Mystic's eyes snapped open but for a moment, he remained perfectly still, staring at the ceiling as his lungs dragged in a sharp, ragged breath. The room slowly came into focus, the same place where he and Luna had discussed the code only a day ago.
His hand flew to his head as a crushing ache pulsed behind his eyes. Something was wrong. He should have still been trapped inside the dream world, fighting the kinetic yandere user.
His gaze darted toward the clock. The numbers stopped him cold. Yesterday. Not the day he had spent trapped inside the dream world, but the day before it had supposedly begun.
His fingers tightened around his skull as another violent throb struck. He tried to draw in another breath, but his chest refused to cooperate. Air came in short, frantic bursts, each one faster than the last.
Luna's head snapped toward him. She stared at his chest rising and falling in rapid, uneven movements before her eyes widened.
She scrambled closer, one hand hovering over his shoulder while the other reached instinctively for her phone. Her fingers trembled so badly that she nearly dropped it.
She had never seen him breathe like this before, and the sight of him struggling for air made her face drain of colour.
"Come on, breathe. Breathe!" Mystic forced the words through his clenched teeth, gripping his shirt as another wave of pain tore through his head.
Luna immediately caught his shoulders; her eyes locked desperately onto his face. She tried to steady him, but her own breathing began to shake as she watched him gasp again and again.
Her fingers dug into his shoulders, refusing to let him slip away from her.
"Don't leave me, Mystic. Please... just breathe. I'll get you help." Luna's voice cracked as she pressed herself against him, clutching his arm tightly.
A sudden pain exploded behind Mystic's ribcage.
His body jerked forward, and a wet cough tore from his throat. Red splattered across his hand. He stared at it, frozen, before another cough forced more blood from his lungs.
The pain made even swallowing difficult.
Luna grabbed a glass of water and pushed it toward him, but the moment he tried to drink, he choked and spat it onto the floor.
"No, don't call them. I can breathe normally... don't worry, Luna." Mystic grabbed her wrist, but his grip weakened as another cough shook his body.
Luna stared at the blood coating his fingers, then back at his pale face. Her expression crumpled. She yanked her wrist free, immediately pulling out her phone with shaking hands.
Her thumb slipped against the screen twice before she finally managed to make the call, her other hand remaining wrapped tightly around Mystic's sleeve as though letting go might make him disappear.
"My best friend is having a panic attack and coughing blood! Please, send help!" Luna blurted into the phone, her voice trembling as she struggled to keep herself from breaking down.
Minutes later, the sound of approaching sirens reached the room. Luna stayed pressed against Mystic until the medics rushed inside and took over.
She followed them without hesitation, refusing to let Mystic out of her sight.
When one of the medics questioned their relationship, Luna wiped the tears from her cheeks and immediately answered that she was his girlfriend, keeping one hand wrapped possessively around his as they carried him away.
A few minutes later, they arrive but Mystic disappeared behind another set of hospital doors, leaving Luna alone in the waiting area.
The doors clicked shut, and her fingers curled into her sleeves. Her nails dug through the fabric and into her arms as she stared at the entrance, her breathing growing uneven with every passing second.
"Hi, Luna. Where is your Mysti? Is he doing okay?" Visual asked, approaching with Mark beside her.
Luna's head snapped toward them. The skin around her nails was already red from scratching, but she didn't seem to notice. Her eyes stayed fixed on the doors Mystic had vanished behind.
"No, he isn't," she muttered, her voice trembling. "I don't even know what's wrong with him. It was like something snapped inside and hurt him without me knowing."
Visual and Mark exchanged a glance. They had only heard what Luna managed to tell them, that Mystic had suddenly doubled over on the couch, one hand clamped over his mouth as blood slipped between his fingers.
The waiting room fell silent again. Nurses hurried past with trays and medical equipment, their shoes striking against the polished floor.
Luna watched every one of them, her expression becoming colder whenever they disappeared through the doors without bringing Mystic back.
"I heard what happened. Do you think he'll make a full recovery, or will he have to stay in the emergency room for days? He almost might have been killed by the same person who killed Hina," Harold said, lowering his voice.
Luna slowly turned toward him. Her trembling stopped. The tears gathering in her eyes remained, but something vicious settled behind them. Her fingers tightened until her knuckles whitened.
"I hope Mysti gets fully recovered," she whispered, staring up at the harsh ceiling light. "But it was strange why he suddenly coughed blood. Maybe an organ failure."
Harold rubbed the back of his blue hair, his brows pulling together. Joe remained beside him, watching Luna carefully as her gaze returned to the emergency doors.
"Organ failure did you say? That's not what Hina's killer normally does. The yandere stabs people and doesn't cause stuff like organ failures. She normally likes to do things fast, so what could have caused this?" Harold said.
Luna's head tilted slightly. The mention of Hina's killer made her lips tighten. Her hand slowly closed into a fist against her thigh, her nails pressing into her palm.
The minutes crawled by. Every time the emergency doors opened, Luna's eyes shot toward them.
Every time someone walked through without Mystic, her expression darkened. Visual eventually noticed the blood beginning to bead beneath Luna's nails and reached for her wrist before she could dig them into herself again.
"So, Mystic will live. It wasn't anything bad, don't worry. But the bad thing is that his spleen is no longer in his body," the nurse said.
Luna lunged forward. Visual caught her around the waist before she could charge through the doors, her legs kicking against the floor as she fought his grip. Her eyes locked onto the nurse with a frightening intensity.
"I know it was hard to believe, but there were no scars or any sign he had surgery to get it removed. It was just gone, like it vanished without a trace of it being able to be located again. You can visit now," the nurse said.
The instant Visual loosened his grip; Luna tore herself free. She didn't wait for another word. Her shoes hammered against the hospital floor as she raced toward Mystic's room, her expression twisted between relief and fury.
Whatever had taken his spleen had taken something that belonged to him, and Luna looked ready to tear apart anyone who stood between her and Mystic.
When Mystic opened his eyes, the hospital room was gone. Grey fog stretched in every direction, swallowing everything beyond a few feet. He blinked several times, but the haze remained, endless and unmoving.
"What's with this situation?"
He turned slowly, searching for anything familiar, then lowered his gaze. His body hovered above the edge of the fog, his feet dangling over its shifting surface. Below him, the grey mist flowed like water, rippling endlessly beneath his weightless form.
Crimson stars speckled the expanse, some enormous and others no bigger than distant sparks. A few drifted across the surface, while others lurked far below, their faint red glows barely visible through the depths.
"Where am I this time, I was in a dream world then I travelled back in time for some reason and now I am in this hell."
Mystic stared into the fog, his eyes straining against the grey nothingness. He could see no walls, no ground, and no way out.
Somewhere beyond this strange void, the world he had left behind continued without him, but he had no way of knowing what was happening there. All he could do was float in the endless haze, waiting for whatever came next, and wondering what he would find when he finally woke.