Nightmare Begins

A gloomy, pale-looking young man with thin brown hair and glassy blue eyes strolled down the bustling streets of the NQSC. His left hand lay limp to his side, while his right hand was busy stuffing a synthetic chocolate bar into his mouth. The surrounding pedestrians gave wary glances at the haggard young man. After all, who wouldn't be wary of a delinquent teenager riddled with cuts and bruises, eating chocolate without a care in the world. Blood rolled down his left hand onto the sidewalk, leaving a crimson trail in his wake. After some brief glances at his surroundings, the boy's tear-stained face perked up, as if remembering where he needed to be. He mumbled something under his breath.

"Tsk. Im dead anyways. Might as well."

***

Some time later, the boy stood in front of large house. He was so out of place with his starved, malnourished appearance that he almost looked comical, if not for the fact that he was covered in blood, with a hateful expression on his face. After a brief moment of contemplation the boy fumbled with his pockets and retrieved two items. One was a key, and the other was a knife. He slowly climbed up the steps and inserted the key into the keyhole. He hesitated one last moment. Eventually the boy violently forced the door open. An adult man's voice could be heard yelling from inside, and the echoes of a fierce struggle reverberated throughout the neighborhood.

"What's the matter with you, Lu!? Back for more?!"

Minutes later, 3 police PTVs pulled into the house's driveway. Dozens of armed men invaded the house and a couple dozen more cleared the surrounding area of citizens. A man in a police uniform could be heard calling for an ambulance.

Minutes later, an unconscious young man with brown hair and rope marks around his neck could be seen being dragged out of the house. His previously grime-covered clothes were now soaked in fresh blood. As the ambulance arrived, a bodybag was laid on a stretcher and loaded into it. The boy was loaded into the backseat of a PTV.

***

A few hours later, the boy, who was now dressed and awake, found himself in a familiar empty room with a 1 way mirror. Besides the table and cup of coffee sitting in front of him, the room was bare. He reached across the table and took a sip of the black coffee.

'Ah, I forgot how bitter the real stuff tastes.'

"I'm really alive?"

Suddenly, the door swung open and a detective leisurely strolled into the room. As he placed some documents and a recording device on the table, he spoke in a calm voice.

"You sure are, Lu"

Lu turned to stare at the detective. No, at his former teacher, Mr. Kolinsky.

"God damn it."

'Can't live in peace, can't die in peace. What the Spell am I supposed to do then? Ah, what does it matter? I'm dead anyways.'

With a grunt, the detective shuffled in his foldable chair as he straighten his documents.

"Well then, we're gonna be here for a while, so get comfy, Luther Neilson."

***

About an hour after the detective left the interrogation chamber having not learned a thing, Mr. Kolinsky opened the door and walked towards the boy, he mumbled under his breath.

"Stupid kid."

The detective already had a gist of what caused the boy to murder his own parents. Luther Neilson was a local truant. He'd been arrested numerous times in the past, although never for a felony. The root of Lu's problems lay in the death of his mother. Although the Nightmare spell usually targets people in their early to late teens, special cases have always existed. After his mother's death, Lu was broken. He had forgotten how to eat, how to express himself. He'd forgotten how to be happy. Lu was essentially already dead. It didn't help that Lu's father was a deadbeat. The boy's father was a government official. In short: Lu's father neglected and abused his own child. Not that his stupid father cared about the death of his own wife anyways. Lu blamed his father for not being there when he needed him the most. The Mr. Kolinsky blamed himself too, after all, he was his school counselor. Lu had confided all of this to him, and in the end, he'd told him one thing:

"There's nothing I can do about it."

Eventually Lu spiraled into a depression that he couldn't climb out of, and no one was around to pull him out of it. Lu ran away from home. Opting to live in the slums for over a year than live with his 'father.'

'I'm just as cowardly as his father. If only I'd spoken up back then.'

At some point, Lu had fallen asleep. He must've been exhausted. After all, he'd been malnourished for over a year while he lived in the outskirts. Mr. Kolinsky approached Lu and shook him awake. Or at least he tried to.

"Kid, wake up."

The detective signaled towards the one-way mirror. As he waited for physician to come in and check on the suspect he continued trying to shake him awake. It was only after about 10 seconds that he realized something was wrong.

"No... No! Wake up kid!"

The physician hurriedly entered the room.

"What's wrong?"

But Mr. Kolinsky said nothing. Soon, the physicians face paled, too.

"He's... he's infected..."

***

Black. Everything was black. Nothing existed. He couldn't feel anything. He couldn't see anything. After what felt like a couple of minutes, Lu pondered.

'Honestly, this is kind of nice. It'd be nice if I just didn't exist. Just like right now.'

Just as he thought that, Lu heard a melodious voice:

[Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell! Your first trail awaits!]

***

Lu dreamt of a forgotten shore. A starless sky. A colorless landscape. A massive crater of unimaginable scale. A labyrinth of grey, lifeless coral. A dark city standing high in the air with a forlorn castle at its heart. Then, a crimson tower was unnaturally erected.

'Am I seeing time in reverse? Am I seeing this place's past? What could've caused such a disastrous impact?'

The once grey coral labyrinth was now a deep, sinister crimson. For a brief moment a battle of unimaginable scale flashed before my eyes, and the castle nestled in the city glowed with a dim light. Suddenly, everything was dead again.

After a while, labyrinth retreated into the massive spire that towered above the dark city. The crimson spire was no longer crimson, and at its peak, a star began to glow. When it shone the brightest, the spire was suddenly gone. The tall, dark city was also no more, and dozens of smaller settlements were erect among the desolate landscape. Later, the fallen stars began to rise from ground, nestling themselves among the heavens, and the corruption that made this forgotten shore so lifeless retreated into the massive crater at the heart of the landscape. Finally, from the center of the crater, a figure wreathed in blinding light rose into the sky and disappeared, taking all of the corruption with it.

Before Lu's eyes was a beautiful land bathed in sunlight. Lush forests, glistening rivers, and fields of flowers surrounded human cities built of stone. The beautiful land rested under the sky that was full of stars. Time slowed, then stopped, resuming at its usual pace.

'Wait... so an angel covered in fire fell from the sky and corrupted the land? That's what I'm up against?!'

Then everything was dark again.

***

"Hey, boy! Wake up!"

Lu's ears were met with the shouts of a gruff old man, with what looked like a makeshift stethoscope hung around his neck. Lu's head, on the other hand, was met with a terrible, throbbing headache. His vision was blurry and the shouts sounded slurred.

'Shut up old man! Where am I? Ahh, why does my head hurt?! I just fucking woke up! Wait, what language is he speaking? How do I know what he's saying?'

As Lu contemplated his situation, the old man turned to a woman around my age, who was sitting by my side, holding my hand.

"He seems to be awake, but confused. He'll soon fall asleep, but he should be fine, it seems he has a concussion. Wait a few more hours."

And just as the man said that, he passed out, incapable of bearing the furious headache that was assaulting his head.

***

Lu awoke several hours later.

As Lu's eyes fluttered open, he found himself in a dimly lit room. The throbbing in his head had dulled to a persistent ache, and he gingerly touched the tender spot where he had been struck.

'Why the hell am I in pain before the Nightmare even starts?'

Memories of the nightmare spell flooded back to him, mingling with the disorienting haze of his current situation. He remembered the forgotten shore, the towering spire, and the figure wreathed in blinding light.

'Every Nightmare should have a central conflict, so do I have to survive whatever the hell that was?'

Pushing himself upright, Lu surveyed his surroundings. The room was sparsely furnished, with bare walls and a small window letting in a sliver of sunlight. He could hear the faint hum of activity outside, indicating that life continued on beyond these walls. Suddenly, he remembered something from one of the web toons he'd read as a kid.

'Come to think of it, don't Aspirants get a cool special ability or something? Ah, an Aspect, that's what its called.'

As he attempted to summon his runes, the door swung open, interrupting him. A familiar figure entered the room. It was the gruff old man from before, accompanied by the woman who had been sitting by Lu's side earlier. Although, now that he looked closer, she was just a girl his own age.

"Ah, you're awake," the old man said, his voice gruff but not unkind. "How are you feeling?"

Lu regarded them warily, still trying to make sense of his surroundings. His voice hoarse from disuse.

"Where am I?"

The woman offered him a sympathetic smile.

"We're in the physicians office at the moment. But you're safe now. Dr. Kaito will take care of you, Lewis."

'Lewis? Is that my name? What should I say? Should I admit I don't know them?'

As they exchanged pleasantries, Lu couldn't shake the feeling of unease. But for now, he was content to bide his time and see where fate would take him next.

Before he could dwell on it further, the girl who appeared to be Lu's age asked this Dr. Kaito to leave.

"Sure, I'd bet you two have lots to catch up on, Pearla."

With that, Lu was left alone in the room with Pearla, who he assumed was Lewis' friend. Pearla was of small stature, with a thin frame, brown dark brown hair, fairly tanned skin, and mischievous, emerald green eyes. He blushed a little as his eyes scanned her generous figure.

'Get your head out the gutter! Alright, I'll pretend to have lost my memories, after all, a concussion could surely cause some mild amnesia. Yeah, definitely.'

"So Pearla, I've been meaning to ask, whats going on?"