The person Shawn was looking for was here too. Tom stood in the center of the eerie room, which resembled the heart of a black lake.
He still wore his Silver Star-Patterned Robe, staring blankly at the twelve doors.
Although this was Shawn's first proper visit to the Department of Mysteries, the scene gave him an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
The antechamber of Herpo the Foul's temple in Albania had been just as dark and eerie.
Tap, tap, tap.
Shawn walked inside, his footsteps echoing through the silence.
He came to stand beside Tom, intending to immediately discuss the life-and-death arena and their subsequent plans.
But when he saw how pale and drawn Tom's rugged face looked, he first asked gently out of concern.
"Are you hurt?"
Tom did not respond for a long time. Shawn had no idea what he was thinking. Only after a while did Tom turn and fix his gloomy gaze on him.
Rather than writing in the air as usual, he murmured aloud.
"During the battle in the Hall of Death earlier, I heard Death's voice.
"He not only summoned his power to help me drive back the enemy, but also made me a promise.
"If I placed my faith in him, he would return my mother's soul."
Those words struck Shawn like a thunderclap, leaving his head buzzing.
Merope Gaunt-Tom's mother.
Shawn knew just how much that witch meant to Tom.
That was precisely why, when he had first placed Mind Shackles on Tom, he had cast his own image in Merope's role deep within Tom's soul.
The results had been surprisingly good. Tom had gone from harboring rebellious thoughts to merely making a few little schemes, and now he devoted himself wholeheartedly to serving Shawn.
Not only was he willing to eliminate Shawn's