QLFC ROUND SEVEN
PROMPT: (Captain) The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
Huge thank you to Ash for betaing.
Word count: 1,160
Alaric can't pinpoint when the change started. He remembers the first time he was introduced to Salazar Slytherin, but it wasn't the day when the latter got to the North village. Salazar was like an epidemic — Alaric would hear the name here and there until every wizard in the village was talking about something that had to do with Salazar. Now, thinking of a life without Salazar seems strange. He's very intelligent, especially in comparison to every other person Alaric knows and very charismatic. It might be the fact that he's new that draws everyone to him at first, but what keeps Alaric interest in the older man is how passionately he speaks of some things.
You see, not all the villagers know the truth about Salazar's intentions. Alaric does. He was in his friend's tavern at a late hour one day with other men — five men, all of from pure families — when Salazar told them about the school that he helped found, and how he saw there the difference between the students who are Purebloods and the ones that have some percent of Muggle blood in them. He then moved on to something closer to home and gave them examples of how the ones with the "dirty blood" in the village couldn't be compared to them, to the pure ones.
Alaric can't say he didn't have doubts about the things that the older wizard told them, but he also wasn't sure if he could argue with a man who has seen, knew and experienced so much more than Alaric himself did. Salazar founded a school, for Merlin's sake. In all of Alaric's thirty-five years of living, he has never done anything remotely as great as that. And that was the reason to why he, along with the other men who weren't any different than him, continued listening to Salazar and even discussed the claims he made with him.
They began meeting during other nights and the meetings became more often and more wizards were invited in Salazar's request, worthy wizards. During the day, Alaric would keep thinking about Salazar's words regarding blood purity and Muggles and suddenly, it was like he couldn't look at the Muggles and the un-pure wizards the same way he did. At night, Alaric would listen attentively to Salazar along with the other men. They would discuss every point that Salazar would make to them, but they would believe his words at the end of every evening.
And then the change was made; blood purity became an issue around the village for the Purebloods, even if it wasn't obvious at first. Salazar told them to act normal and that he had a plan the would help keep the blood of the village's wizards pure. He didn't specify what the plan was, but Alaric trusted him along with the others and tried not to show the disdain that Muggles and wizards from families that aren't pure-blooded made him feel. It happened even with people that he grew up with, who Alaric lied to to keep them away from him, not wanting to be around people who can't be trusted and have evil intentions towards his magic abilities.
However, when Salazar gave the word, Alaric became close to certain people again, all for a great cause. Alaric and the other men were like soldiers and when the time came, you could see them around the village, performing their mission flawlessly. Smiles were directed at the innocent, words were chosen wisely and with a clear intention of drawing people in like Salazar instructed them, and the same happened with Alaric. He wasn't sure how he would be able to lie and pretend, but with their great goal in mind and the excitement of getting closer to achieving it, it wasn't that hard.
That's how Alaric finds himself standing in one of the night hours outside, the cold wind making his hair dance around his head. His hands are clasped behind his back as he watches his comrades working in different places around him. Several of them are moving towards the mansion that Salazar has built himself over time at the edge of the village, dragging something hidden by the darkness. Others are still not finished with the first stage of the plan, talking with either Muggles or dirty-bloods. Seeing things unfold this way makes Alaric feel powerful as he waits, waiting for his own friend.
Glancing at the dark spot where he knows the center of the village is, Alaric feels utterly satisfied. The darkness means everything is going as planned and once they will be finished in the hills, they will head over to the houses and the families. Then, his gaze wanders to an opposite direction, closer to Salazar's house, where several torches are illuminating the long hole that was dug into the ground.
"Evening, Alaric," a voice says behind him and Alaric tries not to show any emotion.
"Cassian, good to see you," Alaric replies.
The two torches that they have between them are good enough to illuminate their faces and they stare at each for a moment. A silent battle happens in Alaric's head between the memories he has of Cassian and the years they have spent side by side, and everything Salazar made him see differently. Cassian has a Muggle mother and a wizard father. It's not how it's supposed to be, Alaric reminds himself. His close friend has a special place in his heart, but Alaric isn't the same person that he was and, by the way he's being looked at, he isn't sure Cassian knows it.
"What did you want?" Cassian asks eventually, his eyebrows slightly raised with curiosity.
"To apologize," Alaric replies genuinely. "For my betrayal."
Even though he doesn't specify what he means, Cassian seems to understand. Then, the latter nods. A moment later, his expression changes to a shocked one as Alaric strikes him with his knife. Alaric watches with a small sense of regret how Cassian falls to the ground and then uses a quick spell to lift his body off the ground and make him follow him.
It's a five-minute walk to where the hole they're using is and Alaric only takes one glance at the lifted body that's following him to check whether or not Cassian is still alive. Other than that, he makes sure to keep his attention on where he's stepping, preferring to push what happened to the back of his mind.
When he gets to the hole, Cassian is just one out of many that are thrown inside. Alaric is thankful that they're doing it at night so the shadows hide some of the horrors. He tries to see as little as possible because he knows it will slow him down, like an anchor that's attached to him. Then, he turns his back to the many people he betrayed and makes his way back to where he came from.