A young man walked almost painfully slowly on the sidewalk, slightly shaking. His neck-length brown hair fluttered in the wind, drawing the attention of those around him. Keter's heart felt like it was beating through his chest, and his academy uniform felt tighter the closer he got to the police station. As he opened the door to the station, he whispered to himself.
"Okay, Keter, calm down. It's just the first nightmare. It's not like I'm about to box a god or talk to someone; it's fine."
As the chime above the door rings, the lady at the front desk looks up and tiredly looks Keter in the eye and calmly says.
"What do you need love"
"I've been infected by the spell," Keter says, barely stopping himself from stuttering because of his nervousness. She takes a few seconds to peel herself away from his eyes before she answers.
"You have good timing, kid. The winter solstice was only a few days ago. How long have you been having symptoms?" she asks, a bit more lively this time.
"8 or 9 hours ago, "Keter says as he starts to lean against the counter.
She presses a button on her desk and speaks into the mic, " Code Blue," and then gets back to her work quickly, her eyes wandering to the boy every once in a while.
Keter remembers three codes for the infected: Code Blue for one day or less since first infected, Code Red for two days or less, and Code Black for longer than two days. After a few minutes, an older man walks out of the hallways and signals for Keter to follow him. After about a little while, they find themselves in a reinforced basement with only a hospital bed that looks like it was meant to hold prisoners pressed against the wall. As the older man begins to strap Keter into the hospital bed, he states.
"Name: Keter, Height: 5 feet 9 inches, Age: 17, Hair: brown, Eyes: brown, Weight: 211 pounds, Class: 7, Citizenship: citizen, Living in District A, Currently attending: Academy A-1." The man looks up and looks Keter in the eye for a second and says, " Is all of that correct?" He stands up and looks over the contraption.
"Yes, sir, it is," Keter says a little, his nervousness growing as the straps tighten.
"My name is Officer Garet Hullmen. You already know everything you need to know regarding the nightmare. Just remember, the spell does not give executions." He stresses the last part. I wish you good luck, but try to last as long as you can," he hesitates before he continues. After all, time is our greatest ally."
Keter nods, noticing his hesitation, then scoffs mentally. 'You just don't want to fight the dormant beast if I die. I just need to change fate enough to give me a divine aspect, easy, right? totally, I'm not panicking not at all.' Keter closes his eyes and starts to allow the spell to take him.
[Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell. Prepare for your First Trial…]