HP: Embrace the Darkness

It should have been a good thing that his kindness was not rejected, but Merlin just stared at Athis in silence. After a while, he suddenly sighed deeply.

His eyes, which had been full of life, instantly lost their luster, and the whole person seemed to have aged several years in an instant.

"You are more perceptive than I thought. Tell me, how much have you noticed?"

"no more, no less."

Ases' expression didn't change much and he didn't look angry.

Instead, he smiled at Merlin, seemingly trying to comfort him.

"Can I ask if you knew me before we met, or when did you know me?"

Merlin said vaguely, "A long time ago."

"Is that so?" Arces blinked, "Then should I thank you?"

Merlin shook his head, "You helped me too."

"One thing at a time, without you, I'm afraid——"

"Wait, what are you talking about!?"

After looking for a long time and not understanding anything, Godric interrupted the two people who were talking in riddles.

"Aces, can you please give me... let's explain it first."

Athis and Merlin looked at each other and smiled as they rejected the eager Godric.

Seeing that he couldn't get an answer from Ases, Godric turned around and whispered to Salazar. Herbo was also pulled over by them, and the three of them exchanged information, trying to find the answer without them.

Rowena and Helga didn't think that a fool and two shady guys could find out any information from Merlin and Ases.

The two clever witches simply had a proper afternoon tea, and Merlin and Athis skipped the previous topic and talked about the soul.

This was brought up by Ases.

He remembered only now that Merlin had lived for so many years and his understanding of the soul was probably rare in the world. He was like a ready-made teacher, and it would be a waste not to ask.

The first question, Athis asked the question that concerned him the most - why he could see other souls but not Snape's soul.

Merlin disagreed with Ases's statement: "It's not that you can't see him, but that most people can't see him. There is an invisible and intangible membrane between him and you."

This coincided with his guess. Ases pursed his lips, fumbled with his fingers on the table, picked up the teacup and took a sip to moisten his throat. "Then is there any way to break the restriction of the two places?"

Merlin answered irrelevantly: "It cannot be broken."

cannot?

Ases suppressed his doubts and continued to ask: "What will happen if it breaks?"

"You don't want to know." After a pause, Merlin gave a direct answer, "Completely disappear from this world."

So this is protection.

Aces suddenly understood.

Merlin saw that Athis understood what he meant, and smiled with relief. He changed the subject: "Take out your staff. You can't learn that spell without a staff."

Ases took out the silver magic wand as he was told. The magic wand was longer and thicker than the magic wand, so it was not convenient to carry. However, he accidentally discovered that the magic wand could be integrated into his arm, which would not affect his movements on a daily basis. When he wanted to use it, he only needed to use magic power to summon it.

Merlin also took out his staff and gently struck it. Just as he was about to demonstrate, he saw Athis looking at him with questioning eyes.

Merlin was silent.

How could he have forgotten that Athis couldn't see... It must be because Athis didn't look like a blind person.

"No demonstration?" asked Ases.

Merlin asked back, "Can you see?"

"Yes, and very clearly."

Athis blinked, and his black pupils vaguely reflected the surging flames, dispelling the dead silence in his pupils. This was the brightest and largest ball of magic he had seen since he lost his eyesight.

"Hmm? Can you see it?"

Merlin came closer and looked closely at Athis's eyes. In his black pupils, flames were rolling and flowing. The dull black and the warm red were intertwined, which was truly shocking. If you look closely, you can even see that the flames are in the shape of a human.

"It looks like it... Let's give it a try."

Merlin controlled the flowing magic power and gathered it into a word in his body.

Aces squeezed out a word from his mouth: "...love."

When he pronounced the word, it was definitely Merlin who had the problem, not him.

Merlin was stunned and whispered to himself, "You can really see it. Why can't I see it? It doesn't make sense."

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Snape approaching with familiarity. He suppressed the urge to ask further questions and demonstrated the spell in a serious manner.

One has lived for who knows how many years and has taught students for many years, and the other is a smart student who has been the most popular with the professor since he entered the school. When these two people get together, the efficiency is definitely greater than the sum of their parts.

Rowena and Helga finished their last sips of tea, and Ases's studies were coming to an end, with only practice remaining.

Merlin told Athis to go back and practice on his own, saying it wasn't a very dangerous spell.

"Is that right?"

Ases raised his eyes, his eyes were shining. In his field of vision, Rowena and Helga, whose facial outlines could be vaguely seen, seemed to be looking at him.

The spells that Merlin taught him were clearer than the methods he had used before, and he could also see some of the smaller movements.

Merlin knew with a glance that Ases was using the right method. "Yes, practice more and you will know better. After your strength recovers, it will also help you determine the environment in the dark in a short time."

The darkness was not an obstacle for Athis, but he did not refuse Merlin's kindness.

"I see."

The sun sets in the west and the moon rises in the sky.

With the help of the new spell, Ases finally dared to return to the safe house.

In the hall, he repeatedly cast spells, found a pace that wouldn't be too abrupt, and hesitantly walked down to the basement.

Snape snorted behind him.

What’s the use of being afraid now? He has seen everything he should and shouldn’t have seen, and is just waiting for the evening to settle the score.

During the days when Athis did not go to the basement, Snape did not contact Athis at night, exposing the fact that he had been following Athis.

He just wanted to see how Ases tortured himself in the corner he didn't know.

Pushing open the door of the basement, the cold air hit him in the face. His brain was stimulated by the cold and he suddenly woke up. Ases rubbed the ring several times and mustered up the courage to go in.

His patronus, the white tiger, was still in the basement. The little white tiger couldn't see Snape, but it still diligently turned around and jumped in the basement, chatting with Snape one-sidedly with a whine, and often turned over its belly and rubbed against the ice coffin.

As soon as Athis came back, the patronus that was lying on its belly beside the ice coffin ran towards Athis, sniffing at his feet all the way to Snape's feet.

The simple guardian angel didn't understand.

Why did it sniff for so long but still couldn't find Snape? As soon as Athis came back, it smelled a scent that was similar to Snape. Could it be that Snape came out only after seeing Athis? Then what was it?

The little white tiger became autistic. It ran to the ice coffin whining and curled up into a ball, ignoring both Ases and Snape.

Ases felt its frustration and felt a lump in his heart. How could a guardian ignore its master? Why? Did his presence affect the performance of the little white tiger?

The thoughts of both the man and the patronus had gone astray strangely, and they were unaware of it. One continued to be autistic, while the other honestly described everything that had happened in the past two days in detail. Of course, he omitted some things that Snape could not know for the time being.

I have to say that Ases had learned 88% of the art of language. Just listening to his description, there was no problem at all. Unfortunately, he missed one thing - Snape was right next to him.

Snape crossed his arms and looked at Aces who was trying hard to pretend with a smile.

Ases was talking until his mouth was dry and he was still a little uneasy. He didn't know how to verify it, so he could only take off his wizard robe and hang it up, and walked towards the only bed in the basement with heavy steps.

The bed remained the same as it had been two days ago. Aces absentmindedly cast a cleaning spell, lifted the quilt, and lay down on it.

He had been busy these days and had very little sleep. As soon as he touched the pillow, irresistible sleepiness took over his brain. Originally, Aces wanted to chat with Snape for a while, but now he only had time to say "good night" to Snape before he lost consciousness.

Long and regular breathing sounds were heard, and Athis fell asleep. Snape stood beside the bed for a long time. He slowly stretched out his hand, and with trembling fingertips he touched Athis's closed eyes.

After worrying for so long, he could finally look into Ases' eyes, which were blinded for him. The regret that had been suppressed for so long broke free and surged back. In just a moment, fragments of memories emerged in his mind, the blood on the ground, the pale lips, and the crumbling man.

Snape stared at Aces.

The soul has no temperature, and the cold touch spreads along the place where the fingers and eyes touch. Aces frowned uncomfortably, and his breathing became a little disordered. Snape then woke up as if from a dream and quickly moved his hand away.

Athis's breathing became normal again. Snape covered him with a blanket and waited for him to take out the parchment from his alchemical ring. He just discovered that he could use the alchemical tools belonging to Athis even in his soul state. It was still Athis's magic power that was consumed. He didn't know why.

In addition to the parchment, Snape also took a quill from the alchemical ring. The quill fell accurately on the parchment. He reached out to take it, but his hand went straight through it.

Snape: "..."

What's the logic behind this? Could he only meet Aces when he was sleeping?

The Potions Master refused to believe it and continued to reach for the quill. He passed through it the first time, and the second time as well. After the third time, the double agent, who knew how to handle situations, gave up and reached out to hold Athis' hand instead.

This time it didn't fail.

The two hands are overlapped and covered.

Sure enough, he met Ases.

Snape picked up the quill with difficulty through Athis's hand. He was not flexible enough to control another person's hand, and his current posture was a bit awkward - Athis was lying sideways, and if he wanted to use Athis's hand to write a letter, he had to press his whole body on Athis. If he wanted to gain strength with his hand without pressing on Athis, he had to reach over Athis and support himself on Athis's other hand on the bed.

In this way, the distance between him and Ases was close to zero. He could see Ases' face sleeping with eyes closed by just lowering his head. Ases' light and warm breath sprayed gently on his chin and neck.

Maybe it was because he hadn't had close contact with Athis for too long, but Snape felt his face a little hot. The heat from the skin under his hands kept flowing up, wrapping his soul from head to toe and embracing him into the warm hot spring.

Snape frowned and tried his best to ignore the existence of Athis, and began to write the letter in this posture.

In the letter, he did not reveal much, but just expressed his "anger" in a roundabout way because Asseth had not come back for two days and left him alone.

After writing, he checked the wording to make sure it would not be exposed, then held Ases' hand, folded the letter, and put it under the pillow.

After doing all this, just as I was about to stand up, a pulling force suddenly came from under me.

Snape was caught off guard and fell down as soon as he was pulled, but he reacted quickly and supported himself with one hand on Athis's hand on the edge of the bed, so he did not actually fall on Athis.

"Sif..."

Indistinct mumbling came out of Ases' mouth, his brows were furrowed, his eyelashes trembled slightly, and he seemed to be about to wake up.

Snape could feel that his hand was about to pass through Athis's hand. Helplessly, he could only pull out his hand that was held by Athis, cover Athis's eyes, and lower his voice as if coaxing a child.

"Go to sleep, I won't leave."

As soon as the low and familiar voice appeared, it soothed the brain that was about to wake up like a spring breeze. Aces leaned drowsily into Snape's arms, half asleep and half awake, hugged the person he was thinking about, and fell into a deeper sleep with an irreplaceable sense of security.

Snape was afraid of waking up Athis by leaving rashly, so he stayed still in an awkward posture. Fortunately, the soul was not as stiff and numb as the body, and he did not feel tired even after standing still for more than ten minutes.

After the hand on his waist slipped off, Snape slowly stood up and changed into a less awkward position, allowing Athis to continue sleeping against him.

Aces' biological clock was well maintained. No matter what time he fell asleep last night, he would wake up at six o'clock the next day. Whether he would continue to lie in bed after waking up was another matter. However, the prerequisite for staying in bed was that someone would stay in bed with him. After Snape's soul left his body, Aces had never stayed in bed. This time was no exception. He woke up early.

"Sev?"

Ases recalled the uneasiness he felt before going to sleep last night, and hurriedly greeted Snape, repeated the apology he had not finished saying last night, then took out a mirror to study his face to see if there were any suspicious marks. He seemed to smell a familiar smell when he was groggy last night.

There are no marks on the face.

Aces became even more nervous. After putting down the mirror, he looked around with a hesitant look. He wanted to continue apologizing but was afraid that the more he apologized, the angrier Snape would get. He absent-mindedly lifted the quilt, and a corner of the quilt touched the pillow, revealing a corner of the letter under the pillow. Aces saw it, his eyes lit up, and he hurriedly picked up the letter.

Before watching it, he was mentally prepared, but when he saw Snape hinting that he should stay in the basement alone for two days, he couldn't help but feel sorry for Snape.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been gone so long."

Aces clutched the letter, pursed his lips and lowered his head.

Listening to Athis's apology, which sounded even more depressed because he had just woken up, Snape was struck by lightning and instantly realized what a stupid thing he had done - he actually wrote a letter to increase Athis's guilt towards him, knowing that Athis was blaming himself.

Is he crazy? He can do such a stupid thing!

Snape regretted his momentary bad taste and just wanted to go back to last night, pour out all the water in his brain, and tear up the damn letter and burn it to prevent it from being an eyesore.

But this is obviously unlikely.

Snape could only jump up and down on the spot, curse himself, and continue to stay by Athis's side, waiting to find a way to remedy the situation at night.

The basement was as deserted as ever. The unanswered apology dissipated in the air without leaving any trace. Ases remained silent, folded the letter meticulously, and put it into the alchemical ring.

Snape had another ominous feeling.

God knows how many times he had had ominous premonitions because of Ases during this period.

Especially the time with the magic circle.

If there were two more times of this kind of stimulation, his soul would be scared away.

Without waiting for Snape to think of a way to stop him, Athis got out of bed and walked to the ice coffin, opened it, and as usual, started from the limbs, carefully and gently moving Snape's cold and hard body.

Snape breathed a sigh of relief. Now that she could give him a massage, this matter should be over, right?

Aces patiently helped Snape move his limbs, then moved his hands to his collar. He used his slender fingers to push aside his hair, supported the back of his neck, and slowly moved his frozen neck.

Snape watched from the side, but the more he looked, the more he felt something was wrong. Why did this man start to unbutton his shirt? What was he trying to do?

The first button was unbuttoned, followed by the second and third. Athis leaned over and hugged Snape, holding him up. Snape gasped and couldn't help looking at Athis with a weird and unbelievable look. He silently moved several steps to the side, not daring to look any further, and turned around to deceive himself.

Ases didn't know that he was now equated with "beast" in Snape's mind. He just carefully took off Snape's clothes, changed him into new clothes, and finally carefully helped Snape lie down and covered the ice coffin.

Hearing the sound of the ice coffin being closed, Snape quietly looked back.

Oh, just changing clothes.

Snape turned back awkwardly, staring at Aces as if nothing had happened, and made excuses for himself:

He was just monitoring Ases. There must be a reason why Ases changed his clothes for no reason, but he didn't know what the reason was.