Maleficus Obscurum

[Alessandro Darko]

It was late. Around 11:45 at night and he had just finished reading Chiaroscuro. It wasn't that large of a book. It mainly held knowledge concerning the style of painting with dramatic shifts between dark tones and light tones. The book went on into detail about how this was early interpretation of the realms of darkness lurking within our world, around every corner. As he had found in the library with Wysteria, the book mentions that the world itself is the largest Chiaroscuro portrait ever, as the time between night and day is thought to be the most penetrable time when forces can move between realms of dark and light.

As he turned the last page, he saw something scrawled in the bottom right hand corner of the cover. "Expugno lumen, Nillus lux, Vis levis, Luciens nux"--Maleficus Obscurum His eyes transfixed on the words as he mouthed them as he read. The room seemed to grow dimmer as he continued to read the words over and over again. The light from his candle waned steadily.

"Expugno lumen, nillus lux, vis levis, luciens nux." He finally said out loud as he had committed them to memory. No sooner had he spoken those words, all the light was ripped from the room and darkness had fallen upon him. It was icy cold all of a sudden and Alessandro found himself in the midst of a nightmare. There was no light present, no light at all. It was almost as if he had shut his eyes tight, but he was not doing so. His eyes were wide open in fear, wondering what had happened. He put his hands out in front of him to feel the desk where he had been sitting but had felt nothing. He called out for anyone to help, and as he cut off his words there was no echo, the words just stopped existing.

He pulled out his wand and tried to cast the lumos spell, but nothing happened. "Please...." He begged. "Please....Lumos Maxima!"
but no light would come. Fear made a home in his chest and he began to panic. "Expecto Patronum!" He cried as he felt himself jab his wand through the darkness blindly. Nothing. He repeated this several times until he felt himself grow weary and weak. He felt dizzy and fell backwards. It felt like he was suffocating. His mind was racing as he couldn't breathe, a heavy weight pressing upon his chest. He was struggling furiously to intake air, but to no avail. Soon the darkness invaded his mind as he lost consciousness and blacked out.

He lay there on the floor of the Ravenclaw common room as the light slowly returned. His single candle flickering back to life, illuminating his unconscious body lying there on his back next to the desk, his wand several feet from his hand.

[D'rorah Philosophy]

(ooc: D'rorah is entering from here:
www.ragedsyphers.proboards100.com/index.cgi?board=rgirlsdorm&action=display&thread=1188355955

D'rorah had awakened from a nightmare and gathered several texts. If she couldn't sleep, she may as well at least attempt to finish some research. Frustrated with the direction her dreams had taken that night, she had extracted herself from her tangled bedsheets and changed into robes. She would never consider walking out into a common area in her pajamas. As modest as they were, she simply didn't consider it proper. Books in hand, she pushed open the heavy door to the common room.

She could feel a chill in the room and looked around in the dim light. Odd, she thought to herself, no one has ever put the lights out at night before. Cautiously, she crept into the room. She listened intently for any sound that might indicate something was amiss in the common room, but heard nothing. She could feel the hairs on the back of her neck prickly slightly. Something simply was not right. Carefully, she placed her books on the floor, and inched further out into the room. She was halfway across the room when she saw Alessandro lying on the floor.

Her eyes widening in shock, she made her way to his side, kneeling next to him. "Mister Darko?" she asked, shaking his shoulder. "Can you hear me?" She looked around, trying to see what might have caused him to pass out on the floor. She spied his wand, lying on the floor several feet away.

"Accio wand," she murmured, retrieving it. "Miste.... Alessandro?" she asked, leaning down to peer into his eyes, looking for any sign of a response. Her eyes shone with concern. Surely, shadows couldn't have gotten into Hogwart's itself? There were supposed to be barriers which would prevent such a thing from happening.

[ninjavanish]

A quiet conversation could just be heard just outside the portrait hole.

"I just told you the password. Please... I really can't do this right now. I'm very tired." The voice was that of Jono Kajja. A grunt of reluctance could be heard, and then nothing but the sound of the portrait swinging open. Jono clambered through the frame with his suitcase in tow, dragging the heavy thing as he backed his way into the common room. He had made it no more than three inches past the door frame when he lost his footing and slipped on the ground.

"What the--"

His words were cut short as the back of his head slammed against the dormitory floor. Jono's head rolled to the side, and his cheek pressed against the frighteningly cold floor. The sensation caused him to jump a little, his cheek slightly sticking to the floor as it seperated.

"Ugh, it's freezing!"

The spill had distracted Jono from the source of the eerie chill hovering within the dormitory. Rubbing his cheek tenderly with his hand, Jono pivoted on the spot to see a fallen student and a girl hunched over him on the far side of the room. Jono drew his wand, and crawled towards the pair leaving his belongings strewn about at the door.

"Lumos! Oh, my-- What happened? Is he alright?"

The girl seemed startled by Jono, despite his loud entrance. She seemed to be a bit distracted. "Who are you?" she asked cautiously. Jono relaxed his posture and crouched down beside her.

"My name's Jono Kajja. I've only just arrived at Hogwarts. But seriously, what happened? Who is this?"

The girl, who still had not introduced herself, looked down to the boy and back up at Jono, clearly not sure what to say.

[D'rorah Philosophy]

(ooc: Bad Jono... putting words into Dee's mouth... tsk tsk... this one's free. That's a strict no-no around here.)

Internally, D'rorah swore. She continued feigning a look of confusion, not certain of the trustworthiness of the newcomer. After a moment, she turned most of her attentioni back to Alessandro, keeping her senses alert for any suspicious movement from Jono.

"Mister Kajja," she said, her eyes still on Alessandro, "gather your things and take them to your dormitory. I will see to Mister Darko."

By chance, her gaze fell across the book Alessandro had been reading. "Malefi..." she stopped suddenly, before finishing the phrase, suddenly understanding. She looked up to Jono. "Belay that order, Mister Kajja. Make your way to your dormitory immediately. I will see to your things after I take Mister Darko to the infirmary." Her voice was as calm as if she had made a comment on the weather, knowing that any sign of panic from her would only further arouse his suspicion. She knew, if Alessandro had truly read aloud from the book, it was likely he had created a small rift into a realm of darkness... and there was no telling what might come through it. She could close it, but it would be very difficult and she couldn't risk having another student about in case something came through and attacked them. Shadow Warrior or no, she was only one person.

[Alessandro Darko]

He felt wretched as he lay there on the stone floor of the Ravenclaw common room. He was hearing voices but they sounded so far away, and he was so deep in the swirling blackness of his mind, so cold. He was trying to run toward the light, but it seemed like the faster he ran, the further it became. He was wrapped in despair and subdued by desolation. The light went further and further from his sight as he felt like he had begun to fall, and finally he let go, blending into the obscure.

His eyes flicked open, cold and unyielding. The gray-green tone was somewhat darker than usual, dull almost, without luster. He was staring into the face of D'rorah Philosophy, fellow Ravenclaw, and house prefect. "Hello..." He spoke simply as he lay there.

[D'rorah Philosophy]

D'rorah breathed a bit easier as Alessandro finally opened his eyes and spoke. She hadn't even noticed the tightness in her chest until it began to abate. However, as she looked into his eyes, she noticed a curious darkness in them.

(OOC: Jono, I was waiting for you to respond, but I'm going to assume you left as you haven't posted anything since Dee told you to leave... sorry.)

She glanced around at the empty common room for a moment. A chill still seemed to hang in the the air. "Yotzeir or," she said quietly. Her mind raced for a moment... she needed something to dispel the darkness... light, warmth, had to come back to the room. "Miste.... Alessandro," she said quietly, "light the fire in the fireplace. Help me, we must do something to dissipate the darkness." She hoped he would respond, hoped he was coming closer to controlling his fear so that he could help. She knew chants for light, but they were very draining.

[Alessandro Darko]

He turned his head toward her staring at her, almost past her. "Now why would I do that?" He asked calmly. "You know I can't." He said without inflection.

He eyed his wand in D'rorah's hand and a look of disquietude swept over his face. His expression shifted back and he stood up holding his hand out to her. "May I please have my wand?" He asked with a hint of distrust behind the polite question. His eyes flickered darkly as he stood there awaiting the return of what was his.

[D'rorah Philosophy]

D'rorah arched an eyebrow at him. "Surely you do not think..." she trailed off, catching a hint of a suspicious tone. "I would never attempt to harm you, Mister Darko," she added, handing the wand to him warily. She pointed her own wand at the fireplace and flicked it, starting a quietly crackling blaze on the logs in the grate.

The darkness was inside him as well, she realized as she listened to him speak. Suddenly, she wished fervently that she had denied him the wand.

"My sincerest apologies, Mister Darko... I assure you this is quite necessary," she said quietly, suddenly delving into his mind. As she searched the corridors of his thoughts, she began a chant. She had found it in one of her many texts... a chant for light. Not heat, not fire, but light... pure light. She wasn't entirely certain how it was supposed to be used, but the medicine woman in the book had used it to help a person who claimed to be possessed by an evil spirit.

As she chanted and moved through his mind, she chill in the room began to slowly abate, the darkness thinning ever so slightly.

[Alessandro Darko]

Alessandro received his wand quickly and jumped back warily as she created the fire in the fireplace. He eyed it disdainfully as it flickered and roared, the firelight casting ominous shadows across his face. He watched her intently as he began to walk around her, eyeing her, almost sizing her up, wand-in-hand.

What are you looking at, girl? He thought darkly. As she eyed him, he saw a sudden spring of suspicion in her eyes. "My sincerest apologies, Mister Darko... I assure you this is quite necessary," she said quietly to him.

Suddenly it was as if he was hit in the head with a jet of water, but the water flew through his head, through his brain. He felt her mental presence enter his mind as she rushed through it chanting as she went deeper and deeper into his mind. He staggered backwards as he felt weakened by this sudden mental attack. No! a hideous voice growled inside his head. It sounded like several beings speaking at once, hissing and growling like animals. He put his hands on his head as he cried out in pain.

"STOP IT!" he howled. "PLEASE DEE! YOU'RE HURTING ME!" Alessandro wailed as he dropped to his knees, his now darkened eyes pleading her. The pain was incredible. It felt as though his insides were being ripped out of him.

FOOL! The demonic voice inside his head growled at her. He felt his strength waning, there were flashes of light present inside his mind, purging the darkness out of him. Flickers of light were present in Alessandro's eyes as they lightened slowly to their natural color.

You will regret this, Shadow Warrior.... The voice was dying inside of his mind, the presence drew upon all the remaining strength to send a message.

Alessandro let out a scream before he went rigid and spoke in the multi-vocal tone: "You will know the darkness well, my child, you will know the darkness!" and with that, a swell of light filled up inside Alessandro's head spewing out of every orifice and expelled the darkness from him.

He was left there lying on the floor, gasping for air, eyes as wide as golf balls.

[D'rorah Philosophy]

D'rorah slowly pulled from Alessandro's mind. She felt weakened by the struggle, but noted with some satisfaction that she had accomplished her goal. His eyes were now normal and the dark presence that had attempted to take hold had been banished.

"Do your worst... I already know much of darkness," she replied quietly, her eyes narrowed to slits as she addressed the dissipating presence.

She looked down at Alessandro to see him gasping for air. Gently, she shook his shoulder. "Mister Darko? Please, if you can understand me, squeeze my hand," she said, grasping his left hand as she knelt on the floor beside him. "I apologize for the pain, but it was necessary." If he had looked carefully into her eyes, he would see the slightest glimmer of fear. She was worried about the presence that had tried to take hold of him. It had been quite strong and she would never forgive herself if she had inadvertently harmed Alessandro while trying to help him.

"Mister Darko?" she prompted again.

[Alessandro Darko]

Alessandro gripped her hand vigorously, perhaps a little too vigorous. He blinked his eyes several times as he relived the past ten minutes over again. He released his vice grip on her hand and sat upright. Somehow he had invoked some dark entity into his being. The incantation... He thought quickly as his eyes darted to the book which had so innocently beheld a secret evil.

"Dee...." He breathed. "Thank you...." He looked at the ground having a loss for words. He shook his head. "You didn't hurt me....that wasn't me when I said that you were hurting me...that was, was....something else." He took a breath and stared into her grey eyes.

"Dee....I think....I went to the Shadow Realm...when...when all the light was gone. I couldn't make a patronus....or do any kind of light spell-- I tried...." He said, his voice sounding shaken as he recalled the overwhelming fear. "And thats when....it came..." He said ominously.

[D'rorah Philosophy]

D'rorah listened to Alessandro's description of the events and nodded gravely. "Yes, I saw the inscription in the book," she replied quietly. "Come," she said, helping him to his feet slowly, allowing him to lean on her if he needed to. "You should sleep for now. You will be quite drained after your ordeal. If you do not mind, I would like to retain the book to further research the inscription in the back. The words look a bit familiar. Perhaps I can cross-reference them with my other reading."

She turned to take him to his dormitory, thankful that none of the other students had woken. She did not allow herself to worry about the creature's threat from before. Though the opening of the rift was somewhat harrowing, it was also a major breakthrough... she knew chants which could close rifts, but they required at least two Shadow Warriors. Opening rifts could prove useful at some point... perhaps... her mind was already fast at work. D'rorah knew she would spend the remainder of the night researching after she had shown Alessandro to bed.