Another letter, once more from Doctor Stephan Mabuz, this one slightly different from the previous one, despite wanting to use the same formula as he had done previously: the 'White Claudia'. Odin woke, as he had before, and noticed the letter sitting on his desk, no doubt brought in by Mac while Odin had slept, as he was the only other person with a key. Despite how much he trusted Mac, the dark mage had to be thorough, and looked all around his room to make sure nothing had been moved, or no other area disturbed. Once he was satisfied, Odin picked up the letter, broke the seal, and read:


Odin could tell how interested in this serum the doctor was, simply due to the lack of insults or mockery in the letter. Mabuz was being serious, and so Odin would have to reflect that and do the same, this was not the time for games or messing around. It was time for another job, and Odin was looking forward to it. After reading the note, he would dress himself in his usual bar attire of a white shirt and black waistcoat, trousers and dress shoes. Once he was ready, he set out for Mabuz's shop, ready to arrive at noon on the dot.

As he arrived, he saw Nastasya there too, and they both wasted no time in entering the doctor's shop. He, too, was in no mood to wait around, instead directing them both to the underground room in the back, but he had removed the chair that had been there last time. Also, instead of entering along with the subjects, Mabuz handed Odin the serum and stayed outside the door, watching from a long window that allowed him to see everything that happened in the room. Holding the serum in his hand, Odin looked towards his partner, somewhat concerned as to what they would both end up discovering about one another over the course of this quest. The last time Odin had done this, just a few days ago, he had seen an angel of purity trying to remove all evil traces of the demon from him, including his magic, and his anger, everything that made Odin Odin. if that was what he saw, what could Nastasya have seen that would have her threaten the doctor with death? If they both entered this world, they would both see each other's deepest fears, and Odin wasn't sure he was ready. But, the pay was good, so Odin walked over to his partner, injected half the serum into her, and then did the same to himself with the other half.

"Well, here we go."

583/1000

The letter was crumbled in her hand the moment she got it from the hotel staff. Funny, how he dared to ask her to go and use that stuff again. Had she not warned him that next time he would be dead? She growled a little and looked at Victoire who definitely didn't seem to happy about the whole situation.

She fixed her long purple hair, worked herself into a nice fitting dress and some heels. Something she had been doing more often since she had become a vampire. Even when wearing heels, if she put effort into it, it seemed like nobody did hear her coming. It was fun. It was also fun to use on Mabuz. Since it was close to noon already, she headed out to the shop. The first to arrive even though Odin had been mentioned in the letter or well she suspected it to be Odin. She walked softly, making no sound, Victoire was sitting at the door to make sure to not to distract the doctor as well, "There, there doctor. I didn't think you wanted to die." She said with an evil grin on her face, the doctor waved it away and looked concerned, "I really hope the liquid works differently now." more he couldn't say for the bell on the door rinkled and Odin appeared. A dark look in her eyes made her stand upright instead of being ready to hurt Mabuz, he was a client. She should let it happen for the sake of Grimoire Heart and money. She dusted off the invisible dust of her dress as she followed both Mabuz and Odin to the room where they had been before, or well she suspected Odin too. She remembered him asking about the White Claudia.

Victoire was close to her, rubbing against her shins and calves as Mabuz left them alone. She looked at the white fox, not sure if she should get her out of the room but it was too late anyway. Her eyes darted to Odin as she felt the syringe in her arm. Would half of that stuff be enough? She didn't need to ask that since the situation and the room already started to change. It again looked like a large corridor, with at the end a stairway where a tiny bit of light came from. She was drawn to the first door, but she knew what was behind there as she had seen it before. She would be prepared, not scared, she was furious. However when she opened the door, the whole room looked homey, if you didn't notice the many drops of blood there. It was like a complete blood shower, "Shit." She muttered as the only person in the room, if you didn't count herself on the doorstep, was also herself. A second Nastasya sat on the ground in the dark corner, she was covered in blood, her fangs obviously visible and tears in the corner of her eyes. Dead bodies suddenly appeared and Nasty took a shaky step backward. Okay that wasn't what happened last time and it didn't make any sense because.. she wasn't afraid of being a vampire.. but than the memory of her biting Aonaka entered her own mind and the double version of her started to yell in pain. She slammed the door shut. Holding her breath, great.. This was already a disaster.

As the serum was injected, the effects was almost immediate, as Odin and Nastasya were both dragged once more into that strange, delirious world that they had both visited once before. There were a few things different to note for Odin, however, as the world started to form around him. For a start, he was here with Nastasya, the serum allowing them to have some kind of strange psychic connection, allowing them both to exist in the same strange place. The other major difference was the look of the place. As they entered, Odin had seen the place as it had once been: the plates of the metal walls and ceilings began once more to rust and peel off from where they were, but this time it did not expand into a large industrial factory floor, where Odin felt more accustomed. Instead, this time they were in a small, dark corridor, with three doors and a staircase at the end of the hallway. The cramped spaces made Odin very uncomfortable due to his claustrophobia, but he pushed past it, as there was still enough space to move. And then Nastasya walked towards the first of the three doors around the two mages, seeming to know what she was going to see, but then she stopped, and Odin couldn't understand why, so he walked over to join her, peering through the threshold of the door at the scene.

In the centre, another Nastasya, covered in blood with fangs protruding from her mouth. The entire room was covered in blood, and dead bodies littered the floor. Looking into the fake's eyes, Odin saw an animalistic fear and craving for food, that food being the blood of the people scattered around the room. It took but a few seconds for him to understand what he was seeing, and what Nastasya seemed to fear.

Vampire...

As Odin thought that single word, the feral Nastasya screamed in agony, before the true one slammed the door shut, clearly disturbed by what she'd seen, and that Odin had also seen it. At the time, the dark mage would say nothing, but now he knew that an interesting conversation was coming up very soon.

The next door was for Odin to open, as Nastasya wasn't in the right mind to see her fears again. Hearing the door creak open, the room flooded to life, with lights turning on all around it. However, as Odin inspected it, there seemed to be nothing there, causing him to take a step in, that was his mistake. As soon as his foot touched the floor, the walls began to cave in on him, reducing the normal sized room to that of a small broom cupboard. Almost instantly, Odin began hyperventilating, not being able to cope with the feeling of being closed in. At this point, his pride meant nothing to him, he just wanted out. When he got trapped in a single place, a rage took over him, once that couldn't end until he exited. Starting to twitch, the rage overcame him, and Odin began to lash out at everything around him, including the steel walls of the room, trying to force them out. Running around, Odin eventually managed to stumble out the room itself, returning it to normal proportions, and causing his rage to leave, now no longer feeling trapped. Taking a few deep breaths to calm himself, he looked over at Nastasya, before heading towards the third door.

"Everyone's afraid of something."

1174/1000

She was still staring and shaking at the door. There were no dolls, no mother, no shadow, no laughing version of herself saying that the end was nearby and that she would turn insane. No, everything in there was something that could happen now or tomorrow. Something sooner than later. And she hated it. She closed her eyes and even though she didn't have to breath, she took a few breaths in to the nose and out through her mouth to focus and to stop shaking.

When she opened her eyes again, she saw that Odin was at the next door, she could just see him slip in and wondering if this was another one of her fears, she hurried there. It wasn't, it was Odin's. Even though they were not close and yet in some way they were. She felt for him. She knew about claustrophobia, she wasn't afraid of it but she could imagine it wasn't nice, it must be very fearful. He sort of lost it and she had no idea if it would be smart to simply pull him out, in the end he managed, all by himself. Which was probably better.

"Yes they are. Nothing to be ashamed off." She said not only for him but for herself also. Turning insane was one of her fears as she had lost her mind at a period before, becoming a vampire, might trigger that again. She followed him to the third door and grapped the doorknod, "Let's do this together. That might be easier." However the door seem to anticipate on that. As she pulled it open, there was something of a town, in the back and it looked like they were on a hill. Next to them were people screaming and shouting but she couldn't immidiately see what it was about or hear what they were saying. Until her eyes focused on the blood that was dripping down from a copy of her own body as well as next to hers, Odin's. They seemed to be crucified and with her there was a stake right through her heart. Still coughing up blood and not entirely dead, Nastasya locked eyes with her copy. The eyes that screamed for her to run away. She opened her mouth to say something but heard it, "Away with Grimoire Heart." Her eyes scanned the ground, was that.. Icarus? Watching how they were killed? At first it wasn't scary but the setting made it so that she thought it could be the worst possible thing that would happen. It wouldn't happen but than her eyes focused on a silverhaired mage with a noibat on his shoulder, Aonaka. Irony her mistake and also hers. She took a step away from the room, waiting for Odin to come along.

Some noises were coming, it was like the citizen of Oak with torches, she felt the shivers down her spine, "Let's leave." she said as she turned to hurry to the stairways, she couldn't help but walk as fast as she could, almost running. Before she could actually step on the stairs, the room shifted and she stared at the massive wall of Mabuz his shop. She understood again that she had fallen for his stupid potion, she should have simply attacked him but on the other hand, she learned a little bit from it. So she kept her mouth shut, she vaguely explained what she saw, Mabuz already had his suspicion about her being a vampire. He didn't needed more.

She demanded the money and waited for Odin to leave, "Is there a private spot where we can talk at the Swineherd?" she asked trying to keep her voice friendly and steady. She left the shop to go there now.

The rest of the events all happened in a blur to Odin, who was still recovering from the effects of the first room. As they opened the third door together, both Odin and Nastasya saw a copy of themselves, propped up on crosses with their hands and feet nailed to the wood. They were being crucified, and it looked like Odin's double was already dead, while Nastasya's, with a stake in her heart, was slowly dying. On the street were people shouting and screaming, and one single man smiling: Icarus, the voice of the Guild Master. Whatever it was that had happened here, it was not something Odin wanted to stick around for, so he followed his partner to the stairs, before appearing in Mabuz's room once more, the doctor's eyebrows raised in curiosity. After telling him all he needed to know, and nothing about the fears or the guild, Odin and Nastasya left for the Swineherd, the latter no doubt having quite a story to tell.

-Exit-