((Yes, this post also appears in The Price of Faith but I'm putting it here as well, to start off this personal-RP post topic.

This topic involve John (Dranco)))


.:: Day of Merging/Caging ::.

Screaming. Horrible screaming in the dungeons, again. He dashed out of the commons, following the screaming, going towards the Ancient Runes classroom. That's where it always was. That's where it was again. He began to search around, looking for the source of screaming, and looked back sharply as the door opened, immensely glad that he had cast a disillusionment charm on the way to the room.


As Amber entered the room, Ray manifested in front of him, and moved forward, beginning to speak quietly to him. He learned the screams were from a trapped ghost, reliving their own death over and over. Ray asked if he wanted to join the ghost, and did not explain how. Then Ray asked, "Do you know who else needs to die?" He shook his head, responding, "I can name a few..." Ray turned, and pointed directly at Amber, "Her." He continued to look at Ray after that, watching as he, or it, moved over to Amber and begin speaking.

After a few moments of speaking to Amber, Ray shifted into what can only be considered his true form. He was a Mirror. Shock reverberated through John as he dashed after Amber and the Mirror, intent on helping her kill it, or caging it so that she could.

As they neared the Entrance Hall, the creature turned, heading back towards John, who stopped, shocked, and stared. The creature knocked John down, and began to merge, while Amber yelled for John to run, and attempted to kill the creature, or scare it away. He saw her failing to, and urged the creature to merge. If she couldn't kill it as it was, then he would will it to merge with him, and she could kill it that way.

As the creature fully merged with him, something inside him snapped. He could still see what was happening, but he felt odd. The power pulsating from the creature inside him was affecting him, and he felt himself begin to split. He observed with no little worry as he started speaking to Amber, and Brennan, grinning and mad with power. He wasn't doing that...but a part of him was. A part of him, mad with power, had now become dominant. As he noticed this, one thought ran through his head, reverberating against his skull.

Kill Amber Ramsay.

==============================================

.::The day of the tournament::.

He sighed as he walked to the Tournament grounds. He had almost forgotten it was today. Seril, Greg, Jack, and Alexis...the champions of the Houses. He idly wondered who would win. He could feel the power of the Mirror in him, and he could feel the other half of himself, the half that wanted to cage that magnificent power so as to destroy it, trying to fight its way out.

He would tell his dear little sister that their fight must be postponed, at least for today. Innocents needed healing, and he would not let them lay injured just so he could kill her. Especially not with so many witnesses to see the deed done.

He arrived during Seril's turn at the challenge, and went straight to the Medical Tents, greeting Callie and Brennan with a perpetual grin, and then turning the grin onto Amber. His little sister was here. She refused to speak, but he knew she would see the logic, even if he was ignored. She would try nothing...not with so many witnesses.

He grimaced as he moved away from Amber...His other side almost took over there. The side that wanted to cage the power, and get rid of it forever. The side that thought only of saving lives, and healing others, and not of gaining power. He would stay way from the others, and he would try to suppress that half of him. Luckily, or unluckily, he failed to suppress it, and the other side took over. He stayed silent, in a corner, watching the others, suppressing his other half, and attempting to destroy it.

===============================================

.:: Day after the Challenge ::.

He had successfully suppressed the other half, and possibly destroyed it. He had only managed to suppress the Mirror, and he was not sure how long that would last. He had good-byes to say, and he had to say them fast, in case his other half took over again. He went to Greg first, having a geniune laugh over the state in which Alexis left him, before checking in on Sierra.

He then went to Seril, only to find Amber and him there. He waited until the others had left, before speaking to the two. A close brush with death met him, as he tried to be friendly with Amber, only to receive a kama to the stomach, for his effort. She wanted him dead, and demanded that he go. He left, not wanting to risk her wrath, while he still had good-byes to make.

Hope. Something he had not had since the Merging. It shone like a sun in his vision, one small bit of hope, amidst the blackness of despair. He had managed to suppress the entity, for now. He wasn't sure how long it would hold, but he would fight it with his entire existence.

His only hope now, it seemed, lay within one person. The Champion of Slytherin, Alexis Muune. Doubt was scarce, and what doubts there were, were fleeting. He had talked to Greg, and he had said that Alexis mentioned being able to "Fix it". He didn't care what it meant, if it meant release from the abomination he had hoped to cage.

As he sped down the hallway, moving as silently as possible while running, he thought to himself, "I was a fool to think I could cage it...Maybe...no...Alexis /will/ have a way to get rid of it...Regardless of the consequences to myself, I'll get rid of this thing." He shook his head, and continued on the way to the common room. He would find her there, whether now or later, and he would ask, or beg, her help. She would be his savior from his darkness.

As he sat in a chair near the fire, in the common room, he began to drift to sleep. His thoughts were erratic, and turbulent, his eyes flitting open and closed as he fought to stay awake. His last thoughts, before passing out were, "I only hope poor Little Sister can forgive me for my arrogance, and trying to cage it..." and his eyes drifted shut, for the final time that night, as he slipped into uneasy nightmares.

.:: A mid-day conversation ::.

He felt the calling, the slight pain, almost an itch, in his left hand. The calling of...he still didn't know the name, but it didn't matter. He knew, somehow, that he could trust the calling, and the person calling him. He quickly made up an excuse to go back to his room, claiming that he was going to get some breakfast from the Great Hall, and left the Hospital Wing, where he was visiting.

He made his hasty way to his room, and locked the door as soon as he shut it, before turning to find the familiar ethereal mouth already there. He wasn't surprised, having gotten over the surprise the first time it happened, but he was relieved. At least some things were normal, for him.

The voice, as usual, asked how he was doing, and he answered honestly. More honestly than he had expected himself to. The voice seemed interested as to why he let the creature into him, after he explained about the reason for his loss of hope. He couldn't help but to agree with the voice calling the entire situation 'troublesome'.

The voice then stated, "The way I see it, you have three obvious choices...One is commit seppuku. The other, is to blatantly ignore this being, and its desires. After all, a Parasite must either leave, or die, once its host stops feeding it. And the last...I'm not sure you're ready for the last one...Perhaps we should wait and see where the show goes, first." He shook his head, "I don't like leaving things unfinished, so seppuku is out of the question. Forcing it to leave could be just as fatal as seppuku, and with the same results. No...I would at least know of the last option..." He left the fact that anything was better than having gut-wrenching evil, with a desire to kill, stuck inside of you. "The last....Is rebirth." The voice stated, calmly.

His eyes went wide, as his brain ran through the possibilities, and what it meant. "Howso?" he questioned, listening intently. "What are the usual effects, if it works?"

"If it works....pain." The voice said. He nodded, and calmly said, "Pain, does not deter me..." while watching the ethereal mouth for a response. "Good...We will speak later...You have my calling card, of course." The voice said, as the mouth grinned and faded.

He walked over to the chair and table that were a constant sight in his room, and ran a gloved finger along the grain in the wood of the chair, a small genuine smile appearing for the first time in days. Maybe...just maybe there is still hope...Rebirth...heh...I would never have dreamed of it...but if he suggests it...it's worth trying. The consequences of failing, are likely no different than the consequences of succeeding in all other paths. He then turned, and walked over to his door, unlocking it, and heading down to the fireplace, before flooing to Olgavich, and apparating as soon as he arrived.

He arrived at his destination. In front of an icy lake, a ship docked nearby, and snow covering the ground, and falling. The sun glinting brightly on water and snow alike, causing a dazzling effect to any who were unprepared, or unused to such. He gazed out over the water, smiling. He had hope again, and he would not let this hope slip from his grasp.

((Forgive the rather cliché 'title' bits. Heh.))

.:: Requiem for a Dream ::.

His footsteps echoed through the halls as he walked toward the dormitories, through the dungeons. He was still in his white psuedo-lab coat, from being on duty in the wing the previous night. The headache had still be there, a dull throb by that time, but it was thankfully gone by morning. He blinked, slightly startled that he'd reached the door to the common already, and went inside. Once in his room, he lay back on his bed, staring at the ceiling, lost in thought.

My life has changed so much in the last few weeks...First I try to imprison the Mirror, and end up fighting a battle inside myself...then I defy the Mirror and try to keep it imprisoned, and end up getting my heart and lungs ripped out, and dying...I owe Amber...I owe a lot of people...I think it's time I make up some of my debts, little by little.

He continued to reflect on the past two or so weeks of his life. The Quad-Wizard tournament had certainly brought with it an interesting hurricane of chaos, mystery, and near-death experiences. In many cases, he would rather have done without it.

Though...I think some things may have been a good thing...I'm more focused now than I have been in a while, and more determined than ever to become a Healer...I still don't understand what makes this career stand out for me though...

He slowly drifted to sleep, his thoughts swirling around, attempting to find a reason for his desire to be a Healer. As his eyes closed, and his breathing slowed, his mind settled on a singular thought; Nyoko...


.:: A Midsummer Night's Dream ::.

He was sitting in his room, in Japan, wearing a traditional kimono styled in black and silver. He looked around, and spotted the two ravens, Lore and Nyoko. Both were watching him, as always, and both would try their best to protect him. They were his guardians, as much as he was theirs.

This...I remember this...It's when Nyoko....I was five then...

From the open window, an angry hiss came, bringing his head sharply about to look at the source. A black cat, one that kept trying and failing to get at Lore and Nyoko. He smiled slightly, they would play with the cat, and let it think it could get at them...He always got worried, but it was rather amusing to watch, and the two Ravens knew their limits.

His eyes went wide as the cat pounced, and landed on Nyoko, causing the raven to let out a screech of surprise. He immediately jumped up, moving to the cat and throwing it off Nyoko, but the damage was done. The cat had gotten its teeth into Nyoko's wing, and damaged it badly and bleeding profusely. The Raven was terribly silent as he picked it up, and dashed off, Lore in hot pursuit.

That's right...I remember now...By the time we got him to a Healer, it was already too late...he died later that day...

As the memory finished replaying, he drifted off to other vague memories, only half remembered. Other things that had influenced him to become a healer. His developing hatred for being sick himself, the death of Nyoko, the broken leg of his father, the general suffering caused when anyone was sick....it all pushed him.

He drifted off to more pleasant dreams, a small smile on his face as he slept. He would continue on this path of his...and he would make himself great in his own right. Here, in Britain, his family was just another part of the higher class, he could work to prove himself, instead of just being great because of his family.

On this path that I walk, I swear to Odin that I will walk tall and proud. My enemies are disease, sickness, and injury, and my sword is my wand. I will defeat these enemies, and I will do so in a glorious battle of a different sort.

((Note: Nyoko is Gem in Japanese.))

((If any of this doesn't make sense, I blame the fact that I just woke up 42 minutes ago. I proof-read it, and it still made sense to me, but I could still be delusional from sleep. Send a PM if something seems weird, or if you find a spelling error. Thanks!))

.::An Internal struggle::.

He opened his eyes, and sat up, looking around...He was in a forest. <i>How did I get here? Didn't the Auror's take me to the Ministry for questioning?</i>

A malicious voice rang out, from nearby, "You're here, because we have unfinished business...As for how? I pulled you here."

"Where is here?" he asked, seemingly to no one, though he somehow knew the voice would know. He leaped to the side as a spell blazed past him.

"You mean you don't know? You're truly more pathetic than I thought." the voice rang out again, as the being moved into view. The being looked identical to John in every aspect, but was different at the same time. The beings eyes seemed colder than John's ever could, it's voice sounding lethal, it's stance exuding danger.

"You...Then that means..." John began, only for the other John to interrupt.

"Yes, we're in your pathetic little mind. I intend to destroy you, now, and take over permanently. You cost us the power to kill anyone that stood in our way, and I will get it back."

"No. I won't let you kill anyone."

"Who says you can stop me? You're useless."

"We'll see about that...Stupefy!"

As the casting began anew, both John, and his clone began to throw potentially lethal spells, each fully intent on destroying the other once and for all. The clone appeared to be dodging each spell much easier than John was.

"Expelliarmus!" Twin voices cried out, both becoming disarmed at the same moment.

"I see...All the better, now I can rip you apart with my hands." The clone grinned maniacally, taking a step forward.

"Not if I have anything to say about it..." John said, grimacing and pulling on his gloves.

"You should both stop this. It's complete foolishness." A third voice, one neither John or the Dark clone had heard before, stated, ringing out with a soothing tone.

"Who are you? Show yourself!" The Dark John yelled, spinning around. John remained silent, looking around, and watching the Dark version of himself warily.

"Oh could you not yell? You're disturbing the peaceful feel of this forest." the voice said again, as another John stepped into view, this one dressed in a white and gold robe. "Really, fighting is pointless."

"Not <i>another</i> one..." John groaned, looking at the newest clone.


((To Be Continued.))
((Sidenote: May be edited later, since I just woke up when posting this, and may have to make corrections.))