Waking in Madness
Chapter 6: Waking in Madness
Content Warning:
This chapter contains psychological horror, hallucinations, and reality distortion. The protagonist experiences a shift in consciousness and perception, exploring themes of paranoia and existential dread. Reader discretion is advised.
Scene 1: Awakening to the Unknown
SYSTEM WARNING: ⚠ Host's mental stability is critically unstable. ⚠ Reality distortion detected. ⚠ Cognitive corruption increasing at an alarming rate. ⚠ Immediate intervention required.
Seth's first sensation was cold.
Not the bite of winter, nor the chill of death—but something deeper, unnatural, suffocating. It was a cold that crept under his skin, curling inside his bones, whispering things not meant to be heard.
His fingers twitched against a surface that felt wrong. It was neither stone nor earth, but something smooth, yet alive. The surface pulsed, like the dying heart of a god.
His eyes snapped open.
He was no longer in the abyss. No longer in the battlefield. No longer anywhere he recognized.
The sky was not a sky. It was a suffocating, endless void, torn apart by sprawling veins of lightless fire. Structures that should not exist floated in twisted angles, remnants of a world that had long since rotted away. Great spires of bone and iron stretched into the abyss, dripping with an unholy ichor, as if the world itself was weeping.
The air hummed, vibrating in an irregular, disturbing rhythm. His head ached as if something too large for his mind to comprehend was forcing itself inside.
He forced himself up, his body trembling, heavy. His arms felt longer than before, his breath too loud in his own ears. Something was wrong.
And then—
They began to whisper.
Scene 2: The Voices That Should Not Be
"Not real."
"Not real."
"You should not be here."
The whispers came from everywhere. Inside his skull. Beneath his skin. Between his ribs.
Seth clutched his head, grinding his teeth. His body burned. His blood felt thicker, heavier, like it was trying to crawl out of his veins.
His reflection shimmered in the air in front of him—not in water, but in the very fabric of this twisted place.
And what he saw was not himself.
The thing staring back at him had his face—but it was wrong. Its grin stretched too wide, its eyes hollow pits of shifting darkness. Worms squirmed beneath its skin, moving in pulsing waves, as if something else was wearing his body.
It opened its mouth.
And his own voice came out.
"You don't belong here."
Then it lunged.
Scene 3: The Fractured World
Seth staggered back, heart hammering, but the reflection did not fade—it crawled out, its form shifting between corpse and nightmare.
Its fingers lengthened into talons, its spine cracked as it twisted, unraveling like a marionette with snapped strings.
It rushed him.
The world collapsed.
He was standing somewhere else. He had not moved.
The ground beneath him was glass, cracked and bleeding with ink. Shapes moved beneath the surface, too distorted to be human. They twitched, convulsed, tore at their own flesh in silent suffering.
The air was thick with laughter, sobbing, screams. Familiar voices. His mother. Elias. The nameless knights he had slaughtered.
They were all here.
"Seth…" his mother's voice.
He turned. She stood there. Whole. Beautiful. Alive.
His heart clenched.
"Come back to me, Seth," she whispered. "You don't have to suffer anymore."
He reached out. His fingers brushed hers.
Then her flesh melted off her bones.
Her face stretched in a silent scream, her body bloating, splitting open, a river of crawling hands spilling from inside her ribs. Her skull cracked apart, revealing a chasm of grinding teeth.
"You ate me, my son."
Seth screamed.
Scene 4: Nyxara's Intervention
SYSTEM ALERT: ⚠ External force interfering with host's consciousness. ⚠ [Nyxara, the Star of Devotion] is forcibly stabilizing host's mind. ⚠ Unknown entities have taken notice. ⚠ WARNING: Host is at risk of permanent mental collapse.
The world shattered.
A new force surged through the air, a suffocating pressure that shattered the false reality around him.
Seth collapsed to his knees, gasping, as golden chains erupted from the ground, tearing through the illusions. The monstrous things that had taken the forms of his memories shrieked and writhed, their bodies boiling away in divine light.
A pair of cold hands cupped his face.
"Seth," Nyxara's voice, sweet and possessive, dripping with obsession. "You are seeing things that do not matter. Look at me."
His breath was ragged. He could barely think.
Her fingers trailed along his jaw, her presence sinking into his mind like silk-laced poison.
"It's alright," she whispered. "I will not let you break. I will not let you leave me."
He shuddered. He didn't know if he was grateful or terrified.
Nyxara smiled, her crimson eyes glowing with something far too pleased.
"Let's bring you back where you belong, my love."
And then—
Everything went dark.
End of Chapter 6
📜 Author's Note: This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and settings are purely imaginary. This novel contains dark themes meant to enhance the story and character development. Reader discretion is advised.