Kendrick jerked awake. Awaking from his dream of meeting Chi yang, and the strange events that led him to the demon-things, it was so real feeling. How did he know the parts that he wasn't there for? Kendrick looked around the room, trying to get his bearings.
It was a strange white room. Very brightly lit, and had the smell of alcohol, bleach, and ions... A hospital... Kendrick hated hospitals, as they always gave him the creeps.
He had an IV in his left arm, with a black solution with gold flakes flowing in the IV. Obviously creeped out, he followed the IV up to see that it was connected to a small tank. Suspended in this small tank of clear liquid where black inky blobs that were bouncing around like a lava lamp. If one looked close enough, they could see gold flakes in this solution, as well. One of the Black balls stilled, and one small eye opened in the black blob to look down at him, for it's drip tank.
Kendrick began to scream. Terrified at what was being injected into him, he began to tear the IVs from his flesh. Spraying the black ink like substance over the room, along with his blood, as he tried to make run for it. He didn't know where he was going, but he didn't want to stay there. As his feet hit the floor, a powerful ache in his chest hit him like he was being punched. Kendrick's first thought was that he was having a heart attack, as he clutched the left side of his chest, only to receive a searing pain in response to garbing his chest. He quickly let go, falling to his butt next to the bed.
He tore at his medical gown to finally reveal a strange arcane pattern on his chest. Five lines were seared into the flesh, with strange glyph like patterns intersecting them, he followed more lines as they led from his left pectoral to his right shoulder and down to his right hand. These lines formed some kind of pattern. A brief glance at it caused his eyes to hurt.
As Kendrick seen his chest and right arm, even more fear wailed inside. He thought he had felt fear in the presence of the demon-things, but this was a new level. This combined with his past experiences kept driving him to the edge. Quickly the room opened up as three people rushed into the room.
They picked up the screaming Kendrick, as he started to flail. Soon he felt a needle pierce his arm. A few more moments, and he didn't feel as afraid... He felt... Calmer.
"What... did you guys put into me?" Kendrick asked, as he was helped back on to the bed. He could see that there were two strange looking medical personnel, and a odd looking old man.
One of the nurses took out a veil of gold salve, and rubbed it on his cubital vein in the pit of his elbow, where he had just ripped his IVs out. Kendrick watched as the flesh mended itself into a weird scar. The other nurse had fixed the drip tank, that now contained many disgruntled black blobs. They together reinserted the IV back into Kendrick's arm.
Kendrick looked up into the faces of both nurses. They looked like normal nurses; two female nurses wearing white robes that held many pockets. There nurse uniforms looked to be a combination of a white wizard robes and a white lab coat. They both wore white surgical caps that were marked in the front by five black lines.
""Mr. Cain, We have given you something to calm your nerves until your treatments are complete. Please bear with us. We also apologize for not helping you earlier, as you awoke sooner than expected."" They both spoke in unison, like twins, but Kendrick could tall easily they were not.
"Ah, okay... I just kinda freaked out at the IV drip... Like what is that stuff. I don't think it's normal to put monsters in your body.... Why am I so calm about this?" Kendrick started to question his responses.
""Mr. Wyrd, could you please explain everything properly to Mr. Cain. We have other patients to attend to, but if you need anything. Please call us."" The nurses had turned to the strange looking old man, as they again spoke in unison.
"Yeah, I get it. You two like fuck off." The old man responded. His voice seemed to indict he might of been a groupie in the 60s. A hippie. He even dressed slightly like a hippie. This old man had long black hair while he wore a pair of round sunglasses. He also wore a dark tie dye shirt with the colors orange, black, blue, and purple swirling into the center of the shirt, with a black denim Jacket and black denim jeans. However, he wore black combat boots. Kendrick took it back... This wasn't just a hippie, it was a goth hippie.
The two nurses bowed and left the room. The door slide back into place in a sci-fi fashion.
"Blah... I friggin hate gemini nurses... They've always given me the creeps, and son let me tell you. Giving me the creeps is hard to do at this point."
"Who are you?" Kendrick asked slightly concerned.
"I'm the dude that's going to show you the ropes. Your guide, and like your tutor. Lord Candle-light is spoiling the fuck out of you my dude."
"Lord Candle-light? You mean the demon-thing I met?"
"Demon-thing... The hell is that? Lord Candle-light is a Nightmare god." The old man responded slightly confused...
"What's a Nightmare god?"
"Flying fuck monkeys, your sponsor didn't tell you shit did they?"
"Ummmm... I met a strange dude named Chi yang, who asked if I wanted everything... I think I agreed. Next thing I know I'm talking to five demon-things."
"Nightmare gods."
"I..."
"Nope... Stop right there." The old man interrupted Kendrick. "Let me start with some introductions." The old man shook his head...
[How did he become Lord Candle-light's piece and gain his favor?] The old man thought to himself.
"My name is Valdus Wyrd. You can call me Val, if you like. Your Lord Candle-light paid enough for you to get at least that courtesy." Val spoke slowly so that Kendrick could understand.
"Ah?"
"Yeah, and Kendrick is a long name, so I'm going to just call you Ken from now on."
"But my name is Kendrick... That's what I want to be called."
"Well I don't give two and a half shits... You're Ken now, get use to it."
"Errrr-" Just as Kendrick was going to retort, he was interrupted again by Val.
"So Ken, lets start with the basics."
"Okay... I can live with that."
"Living... That's the hard part actually, but I digress. You have been inducted to the mostly widely known secret in the Omniverse. We are known as pieces to the Nightmare gods, but We are known to mortals and each other as Horrormancers."
"Omniverse? Horrormancers? I don't quite follow..."
"Wow... The dunce twins must of gave you some good shit to make you this stupid... Okay... The Omniverse is all multiverses, all Universes, all realities, and all existences in one. Try not to think about it... Just know it's big as fuck. You've already met two Horrormancers, me and Chi Yang."
"Okay, I get the Omniverse thing, but what does a Horrormancer do... Is it like a Necromancer?"
"No one wants to play with dead bodies... Zombies are rather weak when compared to Nightmares. Hell... Zombies are Nightmares... So We can kinda like summon them... Whatever let me explain it this way..."
Val took a deep breath.
"Horrormancers draw upon they're fears to manifest a creature made from the summoner's own nightmares. They use these nightmare creatures to kill their enemies or for various tasks. In short, Horrormancers summon their own nightmares as weapons or tools."
"That... That actually sounds pretty cool."
"Yeah, it's real cool until you can't keep the nightmare at bay and it eats your sanity, leaving you a drooling idiot... or worse... No body at all."
"Wait... These summoned nightmares can kill you?"
"It's a double edged blade... To gain power, you must give in return. It's always a race to be more powerful that your fears, least your fears consume you. It's kinda philosophical, if you think about it."
"Okay... I get what Horrormancers are... but what did they do to me... You called them, gemini nurses."
"Which part? The IV drip, the Yogg-Tech implants, the brain and other tissue collection, or the shot they gave you?"
"Brain tissue collection?!"
"Whoa boy! Even the drugs can't keep you calm with that one. Calm down. They are using it and your other tissues collected in case you need to be repaired. We fight a lot with other Horrormancers and other enemies of the Nightmare gods, that they just feel like pissing on, and We usually lose a leg, an arm... Maybe your frontal lobe of your brain. Who knows. They use these tissues to grow you replacements. As long as you don't lose or damage your central cortex the docs can repair you."
"Wouldn't it be heal?" Kendrick asked, baffled by the wording.
"Heal? No... You don't quite get it. You're no longer mortal. This brings me to my next point. You see that IV drip?"
"Yeah, I was freaking out over it earlier... In fact, I still want to, but just don't feel like it."
"That's actually a good thing, that's the drugs working. You're part nightmare now."
"They've turned me into a nightmare... Like the things we can summon?"
"You mean me and other Horrormancers summon... Yes... You're not a Horrormancer yet, but you will be when I get done."
"Why make me into a half nightmare?"
"Half? You'd be lucky with a five percent integration. Highest integration I've ever heard of was eighty-five percent. That guy was a friggin nightmare... Like a literal nightmare."
"What happened to him?"
"...His nightmare consumed him..."
"But if he was a nightmare, then why did it consume him?"
"What kind of question is that... Animals eat other animals... Nightmares eat other nightmares. Becoming part will make you super human. The more integration you gain, the more personal power you gain. You want to stay more powerful than your fear fueled nightmares, or like I said earlier..."
Val dragged his thumb across his neck.
"What kind of power?"
"increased strength, faster reactions and speeds, more stamina, more mental fortitude, and increased intelligence."
"Holy crap!"
"Yeah, when your system boots up, it will give you a run down on your stats. It's been a while since I've looked at mine... The stats are called Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma... Never understood that last one..."
"Those are RPG stats..."
"Alright... You got me this time... What in a cock-a-doodle is a RPG...?"
"Role Playing Game."
"Hmmmm... This might be a case of what came first, but seeing as the Nightmare gods have existed before the beginning of our Omniverse, I'd wager they came up with it first... But honestly, who knows, and who cares."
"You said something about a system... What system?"
"Oh, that's the Yogg-Tech implants! Lord Candle-light asked for you to be implanted with the latest and greatest shit that has come out of his laboratories."