TW: Language, Violence, Blood, Gore.
Dracos POV
As the sun crested over the horizon they pulled into the barren cove of their destination. Draco could hear his heartbeat in his ears as he exited the ship. They came up to the open cave, a shallow amount of water flooded the floors as they ventured further in, the light dissipating behind them. Draco got a shiver down his spine, whether it was the wind, or the fear, he knew not. He was still a bit queasy from the night before, he learned he didn't do well on ships, he much preferred solid ground, or open air than the ocean. Though the waves seemed comforting in comparison to this damp and leaking ground that Voldemort apparently found sacred.
"Place gives me the fucking creeps." Draco said, he folded his arms and shivered again, "And it's cold as hell in here."
"With the absence of the sun, any place will be cold." Narcissa said, peeking back towards the shred of light that entered the cave."
"There." Demian said, pointing to the center of the room, where a small stone offering pilar was nestled on the ridge of a rock, peeking out from the water. He started to head for it, but Narcissa held her arm out.
"Wait." She said, looking into the few inches of water that stood between them and their seemingly safe destination. "Let me go first." She said, inhaling sharply and putting her foot to the water. It didn't sink, as if she was standing on top of the liquid.
"Be careful" She warned, "Something is off."
Draco went to put one foot down, he too stood on the top of the suspended liquid, safe. Demian followed behind him, however when he went to take his first step his foot fell into a deep abyss, his entire pant leg became soaked, and he desperately reached up for help. Draco quickly snatched him up, cradling him in his arms.
"She said be careful, you know. Maybe you should sit this one out." Draco said, trying to hold onto his courage, but Demian could hear him swallow nervously, and hear his heartbeat that seemed to be racing quicker than ever before.
'M-maybe you're right." Demian said, peering down at the seemingly endless puddle. He trembled a bit as Draco walked him back to the edge, where he stood there in anticipation, watching them cross. One foot at a time they slowly walked towards the pedestal standing in the center. Narcissa finally hit solid ground, and she reached for her son, he looked to her with a certain hint of fear, and she started to coax him over to her.
"You're going to be fine, Draco. You're almost there." She said with as much confidence as she could muster. He went to take another step forward and his leg went straight in, he called out to his mother in a terrified voice, and Demian stood on the sidelines contemplating whether or not he should jump in.
"Stay back Demian." Narcissa said, leaning over the edge of the rock formation that protected her from the dark water. He reached for her hand and his other foot fell through, he gripped desperately to the smooth surface, grasping for her "M-mother please, I'm scared." He said, his words trembling as he struggled to stay above the eerily still water beneath him.
"You mustn't be afraid Draco, this is a test. Stay strong." She said, leaning forward more and gripping on to one of his hands trying to keep him above. Though his feet kicked, the water felt thick, and he struggled to stay afloat by traditional means.
"Draco stop!" Narcissa shouted suddenly, her words echoed through the cave, traveling back to them multiple times. He obliged and the water became still when he stopped kicking. Though he started to sink, Narcissa spoke to him, "You can do this, Draco. Look at me. Just look at me." She pleaded; her hand clasped tightly around his. He nodded to her, his eyes still glazed over he took a few deep breaths. "I'm not afraid." He whispered to himself.
"Louder!" Narcissa commanded, and he repeated his phrase several times, his voice showing more presence each time. The water started to thin, his buoyant frame could float once more and he breathed a sigh of relief, him mother pulled him up as the water grip loosened on him, along with his apparent fear.
When he reached shore he didn't say anything, he simply hugged his mother tightly in his arms for a few moments. They slowly stood up together and approached the pyre, it was empty, smooth and a darker stone than the rest of the sediment around it. Narcissa stroked it with her fingers once, her hand only trembling slightly.
"We've finally made it." Draco said, he turned to the woman who birthed him and saw her glossy eyes. And an emotion he wasn't familiar with. "Mother, what is it?"
She remained silent for a moment, "Draco, whatever happens, know that I love you. That your father, even in his darkest moments, loves you too."
Draco studied her, but couldn't find the words to respond, "You have to do your best to remain calm, no matter what you see." She said, her words confusing him even more. She slid a small dagger from her pocket, resting it on the side of the catalyst that would hopefully save her son.
"For the blood portion?" He asked, but she still didn't answer. For a moment, all they could hear was the lap of the water against the shore behind them. That small shrivel of light beamed down perfectly on the dark deed. Narcissa held her palm up, with a clean slice she cut into her flesh, the blood dripped into the pyre, and she winced, handing the knife to Draco. "Now you." She said. He held his hand up, the familiar nights of trying to cut himself free from this life flashed before him. He shook them free of his thoughts and swiftly slid the knife down his palm, trying not to cry out. His own blood dripped into the pyre, the drips mixing effortlessly with the shallow pool Narcissa left behind. She clasped his bleeding palm in hers, that eerie mark staring back at the both of them as they held their dripping hands over the catalyst. Narcissa squeezed, forcing more of the hot liquid out, Demian stood on the edges watching in horror.
"The words, Draco." Narcissa said, she gave him a look of confidence and did her best to form a smile. He took the note from his pocket, undoing their hands and Narcissa picked up the small dagger,
"Don't watch, whatever happens." She said to him, a few scattered tears fell down her cheeks.
"Mother what, what are you doing?" He said, the scrap of paper in his hands.
"Just read the words, Draco. Don't look. Please." She pleaded with him. He turned, just to the left, but he could still see her in his peripheral vision. He gulped quietly and began reading the incantation, the thin sheet of paper trembled in his loose grasp.
"Accipe hoc maledictum signum" He began, the words rolled off his tongue in a foreign tone, without determination.
"Draco stop, we only get one shot at this." Narcissa explained, "If you don't commit, if you don't handle this right now, we may never get another chance." She said, wiping her cheek with the back of her hand.
She smeared blood over her fair complexion without a care. He nodded, gathering what strength he had left he began again, reading the words louder and with more clarity, but before he could finish, a shrill scream came from Narcissa. The small dagger in her hand was stabbed into her left eye socket, in the moment she panicked and began wildly slicing trying to remove her eye for the sacrifice. The blood poured from her wound as she struggled to remove the appendage from it's rightful spot. Though Draco wasn't facing her, he could see it, hear it, feel it, his hands shook more as he tried to continue reading the words, louder than his mothers screams. Crimson liquid fell down her cheek as she screamed, a trail of blood streamed down her face, just like tears as she desperately used the blunt end of the knife to pry her eye from its socket. Eventually she threw the knife down and chose a more medieval approach, her fingers. She screamed and clawed until it finally fell loose, it dropped into the catalyst with a satisfying bounce into the pool of their familial blood. Draco shuddered at the sound, though he knew what happened he tried to continue, "Quod me obligas ad obsequium tuum" He paused, tears streaming down his own cheeks as he felt his mothers hand grip his once more, eager for the finale, "Do alteri Quis me per tenebras dilexit!" He screamed the last bit and felt a gripping pain in his arm, he screamed out and turned to face his mother, the terrifying wound presenting itself to him in it's full glory. The mark pulsated, burned, ached, its black ink started to drain from his forearm, Narcissa squeezed his palm, the droplets of blood cascading down their arms into the stone that held her precious sacrifice. A black smoke erupted from the pyre, Draco examined his mothers beautiful retina staring back at him, engulfed by the black smoke it began to turn to ash, though there was no fire. His heart beat out of his chest, he struggled to breathe and watched the dark mark slowly start to leave his skin, that familiar pain and burning suddenly began to transfer and caused Narcissa to yell out, her already tired body shocked from another jolt of pain. He choked out, "Mother!" the familiar fear crept its way back in, her crimson tears fell freely as she begged, "No, Don't waver Draco, don't!" She pleaded, but in that moment, he couldn't control it. He felt another sharp pain, this time near his chest. His free hand gripped at it desperately as he looked to his mother for guidance.
"M-mother what's happening?" He said, shakily. But she didn't know. She simply watched, in horror as something spread through him. She dropped his hand and stepped close to him, her salty tears stung but she couldn't control them. She held her hand to his chest and watched as something claimed him, his skin turned gray as he begged her to make it stop, she tried to comfort him in this moment but found herself crying and panicking, the same as him,
"No, no it's going to be okay you're fine, you're fine." She lied to him, but that unwavering fear took control, and he was frozen in stone, that look stuck in his eye. Narcissa fell to her knees in front of him, she cried uncontrollably and Demian could no longer hold back, he jumped into the water, falling straight in. He struggled to stay above its thick vicious form, gasping for air until he remembered what was at stake. He tried to be still, to accept his fate in an attempt to seem like he wasn't afraid, but seeing Draco standing there turned to stone petrified him in a different way than his lover. He felt cold hands gripping at his ankles, he looked down and saw the shadows of dozens of bodies reaching for him. He tried to scream, but found no sound could be heard under the water. His fingers reached up desperately, searching for the crest of his dark demise and suddenly a hand shot down into the water, bloody and dripping. He clasped it tightly, Narcissa was screaming at him through the surface, but he heard nothing. His heart beat so quickly, it nearly stopped. In his moment of desperation, he held onto Narcissas hand with all his strength, his free hand found its way into his pocket, and he pulled out his trinket. They key his parents gave him. He looked through it, hoping for some sort of salvation. In that instance the opening showed a fragment of many memories, good, bad, sad, ugly, he saw their entire relationship in the blink of an eye and his need to live returned to him. He shook himself free of his fear, determined to make it to land. The shadow hands grip loosened, the water thinned and stilled, the screams of Narcissa pierced through the magic and his head finally crested the surface. He gasped for air and was pulled to the stone slab where he crawled his way to Dracos feet, gripping onto the hard surface that was once his clothing.
"What's happened, tell me what's happened." Demian said, begging. But Narcissa was too stunned to speak, she cried silent for a few moments, falling beside Demian at her sons feet once again.
"He....he wavered." She said. "And he isn't the recipient..." She ripped a piece of her clothing off and held it up to her face, blood dripped freely onto the smooth surface of the ground.
Demian just cried, clinging to the lifeless stone husk that his lover had turned into. "Please..." He begged, but didn't know what he was asking for.
"My...my son..." Narcissa said, she stood in front of him and caressed his cheek, it was solid, and cold. The terrified look forever burned into his being. She carelessly left blood decorating his now lifeless body. And then suddenly, she screamed. Louder than anything Demian had ever heard before. Her wails of sorrow and pain looking at Draco in his suspended state far surpassed any physical pain she endured that night. With her last remaining eye capable of tears, she cried more than even Demian.
For what seemed like hours the two of them couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't begin to accept or fathom what had happened to the person they both loved, endlessly.
"We...we have to do something." Demian said, choking out words quietly.
"Whatever has petrified Draco is far stronger than a little mandrake root will fix." Narcissa replied, ripping another strip of cloth from her now tattered skirts. This piece long and thin, she fashioned it around her eye, covering the battle wound she was determined to wear proudly.
"We will need to figure out however to cure this, straight from Voldemort himself. I can't think of any other way." Narcissa said, holding up her forearm where half a dark mark adorned her skin. "We we're so close. If only I hadn't cried out in pain in that moment." She said, the regret staining her words.
"No, you can't blame yourself." Demian said, hugging his knees. The hot tears of defeat dripped down onto the cold stone he sat upon.
"I will save my son. And you will help." Narcissa demanded, "It's the least you could do."
Her words pierced him like a knife, emotionally. But she knew she was right.
"If he hadn't met you, none of this would have happened." She said, a certain sour tone staining her words. "He was...no, he is my entire world." She said.
"Y-you're right." Demian said, he couldn't control his tears, "I swear I will fix this, even if it costs me my life." He promised, though he knew not how.
"Don't wager something you aren't willing to lose." She warned him, "No one else needs to die, but you do need to help me figure something out, and quickly. We must leave, now. And waste not another second." Narcissa said.
She stood up, giving her son one last look before she confidently left their stone prison, she walked across the water with ease, whatever fear she harbored long gone with her son. Demian stood at the edge of the water for a while, he rolled the key around in his hand begging it for strength but it wouldn't come. He finally turned around and approached Draco, sliding his arms around his waist. He cried softly, his once comforting warm place to retreat to a slab that reminded him of his failures.
"I'm so sorry." He said, "This is all my fault, and I will fix this. I swear to you." He promised. "I love you." He said, some part of him wishing he could hear him. "And I'll be back for you." He turned to leave, though his steps were nowhere near as fast as Dracos mothers, he made it safely across the dark abyss without aid. He headed for the ship, where Narcissa was already waiting, eager to set off and find a way to save her son.