𝒍𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒛𝒆 - pjo x hp [₂]

xlv. inside his mind

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐕𝐑 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐆. Even though the bubblehead charm prevented Raya from breathing in the lotus air, she still had to fight with her mind to keep moving and not stick around. People of all ages were playing all different types of games. Games that would be hard to resist even without a mind-controlling gas.

"Oh my god, she's playing a PWHL simulation," Raya muttered in awe as they passed one of the VR screens.

Kayse grimaced, pulling Raya along quickly. "We're here to find Regulus Black, remember?"

"I know that," Raya assured him, walking by the PWHL simulation screen. "I haven't forgotten."

Kayse nodded, but he still looked uneasy. "Something's wrong. I mean, besides the Lotus stuff in the air and all of that. Like, we're protected in a sealed and regenerating air chamber, but why is this place still messing with us? I just saw a Quidditch simulation a few booths down. And now you're seeing a hockey one. It's like this place changes to make each person who enters want to stay. Even if they haven't had the lotus air."

Raya frowned at his words, but she had to admit that they made a lot of sense. Ever since they entered, they'd been passing by games and gadgets that appealed to each of them.

"It's like the labyrinth," Raya muttered to herself. "The way this place keeps constantly changing from inside. Designed to trap you here, by manipulating your mind. We'll have to keep our guard up too. Even if the lotus air doesn't affect us, we're still humans. Our minds are pretty weak."

"Damn our weak old minds," Kayse muttered dramatically, hiding a grin.

Raya managed a laugh, which felt odd because this didn't seem like the place where people laughed due to stupid interactions.

"C'mon loverboy, let's find a supposedly-dead-Death-Eater traitor," Raya said, pulling him along.

As they walked, they kept an eye on the VR screens in case they could see something similar to Raya's dreams. Around them, voices rung out as the people shouted at the virtual reality they were playing against. It was almost surreal seeing the way everyone just kept moving, never stopping unless their eyes were glued to some sort of game screen.

Raya frowned as they made their third round around the VR stations without finding anything.

"He should be here," Raya muttered, almost to herself. "The dream showed him outside Hogwarts, fighting some Death Eaters. Why isn't he here?"

Kayse frowned, looking over some heads to search the screens again. "I don't see that anywhere. Do you think they might have moved him? Is he—is he even here or did we go about this wrong?"

Raya hated that possibility. That she'd been so caught up in her own mind that she'd gone about this entirely wrong. Maybe Regulus wasn't alive anymore. Maybe fighting that battle repeatedly was his punishment in the afterlife.

Her stomach lurched at the thought that she'd led Kayse here on what was probably a wild goose chase. A stupid dream that Regulus was still alive, even if he'd been confirmed to die almost eighteen years ago. Maybe she'd been too caught up in those old dreams where Regulus had cared for Raya and sung her to sleep. Maybe she wanted Regulus to be alive, to hug her and hold her so that she could remember him.

Because she had no memories of him. All she had were those dreams where he held her close, books where he scribbled along the margins, and a house full of so much despair that he'd died trying to leave it.

"Fuck," Raya croaked, dropping back into a chair. She hadn't realized there was one behind her. Maybe the Lotus hotel knew she needed one.

"Ry," Kayse began softly, settling on his knees in front of her. "Hey, it's okay, my love. Maybe he's walked out of the VR stations, maybe he's playing a new game. We'll search the rest of the floor, each section, one by one. We'll find him. And then we'll make it back to the others, the three of us. We'll head back to Camp with them, once they've got Annabeth."