This was something he had been dreading for a while. However, in the very back of his mind, he had almost been looking forward to it as well. The thought, the curiosity, the masochistic desire to endure that nightmarish experience again. All to answer the question that had been bugging him for some time now. After working with the doctor several months ago, and injecting himself with an experimental drug the man had come to call White Claudia; the drug seeming to transport him to another world, a strange hallway filled with a never-ending supply of doors on either side it seemed, each room possessing something straight out of his own personal hell. The memories were bad enough, horrible nightmares that he would give anything to forget, and attempted to frequently, but these rooms held them bare to him, but that wasn’t the only thing he dealt with in that hallway.


While checking through the rooms, trying to figure out what he was supposed to be doing, he had noticed that he couldn’t really see past a certain point down the hall. He assumed that maybe it was just a really dark area, no lights to illuminate the area or something. However, he quickly found out it was nothing of the sort. He turned and saw a set of stairs at the opposite end of the hallway, with a light shining down from the unseen top. The next second, he turned back around to see the inky blackness begin surging through the hall, rushing towards him as fast as it could.


He rushed for the stairs as if his life depended on it, and something in his core was telling him, that it did. The moment his feet touched the stairs, he was yanked out of that world, and woke back up in this one. However, he remembered very clearly, a grotesque, decaying hand reaching for his leg, from within the darkness that had been chasing him.


WC = 327/1,000

Ever since then, Mikajia had been wondering; the constant ‘what if’ going through his mind at unexpected moments. He kept asking, what if it had gotten me? What if that hand had touched me? Was it actually real, what if he hadn’t been able to escape? He knew it was pointless most of the time, to sit and constantly ponder the what-ifs of situations that happened in the past. Usually, you would never get an answer, and just drive yourself crazy with constant thoughts and conspiracies. That’s why, usually he just brushed the thoughts aside.


But now, here he was, talking with the doctor once more. And something was telling him this was going to be similar to the last time he’d tested out White Claudia. Soon after meeting the doctor again, he noticed something strange about the man; his actions, his speech pattern, it was all different from his normal, completely professional and monotonous demeanor. Usually the man could barely be bothered to crack even the smallest of smiles. Yet, now, he was all smiles and dramatic flairs.


It was already starting off on a rather unsettling foot. But he wasn’t one to back out of a job, just because it unsettled him a bit. The doctor led Mikajia to the familiar back room he had used the last time, then handed Mikajia the all too familiar syringe, informing him he was to inject himself like last time, and that he would be watching from another room. Mikajia sat down in the chair, getting comfortable, then once he heard the doctor’s voice through the speaker, telling him he was in place, Mikajia shoved the needle in to his leg, then pushed the plunger down, injecting the serum into his system. The liquid burned as it coursed through his body.


WC = 627/1,000

A few seconds later, his world shifted around him like the last two times. The first time, his area had shifted to resemble some kind of rusted out building. The second, had been the hallway. But this time, it didn’t look like anything at all. Everything around him was just an empty space, with a seemingly endless stretch of rusty iron grates for the floor, as far as the eye could see, in every direction. But even that wasn’t the biggest difference. The doctor had told him before he began this last experiment that he had made sure to adjust the serum so that the person that used it would be able to bring their weapons into this other area, as well as use their magic if they had it. And he also gave Mikajia a little pocket flashlight.


Considering he hadn’t mentioned anything about that the last two times, Mikajia took that to mean he would most likely be needing it this time around. That alone kept him from panicking. The last times, he’d been completely powerless when enduring these hallucinations, and they had felt far too real for him to just brush them off. This time though, he wouldn’t have to worry about feeling completely powerless and helpless. He searched around him, looking for any sign about some direction he was supposed to go in. The last time, it had been a stairway, but this time around, he didn’t really see anything in particular. Just a never-ending expanse of darkness, as far as the eye could see.


After he turned on the flashlight, it wasn’t too much longer before he finally spotted something moving in the darkness. At first, he hesitated, his mind flashing back to the darkness creeping at him, the grotesque hand reaching for his leg, but then he took a deep breath, and reminded himself, he was no longer defenseless. Taking a deep breath, he focused in on the movement he had seen. Soon he got a better glimpse of three horrific creatures creeping towards him. Their bodies hideously deformed, like abominations directly out of your worst nightmare.


WC = 980/1,000

Once they had been spotted, the creatures wasted no time in engaging in battle. Each of them split their heads wide open, then spit a disgusting looking black liquid at Mikajia. Thankfully the globs weren’t all that fast, so he was able to dodge them fairly easily. He tossed his flashlight into the air, then fired off three of his stronger spells, each practically shredding through the creatures. He was breathing pretty quickly, his eyes glancing around looking to see if any other monstrosities might be coming for him, but nothing else appeared. What did appear, were several flashes of images around him in the darkness. Images of his worst fears and nightmares, as well as his most depressing and debilitating thoughts.


This was truly a world of nightmares and hellish memories. Everything about it, from the creatures attacking you, to the constant reminders all around you; this whole place was designed to make you face every thing you hated and feared. He simply stood there, breathing slowly as he looked at his own fears and weaknesses, being displayed as if on a big screen television. But he didn’t turn away, there was no reason to. What would that accomplish? With unwavering determination, he stood there and faced his worst memories and fears.


Some unknown time later, the dark world around him would disappear, and Mikajia would find himself back in his original world, lying on the ground of the small room he’d been in when he injected himself. The doctor was shaking him awake, telling him it was over. To his utter surprise though, when Mikajia stood up, he realized he wasn’t alone in this room, aside from the doctor of course. What he saw lying on the ground, shocked him to his core. Dead on the ground in this same room that he should have been alone in until the doctor came back, lay the three creatures he had killed. They weren’t supposed to be real, but somehow, here they were.


Mikajia wanted to ask the doctor what was going on, but he knew better. The man would say nothing, like usual. The very pleased doctor would hand Mikajia his payment, and he would leave the shop. Now questioning everything he thought he knew about the world.

Spells Used:

Mana: 2,200/2,400

WC = 1,359/1,000