A Poisoned Chalice

After calming myself down from the encounter, I managed to climb down from the tree I was in and noticed that I was luckily in an area I recognised. Looking around, I saw markings on trees that I had left behind during previous trips around the forest, the markings were able to guide me back towards the camp I made.

"Now I'm really… REALLY confused..."

I didn't even know what had happened in that instance. I felt a looming sense of death overwhelm me, and in my indignation, I suddenly found myself on top of that tree. After traversing the forest for a while, I was back in the home I had made. 

"Did I get some sort of magic skill then? Is this really like those 'other world' novels and I have the power to teleport or something?"

Sitting still, I tried to imagine myself teleporting to a different location outside my rock home. I closed my eyes, hoping I would just open them and be there, but... nothing.

"It seemed to only happen when I thought I was about to die… If that's the case it could be useful but…"

Despite having slight hope, I realised the main downside of this 'ability', It was something I had no control over. Something I couldn't control wasn't something I liked at all. Sure, it had saved me in this situation, but what if it teleported me somewhere even more dangerous? I'd have to investigate this some more, if possible, maybe if I can control this somehow, I can use it to my advantage…

.

Ever since that day when I was nearly killed, strange things have been happening almost every other day. Whenever my mental state reaches a pinnacle, whether it be stress, anxiousness, or sadness, something would happen around me. It wasn't always teleportation either; sometimes other unexplainable mystical things would occur. Rocks around me would fly in all directions, cracks in the ground would appear where I stood, and I even had a situation where a tree near me was severed and fell, resulting in an extremely loud crashing sound in the forest.

The more these events happened, the more worried I became. At first, I genuinely believed it was some sort of teleportation power I had but now it was evident it was not just that.

"Can't I at least have one good thing here… This is getting more and more ridiculous by the day…"

I couldn't control any of this, and the less of a grasp I had, the more my frustration grew, which, in turn, led to these incidents occurring more frequently. I couldn't just switch off my emotions, which seemed to be what fuelled this situation. No matter how much I tried to focus on what I needed to do, there were times when my feelings would flare up and something would happen.

That was when I made the worst mistake of all. I started to supress whatever was happening as much as possible. I constantly told my mind and body to not act out, to not do anything, to control itself and to not constantly lash out without my control. As I did this, I started to feel it, a sort of 'force' within my body started to react brutally to this suppression. 

I had nights from then on where I was in agony, writhing in pain while trying to sleep. I felt this 'force' within me wanting to break out and do something. It was angered by the fact that I wanted to suppress it. Feeling the immense pain, I started to weigh my options each night but I realised I was now in a contract with this thing, if I let it free it wouldn't just be some rocks flying around or me vanishing, it would be resentful and much more destructive.

So, I continued to supress this 'force' within my body until one night, as the pain reached a maximum threshold, I blacked out completely. Vague visions passed through my mind during this event. I saw one of those creatures again, yet this time it ran away in fear as I seemed to go through it. Everything around me seemed to be ruined as I passed and when I attempted to reign in what was happening to me, I fully lost my consciousness…

.

"Ah my damn head… what the hell hap- "

Lifting myself up with a headache that felt like I just had a heavy night of drinking I looked around me and felt my stomach drop. The entire area around me was destroyed and some areas around me even seemed decayed.

Off in the distance I spotted one of those creatures that once had me by the leg ripped in half. Seeing this I felt my head hurt as I remembered that one vision, I saw of me flying through one of these things.

"D-did I do this? How did I even?"

It was evident I had caused this mess but I couldn't accept it. Looking around at the devastation I just couldn't believe that I had been the culprit… 

"It's not like anyone or anything else is here though so it must be me… what is- what is happening to me…"

The 'force' that seemed to be gnawing away constantly recently seemed to be a lot more dormant after this situation and It didn't take long for me to realise that whatever this 'force' was had lashed out in a horrific manner destroying everything around me. I felt my body weaken and I fell back onto the ground looking up at the twilight sky. 

I just needed… a moment.

I laid staring up at the sky for a while and closed my eyes, letting them tear up as much as they needed. After some time trying to collect myself, I finally managed to pick myself up off the ground and started to head back to my 'home' here. Each step had me gritting my teeth as all my muscles and bones ached in pain. 

"I don't care what god or goddess placed me here or if it's for a noble reason in the end, I'm going to punch them so fucking hard if I ever make it out of here…"

Swallowing my whirling thoughts, I wandered through the wreckage I had created, heading back to the 'home' I had made...

.

On a hill within this large and dense forest, two men appeared with black smoke signifying their entrance. Both were wearing masks as they looked around the forest. One of the men was shorter than the other and seemed a lot older, he had a hunched back and through the gaps in his mask it was clear that his face was covered in blotches and scars all over. As for the other man, he was a lot younger and slender, his blonde hair was striking amid the dark forest as both stood atop a cliff looking down.

"Uncle, why did you drag me out here? If this is one of your little fantasies again, I swear to Merlin..."

"Shut it Sid, I'm confident I saw something interesting this time- as a matter-of-fact I'm confident in what I see all the time you lot are just blind to true brilliance!"

"Well Uncle… Last time you spoke of a demonic black beast the likes of which 'you've never seen' and had half the family hunt for it just for it to never show... Then there was that one time where you said you found a 'miracle herb' that would make a potion that could turn one invincible for a decent period of time… oh and you also said that you once discov-?"

"Sidious I'm saying this as your 'loving' uncle right now, if you keep talking Ill let you try the next potion I make"

Sid's mouth instantly closed, realising he had said too much. 

The hunched-over old man huffed and looked at his nephew with a disdainful stare before walking over to the edge of the cliff they had positioned themselves on. Looking down into the forest, Jason lifted his finger pointing towards a destroyed portion of the forest, his huffed expression now replaced with extreme intrigue.

"Look at the damage down there, don't you think that looks odd?"

Sid sighed slightly as he took a step forward, looking towards where his uncle was pointing. After taking a moment to absorb what he was seeing he turned his head towards his uncle.

"Uncle Jason, isn't this just a magical beast gone rogue? I've seen this sort of sight around the forest all the time"

"Blind as a fucking bat you are, and you're supposed to be the 'vein' of our family! What a damn joke!"

Jason growled as he disappeared into smoke, heading down towards the site of the wreckage leaving behind his nephew Sid who rolled his eyes and followed suit.

As they landed and reappeared, they began to survey the surroundings. Jason got down on one knee with some difficulty and pulled out a weird looking stick from his pocket. Pointing the stick around, he seemed to mutter something under his breath. As Jason muttered, the stick let out a wave of white that was highlighting the surrounding area, eventually Jason's expression changed from one of curiosity to obsession as he spotted something in the distance.

"I knew it! This... I've only seen this sort of magical energy once before! But... how could there even be..."

Sid looked at his uncle with confusion. Trying to see what Jason had spotted. 

Jason on the other hand had a mixture of disbelief, awe and extreme excitement on his face staring directly at something he had spotted in the distance.

"Uncle, at least explain to me what's going on here so I can stay somewhat in the picture."

At those words, Jason walked away from Sid and pointed the stick in his hand at a rock on the floor. As he did so, the rock floated into the air in front of Jason. Sid followed behind and looked at the rock with intrigue. Even Sid could tell something was strange with the rock, it had been damaged slightly but it also exuded a weird dark aura that was barely visible. 

"It seems most of the energy has dissipated. If we had arrived here even a day later, I would never have noticed it..."

"What sort of energy is it Uncle?"

Jason smiled evilly, a chaotically obsessed expression covering his face.

"The energy of an Obscurus! A powerful one at that!"

"An Obscurus? How in Merlin's name is one out here?!"

"Who knows nephew, who knows! Frankly I couldn't care less how it ended up here, all that matters is that it is here and it's decided to appear on our very doorstep! I thought after my last encounter with one of these 'things' I would never see another one, but it seems luck is finally on my side! HAHAHA WHAT A GREAT DAY"

Sid sighed as he saw his uncle's bad habit resurface once again. His uncle was obsessed with research, and his research tended to be "dark" in nature. When something of interest was in his uncles' sights, he would obtain it no matter the cost. 

"Uncle don't you think an obscurus is too much a risk to- "

Sid tried to talk sense into his uncle, but he had already lost him, the look in Jason's eyes was fanatical and Sid knew in this state the only person who might get through to him was Sid's father, Jason's brother.

Sid himself knew what an Obscurus meant—it usually related to a young wizard suppressing their powers and experiencing extreme stress and anguish. When they went through this mental torment and supressed their powers, it would lead to a parasitical force appearing in their body, that was an obscurus. His lovely uncle, however, didn't pity the young child who was suffering but rather placed interest on their condition, wanting to 'study' it.

Sid scanned the surroundings and saw half of a creature's body on the ground. Walking over to it, he examined the body and called Jason over, trying to snap him out of his daydreams.

"Hey, Uncle, it seems there are Inferi in this part of the forest as well..."

Jason walked over slowly and crouched to look at the now dead Inferi.

"Hmmm... It seems like it suffered a direct attack from my subject... Maybe this thing attacked the subject first, and the subject managed to escape... then, in its anguish and hate, retaliated as an Obscurus, killing it."

"An Obscurus did this? It literally ripped it in half!"

"All the more reason to find my little subject that did this! Hahaha! What a find! What a find!"

Sid looked at this side of his uncle with slight fear in his eyes. Jason was an incredible researcher, but he was obsessive. That much could already be gleaned from his comments now calling the obscurus 'my subject' as if he'd laid claim on it already. He didn't see the obscurus as a human, but an experiment to capture.

"Well Uncle I better go back... Looks like you'll be busy for a while anyway"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Go on, leave, shoo."

Sid clicked his tongue before he apparated away, leaving Jason standing alone. The smile on Jason's face didn't fade as he looked at the destruction around him.

"Now, now, my little subject... Let's get a look at you first and see if you are still kicking, you better be…"

Jason began to wander into the forest, heading towards the location where a certain boy was currently residing...