Crystal waters lie (Open)

[Richard Romain]

Richard didn't even know where he was going anymore. He'd started walking from the hospital, intent on walking to a place where he could catch a portkey home. Instead he'd just... walked. And he hadn't stopped. He'd walked past all of the people in the street, not responding when he jostled some and out-right knocked over others. He was just... walking. He wasn't thinking. To think was to dwell on what was lost. To dwell on his sweet little Raven, who was by now testing her wings out in heaven.

Looking down at the expanse of water in front of him, Richard cast a spell on his feet. He carried on walking and in fact began to walk on top of the water, not sinking even an inch as he walked out to the middle of the lake and just stood there silently. Looking down at the waters again he saw the crystals at the bottom, shining with etheral light. But the light that they were shining with was a lie. It was just trapped magics from a long-dead tribe of magic-users.

It was, he reflected bitterly, like hope. The light from the crystals was a lie and so had his hope been. He had hoped. He had preyed. He had even begged. And in the end his hope had died with his daughter. Hope was as much a lie as the idea that these crystals produced their own light.