Original picture above is by RadiofaceQueen on Deviantart! I just colored it!
Once again, I stayed up until 1:30 in the morning rewriting this, so I'm not sure if it's filled with spelling and grammar errors. I apologize if it is.
I wonder how everyone will feel by the end of this chapter...(you're all going to kill me...)
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Grayson's point of view-

I used my cape to wipe away the blood on my face. I flinched in pain as I pressed it against my sore, tender bruises. My eye was just a bit swollen, as well as my lip but Mia said it was not noticeable. I kept rubbing my tongue against my teeth just to be sure that none of them were loose.
I was still in disbelief that Drake had attacked us like that. I knew that he had recent problems with anger and occasionally violently lashed out but to go that far... Everything was looking so bright when we arrived! He was happy, and I was happy, and everything was going fine until now. This is just like a roller coaster and I can only hope that there will be another up before we descend downwards again.

I turned to Lalea, who was obviously scared for Drake and shaken from the events from earlier. "How are you holding up, Lalea?"

She grabbed her arm. "I'm scared. It's that demons influence. It's starting to get to Drake." She shut her eyes tight and nearly tripped.

I stepped over, readying to help her but she regained footing. "Drake...he...he drained my mana when he attacked me...how could he have..?"

"Wait, he...drained your mana?" I had to repeat, not really knowing why.

She nodded, almost in tears. "Yes. It's another black magic spell but I never knew that he had any knowledge of it whatsoever. It just makes me wonder what else he knows... What he's hiding from us."

A sigh left from behind my lips. I never would have imagined that he would do something like that. And black magic? I knew Drake and knew that he would never stoop that low... at least not the Drake that I used to know.
I was honestly terrified that Drake was still...out of his mind at the moment. I was terrified that he was somewhere around hurting himself or struggling with keeping himself together. Struggling with holding onto his sanity. I did not know how to feel about his actions earlier. They were uncalled for and revolting but...was it truly his fault? His eyes were not glowing but did he truly understand what he was doing or what was going on?
I still felt that all of this, everything, was my fault. If I had just went to his house after leaving that portal in the first place, none of this would have happened! Sure, I did not think he needed me, myself believing that Herobrine was dead but...he was my best friend. He IS my best friend, my family! I should not have abandoned him like that... You don't leave family behind.
I shut my eyes, taking in a deep breath through my nostrils and releasing it through my mouth. Just relax, Grayson. Blaming yourself is not going to help Drake through this. I opened my eyes, turning to Xavier as he spoke.

  "What if he does that again? What if he ends up going psycho and..."

I growled. "He won't! He'll be fine."

Xavier looked to be losing his temper, something that I knew was not usual for him. "You can't be sure of that! Grayson...he's my friend and I want to help him, honestly, but... If he hurts my daughter like he hurt you, Lalea, or me..."

He clutched his fists and bit his lip to keep himself from saying anymore. He sighed, continuing on anyway. "I tried to listen to Luke...to..." He closed his eyes for a moment, pausing at the mention of Luke.

  "...to get to know Drake so that I wouldn't be scared of him, but now...I'm more scared than...than ever."

I growled, already frustrated from the events from earlier. "Don't be scared. And don't ever tell me again that I can't be sure that he'll be fine. I'll always have hope! I will believe that he can pull through anything for as long as he lives!"

  "He's insane, Grayson! You can't cure that! And you know that! I know that you do."

I looked over my shoulder, glaring and snarling. "Aren't you supposed to be the optimistic one in the group?! You know, besides Mia, but still! Do me a favor and drop it!"

Despite my warning, he persisted on. "You're just too scared to let yourself accept that he's broken inside. You're in denial of the fact that he's too broken to be fixed."

Fury sparked inside of me. I stomped my foot against the ground, the sound echoing off of the walls until it became so faint that it faded. I stopped in place, causing him to halt as well. He nearly bumped into me but stopped just in time, looking into my eyes. I knew that he was scared for at least a moment. Scared of my blazing anger.

  "Don't you ever tell me anything like that! I can and I will save him! I promised him!" I was so close to drawing my sword, my hand gripping the handle tightly. I lifted it from its sheath for a second before releasing my grip.

I turned around as Nathan called out. "Guys, Drake's over there!"

I shifted my attention away from Xavier, spinning around on my heels to face ahead of myself. I puffed out my chest and let out a deep exhale to calm myself down. My eyes look up to gaze straight ahead, spotting that we were close to the end of the corridor. There seemed to be a massive door, with two large dragon statues guarding it on each side.
In the center, was Drake with his back facing us and on his knees, head hung low. His body was still trembling violently, if not like before then worse. I could see the puddle of blood in front of him, bringing back flashbacks from when Herobrine controlled him on our first airship. I prayed that it was blood from vomit and not from any injuries that he inflicted upon himself. I slowly began to approach, but stopped when I heard him mumbling.

"Kill them... Kil them...Kill them.."

I kept my hand on my sword, feeling it shake as I readied to draw just incase he charged. "Drake, talk to me. Snap out of whatever is going on in your head!"

He then stood up, stumbling for a brief moment before he just stood there in complete silence and motionless. Then there was a sound; a loud sound that boomed, one that I should have been relieved to hear but instead it brought to me a sense of dread. My stomach dropped and my bones locked up with my blood running cold. He was laughing, the sound that should have made me glad, now filled with insanity and hidden pain.
He pulled out his sword as he turned around, a crooked smile spreading from cheek to cheek upon his face. I could not help but to let out a tiny gasp at the sight of the blood running down from Drake's nose and streaks running from his eyes. Drake's eyes were wide, almost able to show that Drake was not completely within control over his own mind. Yet he did not seem to be possessed, only staying away from his own morals and sanity.

My eyes grew as Drake spoke with a chuckle, tears and blood in the hybrid's own mismatched eyes. "It's going to be okay! It's all going to be okay! I'm going to save you! You won't hurt anymore."

He charged at us, his sword close to his body and ready to strike at any moment. I ran to him, holding up my sword over my body to block his attack. What the heck is going on in his head that is making him believe that it would better to just kill us all off himself?! When we were only a few feet away from one another, he made the first swing. The first attack he made, his blade only slammed into my own, causing my wrists to vibrate and sparks to ignite. His next attack was too swift, the tip of his blade slicing into my arm.
I screamed, the pain burning more than and average slash from a blade. I jumped back, holding the wound with my free hand. I looked down and removed my hand, gasping at what I saw. The injury had a bright white glow emitting from the slash, causing it to burn like fire. There must have some have heavy enchantment on his blade. I looked back up hissing as the light dimmed and faded but the intense burning sensation remained. I tried to move my arm but found that I was unable to. My upper arm was numb, paralysis slowly spreading through my arm. It must have been another enchantment. Sh*t!
Drake was crying both tears and blood. The more I looked, the more he appeared to be hating every moment of our standoff; every moment of him trying to kill me. It was like he did not want to do this...but he felt that he needed to, as if it was his only option.

  "Drake, please stop this! You don't need to do this!"

He tilted his head and lowered his blade. "I'm sorry... But it's the only way that I can save you...Right?"

  "Drake, killing us will not help anything! Listen, I know that you've been through a lot of pain and I know that you just want to keep us from feeling that same pain, but killing the people you love is wrong and it's not going to fix you! You'll regret it! Please Drake...this isn't you!"

  "The voices... they're getting to me...Grayson, forgive me..." He then screamed at the top of his lungs, dropping his sword. His hands rose up and grabbed his head like he was having a splitting headache.

  "Pl-please, stop me... Stop me from h-hurting you a-again!"

Before I could do anything else, Xavier ran and jumped into Drake, tackling him to the ground. They hit the ground, Xavier on top of Drake and trying to restrain him. The moment I heard that chaotic laughter escape past Drake's lips, I knew that he was slipping away from his sanity yet again.
I saw Drake struggling frantically, but I knew that we had to keep him down. Feeling was beginning to return to my arm. I joined Xavier, getting down on my knees beside them, placing one hand on Drake's shoulder and the other wrapped around his arm as I pushed down on him to keep him in place. He was struggling but I saw that wicked smile reappear on his face, and I could have sworn that I saw his eyes flicker white. He was almost able to get us off of him, clawing and pushing at us with desperate attempts to break free.
For a few minutes we held him down for the safety of everyone. Eventually his struggling became less frantic, but he was laughing. Laughing and laughing... What has happened to my best friend? I do not even recognize him anymore.
He suddenly stopped with his laughter as it was replaced with blood gurgling hacks. Blood sprayed from his mouth, some of the specks splattering onto our faces. We turned our heads away, but I could hear Xavier gagging and trying to keep himself from throwing up.
Drake's body fell limp. I turned back, seeing his eyes closed but blood all over his skin. He seemed to have fallen unconscious. Another few more minutes past by, Xavier and I remained in place just to be sure that he would not regain consciousness and lash out again. I sighed, finally sitting up and removing my grip on Drake's shoulder and arm. Xavier was a little more hesitant to do so but eventually followed suit.

He huffed. "This fear is...this is all becoming too much."

I replied. "It's much for all of us...but it's what friends do. Deal with each other's problems and help them through them."

I looked up at the wall, more specifically the door. There was writing on it but of course it was written in the magi language. I turn my head and faced the others, who were all frozen with fear and shock. Lalea was holding her own hands in a fists over her chest, staring down at Drake with tears in her eyes.

She jumped when I spoke. "Lalea, go read that door." I demanded.

She did not respond, eyes fixated on Drake, so I called out her name once more. She snapped out of it and shook her head. I repeated my instructions for her and she complied. She was slow and hesitant to rip her gaze away from Drake, but she eventually shook her head again and went over to the door, Endy following her, looking just as uncomfortable with what had just happened.
I looked down at Drake, sighing before I took part of my cape and began wiping the blood and tears off of his face. Lalea called out and informed me what she was reading.

  "Go back to the place where you will read, for in the library is what you need. In your search you might be vexed, but find the necklace with a dragon and sword to see what's next."

I looked at the door, and in the center was a small shape that was barely visible at first glance. I approached the door, examining the shape closely. There was the impression of dragon wings and something long that came to a point. That necklace must have been they key. I sighed in frustration, opening my mouth to speak but Nathan beat me too it, saying what I was going to say.

  "So we have to go back and search everything again?!" He complained.

Lalea turned around. "I guess, but at least we know that it's a necklace so it must be in a jewelry box or something. So luckily we probably won't have to look through a ton of books."

I turned and walked back to Drake. Xavier stood, stepping back as he glanced down at Drake's body. He shook his head, turning around and going over to Jane. I hated that she appeared so frightened. I kneeled back down beside Drake, listening to his heavy breathing. I definitely could not leave him here alone, but I did not exactly think that it would be safe to carry him when there was a possibility that he would wake up and attack me again.

  "Alright. All of you, go find that necklace. I'm going to stay in here with Drake, you know, to make sure that nothing else goes wrong with him."

They agreed to do so, each turning around and heading back from where we came. The only one who did not go was Lalea. She insisted on staying despite that I kept urging her to go help the others. I gave in and let her stay with us. After a long, awkward while, I turned my attention back to Drake as he groaned, his eyes fluttering open.

"G-Grayson? That's y-you right? I can't...I ca-can't see much. Everything is all white."

I helped him sit up, hearing him groan in pain. His vision was also getting worse? Da*it! I did not mention anything about the events of him attacking us because I wanted to find out if he remembered or not. If he did not, then I would be relieved that he would be free of those memories that were sure to bring him pain.

"Yeah, it's me. Are you okay? What's...what's up with your voice?"

He rubbed his eyes, lowering his hands and blinking. His face distorted with a sorrowful look as he then placed his hand on his head. "I-I don't k-know... I'm feeling okay I suppose b-but...I have a splitting h-headache again."

He looked down, frowning with tears forming in his eyes. I watched as they dripped down onto the green carpet below. He crossed his legs and clawed at his dark grey jeans. He began to hiccup and sob, sorrow and guilt overtaking him. I bit my lip and held back my own tears, hating whenever I saw him in such a depressing state. So he must remember what he did...

He rubbed his eyes, smearing a bit of blood on his eyelids. "I-I'm sorry about everything...I-I don't wh-why I..." He bit lip.

Drake turned his head away from me. "I enjoyed it, Grayson. Beating you...choking Lalea...hitting Xavier... I enjoyed it! I was so...blinded by rage and...I don't know why."

I did not like seeing his tears rolling down his face, his pale human cheek growing red. "I'm sick of hurting you guys..."

I pat his shoulder. "It's going to be okay. We're going to help you."

He pushed my arm away. I was a bit aggravated by what he said next. "No...No, you can't. It's too late for me.You can't save me from Herobrine and I'm going to be dead soon anyway."

My hand reached out again but this time I pulled away from him before it could make contact with him. I growled and got up to my feet, clenching my fists as I glared down at him. He's so deprived of hope. It's depressing and slightly irritating, dare I admit but I have to say that I understand. He's been through too much to just turn away from every little problem and move on. It's even worse that the demon in his head won't allow him to move on or accept that nothing has been his fault.

"Drake, don't-"

  "Why do you keep pushing this?!" Drake screamed with tears in his eyes.

I screamed back, tears running down my cheeks. "Because I want you to be happy before you die! If I can't save you...then I just...want you to be happy. Okay?"

He fell silent as his eyes grew in shock, not giving any reply. His eye twitched and he messed nervously with his fingers. His eyes closed as he nodded, whispering 'okay'. He looked back up, squinting as his white and nearly white eyes rested on Lalea. His tears and face of guilt returned. He strutted out an apology to her, repeating himself over and over again.
She got down onto her knees in front of him, her hands lifting up and cupped his cheeks. Her eyes were glimmering and bright with love, yet also of pity and sorrow. She put on a smile, forcing it on for his sake.

  "Drake, everything is okay. You don't need to apologize. I forgive you, okay? Drakey-poo?"

I chuckled at the name, but I was surprised that Drake genuinely laughed with happiness, and not a chaotic laughter like usual but instead his old laugh from before this mess began to consume us. I smiled, taking in every small moment that he showed joy. He rubbed his eyes, sniffing and smiling.

  "You said that you wouldn't call me that in front of Grayson!" He playfully scolded her.

I laughed harder, my chest hurting just a bit. I wiped old tears from my eyes, sighing in relief that she was helping him feel better for now. That was a strange yet oddly adorable nickname! I will tease him about it later, but right now is not the time, at least I do not believe so.

He closed his eyes and leaned forward, placing his forehead against her own as he whispered, "Thank you, love. I love you."

My head turned as I heard footsteps coming from down the corridor. Everyone was approaching, with Endy eventually turned her walk into a jog. She came up to me, myself needing to step back as she was about to run into me. She held out her arm, holding a small chain with a pendant hanging from it. It was a golden dragon wrapped around a silver sword with its wings extended. The perfect fit for the keyhole in the door.

She panted from her short jog and excitement. "We found it! It took awhile and I was frustrating, but we got it! Hopefully it's the right one." I held out my hand, snatching it from her.

I nodded, smiling as I turned and made my way over to the massive stone door. I took in a deep breath as I held it out, inserting the dragon and sword into the slot. I was right. It was a perfect match. I jumped and stepped back as the door began to open, dust swarming into the room which caused me to cough. The cringe worthy sound or scraping stone echoed off of the walls, but I was too excited to care for the ringing that it caused in my ears. I took the necklace out of the keyhole and put the chain around my neck. This was it...
I looked into the room, and gasped as I awed in wonder. I was completely baffled by the sight, able to take in detail despite the darkness. The circular room was massive, about four stories high and with a wide area. Columns were against the stone walls, evenly spaced between one another and holding the ceiling up. In the center of the room was a stone pedestal a few feet high. Around that was a magic circle, then surrounding that was a circular pound of sorts that held glimmering magical water that lit the room with a bright blue light. Then around those were four columns with chiseled stone caps that did not stretch up the roof, but were instead about two times my height.
I walked in slowly, taking in the scenery. I could hear Mia and Endy jumping around and cheering in amazement. My heart was racing with my palms begging to sweat from the anticipation. I swallowed a lump in my throat as I turned around and faced the others. Drake's and Lalea's hands were together, both of them looking around in wonder. They were smiling, showing their bright white teeth. Jane looked eager to run over to the glowing water, its bright shining color drawing her attention but Xavier held her hand and kept her for leaving his side. It was understandable for him to not trust letting her stray away from him.

"Wow...this place is..." Nathan basked, his wide eyes scanning the room with a glimmer of wonder against his hazel iris's.

I finished his sentence. "Amazing..."

My lungs took in a deep inhale as took my backpack and moved it to hold it over my chest. I bent down, reaching in and gently grabbing the dragon egg in my arms. I held it against my chest, holding it carefully with my right arm as I used the left to put back on one of the straps to my bag. I then switched my arms roles, taking the dragon egg with my left arm while I put back on the strap with my right arm. I let out the warm breath that I held, standing back up. I did not notice how wobbly I was on my feet until now.

I turned back to my friends, letting in and out deep breaths or stale air. "So...I guess this is it. It's...actually it."

Drake perked up his lips which now covered his white yet slightly bloodstained, sharp teeth. His mixed voice still sent a chill down my spine but the voices were not mixed enough to make me assume that he was possessed. "Well, what are you waiting for? This is your moment buddy."

I nodded, exchanging a smile towards him. With that, I turned on my heels and turned around again to walk up to the pedestal. The sound of my boots hitting the floor echoed on the enclosed walls, my own heartbeat audible in my ears. I stepped over the thin line if the circular pound and over the markings of the magic circle, finally stopping before the stone pedestal. My gaze looked down at the dragon egg in my grip, seeing my reflection against the black smooth yet scaly surface. I began remembering everything that I had been through all for this thing. Right now...I would finally know rather or not everything that I lost for this thing will not be lost in vain.
My trembling arms placed the egg onto the pedestal, keeping it perfectly upright. I gasped as the magic circle below my feet began to glow a bright purple. I stepped back until I was a few feet away from the structure, marveling as the circle glowed with specks of purple from both the circle and pillars were sucked into the egg as if they were transferring powerful magical energy. The water glowed brighter and fizzed. I knew that if I were a Mage, then I would feel overwhelming power going into that tiny little black shell.
Suddenly, I heard a crack. That crack grew against the surface of the shell, purple light shining from within a leaking from those cracks. It was so bright that I had to look away, my eyes burning and beginning to fear that it would explode. The bright purple light dimmed, allowing me to look back. My arms fell to my side and mouth gaped open. My eyes were wide, with my body filling with amazement. I was awestricken.
Deep purple eyes stared at me from within the darkness.

Third person point of view-

Grayson stepped forward, watching as the little baby dragon yawned and clawed at its shell, wanting to be free from its containment. It was so small, about the side of a terrier. It's scales were much like the egg, a pitch black that seemed to have a purple fluorescent. It had no teeth just yet, and it's claws were small but sharp. It's eyes resembled that one's on an Enderman, with dark grey tiny horns on its head and dark grey spikes going down its back and tail.
The blonde approached it, unsure of what to do. He held out his hand and made sure to stay cautious just incase something went wrong and the dragon attacked. It tilted its head and blinked its wide eyes that were new to seeing the world. It opened its mouth to show what almost appeared to be a gummy smile. Grayson reached out with both hands, letting the dragon sniff him before he made another move.
Once he was comfortable with the thought that it would not attack, he reached out and grabbed it gently with both hands. He lifted it up and took it out of the shell, letting its long tail hang down. It had a small grey tip that resembled an arrowhead. It's tail wagged like a dog and it spread it's wings which showed it's two foot wingspan. It waved it paws around frantically as it gave a happy squeal.

"Hey little guy! You seem happy, now don't ya'?"

It's claws then dug into his arms as it scratched at him, causing him to hiss and release his grip on the infant creature. Instead of it falling, it's claws gripped his clothes and climbed up his arm, going around the back of Grayson's neck and nuzzling his red scarf. The dragon purred, resting its head on the human's left shoulder, its body going behind his neck with its hide on his right shoulder. It's tail continued to wag, slapping against Grayson's chest repeatedly.

He turned around, his cheeks pink and a wide bright smile. "Guys... This is awesome!"

"It so cute! I want one!" Mia exclaimed.

Grayson held the dragon closer and giggled. "Too bad! It's the only one and it's mine!"

Jane joined in. "Is it a boy or a girl? What are you going to name it?"

Grayson looked over at the dragon, lifting up his hand and pet it's head. It was a male, that much he knew. He had a name picked out for a male dragon long ago. His gaze turned to Drake, who commented that Grayson had never told them what he planned on naming it, mentioning their little arguments when he had brought him and Mia to his house. Grayson swallowed a lump in his throat, a question going through his mind. Would it trigger Drake to have more flashbacks and guilt? He looked back up, everyone looking at him with bright anticipation.

He looked back to the dragons head, clearing his throat. "Well,uh, it's a male so..." He continued to hesitant. "I was thinking about naming it...Armen...Armen II or something like that."

The ex-commander saw Drake straighten his back as saw his eyes get bigger. His smile faded for a moment as his lids drooped back down. "A-Armen..?"

Grayson nodded. "Yeah. I've been wanting to name it that because... I thought that it would be a nice way to honor his memory, you know?"

The blonde began to become concerned with the hybrid's confused expression. Drake then groaned and held his head in pain. When he opened his eyes, his lips moved to speak. Grayson immediately gasped, filled with disbelief with what came out of the hybrid's mouth next.

"Who's Armen?"

Everyone was shocked, even the many who had never met Armen face to face. Drake looked around, wondering why all of his friends were giving him shocked looks. Grayson lowered his brows and tried to see through Drake to see if this was some cruel practical joke. No. Drake would never joke about something so serious, especially not Armen.

"Armen! You know, your best friend! Your brother!"

Drake lowered a brow. "I had a brother? And...he's dead?"

"Yes! Drake, you were willing to do anything for him! You put a part of Herobrine onto yourself in order to save him from being possessed! He sacrificed himself to save us! You loved him! He was your family!"

Drake then yelled and held his throbbing head in pain yet again. The pain caused his eyes to well up with warm tears. His eyes shot open again, hissing through his teeth. He kept whispering his brother's name under his breath, knowing that it was familiar but he could not recall who it was. What he looked like, his voice, his personality, his memories of him...they were all drawing blanks.

He turned when he heard Nathan speak up. "Drake, remember when you said that I reminded you of him?"

He recalled saying that Nathan reminded him of Armen. When he remembered that, he was able to recall Armen's personality and his squeaky voice. He recalled that Armen could go from cowardly to brave whenever they needed him, how he stood up when no else would. He remembered the optimism and kindness and fun loving self... An image flashed through his mind, depicting a teenage boy with black hair and bright cyan eyes with a bright enlightening smile.

Tears filled his eyes. "Armen... How could I have forgotten about him?" His voice shook, guilt returning from the fact that he had forgotten his own brother that he gone through so much with and so much for.

Drake looked like he did not know what to say but Grayson caught that shimmer in his eyes reflecting in the blue light, a shimmer that he knew was being cast by welling up tears. The hybrid looked down, his hair and hood covering Grayson's view of his face, but he heard him chuckle. He looked back up, a tiny grin on his lips.

"It's a weird name for a dragon, but...it's nice. I like it."

Grayson smiled and let out a breath of relief that Drake remembered Armen. He was scared there for a moment; scared that Drake would not recover his memories. He was glad that Drake recalled his brother and was glad that Drake allowed him to name his dragon after Armen. Grayson was also relieved that it did not seem to hurt Drake as much as he feared it would.

Drake tried to shift his attention away from the event. "So what are you going to do with him? You said that you wanted to use the dragon to get your revenge but now that the emperor is dead...what?"

Grayson flinched as he unexpectedly felt the dragon shift. Armen II crawled up onto his head, sitting on his dirty blonde hair as it let out a small roar that came out as a squeak. His claws dug into Grayson's, causing him to hiss and have to remove it from his head before the claws caused him to bleed.

"Well, now that the emperor is dead and I befriended Luke and he's dead too..." Grayson looked down at the mention of Luke, wondering why he mentioned him. "...I don't know. That's something I'll have to think about."

The dragon wiggled in his hands as he held it front of himself. Grayson laughed at how much like a puppy it was. Jane stepped forward, asking if she could pet it. The blonde was a bit hesitant, looking over and relying on Xavier to give him an answer. Xavier said that it was fine just as long as she was careful. Grayson then set the dragon down onto the floor, hearing it's claws tapping on the ground as it turned around to look back at it's owner. It was only natural for the baby dragon to bound with and to imprint on Grayson since he was the first person that he had seen.
The dragon turned again and slowly crawled over to Jane. She held out her hand, not moving too much as to spook the magical creature before her. Armen II tilted his head and leaning in, sniffing her fingers. His warm breath brushed her skin. Finally he jumped up and down and jumped playfully onto her. She laughed before taking him in her arms in an embrace. Grayson smiled before he heard Drake begin to cough violently.
Drake fell to his knees, coughing and unable to breathe. Grayson ran to his side, getting down next him to help him out. Drake nearly collapsed, but Grayson held out his arms quick enough to catch him. Drake gasped, putting his arm around Grayson's shoulders and clawing at his right one as he struggled to breathe.

"Gr-Grayson...d-did you...s-see that?"

Grayson saw Drake's eyes darting around, as if searching for something in the darkness. He looked around everywhere but saw nothing out of place.

He replied. "No. I don't see anything."

Drake squinted, his vision painfully white and blurry, but he knew that saw something unnatural. Something wrong. He blinked and shook his head before he began looking around again. Perhaps it was just his bad eyesight or a hallucination. He was about to disregard what he had seen, but then there it was again, that black shadow zipping past the podium. His eyes shot open but before he could say anything, he place his hands on the floor and violently threw up blood.

  "Drake? Drake!"

The hybrid looked back up, gasping for oxygen. His eyes widened, images flashing before his eyes. They were memories of Armen. They were not the good memories, but ones that brought him pain. When he jumped into the lava and when Drake shattered the sacred diamond.

"I can't take this anymore!"

There were also memories of living in the house of terror and when they were chased in the Arctic base. He saw them running around Iron mere, and finding that sacred tree. The one that had that book that determined their fate. Armen never should have suffered... Drake always felt that it should have been him. It should have been him.

"One will suffer, and the others will feel great pain."

He saw that dream world where he and Armen were reunited with one another, which was only a short amount of time but it felt like they were trapped there for days. When they finally regained their memories and Armen just sat on the ground in defeat...Drake felt like his heart shattered at that moment. That bright spark that the hybrid looked up to was finally extinguished.

"All I remember is...my brother...killed my parents..."

"This is fake. This is all fake."

"All I remember is seeing people dying and dying and dying and burning and killing."

"You can't save me! Drake, do not save me!"

That hopeless look that made Drake's insides twist. He saw memories of his own nightmares and hallucinations, each with Armen standing before him either in sorrow, broken, vengeful, or just a bloody mess. He could just hear Armen screaming in pain and turning his pain into rage and taking it all out of him. Drake deserved...after all...it was all his fault that Armen was suffering; his fault that he was dead.

"Some friend you are. After everything that we've been through together, you just kill us like we were nothing! Is that all we were to you? Nothing!"

"Then why didn't you help me when I needed you? I was suffering and you were too selfish to finish that spell to save me!"

"You're not my brother, nor my friend. I don't know why I stayed with you for as long as I did."

"No! Just shut up! I can't wait for when Herobrine takes full control over you...then you'll feel the pain that I did. You're less than worthless to me."

His eyes filled with more tears that ran down his face. He gasped again, seeing a bright flash of white before the white faded. Then there he saw Armen standing there, his body butchered, burned, and bloody. A black blood-like goo was leaking from his eyes, nose, and mouth and his eyes were pure white. Drake closed his eyes and began to claw at his scalp as his migraine pounded against his skull. He screamed out as loud as his lungs could let him.
He eyes suddenly shot open wide as he made a choking sound from his throat. He screamed as he scratched viciously at his scalp, his fingers pulling at his hair. Grayson's heart began to race in panic, along with the others, getting caught off guard by the ear piercing sound of overwhelming agony. Grayson attempted to called out his name, but when he looked up, Drake pushed him back.

Drake forced on a smile, reaching into the pouch on his belt. "G-Grayson...give th-this to L-Lalea...pl-please..."

He held out his hand, waiting for Grayson to lift up his arm. The ex-commander held up his arm and held up his palm to let Drake give to him when he held. Grayson opened his hand again, staring at the bright ring in his palm. Why was he giving him this? Grayson bit his lip and clutched his fingers around the ring.

"Thank you... For everything..."

"No! Just give it to her yourself! Drake I know what you're thinking and-" He was cut off by booming laughter that turned into screaming.

Grayson stood, watching Drake pull his hair in pain and scream. His head throbbed and ears rung hearing his own heartbeat pounding in his ears at a rapid pace. Grayson's called out, but his scream was distant.

Drake's point of view-

I got up my feet, trembling violently as I backed away from everyone. My body twitched painfully as I continued to pull at my hair and pulling out black and brown strands. I stumbled backwards, my heart racing and the sound of it filling my ears. The previous image of Armen disappeared, being replaced. Herobrine stood next to Grayson as my friend took a step forward, Herobrine's body taking Armen's possessed form. He is just a hallucination. He's not actually there, Drake.

  This is all fake, you know? Out in the real world, I'm in control. Out there, all of your little friends here are dead!

My eyes teared up, imagining the people I loved laying on the floor dead. I shook my head and screamed in denial. They are not dead! I'll snap out of this and everything will be okay! Everything is going to be okay! Herobrine stepped forward, his hands behind his back, a skip in his stride. A crooked smile grew wider on his blood covered cheeks

  Don't you feel it, Drake? Their blood covering your hands and splattering all over your body?!

It was like his words triggered my sense of touch and feeling sensation. A tingling feeling run through my fingers, my ears perking up at the sound of dripping liquid falling to the floor. I slowly lifted up my hands, watching them tremble before my eyes rested on my palms. I gasped, seeing my hands completely covered in dark red blood, running all the way down to my elbows. It was like I had ripped someone apart.

  "No. No. This isn't real!" My heart and chest began to ache, panic consuming my body.

My eyes then darted up, hearing Grayson's distorted, echoing voice as he stepped closer. "Drake..."

His body was now covered in blood, his neck looking as if it had been broken. His eyes looked glazed over and blood ran from his lips. His shirt was more torn and bloody than before, then I noticed that his chest cavity was empty. Like all of his organs had been forcefully ripped out. The others were drenched in their own blood as well, some stabbed, some looking so brutally injured that I could only assume that magic had played a role in their slaughter. Images flashed over them for a brief moment, letting me catch a glimpse of all of my comrades corpses laying lifeless on the bloodstained stone ground. I killed them...
I then felt my mana swarming through my bloodstream, burning my veins and insides as if lava had been injected into my system. They were destroying every blood cell left within my body, striving to be released and set free. I collapsed to my knees, vomiting and soaking the floor with dark red.
I clawed at the stone wall behind me, the back of my heels scraping against the stone as I tried desperately to get away as he got closer. I felt like I could not move anywhere but back. I felt surrounded, confined, and terrified. Grayson got closer and closer, or was he even Grayson?

  They're gone Drake, and it's all because of you! You're the reason why I was freed in the first place! Thank you for letting me kill so many people...

  They're all dead, and it's all your fault!

I screamed and clawed at my head until I was sure that it was bleeding. They are not dead, Drake! Don't let him get to you! Don't fall for it again! My eyes teared up, screaming at myself and trying to drown out the voices that seemed to be screaming at me without a breath of air. It was like hundreds of people screaming in my ears and from inside of my own head.

There's no point in you holding on... No point in you existing.

  It's over, Drake.

I snapped, feeling myself slowly beginning to slip away. Deep down I knew that they were all alive, and that I needed to protect them. My hand glowed bright with powerful magical energy, sparking and flaring. My vision began to grow red, filling with a substance thicker than tears. Blood once again began to leak from my eyes and nose, dripping onto the stone with the rest of my blood.
I gasped when I saw the others begging to move again, their images flashing from normal to their nightmarish state. I sobbed hard. I looked around at each of them, especially Grayson and Lalea. I remember all of the good times I had with them, and despite that I was in an incredible amount of pain, I still smiled at them for a brief moment. I collapsed to my sore knees.

  "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... I love you all..."

"Drake!" Grayson and Lalea both screamed in union.

I held out my arm and let the blast of magic energy fired in their direction. It fired at great speed, impacting the stone ground and causing a small explosion in front of them. The ground violently shook, everyone who stood trying not to lose footing on the stone floor. The earth split before us, a long, wide creak hastily making its across way straight the floor to slice a massive crater between myself  and the others. A bright, blinding light poured from the crevice before strong flame erupted from within. They all gasped and took a step back. There was no way that they could get to me now...

Grayson shook his head, tears flooding his eyes. "Drake, no!"

My arm fell back down onto the floor, supporting me up as I once again began to vomit. My tears and blood streamed out from my eyes and fell to the ground. The voices were screaming in my head, causing them to ring and hurt. They felt like they were bleeding and after feeling the liquid rolling down the side of my face, I was positive that they were. Once again I let out a scream, sever pain consuming my entire being until it was all that I felt. Every inch of my body both inside and out crawled with burning and soreness and complete agony.
The massive puddle of blood beneath me began to move, going around my body and shifting its shape. It formed a circle around me, taking a pentagram like shape around my body with many runes and symbols around it, and a smaller circle around me. The symbols were a bit familiar, like I had recently seen them but I had no idea what they meant. There was so much blood... How was I not unconscious?!
At first I believed that it was just a hallucination, but I was in too much pain to care.
Blood continued to pour from my mouth, depriving my lungs of all oxygen. Voices screamed in my head, all in a seemingly different language but I could not tell since they all spoke at one. I then began to see flashing lights and heard incredibly loud crashing and sounds resembling explosions. Spike after spike of pain swarmed up my body, causing me to scream until my throat was numb.
I was able to get my eyes to open, seeing the destruction that I had unconsciously caused, my magic firing out uncontrollably in all directions. Stone flakes were falling from the ceiling as the room shook, the pillars were cracking and splitting in two as it was struck by bolts of magic energy. Past the fire that still blazed heigh and hot, the pillars and podium that hatched the dragon egg snapped in half. I could see the magical water rising from its circular pound, seeing it bubble and steam as my magic caused it to boil.
It was so painful...so agonizing to feel everything being drained from my body. The white with blue and purple magic was swarming my body, the magic itself feeling as if it were squeezing my insides with a tight grip. My white vision suddenly went black as I passed out and collapsed to the floor.
When I came to, I was standing straight up with my arms extended out, swarming with magic. I tried to move but I could not. I tried to scream but all that left was a sickening laugh that seemed to somehow rattle the room more than my raging, out of control magic. I could feel Herobrine's hatred and bloodlust burning inside of me. My head throbbed and blood continued to go down my face, my limbs trembling and body threatening to shut down from blood loss.
Through the whiteness in my eyes, I saw the circle drawn in blood begin to glow in a blinding white light. My lips began to move, speaking in a distant foreign language yet somehow I was slowly beginning to understand bits and pieces of it despite that it was not English nor in the magi language. It was Herobrine speaking and controlling my body against my will.
Then the ground shook more violently, somehow not causing the ceiling to cave in on everyone just yet. I could not believe what I saw before me. In a blast of white light, hundreds of masses of dark smoke erupted from the circle, zipping around and overwhelming the room with their presence. White light flashed like lightning, and I could hear loud sounds, more like screaming coming each individual black mass of smoke that flooded into the room.
I felt so small, so meaningless as hundreds of life forces hit me like a fatal lightning bolt.  They were all so twisted and malevolent, yet miserable and pledging for salvation. All of that pain and bottled up hatred both from myself and from whatever it was that I was feeling...I could not handle it. It was too much; too overwhelming.
My fever was rising and rising until I felt that I would burst into flames. The pain in my head and chest was unbearable, making me beg for death that was ticking closer and closer with each passing second of this torture. I felt like I was having a heart attack on top of a fatal fever and organ failure.
For a moment I broke free from Herobrine's control, slumping over as my body grew too weak. One of the speeding black masses came down, dragging it's sharp claws down my back, cutting my leather backpack clean open and slicing large, deep gashes into my back. I was already in so much pain that I could no longer scream. I could see out of the corner of my eyes and hear a faint sound of everything in my backpack falling to the ground, books colliding with the stone and empty bottles shattering. Another one them came down, this time injuring my chest, cutting away my backpack straps. My clothes mended themselves, but my wounds did not.
The circle stopped glowing, then I finally collapsed to my knees only to continue to cough up whatever blood I had left. I collapsed once again, falling out cold for a split moment. When I regained consciousness, I curled up on the floor, clenching my chest tightly even when I felt my fingers digging into my fresh, deep, open wounds. I was going into shock, my body trembling but unable to control my own movements... It was too late. I was fading.

  "Because I want you to be happy before you die! If I can't save you...then I just...want you to be happy. Okay?"

I smiled, choking on blood. Be happy... Remember the good times... I remember meeting Grayson, with he, Armen, and I running around the Arctic base aimlessly and scared...we were all so young; so clueless to what we would face. Who would have known that things would turn out this way? I remembered Iron mere and that joy of reuniting with Grayson then finding the Hall of Heroes. Armen looked so happy when he started walking on water and turning it to ice beneath his feet! I tried not to remember him jumping into the lava but that was a memory that I could not get my mind to repress.
I remember reuniting with Grayson and getting to explore his home. I remembered when he got his pet slime and how much he loved the little guy. I remember laughing and the joy of being able to be with someone that I trusted and cared for. I loved being around someone who would listen to me and understand my problems. He was so willing to do anything for me, traveling with me despite that we may have ended up killed. He tried to help me save Armen and took care of me while I was sick and did whatever he could to help me when I was depressed...Grayson was, no, is like a brother to me, and the closest thing to a father that I've ever had the chance of having.
I remember meeting Mia, that perky, optimistic elf that always brightened us up whenever we needed to be lifted from darkness. She was always able to laugh and always knew what to say. I remembered her getting way too into the artifacts that she found. I remember how much she looked up to me for my magic and told me that I was cool...ha... I remembered her trying to cheer me up after Armen died and she gave me that chalice. I wish that I could see and hold it again.
Then there was this entire trip, well, at least the parts that brought some good. Having fun and laughing with my friends, really bonding with them and strengthening ourselves as friends; as family. Getting to mend what had been broken between Grayson and Luke and befriending him. Meeting Nathan, and, Xavier, and, Jane, and Endy...then...meeting Lalea. She was the best thing to happen to me throughout this whole journey. Even now I don't understand what she ever saw in me but...I'm so grateful for her. I'm glad that she was around to help me and show me true love... I wish that we could have had a life together. I wanted that so desperately. To get married and finally move on from all of this stress and finally settle down... I guess that I should have known better.
Tears covered my face, my smile hurting my cheeks. My eyes then shot open wide, but not from pain. I felt something else, not physically but just...a feeling. A presence. It was faint but it was there, screaming for or at me. The room was filled with darkness...thousands of life forces that kept changing. One second they all felt human, then the next they all felt dark with the only human life forces belonging to my friends and myself. It was not right. It felt so wrong.

"Drake..."

My eyes could not have gotten any wider. No. It's not real. It's not real! With every last ounce of strength that remained in my body, I pushed myself up to my knees. I spat out blood, feeling my arms readying to give out from beneath me. My head slowly looked up, and there I saw it; a Nightmare. It hovered there, a loud sound emitting from it, or was it just my ears? It was as black as night yet a bit transparent. It's claws were sharp and a deep purple, resembling crystal shards. The bottom of it looked like torn up drapes that faded into thin air. It starred down at me, it's eyes soulless.
An image flashed before it, the usual hallucination that I've having of Armen with those blank white eyes and black good leaking from his face. He whispered out my name again, reaching out a hand. I could have sworn that I saw him shed a tear. I lifted up my arm that had light shining around it. My life force was literally resting on my fingertips.
With one last breath, I screamed.

"Armen!"

There was a bright flash of white light, blinding everyone in the room. My vision was consumed with white, then nothing but darkness. All feeling left from my body. There was not aching, or soreness of my limbs, nor burning heat. I could not feel the ground or smell the stale air and burning fire. I could not taste the blood. I felt myself slip. I felt myself becoming distant until there was nothing left. It all became numb. All there was, was nothing. Just...nothing.