeply, but someone else. Someone who cares.

Easy. I've got you.

A few seconds pass before I feel okay again, my eyes opening. I shake out my arms, clear my head, and take a moment to light my wand and really look at my surroundings. The walls are lined with four unlit torches, bolted in each quarter-mark. 

"Incendio," I whisper, aiming my wand at one of the torches. The spell hits the torch, but instead of lighting it, the spell bounces right off and dissipates in midair.

What the hell?

The glow of the short-lived flame brought something to my attention, though. A symbol, scrawled on the rims of each torch. I bring my lit wand closer to the symbols, my eyes squinting to inspect them.

A triangle on the first one I check.

Second one: a triangle again, but with a straight line horizontally striking through the tip.

Third: an upside down triangle.

Fourth: another upside down triangle, expect with a (you guessed it) horizontal line through the tip.

Okay, okay, I know what you're thinking. That's the most generic description ever. Because they're generic symbols. I get it.

But here's the weird thing. These generic symbols, they seem oddly, generically familiar. Like some sort of memory long in my past that's barely peeking over the surface now. A very generic memory. Which is super generic.

Okay, I'll stop.

I continue walking around to each torch, looking at the symbols again, trying to figure out where I've seen them before. I resort to kneeling on the ground and drawing each symbol in the dirt in a circle. I straighten and brush my hand on my pants, chewing on my lip. 

It clicks, faster than I can comprehend. Suddenly, I'm back in potions class, standing with crossed arms and a stubborn frown as Sebastian points to the four generic triangles in my potions book, holding back laughter as he explains what each of them mean after I've spent the past twenty minutes crashing out over them. Cocky bastard, acting like he knows everything about potions and cryptic symbols. I mean, he'd be right, but still. He could be a bit more humble. 

I remember exactly how he explained the symbols to me, too. These symbols with infuriatingly simple meanings, arranged in a circle in my textbook.

The four elements. Fire, water, air, and earth.