Morphine

A/N: Sorry it took so long to update. But as this is the last chapter, I didn't want it to be completely crappy. Thanks for all the support everyone, but now my story has come to an end.

Chapter Five: Faustian Deals (Ghostwrite)

(Faust's POV)

It's an unusual for a shaman to do, ghostwrite that is. But there was really nothing left for me to do now. The tournament was over and Hao was defeated, it wasn't as if I had much of a choice.

I had returned home and reopened our- my clinic. Eliza was there as my silent backer, always helping with diagnosis and treatments of all kinds. Occasionally, rumors would flare up from time to time, one report after another of the ghost of the Faust clinic. All manner of people would pop up and claim to have seen my Eliza walking the dimly lit halls of my clinic at night.

Some claimed her to be the angel of death, stalking her next victim. Others, believed her to be some sort of messianic healer, sent from above. Though most agreed, whatever she was, she closely resembled my late wife.

But currently, that is beside the point. What I had been getting at that was the strange message I had received from my misadventure in ghostwriting. Indeed it was quite the misadventure, I mean it had started innocently enough.

One minute, I am taking a swig of American-standard 200 proof Jagermeister and the next thing I know, I am practicing headstands on the balcony of the old Faust manor. It was impractical, that you can be sure, but the next thing I know, my ass was firmly planted on the safe ground of the balcony.

I vaguely remember making my way towards my bed. Crawling towards it in the true fashion of a broken man, wondering just when it was I lost my manhood. Perhaps I never had it to begin with. It's at this point, I believe, that someone possessed me then.

I couldn't begin to tell you the name of this spirit, but for sure it was a familiar presence. It greeted me warmly in my haze of drunkenness and it seemed to cheer me up quite a bit. The strength it had given me made oversoul seem like nothing.

At this point, I seem to blackout. But now this morning, I awake to find myself face down in a litany of papers. A various array of things written on them, as if there were loss of words and common sense. Of the many written pages strewn about there was only one that I could make any sort of sense of… One written in the form of a poem entitled: Faustian Deals of Morphine.

And as I read and reread the tiny poem, I found myself at a loss. And then just as soon as I was lost, I found myself smiling. Soon after, I found myself at my clinic, clearly in no condition to treat anyone, to do anything remotely close to medicine. But even so, I was the best this town had and no one could deny that.

They came en masse that day, as disgusting to me as they ever were. But that would be the last time for that sort of thing. Today was the day I would restore myself. Today was the day I could make a real choice by myself, of my own volition. Today, I would choose life, my Eliza, and myself. There was no need for morphine when I had gained my own inner strength and peace of mind.

And there was no reason to stay in this place of stagnation any longer. I had no need for it anyway. Today was the day I would leave and start over. Yes, I would rewrite my intended fate. After all the say it's never too late…

The Faustian Deals of Morphine
When back then
You saved me,
Now you break me.
Great is the infamy
For the alleviate of pain,
A drug of simple name,
Morphine.
The numb encases me
And death recedes
To nothingness.
Simple and untouchable,
As all Faustian deals are.
But just as simple as you seem,
Complexity arrives
And I find myself denied.
The ersatz existence
Of my own design
Collapses.
And once the numb evades me
The pain drowns out everything.
The Faustian deals of morphine
Can leave you lower than you were before.

A/N: And so ends Morphine. Maybe to be followed by Panacea… A sequel of sorts starring Faust and Choco-Love… Possibly. I haven't decided yet, it's still being worked out.

By the way, I wrote the poem specifically for the story, but made it vague so I could enter it into a competition. This poem gave me second place in the ACT-SO competition. I was so proud. Anyway, thanks for the support everyone. Later.