Sallow's Legacy

Them: Stop romanticizing Hogwarts Legacy

*not my image* Ok, don’t worry, this will not be the final ending for Aurora and Sebastian…. it was the tragic one I wrote and debated using…. But decided not to! Figured I’d post it….

Scene: The Final Confrontation – The Dark Forest

The Dark Forest was colder than usual, a chilling wind cutting through the trees as Aurora stood alone in the clearing. She had known it would come to this—Sebastian’s descent had been rapid, fueled by anger and grief. But tonight, something felt different. It wasn’t just the darkness around him—it was the weight of loss that hung in the air.

From the shadows, he emerged, the fury in his eyes so intense it almost burned. His wand was already drawn, his face twisted in a snarl. The Sebastian she had known—the boy who once smiled at her, who once laughed—was gone. This man was a shell of that boy, broken and consumed by rage.

“You came,” he said, his voice a dangerous, low growl. “After everything you’ve done, you still dare to show your face.”

Aurora’s heart clenched painfully in her chest. “Sebastian, please… I never meant for this to happen.”

“You never meant for this to happen?” His laughter was harsh and cold, echoing through the trees like the edge of a blade. “You sealed your magic, and because of that, I lost her. Anne’s gone, Aurora. Dead. And it’s your fault.”

His words hit her like a physical blow, but she didn’t flinch. She had known this truth for months now, carried the unbearable weight of it. "I tried to save you both. I thought if I could stop the magic—"

“You thought wrong!” he roared, stepping toward her with such fury that she stumbled back. His eyes were wild, brimming with the madness that had taken hold of him since his sister’s death. “If you hadn’t sealed your magic, I could have saved her! We could have saved her!”

Aurora’s tears welled in her eyes, but she forced herself to stay strong. “The magic was corrupting us, Sebastian. You couldn’t see it, but it was twisting you, breaking you down. If I hadn’t sealed it—"

“If you hadn’t sealed it,” he hissed, his face inches from hers now, “Anne would still be alive. My sister would still be alive.”

The silence that followed was deafening. She could feel his breath against her skin, hot with fury. His face was pale with grief, his hands trembling as he raised his wand, his whole body vibrating with the pain that had overtaken him.

"I have nothing left," he whispered, his voice suddenly soft, broken. "Nothing, Aurora. And it's because of you."

Her voice trembled, her heart cracking under the weight of his words. “I didn’t know… I didn’t know it would end like this. I never wanted her to die, Sebastian. I—”

“You killed her,” he spat, tears now in his own eyes, his voice trembling with agony. “You might as well have killed her yourself.”

Aurora’s vision blurred with tears as she reached out toward him, her hand hovering just over his heart. “Sebastian, I did what I thought was right. I thought it would save you—”

“Save me?” he snarled, slapping her hand away. “You destroyed me! You took everything from me, Aurora. Everything. And now, there’s nothing left of the boy you loved. Just this… monster.”

Her chest tightened painfully, and she stepped closer, her voice barely a whisper. “You’re not a monster, Sebastian. Not to me.”

His face twisted, a mix of fury and sorrow as he looked at her, tears burning in his eyes. “Don’t you dare say that,” he rasped. “Don’t you dare act like you still care about me. You abandoned me when I needed you the most. You betrayed me.”

The word cut through her like a knife, but she held her ground. “I never betrayed you, Sebastian. I loved you then, and I love you now.”

“Love?” He laughed bitterly, a hollow sound. “Don’t speak to me of love. You don’t know the first thing about it. If you loved me, you would have done anything to help me save her. But you didn’t. You were afraid. You were weak.”

“I wasn’t weak!” Aurora’s voice finally broke, her tears spilling freely now. “I was trying to save both of us! The magic was corrupting everything, it was killing us—”

“And now Anne’s dead,” he interrupted, his voice shaking, raw with grief. “My sister is dead because of you.”

Aurora’s knees nearly buckled under the weight of his words, but she forced herself to stand tall. “I didn’t want this. I never wanted this. I was trying to stop you from losing yourself, Sebastian. I was trying to protect you.”

“I never asked for your protection,” he hissed, his voice shaking with fury and heartbreak. “All I wanted was your help. I trusted you, Aurora. I loved you, and you let me down.”

Aurora’s breath caught in her throat as he stepped even closer, the intensity in his eyes terrifying and heartbreaking all at once.

“And now… now I have nothing left,” he whispered, his voice barely audible. “Nothing except this.”

In one fluid motion, his wand raised, and the world seemed to slow down. Aurora’s heart pounded in her chest, but she didn’t move. She couldn’t move. She could see the pain in his eyes, the shattered boy behind the fury, the boy who had once loved her. And she knew, in that moment, that nothing she could say would reach him now.

“Sebastian,” she whispered, her voice soft, broken. “I love you.”

The words barely left her lips before the spell was cast.

"Avada Kedavra."

The green light flashed, and she collapsed, her body falling lifelessly to the ground. Her eyes, once full of warmth and love, were now empty, staring blankly at the sky.

Sebastian stood frozen, his wand still raised, unable to comprehend what he had just done. His breath came in short, shallow gasps, and the world around him blurred as he looked down at her—at the only person who had ever truly loved him. The only person who had tried to save him.

“No,” he whispered, his voice breaking. “No, no, no…”

He dropped to his knees beside her, his trembling hands cradling her lifeless body. He pressed his forehead to hers, his tears falling freely now, mixing with the dirt beneath them.

“I didn’t mean to…” he sobbed, his voice barely a whisper. “I didn’t mean to…”

But it was too late. She was gone. The darkness had taken everything from him, and now, it had taken her, too.

For a long time, he stayed there, rocking her in his arms, whispering apologies into the cold night air. But she would never hear them. She was gone, and with her, any hope of redemption.

Finally, his grief gave way to numbness. His heart was shattered, his soul hollow. He had nothing left. Nothing except one final act.

With shaking hands, he lifted his wand, pressing the tip to his own chest. His voice, weak and broken, barely formed the words.

“I’ll follow you,” he whispered, his tears falling onto her lifeless face. “I’ll follow you… I can’t be without you.”

"Avada Kedavra."

The green light flashed one final time, and Sebastian collapsed beside her, his body falling still.

Together, they lay in the clearing, their hands almost touching, their lives forever entwined in tragedy. The Dark Forest was silent, save for the soft rustling of the trees in the wind.

Two souls, bound by love, destroyed by darkness.

In the end, Sebastian had followed her into eternity, but the price of his mistakes would echo forever, a reminder of the love they shared—and the darkness that tore them apart.

Scene: The Aftermath – Bound by Tragedy

The clearing in the Dark Forest was eerily silent. The world had moved on, but in this hollow, time seemed to have stopped. Beneath the cold light of the moon, their bodies lay side by side. Aurora’s lifeless form, so still and fragile, rested inches from Sebastian, who had fallen with his hand outstretched, just barely touching her fingers.

For a moment, all was still.

And then, in the eerie quiet, it was as though the forest itself mourned. A soft wind rustled the leaves, carrying with it the whispers of the past, the faint echoes of what could have been. There was a peace here, but it was the peace of something irrevocably broken—an unsettling calm that held within it the weight of loss.

Two tragic souls, bound together by love and darkness, had finally met the same fate. In death, there was no longer anger, no longer pain. The darkness that had claimed them both now receded, leaving behind only the pure, aching sorrow of two lives cut short.

Yet, even in this devastation, there was something beautiful in their final moments together. For in death, they were no longer torn apart by choices and regrets. The darkness that had divided them had become nothing more than a distant memory, washed away by the quiet stillness of eternity.

Together, they lay as they once had, before the unbearable burden of trying to save each other had shattered them both. In the silence, in the cold embrace of death, they had finally found what eluded them in life—peace.

Some say that if you wander deep enough into the Dark Forest, you can hear their voices in the wind, soft and broken, calling out to each other. It is said that their souls remain together, bound in a way they could never be in life, wandering the edges of eternity.

Their love, tragic and twisted, had consumed them both, but in the end, it also bound them. Two souls, forever entwined by their choices and their darkness, had found each other in death, where the light they once shared could no longer be taken from them.

They had loved, they had lost, and now, they would never be parted again.

The Final Descent

Present - A Dark Choice

The room was heavy with tension, dark magic humming through the air like a living force. Sebastian’s wand was steady, pointed at the man before him—a trembling, broken figure who barely dared to meet his eyes. The man’s breath came in sharp, ragged bursts, his body shaking with fear. But Sebastian felt nothing but the burning fury simmering beneath his skin.

The man had been part of it—he had to be. Part of the conspiracy, the lie, the chain of events that had cursed his sister. The curse that had destroyed her life.

“You think I’m bluffing?” Sebastian’s voice was low, venomous. His chest rose and fell with each breath, his magic sparking, ready to be unleashed. He could feel the dark power curling in his veins, hungry for action.

The man whimpered, eyes wide and desperate. Sebastian sneered, taking a step closer. He could end it now. All it would take was a single unforgivable spell.

This was justice.

For Anne.

But as he stared down at his target, something inside him shifted. A whisper—soft and familiar—echoed in the back of his mind.

“Sebastian...”

His grip faltered for the briefest moment. It was her voice. Aurora. The voice he hadn’t allowed himself to hear in months, the voice that had once anchored him when everything else had fallen apart.

For a moment, the present began to blur, and the suffocating darkness around him seemed to pull him into a memory he had tried so hard to forget.

Flashback - The Ghostly Deathday Party

The music of the ghostly waltz filled the air, soft and haunting, as spirits swirled in an endless, graceful dance. Aurora had been by his side, her hand resting on his arm as they watched the figures twirl. Her warmth anchored him amidst the coldness of the room. And for a fleeting moment, it felt like nothing else mattered.

She had looked so beautiful that night. The glow of the ghostly figures had bathed her in an almost ethereal light, making her seem like she belonged among them—otherworldly, untouchable. But to Sebastian, she had always seemed just a little out of reach, no matter how close they were.

He had never told her how much she meant to him. How could he?

His heart ached with the weight of everything unsaid. She was his anchor in the storm, the one person who made him feel alive when everything else was falling apart. But to admit that—to tell her how deeply he loved her—felt too dangerous. If he said it, if he let those words slip out, it might ruin everything they had. Their friendship, their bond—it was fragile, and the thought of losing it terrified him.

So, he had swallowed his feelings, buried them deep inside, hoping that somehow she would just know without him ever needing to say it. He had been so careful, so afraid to break the delicate balance between them.

But that night, something between them had shifted. Aurora’s grip on his arm had been tighter, her gaze distant, her voice trembling with uncertainty.

“I don’t know if I should...” she had whispered, her voice barely audible over the eerie melody.

His heart had clenched at the sound of her voice. He knew exactly what she was talking about-the ancient magic. The ancient magic that she had been toying with sealing away. He had tried to ignore it, tried to pretend that it wasn’t happening, but now, standing there in the ghostly light, the truth was undeniable.

“You’ve already made up your mind,” he had said, his voice sharp, harsher than he intended. But he couldn’t help it. His fear—his desperation—it was all bubbling up to the surface, and he didn’t know how to keep it down.

Aurora had looked up at him then, her eyes wide, pleading. “I haven’t decided,” she had whispered, her grip tightening on his arm. “I don’t want to lose... everything.”

Everything. The word had hung between them, heavy and suffocating.

He knew what she meant. She didn’t want to lose him. She didn’t want to lose them. But what she didn’t realize—what she couldn’t see—was that sealing her magic would destroy everything. If she gave up that part of herself, she wouldn’t just lose that power. She would lose him too. And he wasn’t sure he could bear that.

His heart had screamed at him to say something, to tell her how he felt, to tell her that he loved her, that he needed her to stay. That they could face anything together as long as she didn’t give up. But the words wouldn’t come. They stayed lodged in his throat, buried under fear and doubt.

Because if he told her—if he finally let her know how deeply he cared—and she still chose to seal the magic, then it would be over. Truly over. And the thought of that was unbearable.

So, he had said nothing. He had swallowed the words, buried the feelings deep inside, and let the silence stretch between them as the ghosts danced on, oblivious to the tragedy unfolding before their eyes.

He had wanted to hold her, to pull her close and tell her that they could face anything together if only she wouldn’t give up. But even as she stood beside him, clinging to his arm, he had felt her slipping away. Slowly, inevitably, like sand slipping through his fingers.

He had been powerless to stop it.

The ghosts continued their dance, peaceful and eternal, while the living were left to unravel. And as he stood there, his heart aching with everything unsaid, he knew—he knew—that this was the beginning of the end.

She would seal the magic. She would walk away. And he would lose her.

And still, he couldn’t bring himself to say a word.

Present - The Final Choice

Sebastian’s heart pounded as the memory of the Deathday party dissolved, the echoes of the ghostly waltz fading into the cold, oppressive silence of the present. His wand was still raised, pointed at the man trembling before him, begging for his life.

Aurora’s face lingered in his mind, her eyes full of fear and uncertainty. Her beauty, her warmth—everything about that night had been laced with a quiet tragedy, a sense of loss he hadn’t been able to name at the time.

Her voice echoed again in his mind, soft and pleading, “Don’t give up on yourself, Sebastian. Don’t give up on me.”

For a moment, just a moment, his hand trembled. He could feel her presence, the weight of everything they had shared, everything that had gone unsaid. The memory of her was enough to make him hesitate, enough to make him question the darkness that had consumed him.

But then, the anger surged forward, hot and overwhelming.

Aurora had made her choice. She had sealed the magic, and with it, she had sealed their fate. She had walked away from him, from what they could have had. She hadn’t fought for him, hadn’t fought for them, or at least that is how he had twisted it up in his fragile mind.

And now, he was alone.

This is for Anne, he told himself again, clinging to the justification that had carried him this far. This is justice.

The man before him whimpered, his eyes wide with terror, but all Sebastian could see was Aurora. The way she had looked at him that night. The way she had unknowingly let him go with her decision.

His grip on his wand tightened, and his voice, low and full of venom, filled the room.

“Avada Kedavra.”

The green light flashed, bright and violent, illuminating the room for a single, terrible moment before the man crumpled to the floor, lifeless.

Sebastian stood over the body, his chest heaving, the weight of what he had done pressing down on him like a crushing force. The darkness wrapped around him, whispering its seductive promises, pulling him deeper into the abyss.

The Final Break

The cold stone corridors of Hogwarts loomed like a labyrinth around Aurora, every step she took echoing in the stillness. She was running out of time. She had to reach him. She had to try.

When she found him, leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, her heart sank. There he was, but he looked more distant than she had ever seen him. Sebastian. But not the Sebastian she knew. His gaze was cold, hard, and the bitterness in his stance sent a shiver down her spine. He didn’t even flinch when she approached.

“Sebastian.” Her voice was a whisper, trembling.

He didn’t look at her right away. The tension between them hung thick in the air.

Finally, he spoke, his voice tight and unfeeling. “What do you want, Aurora?”

The coldness in his tone was like a punch to her gut. Her throat tightened, but she swallowed her pride, her hurt. She had to push through it. “I needed to talk to you,” she began, stepping closer, though every fiber of her being screamed to retreat from the wall he had put up. “You don’t have to do this. You’re not like this, Sebastian. I know you’re still in there.”

His bitter laugh echoed down the corridor. He finally turned, his eyes meeting hers, but they were full of resentment, cutting through her like ice. “Still in there?” His lip curled in disgust. “You don’t get it, do you?”

“What are you talking about?” Aurora’s voice cracked.

His expression darkened, and when he stepped toward her, there was an intensity in his eyes that made her heart skip. “You sealed away the magic,” he said through gritted teeth, every word filled with accusation. “That magic. The one thing that could have saved Anne.”

Her heart stopped. His words hung between them, sharp and unforgiving. She opened her mouth to respond, to explain, but he cut her off with a harsh, bitter laugh.

“You were too afraid of what you might become. Too scared of yourself. So you locked it all away, like a coward,” he spat, stepping even closer. The air between them was taut, full of unsaid words and unacknowledged feelings. Her breath caught in her throat. His nearness made her skin tingle, but it was his fury that froze her in place. “I did it to protect….,” Aurora started but he cut her off.

“Protect who?” he snapped, his voice rising. “Me? Anne? Yourself?” He moved closer, inches away now. Aurora took a step back, her pulse racing as his eyes bore into hers, his breath warm on her skin.

Suddenly, his hand shot out, grabbing her wrist with a roughness that sent a shock through her entire body. “You didn’t trust yourself,” he said, his grip tightening, not enough to hurt, but enough to remind her of how strong he was, how dangerously close they were. “And now I’m supposed to trust you when you tell me not to use dark magic?”

Aurora’s breath hitched, her body trembling under the weight of his words. His hand around her wrist sent waves of electricity through her, and the proximity of him—his fury, his desperation—was almost suffocating. The tension between them, the unresolved feelings, the unspoken desire, pressed down on her like a weight too heavy to bear.

“I didn’t have a choice,” she whispered, her voice barely holding steady. “I was losing control. I couldn’t risk—”

“You couldn’t risk it?” He leaned in, so close now that his lips were almost grazing her ear, the heat of him enveloping her in a way that made her heart race for entirely different reasons. “You should have. You should have risked it all. For Anne. For me.”

Aurora’s stomach twisted, a mixture of guilt and something far deeper pulling at her, making her chest ache. She couldn’t pull away—couldn’t move—and for a moment, she thought he might kiss her, the closeness unbearable. But instead, his grip on her wrist tightened for just a second before he let it go, stepping back.

The sudden release left her breathless, her skin burning where his fingers had been. She stumbled back a step, eyes wide, her heart racing not just from the tension but from the feeling that she had somehow lost him, even though he was standing right there.

“I’ll do whatever it takes,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper, leaning in again, his lips hovering near her ear, his breath brushing against her skin. “Dark magic... whatever it costs me. Whatever it turns me into. Because saving her is all that matters now.”

Aurora’s chest tightened, her body freezing as his words slithered into her mind like poison. His voice was low, intimate, yet full of something far more dangerous. She could feel the heat of him, the raw intensity that radiated off him in waves. Her legs threatened to give out beneath her, the weight of everything unsaid between them pulling her down.

Sebastian stepped back, his eyes hardening once more. “You took away the chance I had…. Dark magic is my only option. You can live with that guilt.”

Her throat tightened, the sting of his accusation cutting through her heart like a blade. “I never wanted to hurt you,” she whispered, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. “I was trying to protect you. I thought I was doing the right thing.”

“The right thing?” He scoffed, his expression full of bitter resentment. “The ‘right thing’ hasn’t saved my sister.”

“I wanted to save her too,” she said, her voice breaking, her body trembling with the weight of her words. “I still want to save her.”

“You could have been the answer, Aurora,” he said, his voice lower, rougher, his gaze dark and searching. “But instead, you became the problem. And now, I have to go where you wouldn’t.”

Tears welled in her eyes as she stepped closer, her hand trembling as it reached out toward him. "You’re throwing everything away—your soul, your humanity..." Her voice broke, the weight of her final word hanging heavy in the air between them. “...us.”

For the first time, Sebastian faltered.

His eyes widened, just for a split second, as the word hit him like a physical blow. "Us?" he whispered, repeating it, his voice barely more than a breath. His gaze flickered, the anger momentarily cracking, revealing the deep conflict within him. Something inside him seemed to shake, as if he was on the verge of letting his guard down.

For a heartbeat, the air between them was thick with more than just anger. It was thick with everything unspoken, everything they had buried.

Then, suddenly, his expression hardened again. The vulnerability, the hesitation—it was all gone, replaced by a sneer that cut through her like ice. He stepped forward, closing the distance between them with deliberate slowness, his face inches from hers.

“There is no ‘us,’ Aurora,” he growled, his voice low and dangerous, the words dripping with venom. He leaned in, his lips almost brushing hers, his breath hot against her face. “There never was.”

The cruel words shattered whatever was left inside her. The nearness, the tension, the unbearable pull between them—it all collapsed in on itself.

Her breath hitched, her chest tightening with the force of the rejection. The tears she had fought so hard to hold back slipped down her cheeks. She had lost him. The boy she once knew was gone, and in his place stood someone cold, unreachable.

Sebastian straightened, the sneer fading into something colder, more detached. “Stop trying to save me, Aurora. I’ve made my choice. And nothing you say will change that.”

He turned to leave, and Aurora’s heart screamed at her to stop him, to pull him back, but her legs wouldn’t move. She could only watch, helpless, as he disappeared into the shadows of the corridor, the tension between them unresolved, the love she had for him unspoken and lost in the cold silence.

Flashback: The Water’s Edge Confrontation

He had thought about it countless times—how different things might have been if he had just turned away, if he had never followed her to that cursed place. But no matter how much time passed, the memory of that day remained vivid, as if the water still clung to his skin.

Aurora stood knee-deep in the water, her gaze fixed on the reflection of the sky above, rippling and distorted in the current. The world around her seemed to fade as she wrestled with the decision she knew she had to make—the decision to seal away her magic for good. It had grown too powerful, too wild, and the fear of what it could do weighed heavy on her chest. The water, usually her place of calm, did little to soothe her today.

She closed her eyes, exhaling slowly, the weight of her ancient magic like a shadow she couldn’t shake. She wasn’t sure how long she had been standing there, trying to gather the strength to do what she felt she must.

“Aurora!”

Her heart jolted at the sound of his voice. She turned to see Sebastian approaching the water’s edge, his eyes dark and full of something between anger and desperation. He had followed her—again. He always did.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded, his voice tight as if he already knew the answer but hoped, somehow, he was wrong.

“I needed to think,” she replied, her voice quieter than she intended, the sadness of the truth hanging between them.

Sebastian took a step forward, his shoes splashing into the shallow water, but it didn’t seem to matter to him. “You’re going through with it, aren’t you? Sealing the magic away.”

Aurora turned fully to face him, her body rigid with the tension of the moment. “I don’t have a choice, Sebastian. It’s too dangerous. I can’t control it.”

“That’s not true!” His voice cracked with frustration, his emotions spilling over. “You don’t even know what you’re capable of. That magic could save Anne! You could save her!” His desperation to save his sister was palpable, as it always was. It was his driving force—the thing that had led him down darker paths than either of them had ever imagined.

But Aurora shook her head, her eyes filling with a quiet sorrow. “And what if it doesn’t? What if it destroys her, or you, or someone else I love? I can’t take that risk, Sebastian. Not with something I can’t control.”

The water sloshed as Sebastian moved closer, his fists clenched, anger flashing in his eyes. “You’re just giving up,” he spat, his voice bitter. “You’re scared, Aurora. You’re running from something that could fix everything!”

Her breath hitched, a flash of anger rising to meet his. “You don’t understand—”

“I understand perfectly!” Sebastian interrupted, his voice a sharp contrast to the peaceful sound of the flowing water around them. “You’ve never had to fight for someone like I’ve had to fight for Anne. You don’t know what it’s like to watch someone you love suffer every day and feel completely helpless.”

Aurora’s eyes hardened. “And what happens when that magic destroys everything in its path, Sebastian? When it’s too much for me to handle, and you lose more than your sister? You think I don’t want to save her? You think this isn’t killing me too?”

Her words stung him into silence for a moment. But the emotions between them were too volatile to settle. They stood there, inches apart now, the tension rising with every second.

Sebastian opened his mouth to respond, but the words never came. In a flash of frustration, Aurora—frustrated by his inability to understand the danger her magic poses—shoved him into the water.

Sebastian, fully dressed, stumbled and fell into the water. The shock of it silenced them both for a moment. He stood up, soaking wet, his anger momentarily giving way to a raw vulnerability. He didn’t yell or accuse her anymore. Instead, as he stood in the water, their gazes locked, and he finally asked, almost brokenly, "Why are you so afraid of this power?"

This simple question hit Aurora harder than she expected. She waded deeper into the water toward him, drawn by something she couldn’t explain. Her hands were clenched at her sides, her emotions as turbulent as the water around them. She was afraid—afraid of what her magic could do to those she loved, and afraid of how much she cared about Sebastian.

They stood inches apart, faces so close. The tension between them shifted from anger to something unspoken, something tender. The water swirled around them, as if holding them together for just a moment longer.

Sebastian’s expression changed. His jaw tightened, and the raw vulnerability in his eyes shifted back to something colder, harder. He stepped back slightly, breaking the tension.

“It’s too late,” he whispered, his voice low but steady.

Aurora froze, her breath catching in her throat. She had expected him to keep fighting, to keep pushing her, but this—this resignation cut deeper than any argument they had ever had.

Sebastian's eyes flickered with pain before hardening once again. "You’re a coward," he said, his voice low and cold now. “You’re too afraid to see what’s right in front of you.”

Aurora said nothing as she watched him walk away, each step a reminder of the growing distance between them. The water around her suddenly felt colder, and the silence left behind by his absence was deafening.

She knew this wasn’t the last time they would face each other. There would be other meetings, other chances to resolve the conflict between them, but with each one, they would be pulled further apart. Every encounter would draw them closer to the inevitable moment when Sebastian would fully embrace the darkness.