The walls of Nurmengard Castle feel cold and suffocating as Credence stares out at the night sky, his heart pounding in his chest. The vast darkness outside seems endless, like the void that’s been growing inside him ever since he sided with Grindelwald. The promises, the power, the purpose, it all seemed so clear in the beginning, like he was finally wanted, finally seen. Was finally going to get the answers he’s been desperately seeking since he could talk; he was going to find out who he is.

But now, the words that once felt like salvation are starting to feel like chains. Every assurance Grindelwald whispered to him rings hollow in his mind. The manipulations are becoming clearer with each passing day, yet Credence feels trapped, unable to escape.

He grips the windowsill, his knuckles white as a wave of panic rushes through him. He can hear Grindelwald’s voice in his head, smooth and controlling, telling him that this is where he belongs, that he has no one else. But it’s not true. It can’t be true.

He thinks of you. And your pretty eyes, the ghost of your gentle laugh echoing in a memory. And… how the last he’d seen of you was your horrified expression as he’d stepped into Grindelwald’s flaming circle, how the last thing you’d screamed was for him to come home.

He chose wrong. He chose Grindelwald. And it’s taken another cycle of abuse from that evil wizard for Credence to realise where his home truly is, and it’s you.