As Edwin Fletcher gently opens the door, a strong light emits across the room, in front of him lays a fire, its size greatly overwhelms the room creating a wall of fire on the walls, Edwin was taken aback—he then realized that this may be the magic he casted earlier, he pondered to himself in a panic But nothing came out earlier, don't tell me that there was a delay and I actually managed to cast one?!
But before he can even run to call for help, the fire slowly diminishes and fade out—and a slightly thick fog emerges from it, Edwin watching this sighed in relief but eventually fixed himself and went inside to open his window to clear the smoke out, he pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and covered his nose and mouth with it in a form of a mask, he walked forward as he was tying the cloth behind his head, as he was walking forward the smoke thickened, Edwin realizes this and felt a terrible sense of fear Why is the smoke getting more thicker and thicker..? he thought to himself—and suddenly the room he was once in disappeared, this unfamiliar place seems like it stretches from miles without end and the thick smoke still remains.
"Where… Am I? This is not my room!" He panicked and knelt down, trying to touch the ground to check if this was his wooden floor; all he felt was a gentle feeling of the smoke, but rather a fog. Why does it feel calm and soothing…? The air feels fresh and the climate is just perfect. he said to himself, while looking around this unfamiliar place a figure suddenly stands across the distance, a tall shadowy form and what seems to be wearing a tophat, the atmosphere suddenly went heavy, Edwin takes notice and stared at this figure for a while—as he blinked it disappeared, he walked backwards slowly before suddenly hitting someone, he turned around and saw man.
The being in front of him was a man in a full black suit, like that of a Victorian noble, wearing a top hat and wielding what seems to be a cane with a closed eye as its handle, yet his face was blurred by fog—Edwin at the sight of this person felt uneasy, his clothes were ordinary but his presence wasn't. He trembled and sweat across his face dropped to the empty void. "Hello." With one word, the being spoke, echoing throughout the mysterious plane, "I am glad that you are still well." The Being said in a relieved but still stoic tone. Edwin was still shocked by this person in front of him; he tried to process what was going on but to no avail.
Edwin suddenly felt a sense of weakening; his vision was being blurred, and he was close to collapsing. "Ah, but I suppose you're still a mortal; I do apologize." Said the Being. Edwin wondered what he was saying; he couldn't handle the immense pressure and was about to shut his eyes, but before he could close them completely, Edwin heard a snap from what seemed to be coming from the Being.
Edwin slowly opened his eyes; though still slightly struggling, he managed to take a glance at his surroundings. The fog where he was earlier disappeared and was then replaced by a newer yet fancier room. The place was grand, a wall made of marble—edged in gold, windows lit up by bright white light yet without a background while being accompanied by majestic royal red curtains, the roof was slightly bended giving off a cylinder design, hanged with a golden chandelier with seven arms holding each a well lit candle, and although the end of the room can be seen—it is further than what it seems.
Where am I...? He then looked around and realized that he was sitting on a fancy wooden chair with a soft red padding, and in front of him was a round table covered in a white, gold-edged cloth. "It seems you have finally awoken." Edwin looked to where the voice came from, and to his right was the formal man from earlier, sitting and holding a small cup whilst being poured tea. "I could have woken you up, but it's best to let you enjoy your daydream; it was quite entertaining indeed." He said in a humorous manner,
Woke me up? Daydream? What is he talking about? All I remember is that I was in a field, farming with the person I love and living the best of my life; don't tell me it was all a damn dream! Edwin screamed internally as the revelation of his peaceful life scenario was all fake. "Oh, don't worry, my dear friend; what matters is the experience, right?" He added. Wait, he saw right through me, or maybe he read my mind? Edwin questioned himself. What matters is that he is someone I cannot mess with. The Being still quietly watched Edwin as he slowly started to cool off after multiple shocks.
The room suddenly felt cold, and the Being, with a single clap, not only made Edwin go off track but also made the entire room pitch black, with only the lit candles from above lighting their small area. The Being spoke in a frustrated tone, "I have isolated myself in this part of the world, waiting for you."
Edwin watches this Entity as he notices a very wide smile after his final sentence, after a short silence the room finally brightens going back to what it looked like earlier, but the soothing presence disappeared and Edwin felt like he was being watched by thousands of eyes, this pressure was starting to consume him, like it was suffocating to be looked at unprepared, and Edwin slowly begins to lose consciousness. "Ah, but of course I still need to prepare everything." As the Being said this, Edwin passed out completely.
Back in Edwin's room, he was placed in a kneeling position with his one knee down as he was facing in front of the table, Edwin was confused and wondered when he'll finally go home, away from this madness—a new world, new face, and a new body, after a deep and long silence Edwin stood up and told to himself "Please, if I can just go home, away from all of this—even though a day hasn't passed, I feel sick and tired from all of this, I don't care if my old life was miserable, anything to get out of this place…" Tears began to drop from Edwin's eyes as he continued to speak to himself.
"I'm not strong enough to handle any of this; everyone knew it from the start…" He picked up his white handkerchief from his right pocket and started to wipe off his tears. As he was snuffling, he looked at his table and saw a book; it had a rough black texture with only a circular shape and cryptic symbols in the middle.
Edwin gave a slightly cold yet gentle look. "A book?" Edwin paused for a moment to stare at it and picked it up before continuing his sentence, "When did this get here?" He then opened the Book, browsing through the first few pages. It was old; it felt old; was it old? The paper was yellowish like a traditional paper used in early books; he browsed through the pages—nothing, empty like a body without a soul, only a never-ending blank canvas waiting for a drop of ink to be written on it.