Fade

'I miss my family… I miss them so so much."

Every day was almost the same. Corrin would wake up in that same lame excuse of a room, chains around his wrists. It was always dark and a disgusting smell permeated endlessly. There was nothing to do except wait and listen to the water droplets hitting the puddle.

Sometimes, the masked figures would take him out of the room, and back into the one he hated more. The pain from the procedures left his memories hazy at best, only remembering bits and pieces of the near torture. They cast spells to ensure he wouldn't bleed out and closed the wounds, but did nothing about the scars.

Other days, the only thing that happened was the delivery of stale bread and a cup or two of relatively clean water. He had seemingly endless time by himself, most of it spent crying. Even when he had no tears left, his body shuddered and heaved.

As time passed, all of his memories grew fuzzier, monotonous, blending together in grayscale. Minutes were hours and days were minutes, weeks were days and months were weeks. His thoughts had already wandered from one end of his mind to another, there was nothing left to explore. So he sat in solitude, in that cold dark room.

***

There was a hole in their hearts that nothing could fill. Their pride, their joy, their love, their lives… nothing was the same. A void larger than space filled those who knew Corrin. Although they had never found a clue to where he went, they had never stopped searching, and would never give up.

A few weeks after Corrin's kidnapping, the disappearences had ceased altogether. Still, those who were gone were still gone. Soon enough the public began to forget about the horrifying events that had taken place around them, returning to their normal lives. But the Laplaus family did not, could not.

Eli's business was on the rise after a drop caused from the scene, yet he was too devastated to care about profits at that point. Arthur never neglected his duties as an Auror, yet he still put every spare moment into searching.

***

Ellie and Kate spent every day praying for Corrin and his safety, joined by Evelyne whenever she came out of her room.

'Please be safe, precious son of mine.' Kate thought as she rode her broom high in the sky, trying to clear her mind.

She remembered the days where Corrin would happily zip back and forth, laughing while trying new maneuvers. Leaving a trail of tears she began her descent.

***

After an unknown amount of time, something changed in Corrin's monotone world. A little white piece of paper was sticking out of the dripping corner. Slowly, it was making its way further and further out. Day by day the contrast grew. The operations has lessened over his stay, the last one being a week or two ago.

Eventually, the piece of paper dislodged itself and fluttered down in front of him. Landing on its back, a wax seal was evident, with a familiar symbol pressed onto it. Corrin had seen this symbol before, but couldn't remember where from.

'An H, a lion, a snake, a bird, and a… badger? Who sent this letter… I wonder what it says.' He thought to himself.

It wasn't long before another letter could be seen peeking out of the same place. This one was coming through as well, but much faster. Soon, the room was flooded with letters, and Corrin could finally see the front. The letter was addressed to a 'Mr. C Laplaus' living at 'Ardennes Forest' in the 'Underground Cell no. 7'.

Suddenly, booms could be heard through the door, and the vibrations could be felt throughout his room. As the booms got louder, the vibrations got more violent. The sounds of rumbling rocks and explosions roared while Corrin frantically tried to move his chains.

'I'll really die here if I don't get out, I have to do something about these chains.'

With a mighty pull, the chain budged ever so slightly. Seeing this, Corrin began to pull harder, over and over again, the rusty bolts on the wall bending and breaking. Inch by inch, freedom felt closer.

Just as he was about to rip the chain off the wall, the booms stopped. It was eerily quiet, as if time had decided to stop. Listening closely, Corrin thought he heard a sound. It sounded like the opening of thick metal doors.

Giving one final pull, his chains came free from the wall. Crouching behind the door, he prepared to escape at all costs. As soon as it opened, he would charge at the hooded man, take his wand, and find his way out of there. Soon enough, the eerie silence became increasing suffocating, with each moment spent tensed in anticipation.

The silence was broken by a muffled five-syllable word from outside the door. The slow, uneven clicking of the lock mechanism unwinding itself made it sound like time was barely moving. When it finally fully disengaged, Corrin leapt forward with all his might. The door was opened and a surprised looking man in a robe watched as a mess of hair, skin and bones hurtled towards him.

Already on edge, the man shouted "Stupefy" and Corrin was stopped mid-air, falling to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

"I've got a live one over here!" The man shouted as others rushed over.

"Did he collapse?" Someone asked.

"Well, erm, yes? I had to stupefy him 'cause he was gonna smash into me," the man said guiltily.

"Of the 24 missing children from back then… are these two the only ones that made it?"

Another person was being carried over one of the men's shoulder. They were extremely thin, even thinner than Corrin himself. Their skin was pale, and it appeared as though it was almost translucent.

"Someone send a message to the boss... we finally found them."