AN
Major Character Death. Again.
And they're talking about some of the atrocities Tom committed.
1953
The cliff, black and smooth, loomed above her as the waves rushed around her little rock and sprayed salty water into the air. There were only rocks in sight – no trees, no grass, not even sand. It was a rather bleak view, but fitting, in a way.
She entered a dark cave through a narrow tunnel that could only be accessed by swimming – not that Naenia did that. She was a witch and she knew better than to drench her clothes in saltwater.
Most of the structure was entirely natural, though the concealed entrance reeked of foul magic. There was no doubt about the price one had to pay.
Naenia had brought two of the gifts he had bestowed upon her – the wreath of gilded laurel and the silver dagger.
It would be their final confrontation, after all.
She took out the dagger and sliced the palm of her hand. At least the entrance absorbed her blood when it transformed into an archway, so he could make no use of it. The wound closed itself not a moment later.
Behind the entrance, there was a huge underground cave and a black lake at the edge of which Tom was already waiting for her. The foul magic was even more prevalent in here and Naenia was not surprised to see several pale bodies floating in the water – Inferi, but not the kind her family created. These were gaunt and skeletal beings, human corpses that held no resemblance anymore to the living people they had once been. These were inferior beings on every account.
There weren't that many, but Naenia had a dark premonition that he intended to fill the whole lake with them one day.
The Tom that now stood before her was a very different person from the one she had last seen on one of the pureblood balls. He had lost most of the charm and handsomeness he had possessed during their school years. His features seemed blurred, waxy and oddly distorted. His eyes were bloodshot and there was a red gleam in his dark irises. His skin was now as pale as Naenia's.
"I am glad you have accepted my invitation," he said, his voice high and cold and devoid of any emotion he had once made part of his numerous masks.
Naenia looked over the dark lake and interlaced her fingers behind her back.
"It has been so long," Tom continued, though his tone was at odds with his words. "I have missed you deeply."
And still, Naenia said nothing.
"Naenia," he said gently and when she turned to him, he slowly reached out to tuck a strand of white hair behind her ear.
His expression softened and a false warmth bled into his voice. "I truly wished to be with you, forever."
She stared at him, her expression bland and her eyes indifferent as he let his cold hand rest against her cheek.
He smiled. "Did you not miss me as well? I must admit that your recent letters worried me greatly. I feared the Naenia I knew might perish, but here you are – standing before me, in all your magnificence. You are still as beautiful as I remember you, if not more."
Naenia took his hand from her cheek and then let go, before turning back to the lake, interlacing her fingers again.
"This will be the last time that we can speak to each other like this," she said and there was no sadness in her tone. "As living, breathing, human beings."
She saw him incline his head out of the corner of her eyes.
"Indeed," he murmured. "How lamentable."
Naenia allowed herself to sigh. "Tell me, then, about all the atrocities you have committed – about the things that will be the ruin of our friendship."
"Oh, Naenia," he breathed and she did not trust the sadness in his voice. "My love, my darling, my dearest. Must this truly be the end?"
"Yes. You know that. You have known for years – and yet you still decided to go through with your horrendous plans."
He was silent for a few moments.
"So be it," he said. "Let me first tell you about this place."
"You intend to hide one of your Horcruxes here."
A smile broke out on his face, distorting the waxy features even further. "Why, yes. But I am not finished with my preparations and I have not yet created the Horcrux this place is intended for, either. There is an island in the middle of the lake, where I will place a special contraption with quite a few complicated charms and enchantments." His smile widened. "Very complicated. You would be proud of my work. Then, of course, there are the Inferi – they are pitiful creations, I know, but I am no Necromancer as you are very much aware."
Naenia still did not look at him directly. "How many are there right now?"
"Three."
She hummed. "Tell me about them."
"Well, the first you already know about. I had just discovered the potential in creating such an object when the chance presented itself in poor Myrtle's death – so I seized it. And that first taste of blood was so… magnificent that I knew, in that moment, that I had to do it again. Oh, it was painful, very painful – ripping a soul into pieces is no easy feat. But having the power over a life – to take it or spare it –" He sighed with relish. "It was simply delightful."
"Death is a human weakness," Naenia said, echoing words he had said to her many, many years ago.
"Oh, Naenia, love," he breathed and took her chin in his hand to force her to look at him. "Have you finally understood what I have been trying to tell you all these years?"
Naenia's expression hardened. "I understand where you're coming from, but I still cannot condone your actions in the least."
He gave her a sad smile and released her chin. "Oh, my love. I had hoped it would not turn out to be this way."
"Tell me about the other two."
"Of course, my dear, right away. The second and third I both created during the summer of 1944. I went to Albania to retrieve Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem, then briefly returned to kill the Riddles. I had been dying to do that ever since I met them, but I had only been sixteen at the time and the Trace was still clinging to me. So I bid my time and waited patiently. I used Morfin Gaunt's wand to do it and then blamed the pathetic fool. It was remarkably simple."
He raised his left hand and the sparse light caught on the golden ring that Naenia had desperately tried to ignore the whole time.
She averted her eyes from the unbearable sight.
"I hid it in the Gaunts' hut, you know? But I think I found a better place for it – we will come back to that later. After that endeavour turned out to be a success, I went back to my search in Albania, where I eventually came upon the hollow tree Helena had hid her mother's diadem in."
"And then you killed Perseus Black to create another Horcrux."
"Yes, indeed." His eyes shone, that mysterious red glint intensifying. "I was waiting for you to bring it up, but you never did."
Naenia shrugged. "We decided to keep him for ourselves and didn't want to bring unnecessary trouble to our family."
"So you turned him into an Inferius? I would love to see it one day."
Naenia raised an eyebrow. "Do wish to see Amelia and Emery, too, while you're at it?"
He was practically glowing with mirth at this point. "Why, yes, I would love to." Then he sobered a bit. "Perseus Black had outlived his usefulness and was starting to become a nuisance to me – no, a hindrance, rather. So I disposed of him."
"On our doorstep," Naenia said dryly.
Tom chuckled. "I wanted to test the strength of our bond and I was not disappointed. But, alas, all things must come to an end – and I knew you would fail this final test today. In any case, the diadem I hid in Hogwarts. It took me while to come up with a plan that would not rouse your suspicions."
He looked at her expectantly.
"You couldn't bring it on the train with you, so you came to Hogsmeade before the beginning of our seventh schoolyear – that's why you insisted on supervising the first outing and then left me alone." It all made sense now. "And that is also the reason you asked me whether I felt anything amiss in the Room of Requirement, because that is where you hid it. Did you ask for a special room? Or did you use the Room of Hidden Things?"
"Ah, my dear, I can't reveal all my secrets now, can I? But I am proud that you have figured it out. Brilliant, wasn't it?"
"I will give you that, at least," Naenia amended.
Three Horcruxes – and he planned to create at least one more.
Seven, she realized. Seven pieces of his soul. That would make six Horcruxes in total. He had done the unspeakable. And he was not even done, yet. He would create more of them. More Horcruxes. More murders. The killing would not even end there, if the Inferi floating in the lake before her were any indication.
Naenia took a deep breath.
"One," she said and held up a finger, "I wanted that stone since the moment I first laid my eyes on it. Two," she held up another finger, "you killed Perseus Black, my friend. Three, you poisoned Emery Longbottom's magic and drove Amelia Longbottom to suicide. Four, you committed several murders. Five," and she held up all the fingers of her right hand, "you created three Horcruxes, so far."
Tom watched her, patiently waiting for her to continue.
"In that order – however poorly that may reflect on me – I have listed the most important reasons why I can no longer tolerate your actions."
He smiled again – a predatory thing, this one was. "And what will you do about that?"
Naenia lowered her hand. "Nothing."
"Nothing?" Tom arched an eyebrow, disappointment written all over his face. "Really? All these terrible things I did – and you are going to do… nothing?"
She shrugged. "What did you expect?"
He hummed. "A lot of things. This was certainly the last. The most favourable outcome would have been for you to finally join my side, but I knew how unlikely that was. At the very least I expected you to get angry or show regret or – anything, really, any kind of negative emotion. And an attempt to stop me, of course."
Naenia sighed. "You ought to know me better than that, Tom."
He visibly flinched at the use of his name. Had she really not called him by it so far? Apparently not.
"You cannot fault me for wishful thinking, Naenia."
"No, I suppose not. Hm…" She knelt down and touched the lake's water with her fingers, gently disturbing its smooth surface.
The imperfect Inferi stirred, but didn't come near her. There was a lot of magic in that water alone. The whole cave was starting to feel rather suffocating, but Naenia had brought neither her wand nor Tom's necklace and she didn't want to bother with a temporary incantation – not worth the hassle. His work was impressive, but, as he had said, still incomplete – it was lacking finesse and there were quite a few holes in the enchantments she could already see. But Naenia hadn't come here to marvel at the brilliancy she had always known he possessed, nor had she come to dispel his painstakingly complex work.
"Are you giving up on pursuing our knowledge, then?" she asked quietly.
"I have no need for it anymore. I have pushed the boundaries of magic further than anyone else – dare I say, even further than the ancient Lémures? I have achieved a greatness no one else could ever challenge. So, no, Naenia, I will not pursue you or your family anymore, because I do not require your knowledge anymore to achieve my goals."
Naenia slowly rose from her kneeling position and needlessly dusted down her spotless robes.
"An interesting statement," she said casually, "but not one I am inclined to believe entirely." She laughed shortly. "But it is not like you have ever realized the depth of our secrets and true nature, have you? You never truly understood what exactly we are. Or you wouldn't have dared to commit the atrocities that have ruined our friendship."
Tom huffed. "Did your brother not commit those atrocities as well? Did he not turn his back on your family, despite knowing the full truth?"
Naenia fixed him with a sharp glare. "And he has paid for it."
Tom laughed at that. "Has he truly? He was denied immortality, but your told me yourself that Death does not grant everyone that privilege. Why would you have me believe that Death denied your brother, because he did not abide by your rules any longer?"
"Because there was more to his demise than you will ever know. Let us leave it at that. You just said you do not desire our knowledge any longer and I might not believe you, but I will still hold you to that."
"You're making me rather curious, Naenia," Tom said, a grin gracing his lips. "Do you really think you can just say such mysterious things and not arouse my curiosity?"
"You have more important things to do, surely." Naenia waved dismissively. "Don't pretend you didn't already guess that there was more to it."
"Oh, but Naenia," Tom all but purred, "must I quote your own words back at you? 'But it is not like you have ever realized the depth of our secrets and true nature, have you?'"
Naenia laughed, high and clear, and it echoed through the vast and empty cave. "You do realize that I was baiting you?"
The expression he made next looked like he could not decide whether to frown or smile, somewhere between irritation and amusement.
"I cannot say whether I am proud of you for deceiving me or angry that you have dared to do so and managed it successfully."
Naenia laughed again. "I have accomplished my goal, then."
Tom sighed, before smoothing out his features again. Naenia couldn't help but watch in fascination as his appearance returned from a resemblance to the boy he had once been to the blurred, distorted state that now marked him.
"Well then," she said and clapped her hands. "I believe we have discussed everything we had to discuss. Unless there is something else?"
Tom shook his head. "Sadly, no. I would have liked to talk some more – we have not had the opportunity to talk so openly with each other in many years. It is a pity that we will not get the chance to do so again."
"A pity," Naenia repeated evenly. "But a necessity nonetheless."
Tom bowed his head.
"Although there is one last thing, insignificant as it may seem." She took the wreath of gilded laurel out of her bag. "Do you remember why you gave this to me?"
Tom looked at the wreath and furrowed his brows. "It was a gift for Yule, a gift of courtship."
Naenia nodded. "Yes, but you must have been aware of its meaning, even back then."
"Laurel wreaths have been used on many occasions over the course of history," Tom began. "There is a legend about the Greek god Apollo that I found oddly fitting for our situation. Shall I tell it for you?"
Naenia inclined her head. "By all means."
Tom smiled and put on his best narrator voice, "Apollo, god and mighty warrior, once fought against a powerful creature called Python and the victory made him so arrogant that he insulted his fellow god Eros, who he had found playing with his bows and arrows. In retaliation, Eros shot two arrows – a golden one at Apollo to make him fall in love with a nymph, and a leaden one at Daphne, the nymph, to instil in her a deep hatred for Apollo. The arrogant god then pursued Daphne until the poor girl prayed to be freed and was turned into a laurel tree. To honour her forever, Apollo turned the tree into an evergreen – a tree that would forever be youthful and immortal – and henceforth wore a wreath of laurel on his head."
He paused, gazing over the lake with an almost wistful look in his eyes.
"I do not care for the convoluted love displayed in this story, but the symbolism did not escape me."
"The Crown of Immortality," Naenia said and Tom whipped his head around to look at her. "It is a metaphor often predicted as a laurel wreath, although the immortality it indicates can come in many different forms – ranging from eternal fame to martyrdom to true immortality and eternal youth."
"I see," Tom said. "A truly fitting gift. I am glad you have brought it with you today."
He took the laurel wreath from her and gently placed it atop her head, before taking a few steps back.
"This is my last gift to you, Naenia, my dearest love," he said. "It is a promise, a farewell and the mark of a new beginning in our relationship."
She stood tall and proud, looked him straight in the eyes and faced him calmly, not even touching the magic that swirled around her, as Tom Marvolo Riddle raised his wand one last time and spoke his final words to her.
"Avada Kedavra."
AN
"Death is the greatest form of love." Charles Manson
His name is technically Tom Marvolo Gaunt at this point, but who cares?
They didn't want an epic duel, so I gave them a deep conversation. It is more fitting for the two them anyway, don't you think?
Also, I can't draw dead bodies, but here's art of the last scene + next chapter's epilogue:
something-rotten tumblr com/post/654163480576983040/tom-and-naenia-in-the-cave-from-chapter-40-of