Lucian was barreling through the building confused. The door leads to a long hallway with many doors on either side. Ahead was a green door and above it was a red sign labeled exit. Lucian picked up speed, feeling the presence of the cultists following him. The door was slightly opened, but rather than slowing down, he guarded his face and ran right into it. Luckily, he passed right through. He chuckled to himself catching his breath, staring at his hands with awe, "it really worked." He entered an open room with pillars taller than the room with the altar. scattered around were various items, like they were on display; a sword, a shield and other things he felt the need to stare at and go, 'oh cool,' whatever that meant. But Lucian didn't have time to take it all in as the door behind him swung open. He kept running, entering another space that was connected to the previous one with 'a doorway without a door' he scoffed. The ceilings were lower and no items were on display, just paintings mounted on the walls. He made it past the paintings and into another room with glass walls; Lucian didn't think he just ran, with his pursuers closing the distance he pressed forward hoping he'd pass through the glass wall. He made it right through just as Rebecca reached out to grab him. He rolled down a grassy field and quickly got to his feet. He looked back to see Rebecca and her posse of six, glaring at him intimidatingly. He was relieved that 'Mr. Charmer,' wasn't with them, ' cause he had a feeling that he'd certainly be caught by now. He gave them a look that clearly said, 'F**k You,' then he quickly took off trying to get as far away from the place as possible as he saw that they were heading for a door.
He ran through a row of trees under the afternoon sun. 'At least this place feels somewhat like home,' he thought. But when he emerged from the greenery, he found himself in the strange palace. tall towers dominated the skyline. Black roads not made of dirt, and big metal beasts, some small and some big, moved across them. Blinking lights, roaring sounds and chatter filled the air. People dressed in strange garments walked like they had somewhere important to be. Despite all this, the strange thing was that no one paid him any mind, you'd think they'd notice a ghostly looking guy like himself. He stood at the edge of the street, people passing through him sending shivers through his body. He remembered how 'Mr. Charmer,' had touched his shoulders and everyone in that culty basement had been able to see him, even the cake lady. He was clearly a spirit of some type but 'Were they all ghosts?'
He didn't get the chance to dwell on it as he saw the figures running towards him pushing bystanders aside, 'clearly not ghost like behavior,' he thought.
"Two, three, six," he counted, "where the hell is rebecca?"
He quickly ran without thinking, barely stopping before a metal beast ran right in front of him. He knew he was somewhat intangible, but he still didn't want to get hit by one of those things. He took a deep breath and prayed to the gods of his ancestors then ran across the road barely dodging the breasts as the cloaked figures approached. By the time they got to where he was, he had made it to the other side of the street and was quickly making his escape, weaving through the bystanders as though they could see him. He hoped the metal beasts would slow his pursuers. But they just jumped over them easily and they were back on his tail.
Lucian ran as fast as he could manage in his ghostly form, the tall towers blurring past him, his pursuers making a ruckus behind him as they knocked people over. He turned a corner and found himself in a dead end, a tall wooden fence blocking the alleyway. "Oh great," he grumbled. His pursuers caught up, spreading in a crescent shape blocking the only escape. He noticed that Rebecca still wasn't with them and he found that strange, cause he assumed she'd be eager to catch him by the way she'd glared at him.
"Where's Rebecca?" he asked in a mocking tone, "What? Her legs-too short to keep up?" one of the figures chuckled but zipped it when another bumped them on the shoulder. Lucian didn't want to be rude, he just wanted a reaction and maybe that would make an opening for him, but they weren't taking the bait. He slowly stepped back.
"There's nowhere to run," one of them sneered. They bolted towards him on all sides, wasting no time. Then Lucian remembered he could pass through things and ran straight into the fence, passing through. Thinking he was safe, he took a few steps to gather his thoughts. But they gave him no time, jumping over the fence like moronic monkeys. Lucian was back on the run, getting further into the maze of towers as they kept on him. He turned another corner, and his heart stopped as he was met with a fist. He wasn't sure if he was a ghost or a spirit, but getting punched by a lady of Rebecca's stature shouldn't have hurt as much as it did. It sent him back barreling it not a wall, the wind was knocked out of him, which was something since he wasn't sure he needed to breath in this form.
He staggered to his feet, catching his breath as one dose. He was cornered, a bit dazed, his back to the wall, six hooded figures and one especially angry dwarfling surrounding him. Rebecca approached him, and he stepped back. Disrespectfully, she palmed his face pushing him onto the wall, her gorilla-like grip squeezing his jaw as she pressed him into the wall as if she was actively trying to make a 'him' shaped hole in the wall.
"Now." She ordered, and the hooded figures got to work. Lucian gulped as he stared helplessly as they gathered mana from their core. Then three of them released bursts of mana from their body that formed a shimmering bubble around them. With their hands extended they began inscribing magic circles into the air. Blue, red and yellow, their fingers sparked with energy, leaving trails of light that etched intricate patterns into the very fabric of space. The air itself seemed to hum with powers as the glowing lines took shape. With a flick of the casters' fingers, the magic circles brushed past Lucian and etched themself onto the wall. One to his left, one to his right and a third at the top of his head. Rebecca made sure he wouldn't move while they worked, with a wicked look of glee in her eyes, as Lucian gripped her wrist trying desperately to free himself.
As soon as the magic circles were completed, the three remaining began chanting. Lines of light began emanating from the three magic circles, connecting to one another and forming a larger, more intricate magic circle etched into the wall. The combined magic circle glowed an eerie white and Lucian felt a jolt of shock run through his body. His arms felt heavy as his grip loosened and they fell to his sides, a cold feeling creeped from his wrist to his arms, then to his shoulder. At this point he was panicking. There was no way out of this, he tried to phase but it seemed that Rebecca was somehow dampening it ... he couldn't use magic and he–At that moment, it hit him. He couldn't use magic, but he could try... he concentrated, lifting his legs from the floor as Rebecca pinning him to the wall seemed to work in his favor. Slowing his breathing, he gathered his mana from deep within his core. And Just like before, his body began shaking, it shuddered, then it started phasing into the wall.
"How?" Rebecca was startled as his face fazed from her grasp and he dived backwards into the wall. She tried to make a grab for his foot but her hand passed right through, and in the next second, with momentary solidness, it found its way to her face using it to propel himself all the way through the wall, making her tumble back into her posse, holding her nose while seething with anger.
Lucian fell through to the other side, thanking the gods that it actually worked. He found himself in a dim room with a bed and a scrawny man sleeping in his underwear. He landed on the floor as the uncomfortable feeling numbed out and his form settled back to its smoky state. 'That was unpleasant,' he thought, while vowing to never attempt it again. The man in the underwear snored like a hog, but Lucian didn't mind. He crouched in the corner, taking in a deep breath. He looked at the man sleeping peacefully, and right now that is what he wanted for himself, more than anything in the world. Maybe not with the tighty whities but still… He thought of resting for a bit, maybe gather his thoughts and finally figure out-
BLAM!
"What the hell is happening?!" he sighed.
The wall of the room blew open, sending chunks of debris crashing it to the room, some grazing right past Lucian's head. The man on the bed yelped and jumped awake, startled by the noise and the big hole that was now in his bedroom wall. He scooted to the corner of his bed, drawing a blanket over himself and proceeded to cower. The six hooded figures and an especially angry looking 'gremlin', as Lucian had decided to call her, walked in.
Her eyes bore into Lucian, who quickly got to his feet, ready to run. 'Are they crazy?' he thought. For some reason he didn't actually think they'd break things to get to him. 'They avoided the glass, and the metal beasts–' he caught himself, 'this wasn't the time to be thinking about this.' he decided.
He dived into another door and continued his run, straight into the living room, passing right through the rectangular screen and into the hallway with many doors to the right and left.
He heard things breaking behind him and the shrill, muffled, screams of a grown man, so he decided to go left. As he ran, the wall where he'd phased burst with a shock, rubble and the rectangular screen flew through and shattered into a dozen pieces on the wall in front. Rebecca calmly stepped through, her gaze locked on to the fleeing Lucian.
He quickly turned another corner and started up the stairs. It was clear that things were getting pretty serious, and he was getting pretty tired of this. He ran up the stairs till he came to a dead end, a locked door. He quickly jumped through and came out to the open air. He was on the roof, the wind billowed through his smokey body, a strange feeling. He walked to the edge, the sound of the violence behind him getting louder. 'Do they even need to break things while going up the stairs?' he thought. Then the door to the roof was blasted off its hinges, flying right past him, hitting the rim of the roof edge, and flipping all the way to the ground with a loud crash in the narrow alleyway.
It was a long way down, and he didn't think he heard the durability of a metal door. If he fell. it would be the end for him. But maybe... He looked back and saw the crazed gremlin with her culty brigade. Her eyes burned with anger, her mana flaring wildly, noticeably resembling his billowing, smokey form. Realizing this, it finally hit him... what he was, or more accurately, what he was reduced to. He sighed, lifting his hands in surrender.
"How about a turce?" he said, slowly stepping closer to the edge. Rebecca seemed surprised by the offer, it seemed to snap her out of her rage. "I'm tired of running. I don't know how much longer I can keep this up." He lied. He felt fine, even with all the running. This form was light , almost gliding through the air like he was a wind spirit. Rebecca seemed to be considering his proposal, deciding whether or not he was lying. She decided that it didn't matter, and in a matter of seconds, she was right in his face.
Startled by her sudden appearance, he flailed backwards, trying to stop his fall as his feet teetered off the edge. Then in a moment of debility, he let himself fall. Rebecca reached out to catch him, but her arms were too little too short. As he fell to his death, the world around him slowed. She leaned over the edge with a panicked expression, almost like she was worried for his well being. Lucian locked eyes with her, her beautiful eyes bathed in deep red, somehow reminding him of home. Then, Lucian did something a bit undignified: He flipped the bird at Rebecca, and all his regrets were laid to rest–the end…
Or maybe not.
He screamed on the way down, wind rushing through his smokey form. The ground was approaching quickly, and thoughts were running through his head. 'Not here, not now... I still need revenge!' his form flared, and just inches away from the ground, he came to a stop. He was floating, he could fly. He flailed his arms and drifted, passing right through the building In Front of him. He heard sounds, like sirens, and Rebecca shouting curses and he felt oddly delighted by her frustration. Drifting through the building, the people he passed had no awareness of his presence. He was like a ghost. Or more like a spirit. 'An astral body,' he decided.
He drifted into a different room, and his eyes were assaulted by a couple getting freaky. "Seriously, in the middle of the day?!" he shouted, but they couldn't hear him. The fact that he was floating low made the angles he saw that much more horrid. Thankfully he drifted into another room, and right in front of him was a window. Right through the window, he saw the black road with the metal beasts that roared past. He was stiff, his arms straight to his side, scared that the smallest movement would send him flying in another direction or worse, higher up.
He didn't know when this flight thing would turn off, if it even would, but when it did, he didn't want to kiss the ground, coming at it from hundreds of feet in the air. Even if he wouldn't die in this form he still didn't wanna feel it, plus phasing through, and probably falling forever didn't sound too good either. So, he drifted like a sunfish. Out the window he went. The metal beasts rushed right in front of him, which made him a little nervous, but the way was clear now, no cars in sight. All he had to do now was float past this hurdle then—
"F**K me, why!" He groaned, getting tired of these situations. A metal beast hurtled towards him. It had rectangular eyes at the front and many others to the side of it. At the top of its face it had 'School bus' inscribed in black, the same color of the stripes that ran along its side. It lumbered down the black road, its hide gleaming yellow in the afternoon sun. His heart dropped when he caught a glimpse of the inside through its eyes. people filled the inside of the beast. They seemed reckless and rowdy. One at the front held a wheel of some sorts. His body was like a cream filled cake, and his eyes were bloodshot, he looked like he was done with life. 'Poor soul' Lucian thought. 'How long has he been trapped in the belly of that beast?' He closed his eyes and curled into a ball. the creature rammed into him, not noticing his presence. He phased right through. right through the gelatinous man at the wheel, right through the rubber seats and through some kids who sat in the rows.
His body shuddered with each pass-through. As he made another tumble, his eyes snapped open. In front of him, a boy was asleep. His head leaned to the shoulder of a girl with round glasses who seemed ecstatic by the fact that someone rested their head on her shoulder. his curly hair shaded his eyes as they slowly fluttered open. They were a silver kind of gray. For a moment, Lucian thought that the boy could see him, but that didn't matter right now. Lucian braced himself for another phase. His hands went in first, passing through the chest of the boy, but he never felt them come out on the other side. Then his arms and elbows. He felt a force pulling him in, like the boy, whether he knew it or not, was pulling him in. A great force like a whirlpool sucked him in, and Lucian disappeared into the boy. All his efforts to escape, now he was surely trapped...
He opened his eyes to an obscene drawing of a male's genitals on a leather canvas in front of him. A musty smell stung in his nose, but strangely it was offset by the sweet scent of lavender. The familiar fragrance caused his eyes to snap open wider, and he lifted his head from the shoulder it rested on. He turned to see a girl sitting beside him, her big round glasses and ponytail framing a face with warm brown eyes that gleamed with kindness. A sweet smile spread across her face.
"It's not your stop yet," she said. "You can rest for a little while longer." her voice was soothing, like a gentle lullaby.
'Wait a minute,'. It took him a moment but as he stared into the girl's eyes, he realized she was looking directly at him. Glancing around, he saw that he was inside the beast. He could feel it moving, grumbling along the road like an old wagon. He felt the heat that filled the hollowed out interior and the noise of the unruly kids filling the leather seats rang in his ears.
He was in… 'A plane of of the underworld'. Everything felt real. He looked at his hands–they weren't his hands. 'At Least they have well cut nails,'. More importantly, He was in a body.