Lucian's only thought as he sat on an altar, disoriented, was, 'I'm being sacrificed aren't I?' The altar had three levels. The top, where he sat, had a magic circle that seemed like it was branded into the cold circular slab of stone. The second level had strange symbols that glowed crimson and sizzled with smoke. They seemed familiar but his memory wasn't cooperating. All that he could remember was that he needed to get home, although he didn't exactly remember where home was.
The bottom level seemed to be just a stepping platform to get onto the altar. He wondered if someone would willingly step on to the altar to sacrifice themselves. He knew that he wouldn't, but that wasn't important right now. As the red glow of the symbols died down, leaving only their branding carved into the stone, the dark room filled with light; or, more like a spotlight pointed directly on top of him. Lucian winced as his eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness.
"w-where am I?" he managed. But none of the seven hooded figures that stood around the altar cared to answer him. It was as if he hadn't spoken at all, which he knew wasn't the case, cause his voice echoed through the room.
The room had tall ceilings with marble pillars that stretched around the altar. He sensed that it was much bigger than it appeared, but the spotlight didn't illuminate much. Even so, he spotted a staircase behind the hooded figures, leading to a door with light rimmed around its corners. 'Maybe it's a way out,' he hoped.
He noticed a lady at the corner of the room. She looked like she was about the same age as he was, maybe 16 or 17. Unlike the others she wasn't wearing a cloak, just a fancy looking butler suit. She was extremely short and cute, fair with lovely golden hair that landed on her shoulders and curled at the ends. 'She looks like a cub,' he thought. He wondered if she'd be willing to answer his questions but her glare suggested otherwise.
"We did it!" One of the figures stepped forward startling Lucian. He was a tall man, taller than most and his robe was much fancier. It had blue thread embroidered into it in a flowery pattern. The hood cast a shadow on his face leaving most of it hidden but Lucian could see his charming smile.
"Sir!" The lady from the corner stepped forward, standing next to the man made her look even shorter than she was. "It's dangerous, we don't know what that thing is." She grabbed the man's arm to stop him from approaching the altar. 'Thing? Did she just call me-'
"It's fine, Rebecca," the man said with an assuring tone. She hesitantly let go, though Lucian wasn't sure if it was because she was worried for him or if she just wanted to keep holding onto his arm. As he approached the altar, he removed his cloak, and as he got closer Lucian saw his face clearly. He had short, cut, sandy hair parted in the middle. His eyes gleamed with a myriad of colors—emerald green, soft brown and strands of gold mixed in. He had a gentle face, soft features with a warm reassuring smile that was constant on his face. It managed to convince Lucian to let his guard down just a tiny bit, but as the man got closer, Lucians alarms went off.
His body shuddered with a chill as the man stuck his hand right through his chest. He hadn't even noticed how close he'd gotten. The man's smile only grew wider as his hand passed right through Lucian's chest, he leered at him like a predator and Lucian couldn't help but feel like a cornered animal. That's when Lucian noticed, he looked down expecting to see his guts spewing out of him only to see that his body wasn't his body.
As the man pulled his hand out of the smoky chest cavity that quickly closed up, Lucian looked at his palms in disbelief. What once had been solid flesh was now a swirling, smokey essence, a pale blue hue that shimmered with a ghostly light. His hands still holding their form were partially transparent, the smokey substance that composed him continuously moving and shifting creating whisps and curls at the ends. He felt his face, he had no eye but he could see, he had no nose but it felt as though he was breathing. 'Is this even breathing?' he wondered. At Least he had a mouth. With each "breath" gentle ripples passed through his form, no full feeling in his lungs, just air. His heart would've stopped right then and there but he was pretty sure he didn't have one either.
"Can you see me?" the man asked, waving his hand In Front of Lucian's face.
"Can you hear me?" Lucian replied suppressing the itching desire to run, he wanted answers and maybe this strange man who without his cloak had on a dress shirt with slim fit flat front pants, would be kind enough to provide them. "where am I? And why am I… this?" referring to his ghostly form.
"Well..." the man said, "You are here to help us change the world." Lucian thought that was awfully cryptic. Every second he sat on the altar, the urge to flee grew stronger. He took a deep breath and stood, his form rippling causing everyone, except for the beautiful man, to step back.
"I don't mean to be rude but I have to get home.'' He stepped on the third level platform and hopped off the altar, gambling that he wouldn't sink into the floor. He felt mostly solid now. He took a few steps and felt a hand on his shoulder. It was that beautiful man.
"We can't let you leave. We need you." The look in his eyes made it clear that it wasn't optional.
"What, for a sacrifice?" Lucian scoffed hoping that that wasn't, maybe, the case.
"...basically." The man didn't even try to hide it. The room fell silent and the robed people all looked like they would pounce at any moment.
The lady in the butler's wear, 'Rebecca,' he remembered. Had her hands extended and Lucian somehow knew she was preparing to cast a spell. He could feel the mana extending up her arms; no, it was more like he could see it. The man's grip tightened on Lucian's smokey shoulder, and he knew he was trapped. Whoever these people were—a cult, maybe—they wouldn't let him go, and if he ran, it wouldn't be easy. but he had to get home, wherever home was—
UGH! he screamed as he fell to his knees, making the cult members flinch. He clutched his smoky head as a sharp pain coursed through it. Then as he looked up he saw the blood, dripping like a waterfall from a man standing tall with his back to him. In his arms a woman's corpse, still warm, laid cradled as he cried over her. It was his mother he was holding, and that man with a hole in his torso, it was his father.
Vines filled his line of sight and he was back where he was still on his knees hyperventilating, his hands clutching his head. 'Just a vision,' he thought. The cult coded people loomed over him as he caught his breath. He needed to get out of here, to get back home. But he didn't know where this place was, and he got the feeling that these people wouldn't let him go even if he asked nicely. He took a deep breath. 'I can do this,' he told himself. His eyes scanned the room—the altar, the pillars, the stairs. 'Yes,' he thought. 'The door.'
That was his escape. Lucian stood, the people stepped back but still encircled him. Rebecca, the lady in the butler suit, was gathering mana, and he could tell the rest were doing the same, waiting for the moment they'd need to use it. 'Unfortunately for them,' Lucian thought, 'it'll be over in a second.' from the center of his being he began to circulate his mana—at least he tried to. His form shuttered and shook as a sharp pain like an electric shock reverberated through his body making him buckle to his knees, he hugged himself, his body phasing in and out of tangibility. His knees began slowly sinking into the cold floor, he thought he'd die right there, buried in a cults basement but luckily, his form settled.
"Sir," Rebecca said, "we should secure him." She had a worried look on her face, she'd let her guard down and Lucian could feel that she wasnt circulating her mana anymore.
"Great idea," the man said enthusiastically. Lucians didn't know what to do. He couldn't use his magic, and If he couldn't do that, how could he escape? And what was it with this weird body? He was frustrated and angry as two of the figures approached him. Then by fate or miracle the door atop the stairs opened and he saw a way out. As everyone reflexively turned to see the sound, he, without thinking, slipped between the cloaked people and ran for the door. It was so sudden that it took the people a second to register that he was escaping. But once they did, they were right on his tail.
At the top of the stairs, right in the doorway was a lady, middle-aged and beautiful, holding a tray of cakes, pastries, and a pot of coffee. She smiled until she saw the blue ghostly figure barreling towards her. She managed to evade, and Lucian slipped right past her. As she turned, thinking she was safe, the cloaked figures were right behind and knocked the tray out of her hands as they rushed past. She clung to the side, catching her breath as she tried to process what just happened, when a very angry Rebecca ran right past. She looked the lady in the eyes, barely keeping her rage tamed and the lady knew she'd done something wrong, and just like Rebecca was out the door as well.
The man didn't move from his spot, he watched all this transpire with his arms crossed. The woman seemed shaken by the experience. Her cakes, pastries and coffee lay ruined on the floor. The man looked at her for a moment, like he was deciding whether or not to blame her for what just happened. His prized summon escaping. He approached the woman and smiled softly offering her a hand, "Linda," he said. "Are you okay?"
He thought about going after 'his' bundle of mana but decided not to. Rebecca and the rest would handle it. And if they didn't, well, it didn't matter if he was here for the preparations. He was sure he'd find him when he needed to. For the moment, he helped Linda clean up the mess at the top of the staircase, which was now trickling down to the rest.