((Based after the actions of Broken Glass (http://www.harrypotterfan.com/forum/index.php?topic=5770.0)
Rhyme sat depressed, curled up in the side of an overstuffed couch as he stared mindlessly into the fire burning into the fireplace. As he stared he tried with all his might to see through the block in his memories. The blackouts were always confusing, but this last one was scary. Where he ended up, with all the carnage around him, he didn't know who caused it but deep within he feared it was himself.
In his normally neutrally purple hair, now there seemed to be a streak of grey or two. His eyes had bags under them from his loss of sleep. He just seemed to lose the glow he always had around him. Before there was always a buzzing around him from the music he was listening to. For the first time in over two years, he did not listen to music.
Happy people walked around the Common Room laughing and talking to their friends as they did their normal things. Some played Wizard Chess; some were playing with a miniature broom. In the far corner some girls were gossiping. If Rhyme really wanted he could listen in but now even that didn't pick up his mood.
Alexis walked into the common room with her arms full of books. Mainly spellbooks and textbooks for she had just came back from her potions class. She feared that she could fail for the year, so the stress was beginning to build up to become overwhelming. She wasn't used to this pressure, not from school at least.
Alexis looked around the room. It was unusually packed for this time of day. She figured most of the students would be going to their next classes. It was discouraging because she was hoping to get some quiet time to study. Alexis prayed that getting caught up in her classes would relieve some of the stress she had on her back.
No, she was just in desperate need of a break.
Alexis sighed quietly, and sat down on the couch near a boy whom she didn't recognize. She turned to him and smiled weakly.
"Bad day, huh?" Alexis sighed again.
Stacey took a deep breath before stepping int the common room. She knew exactly how the powers of everyone around her would hit her as she neared them; she could already feel them like an always-present tingle in her mind. Sometimes she really hated her powers, but she couldn`t exactly get rid of them, now could she?
While her eyes rolled a dark grey, she stepped into the dim and loud area that was the Gryffindor common room. She looked around, meeting most peoples` gazes as she felt the powers hit her in a sudden rush. This was absolutely nothing compared to when she went to the Ministry.
Humming softly to herself, she made ehr way to the worn armchairs and sat down with in legs curled under herself. She was lucky-- she didn`t have to take the final tests. Her grades were some of the best in the school, so she didn`t have to take the finals. She then saw Rhyme. He didn`t look good at all. She noticed for the fist time that there wasn`t any music playing around him and she stopped humming.
"Rhyme?" She asked softly.
When Alexis walked in Rhyme turned and watched her walk over. He didn't remember hearing her much around school, he guessed they just never took the same classes. He tried to give her a smile but failed, having it come out as only a half hearted attempt.
"Eh, more like bad week" he said simply.
He then turned and watched as Stacy walked in. He could tell right away when she entered from her humming. Each person just sounded different as they walked or talked. Some people always jingled, others gnashed their teeth while even others shuffled their feet .
"Rhyme?"
He jerked slightly at her voice, it reflected somewhere deep inside when she talked to Artemis during his blackout. He gave her a pained look of confusion, despair and fear. He was not sure how to broach the subject of Hogsmeade. He was afraid of what he may find out.
"Oh, hey Stacy, how's it going?"
((Add an E in there, Rhyme. :) StacEy.))
Stacey nodded and gave a small smile. She blinked a few times and took a deep breath. She could tell easily enough that he was thinking about the day in Hogsmead and she chewed her cheek thoughtfully, also unsure how to open the subject.
"Really bad week?" She offered, hoping that would help bring the topic to discussion. She knew Rhyme couldn`t read minds, but he should at least get the hint. She looked at Alexis and smiled to her. Her grey eyes were getting darker as she ran through different thoughts.
Rhyme nodded sadly to Stacey's comment. He guessed it was a bad week. What he could remember from it. After that everyone including teachers have been giving him strange looks, like he grew a second head or something. They treated him like another person.
"Yea, a really bad week." and then distinctly in his mind it flashed I wish I could remember it.
Stacey`s eyes fluttered closed as the thought hit her softly. Much more gentle than when Ginny spoke to her, but Rhyme probably didn`t know that she could hear him. She opened her eyes and blinked a few times.
"Hm. Maybe it`s for the better." she offered outloud as she gattered the powers she would need to send her thoughts into Rhyme`s mind. As far as she knew, Rhyme didn`t have very strong mental abilities when it came to thoughts. She didn`t know about Artemis, but she doubted it. She sighed softly.
I remember it, you know." She sent the thought into Rhyme`s mind gently, trying not to startle him if he wasn`t used to it. She didn`t know much about the boy in front of her, and she hadn`t ever really spent any time with him to get to know him, and didn`t know what areas of magic he was aware of. I was there when... when it happened.
((Sorry for delay, graduation this weekend and then first classes with my summer program))
Rhyme's eyes flew open for a moment before he put them back in their depressed state. He wasn't sure if it was normal for a person to speak in his mind. It sounded a lot like Stacey but slightly different since it wasn't warped by the air or his ear.
He could hear the uneasiness in her thought though. That made him even more nervous. What could have been bad enough to freak her out this much?
Really? ...was it....bad?
((Haha, it`s okay. My computer has a virus and I`m forced to use the library computers when I`m actually at home. I keep messing up because the keys are different than mine.))
Stacey smiled in her mind. No. It wasn`t too bad, But you have to remember what I`ve seen. She thought in reply. She could tell that Rhyme hadn`t had anyone put their thoughts into his mind before. It could become a rather dangerous process, if used the wrong way. but Stacey never intentionally did anything for the worse of someone else. Depending on the person, of course....
Uh, do you know who artemis is? She added, sending the thought to him. she had no clue if Rhyme was even aware of what happened and who made it that way.
Artemis? That is my real name, though nobody calls it that. My mom came up with the nickname Rhyme since she used to say all the time, "There is no rhyme or reason to what his powers are". Wait, only one person refused to call me Rhyme, it was my father...
Rhyme flinched mentally at the mention of his father and it caused him to shake slightly on the physical realm. As he sat there he zoned out a bit as his mind was flooded with memories of his father. Some of which he actually did remember so they were basically whole. There were scenes of his father yelling at him to do the magic right. Then the memories become more fragmented as it went into his fugue state.
Stacey could probably see these better then he could since his mind still didn't want to process them. There were flashes of his father locking Rhyme within the basement with an evil grin on his face. The words "use magic to get out" being said. Another flash was of Rhyme in the corner crying his eyes out for his mother or anyone to help him. All of this played to the disturbing mental tune of Never Again by Nickelback.
From deep within his mind, trapped under much of the weight of his upper consciousness a small but strong laugh could be heard. It was confident and calm, just biding its time before it could come out again. If someone could actually look closely at it they would see that an overly large women, a representation of Rhyme's mother stood guard before this person. This was because the loving memories of Rhyme's mother and sisters are what kept Artemis locked away for most of Rhyme's life.
"Rhyme?" Stacey asked softly. Her eyes flooded grey and she pushed off of the chair and kneeled in front of Rhyme. "Can you hear me?" She asked, not seeing what was in front of well because of the memories that hit her mind. She did not, in fact, see the memories clearer than Rhyme himself. She saw what he thought, so if he only saw part of it, so did she.
With a small gasp, she forced her way out of the boy`s memories. She took hold of both of his wrists. She noticed that even his skin felt warm against hers.
"Rhyme," She said, louder and clearer, "Pull yourself away from the memory. Listen to my. Look at me." She instructed, hoping he would listen. She had had enough experience with fighting memories to know what would help. She was confident this should work, because it worked on herself and her memories were fighting against her soul, not her mind. As Ginny had often told her, the mind and the soul are separate.
Through all the shattered memories a small voice could be heard. Stacey's voice got stronger and stronger the longer he heard it until he could see her face in his mind. This created a calm spot in the tempest of his memories which he focused on. With his focus on her, the storm of his memories lost their power and slowly drifted by down to the subconscious level of his brain.
Rhyme was breathing hard mentally as well as physically. He felt like he just ran a 100 yard dash. He didn't like bringing back all those bad memories and his hands turned clammy from the cold sweat that formed on them.
"Thanks." Rhyme said weakly.
Stacey let go of his wrists and sank down into the other side of the couch. "No problem," she said meekly, "You don`t know how many times someone has had to do that to me, and then take me to Ginny to have my mind scanned, or whatever it is that she does." She rolled her eyes, which were now a soft.
"Rhyme, if you don`t mind me asking, do you have any idea of what happened yesterday? At all?" Her eyes loked on his, and she looked so sincere and caring. She was truely worried about Rhyme.
((Okay, the main reason why this is so late can be summed up in 2 words..."College sucks"))
"Nothing that is really important. There is a big 5 hour gap in my memories. Blacked out in an alley and woke up in a crater."
He said this with almost no emotion. What little emotion he did speak with was of depression. Blackouts weren't unusual though he didn't enjoy them; he learned to deal with them.
"It sounds like you did see it though. If I give you the canvas can you paint the picture?" he said hoping she got the figurative language.
He meant that he would project the basis of the magic and then she could tap into a little of his to show her memories on his base. His powers took a lot of practice to get right; a person could steal the basis of his power but not the skill he built up using them. When he unknowing warped the world around him, it depending more on just skill as well, his emotional state played a large role on what happened.
((And I suggest Music or the Misery by Fall Out Boy for the scene, it is a good example of the conflicting nature of his two sides))
Stacey nodded slowly. She had been there. In fact, she had been caught right in the middle of it. She hadn`t been much help, and Ginny had ben the real hero, but she was there and she had tried.
"I think so." She replied to his last question. She wasn`t even going to try to use Rhyme`s powers. It wasn`t like she had been around him that much, like she had with some of the students. Rhyme`s powers seemed to be so different from hers. She couldn`t even explain it.
"I can tap into it and play back my memory into the screen, but only if the screen stays up." She said, trying to think quickly as she spoke. She had never done something like this, never needed in such a way. It was almost a little scary. Rhyme had blown up an alley, and probably hurt people. It wasn`t something that she had been exposed to. Yes, she had had extensive training. Yes, she had fought with people, had hurt and been hurt. But this was still different. She couldn`t do anything about it at the time, and that`s what had bugged her the most.
"I`m not sure how you want to do this. I don`t know how you do it, but just.... make the screen, or whatever it is, and I`ll jump in." She said, wincing at herself.
"Okay, just remember, bard magic comes from the heart not the mind. Feel what you want to show and it will appear."
He turned toward the wall and made a wide sweeping gesture going outward with both arms. He then snapped his wrists and held them stock still. From them a golden glow harnessed by yellow ribbons appeared. They formed what looked like the top of a drum, a thin membrane stretched tight over a frame.
This frame did not appear to be able to do much but in its nature it was bardly and would help amplify the image that Stacy wanted to project.
She looked down at the membrane with a doubtfull expression. She had never seen anything like it before, and didn`t know if she would be able to make the image correctly. She knew what separated the mind from the heart, but most of her powers worked from the mind. She had to think for them to work, not to feel.
So with little enthusiasm, Stacey lifted both of her hands and moved them towards each other until her thumbs and first fingers touched. She closed her ever-changing eyes. She didn`t really know why, but it felt right. And as she took a deep breath, she plunged herself into the memory. She heard the sounds. She saw the alley. She could feel the coming tension in the air. And soon, just as Ryme did, a song started to play with the scene, masking the other sounds.
"I got my stitches stitched, I got my fixes fixed,
In my aching head, I got my kisses slit.
Our gossip lips stuttered every word I said, I said,
I got your love letters, corrected the grammar and sent them back.
It's true romance is dead, I shot it in the chest then in the head.
And if you wanna go down in history then I'm your prince,
Because they've got me in a bad way I've never seen a heart I couldn't break.
It was never about the songs, it was competition.
Make the biggest scene, make the biggest..."
The scene played, and in her head, Stacey could see the little girl and the man who was yelling at her. She watched as Rhyme blew the man back with what she thought was pure energy. The second burt of energy exploded and a building collapsed. Jessie appeared with the little girl, and tried to question Stacey. Stacey tried to call to Rhyme, but only after the second or third time did he seem to hear her.
"Which came first, the music or the misery?
We're high-fashion, we're last chances.
Which came first, the music or the misery?
We're high-fashion, we're last chances.
I'm casually obsessed and I've forgiven death,
I am indifferent, yet (I am a total wreck)
I'm every cliche, but I simply do it best."
Stacey questioned Rhyme, asking him if he knew who he was. The question could have many different answers, but he answered it as Artemis. She asked him to stop "throwing energy around." She had never been exposed to that kind of thing in such extremity. Instantly he seemed to shut down his powers. He excused himself, but she didn`t understad why. Then the Aurors appeared and Rhyme was lost again.
"And if you wanna go down in history then I'm your prince,
Because they've got me in a bad way I've never seen a heart I couldn't break.
It was never about the songs, it was competition,
Make the biggest scene, make the biggest...
Which came first, the music or the misery?
We're high-fashion, we're last chances.
Which came first, the music or the misery?
We're high-fashion, we're last chances."
Stacey started to call for Ginny, who appeared moments later. Stacey didn`t know how she did it, but she stopped the Aurors from taking Rhyme.
The Stacey in the Gryffindor common room opened her eyes, which had decided on a ghostly black for now and looked over to Rhyme. She gave him a questioning look. One that asked if was doign it right, and if he wanted her to continue.
((Sorry if things are a little messed up. I`m not used to having to do anything like that, and I don`t know the song well.))
((That is perfect, and yea it takes a bit of practice to get the whole song casting down but hey, you grew as an RPer there a little bit.))
Rhyme felt it a bit crude but he couldn't deny what he was seeing. Stacy was nowhere near skilled enough to cast an illusion just yet, at least one that was purely made up. He fell to his knees as he continued to watch. He didn't want to see anymore but he couldn't rip his eyes away.
When it was over, from within his mind, the final straws of ignorance broke, letting the demon of Artemis lose. He still couldn't take control with the guardian of Rhyme's mother there but he could now speak.
Aww, about time you noticed me. Got to thank that Cindy person for me.
The persona finally spoke directly to Rhyme which was a hard blow to Rhyme's psyche, to know that he wasn't the only one inhabiting his body, though the other one was him, just a person who he didn't really want to deal with.
"I'm sorry, I gotta go"
Rhyme said quickly before running out of the room and quickly disappearing.
((Thanks for helping me get this done, and sorry it took so long. Oh and if you want you can RP Stacy's reaction to all of this and she can hear Artemis' voice if she wants))
((Awz, thank you! I really can RP better than some of my posts here make it look, honest.))
Stacey couldn`t help but gasp as Rhyme disappear. With him suddenly leaving, his powers were ripped from her like leaves from a tree in a hurricane. She lowered her hands slowly, as if it hurt her to move. Which it did. Being full of power then having it suddenly taken away like that was a hard blow.
"Rhyme?" She called softly, wondering if he would be able to hear her. She knew that Rhyme didn`t have a very strong mental sheild, especially if she could skip into his mind as easily as she had when he was actually in that alley. Rhyme. She thought louder. It was just way to easy to hear thoughts. It took a lot for her to block out the other student`s thoughts. Being surrounded by them, though, and using their power made it a little difficult to do that.
Rhyme, I heard him. You know I did. I heard him before. He said Cindy. Did he mean me? Rhyme, please answer. She blocked the thoughts from everyone else, and sent it as far as Hogsmead. Ginny would have heard her, of course, but she probably wouldn`t listen to it. Stacey could push her powers to the limits if she wanted to, and she was full of different mental powers anyway. But would he hear her?
((Is that good? I got confused. XP ))
((It's fine. And I hope you understand that him calling her by the wrong name over and over again will be a running gag. Artemis won't really call anyone by their real name unless he gets really mad or something along those lines))
Rhyme was too freaked out to really hear Stacy. He heard her in his mind of course but he couldn't focus enough to really answer back. He just wanted to get away. He rushed through the halls trying to find a quiet corner but that was nearly impossible for him being that this was a giant school and he had super hearing.
Though he couldn't answer, the other him could.
Ah Ms. Cindy nice to hear your lovely voice again. Here to keep me company since I am finally out of that bloody cage or are you here to help remove this statue keeping me here?
His voice was full of thingyiness as he tried to goad a reaction out of her by using words such as lovely and making allusions of her letting him out which he really doubt would happen since she saw what happened the last time he got out.
((Ah, thanks for letting me know.))
Stacey turned around in the common room, eyes closed. She pulsed out her energies, letting herself absorb the different powers, searching for one she`d only felt in one person. She let her mental sheild fall away. She had made the sheilds to keep powers out, but her own powers wouldn`t go as far as she thought she might. Her skin tingled with the power of it all, and she couldn`t help but shiver.
Artemis, Stacey thought, can you tell me where you are? She asked, hoping that he would be stupid enough to answer, although she strongly doubted it. But already she was blindly walking out in the hall, directed by a hunch alone. There was a slight pull in one direction, and the teen could only hope that it was Rhyme she would find.
Rhyme, I know that you can hear me, too. Remember what I told you earlier. Pull yourself away from him. Listen to me. She tried to think the words loudly and clearly, while still holding them from everyone else. She was glad that there weren`t a ton of kids that could read minds.
Artemis let out a loud mental laugh at her message for Rhyme to separate himself from Artemis.
Hey Honey, this is as separated as we are going to get unless you want to give him 5 years of therapy or a lobotomy. As you probably "can't" see, I got this huge monolith of a mother blocking my way. He always did put too much into her, what kind of mother would have let this happen?
As he said that a small crack ran down the nose of the Elandil statue that blocked his path. Artemis let loose a grin since it showed that he could influence it a bit. He just had to break down Rhyme's image of his mother and eventually he would have full rein.
You can't recage me unless you can turn back time or wipe the memory of me from him. I will just sit here toying with his emotions and mind a bit until he finally snaps and loses it. Right Rhymmy old bean?
"What the hell?" Stacey asked out loud, now blindly running through the halls. She was still being navigated by only a hunch, but she soon felt the pull that represented Rhyme.
It started out feeling like silk was being draped over her skin, then grew to where it felt like she was almost being electrocuted. That`s what Rhyme`s powers felt like. Everybody felt different, but Rhyme`s particular magic sent a chill down her spine. He was the only person she had ever encountered that felt anything like silk or electricity. And it was powerful too. Having put all of her shields down when she made the projection, she felt everything that passed her. She heard everything. It would take a few minutes of quiet to put them back up, and she didn`t exactly have time to do that right now.
Rhyme, She thought quickly. She had never done anything like this before, and she had no idea what to do. The only experience she had with minds was the vague lessons that classes taught and the things that had been specified to her. Rhyme, pull him to you. Immerse yourself with him, but put him under. Don`t let him control you. Listen to me, Rhyme, not him. She loudly pushed the thought.
((I felt like this song REALLY fit right now for Rhyme. "Burning Bright" Shinedown))
((Artemis=Purple//Rhyme=Yellow))
I feel like there is no need for conversation
Some questions are better left without a reason
And I would rather reveal myself than my situation
Now and then I consider, my hesitation
Rhyme's powers began to flare as he tried to get away. There was no real place he could get away in this school. He just wanted to get as far away as possible. No enchants around this school would stop him. He pulled on the power of his past, of his core personality traits that matched this song.
He threw open the door and gave a mighty leap. When he did the power burst forth at a level he was not used to. Ribbons of yellow and black circled around him making a loose cocoon like shape as he flew at a high speed.
The more the light shines through me
I pretend to close my eyes
The more the dark consumes me
I pretend I'm burning, burning bright
He soared up into the air like a bullet leaving a trail behind him. He kept going higher and higher and further and further away. I think at one time he broke the sound barrier letting loose a giant boom.
I wonder if the things I did were just to be different
To spare myself of the constant shame of my existence
And I would surely redeem myself in my desperation
Here and now I'll express, my situation
As he sang this part the field around him became more black then yellow as he let his depression show more. It was always there, he just ended up blocking it out with pure ignorance. Many would say that it wasn't good, but look at him when he didn't, he ended up losing part of his memory and now he know what happened.
The more the light shines through me
I pretend to close my eyes
The more the dark consumes me
I pretend I'm burning, burning bright
The more the light shines through me
I pretend to close my eyes
The more the dark consumes me
I pretend I'm burning, burning bright
There's nothing ever wrong but nothing's ever right
Such a cruel contradiction
I know I cross the lines its not easy to define
I'm born to indecision
There's always something new some path I'm supposed to choose
With no particular rhyme or reason
With this Rhyme hardened is will against Artemis. If this is part of him, he will take it with stride and overcome it. To try and run from who he was would only lead to trouble and even more pain.
The more the light shines through me
I pretend to close my eyes
The more the dark consumes me
I pretend I'm burning, burning bright
The more the light shines through me
I pretend to close my eyes
The more the dark consumes me
I pretend I'm burning, burning bright
As he flew he began to spin, and spin, and spin making the black and yellow turn into more of a purplish color as the two merged. Right now Rhyme just wanted a place to stop and think without anyone there to bug him. So, with this new surge of power his will made it so, with a giant flash of light on the last 'burning bright' he winked out of this world for a time.
Stacey knew immediatly when Rhyme disappeared. His pure power was ripping across her skin by the time she was sprinting to the main corridor. It was almost overwhelming, and she was gasping as she ran. His words echoed in her mind, and she had to stop and lean against a wall to keep from collasping. Breathing heavily, she pressed her back to the stone and slid down until she was sitting on the floor.
This was also something new. For the first time, she was exhausted because of magic. She could feel the colors of Rhyme`s field, but she pushed it from her mind. She tried to build up her shields again slowly. She was quickly relieved as thoughts and powers were pulled away from her. But she kept Rhyme there. She kept him in her mind, focousing on him alone. And just like tha, he was gone.
Gone. Even through the blocks, she gasped as the strange powers were ripped from her again. She sat up, arms pressed against her stomach. She groaned. How could he be gone? It was only then that she remembered his power to take himself from the dimensions.
((Was that too horrible?))
((That is very good, you have really grown as an RPer, you have a firm hold on who your person is which is hard to get to for some people. I am good at putting people through different things they normalyl wouldn't go through with their characters and you worked through it. I can go into it more later but overall you are becoming a very fine RPer))
((Thank you for taking the time to say that. I think that you and Ginny have really helped me improve my writting a lot. I was reading an old thread with me an Ginny, and I felt bad for making her read that. Thank you for helping me and giving me ideas. It means a lot coming from you, since you could probably easily write circles around me.))
((Yep, that's the thing, once you get the groundwork down, you will just grow. You can only really go up now since you know what it feels like to have good RPs and I'm guessing you really don't want to go back to the one liners again or like the 3 liners. As you grow with experience you will get longer posts and better posts and truthfully, sometimes a good post is just luck of the muses. That is why sometimes I don't post for a while since I don't feel inspired to make a good post))