Chapter 12: Assault of the Obsessed
Jason wandered through the forest, constantly casting "Appare Vestigium" trying to find any leftover magical activity from the subject he was hunting.
"This damn subject really headed in far, didn't he?"
Jason was hoping he would find Axel quickly. He hadn't gotten a good look at Axel, but he could assume that the boy was probably in an extremely poor state. Knowing this, he hoped the boy would just be passed out somewhere. He had his worries as he wondered if the boy had been killed by some of the beasts there, but as he thought back to the camp Axel had made, he knew the boy had some knowledge on how to survive in this sort of place.
"I'll definitely find it..."
After some more walking, Jason found himself in a clearing within the forest. He looked around for a moment, first casting his tracking spell and sighing as he noticed no magical activity being tracked.
"It has been a couple of weeks since I first found that subject... I probably won't see any signs of activity for a while--"
As Jason spoke, he noticed a presence nearby. He immediately lifted his wand and looked around.
"Trying to hunt me, you damn beasts!? I'll tear you to shreds!"
Jason continued to look around the clearing, seeing nothing. He started to think that maybe he was just on edge at the moment, constantly worried that his subject had died somewhere. But out of nowhere, a black beast appeared in front of him. Its glowing yellow eyes studied Jason for a minute.
"It's you!"
Jason stared at the Black Beast and smiled wildly. He had once told Sidious he had seen this beast before, but it was only briefly. Now, the beast had appeared in front of him as if greeting him. Jason immediately raised his wand and cast:
"Avada Kedavra!"
The spell shot out from his wand towards the black beast. Jason was looking forward to harvesting such an enigmatic beast for materials. However, it didn't go as Jason envisioned. As the spell traveled towards the beast, it dissipated and completely fizzled out of existence. The Black Beast continued to study Jason, completely unfazed by the fact that Jason just tried to kill it. Looking at the beast's gaze, Jason felt a slight fear within him.
"I knew this thing was different... but it's looking at me like I'm just a blade of grass it's curious about."
The beast showed no signs of attacking Jason despite his attack on it. Jason called out to the beast in a desperate effort to find out what the beast wanted:
"What are you?! Why appear in front of me now?!"
The beast continued to stare at Jason, and after a few more moments, Jason heard a voice in his head.
"Despair... You seek a poisoned chalice..."
Jason's interest was piqued as he listened to the beast's words. He prepared to escape at any moment, considering this beast was surprisingly more powerful than he had guessed. Hearing the beast's words, he laughed.
"Poisoned chalice! Hahahaha... Everything in this damn world is poisoned in some way or another. Poison, though, in specific dosages, can turn out to be a medicine, you damned beast."
The beast stared at Jason a moment longer before disappearing, fading away as if it was an apparition. It left Jason with some parting words, however.
"To chase the unrecorded... your 'fate' will twist..."
Jason was left alone in the clearing as the beast disappeared. He had so many questions about the beast, but he couldn't gain any answers currently. It acted as if it saw everything, knew everything. It was as if it was some kind of deity.
"A physical representation of a grim? No, a grim is usually a spectral dog. This beast had horns... but that's the only thing that I can tie it to. It seemed evil..."
Jason lost himself in his thoughts for a while before snapping out of it.
"Questions for later. I have a subject to catch. That beast seemed to talk as if it knew I was hunting something down..."
Jason thought for a moment about the beast's words. 'The unrecorded,' 'Fate will twist,' 'Poisoned Chalice.' He could only infer it referred to the obscurus he was after, but these enigmatic words weren't enough to sway him. He was a researcher through and through; he wouldn't give up his hunt just because some weird beast spoke like this to him.
It did, however, make him much more cautious going forward.
.
I woke up after what felt like a good long sleep. The chains on my wrists felt cold, and the room I was in gave me a shiver as I sat up. Looking around the room, I saw a bowl placed in front of me. Inside the bowl was food, probably brought down by Rufus or some other vampire. It wasn't exactly appetising to the eye but it seemed at least somewhat edible.
"At least they are feeding me as well..."
I scuttled over to the bowl and devoured the entire thing. I was starving for so long, eating scraps. A warm bowl like this tasted like heaven despite its odd texture and appearance. I didn't even consider that this could be a trap or something as my hunger consumed me.
"It wouldn't make any sense that they'd want to just randomly poison me anyway... their heads' words sound absolute."
Felix Blackfang, that was the name of the head of this clan. I remember reading about how vampires lived long in the wizarding world, and Felix was such a vampire, boasting an age of more than a century old. Rufus also told me the head had many magical devices in his stores, which showcased that Felix had some sort of influence and history across the world. Despite this, he was never mentioned in the main story.
The stinging sensation came back for a moment, and I looked down at the device on my chest. It glowed a deep red for a moment, and the sensation quelled instantly.
"To have something like this in his stores... I wonder what sort of man he's like..."
He had to be powerful, this Felix Blackfang, to have something like this tucked away. Rufus even explained that he had taught his clan martial magic, something that he had practised for probably around a century. Martial magic was never fully explained in the books, but if I recall correctly, I believe Godric Gryffindor dabbled in it and was proficient in it. He also wielded a sword as well... the sword of Godric Gryffindor.
Martial magic, though, didn't necessarily mean you had to wield a weapon like a sword. As a matter of fact, it was a more general term for magic used defensively and offensively in duels. Considering the age of Felix Blackfang and also when Godric Gryffindor was around, it was more than likely they practiced a branch of martial magic that utilized the use of a sword alongside magic as a way to fight.
"Seems like an awfully bloody and brutal way to fight..."
These days, wizards mostly use wands, with some countries having alternatives like staves and such. Swords and more 'medieval' methods are all but gone, as they are seen as inefficient. After all, to wield a sword and magic simultaneously meant that the wizard in question needed to have enough physical strength to swing a sword proficiently. They would also need to know how to fight with a sword normally and then integrate that sword technique into the spells they used.
My mind trailed off, thinking about martial magic for a moment, before returning back to reality. A stinging pain appeared once again, awakening me from my thoughts, and then immediately subsided.
"Damn obscurus..."
.
Jason had been in the forest for a while now, rushing forward and trying to find any trace of his 'subject' that he wanted to capture.
After wandering around for a long time, he noticed in the distance that some trees had been felled.
"Could it be?"
His expression shifted and filled with happiness in a moment. He started heading towards where the trees had been felled, and as he walked into that area, he immediately felt elated.
"HAHAHA! YOU AREN'T DEAD!"
He looked around with glee, seeing the destruction. The destruction resembled the same he saw with Sidious when he first discovered an obscurus within this forest. He had been constantly worried as he walked through the forest that the 'subject' had died somewhere, but this was hard proof that it was still alive.
"You damn impressive 'subject,' surviving this long!"
He cast "Appare Vestigium," and finally, he found a trace of magical activity. Footsteps walking towards the stream up ahead and then steps rushing back.
"It seems it met with some sort of beast and tried to run. Feeling threatened, it attacked as an obscurus, causing another mess in the forest..."
Looking at all the traces, his expression dropped as he noticed another set of footsteps heading towards a rock where his 'subject' seemed to have ended up after going on a rampage. The footsteps seemed to head to the rock and then back over towards the stream. Fury arose in Jason's heart as he saw this. His hands clenched tightly and his eyes turned bloodshot as he saw the footsteps leading away.
"Who the fuck would DARE take what is MINE!?"
Looking toward where the footsteps headed, he remembered whereabouts in the forest he currently was. Looking around at the destruction, he saw two beings destroyed by Axel and immediately pieced together what was happening.
"Thralls... It's those damn fucking Blackfangs!"
Jason's anger rose as he thought about the Blackfang clan that was nearby. This forest was split into sections with clans and some families occupying different 'domains.' He was currently on the outskirts of the Blackfang domain. There was a pact made a long time ago with each clan and family here, stating that no other clan or family should venture into another's domain without some foreknowledge. If one ventured in without any notice, the clan that was breached was within their right to attack.
He was stuck now. If he went back to Graham and asked him to request that he could visit the Blackfangs, undoubtedly the Blackfangs would refuse Jason's audience because of his reputation. Not only that, Graham would probably find a way to prevent Jason from going anyway, as he was already against this research. He couldn't notify either side of this.
"I'm not giving up here... no fucking chance..."
Jason headed towards the Blackfang domain, crossing the stream, and cautiously entered. He cast a cloaking spell on himself and carefully walked through the forest. It didn't take long for him to spot two vampires of the clan walking through the forest, scanning the surroundings.
Jason's emotions were rolling, and he was incessantly angry now. He knew that attacking the Blackfangs wouldn't be the best course of action, but he couldn't help but covet the obscurus even in this situation. He kept fighting his logic and reasoning for a moment before finally arriving at a decision.
He raised his wand and cast a spell, the dark environment of the forest was suddenly filled with a green glow that appeared and disappeared in the blink of an eye. With this glow brought death as one of the vampires among the two was hit with the green spell, slumping over and falling the the floor. The unaffected vampire immediately drew his sword and became guarded. He screamed out, "WHO DARES?!"
Jason headed around the trees, using them as cover to get to the vampire's blind spot. As he got a good sight of the vampire, he cast another spell, this one designed to subdue and not kill.
As the spell shot towards the vampire, he turned and slashed the spell with his sword, which seemed to be coated in a light blue magic. He retaliated by casting a spell from the end of his sword towards Jason's direction.
"Hmph."
Jason's cold eyes surveyed the spell coming towards him and he responded in kind as he shielded himself from the spell, causing the spell to bounce off into another area of the forest. As he shielded himself, his cloaking spell wore off revealing his appearance to the vampire in front of him he had engaged with. The attacking vampire grew furious upon seeing Jason's face.
"Jason Blightheart! Rufus knew you would come. Have you forgotten the pact made in this forest, you fucking madman!"
Jason stayed silent for a moment before showing a ruthless expression, his eyes showing no rational and his aura that of a madman. "You stole what was mine. I demand you give me that obscurus..."
"That boy is not 'yours,' you fucking psychopath! I'd suggest you leave now before you dig an even bigger hole for yourself than you already have!"
Brandishing his sword, the vampire prepared to attack. "And while you're at it, how about leaving an arm or two here for killing one of our clan members!"
The vampire charged at Jason, overtaken by fury. Deep down, he knew he couldn't kill Jason as that would cause even more problems, but he wanted to damage Jason as a punishment. Jason expression glowered with ruthlessness, he watch the vampire charge him with a cold glare. Under his breath he uttered;
"Fool."
Jason reached into a pouch on his hip that had an extending charm on it. From within, he grabbed a small vial that seemed to have a plant bud inside it. He smashed the plant on the floor where he stood and immediately retreated a bit. The vampire, charging furiously, saw this and stopped before he ran near what Jason had thrown on the floor. Unfortunately, he was still in range...
"Herbivicus Duo."
Jason cast a charm that caused the plant on the floor to grow at an incredibly alarming rate. The small green plant started to expand out growing tendrils that were seeking prey. Jason was calculatedly outside the plants area of effect, however the vampire that was initially charging towards Jason was within its range, as the plant sensed the vampire, its tendrils extended out towards him, attempted to latch onto him and bind him.
The vampire cursed, "It's just like you to use a Devil's Snare in such a sparing way. Your damn family is far too rich."
The vampire cast a spell of his own that coated his sword in a bright light. The Devil snare which had mounted an attack on the vampire stopped its assault short being wary of the bright light.
The vampire seeing this opening, charged forward and cut through all the tendrils of the Devil's Snare. As he looked through it, expecting to see Jason, he realized Jason was now gone. He felt a chill down his spine, and as his senses screamed to run, he felt a spell hit his back, rendering him paralyzed on the floor.
"Misdirection... and you vampires are supposed to be somewhat smart, considering you are all so damn old."
Jason walked over to the vampire, who lay on the floor paralyzed. He raised his wand and cast towards the Devil's Snare, "Incendio."
The Devil's Snare, already in a bad state after the vampire's attacks, was destroyed, ensuring it didn't act up anymore. Jason then pointed his wand at the vampire and spoke coldly, "You will die here. So, how about you give me some information, and I'll make it at least somewhat painless?"
"Drop dead, Jason, you damned maniac."
Jason smiled viciously. He cast a spell that encased the small area in which he and the vampire were and proceeded to cast a spell on the vampire.
"Crucio."
The vampire wailed in agony as the spell hit him. As he screamed, Jason spoke again, "Nobody will hear you. I put up an enchantment to block all sounds. Now, will you be compliant?"
Despite the agony he was in, the vampire looked at Jason with vicious, vengeful eyes. Jason chuckled slightly and used another spell.
"Diffindo."
The spell cut into the vampire's chest, but not as deeply as a normal 'Diffindo' would. It only cut through the layer of flesh on the vampire's body.
"I wonder if you've ever heard of 'flaying'? It's quite a medieval practice, used for torture. However, it tends to produce wondrous results."
Jason cast a few more 'Diffindos,' slowly peeling away at the vampire's body. The vampire's previous expression changed to extreme fear and despair.
"Now, care to talk?"
The vampire was loyal to his clan, but considering this was only the 'start' of what Jason would do to him, and he was already breaking, he feared Jason enough to crack. Seeing the vampire's compliance in his eyes, Jason stopped the 'Crucio' spell that was still ravaging the vampire's body and spoke.
"So, my 'subject' is within your clan. What have you done with him? Did you kill him?"
The vampire took a moment to catch his breath and fearfully spoke out, "H-he was placed in one of the cells... R-Rufus told us to do nothing to the boy. He placed a device on that boy so he wouldn't turn into an obscurus for now..."
"A device? What does this device do?"
"It siphons magic... It only acts to suppress the obscurus eating away at the boy. The boy is still destined to die."
Jason thought for a moment, musing at the fact that the Blackfangs had such an impressive device within their stores. The Blighthearts were prideful and ambitious. They always wanted to be the sole 'owners' of the Black Forest but found it difficult due to the copious amounts of other clans and families residing there. This was why they trained their 'youth,' hoping to produce one that would become the 'vein,' as strong as their ancestor. If the Blackfangs had such things with them, imagine what all the other clans had in their stores. Jason pondered this for a moment and hoped that Sidious would be the 'vein' that could finally reach that level so they could get their hands on some of these clan's supplies.
"Why have you decided to keep the boy alive? Could it be Felix's decision? Well!?"
"F-Felix, H-he's..."
The vampire hesitated to answer. Jason raised his wand, ready to cast again, and the vampire closed his eyes tightly, fearfully speaking again, "He's not currently in the clan!"
Jason's eyes brightened as he heard this information. The commanders and generals of the Blackfangs were powerful, but they could be subdued. Felix, on the other hand, was a different kind of beast, someone not to be trifled with. If he was currently not within the clan, then Jason may be able to get back what was rightfully his.
"How did you know I would appear?"
"T-that's something Rufus surmised. He spoke with the boy, and the boy said he was chased by an old wizard who spoke English. Rufus guessed that would be you and told us to secure the perimeter..."
Jason clicked his tongue, hearing this. After today's events, they would be even more on edge. He wasn't supplied enough to storm into the clan currently. However, if he retreated for now, he could prepare and heist his subject back. Retreating now, though, would mean the clan would become even more guarded and might even try to contact the Blighthearts for some sort of explanation. Jason could deny any involvement at that point, especially if he 'cleaned' up here.
Felix was a formidable force to Jason, however the current Blackfang clan without him was something he could 'steal' from. The only vampire that could cause some trouble would be Rufus if he appeared.
"You've been helpful. I'll send you off now."
Jason pointed his wand at the vampire, and the vampire closed his eyes, waiting to die. As a spell was cast, the vampire didn't die immediately and just felt a hot, stinging pain on his chest.
"J-Jason, you said you'd let me die easy!"
Jason smiled maniacally and laughed hysterically at the vampire's words.
"You must be stupid to think I'd let you off easy after stealing what was mine!"
Screams echoed from within the enchantment for nearly an hour before they finally ceased. In front of Jason was a bloodied corpse, and off in the distance was the body of a dead vampire he initially killed when he first attacked.
He put the two bodies together and looked at both for a moment. After a moment of thought, Jason crouched down beside one of the vampires and pulled out a few strands of hair. As he got back up, he casts "Incendio" on both, reducing them to dust.
"Best leave now. More may appear here soon when they realize these two are missing. Guess I'll head off to prepare..."
Jason swiftly moved away, leaving the Blackfang domain first before Apparating off towards the Blightheart domain, a furious and murderous glint in his eye as he departed.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone