Jason Darting was enjoying a walk down the- "Oi, look who it is!" He glanced at a large group of thirteen-year-olds. They always hung around the skating section of the park, and had, unfortunately, started pointing at him.

“Oi! Pigeon neck!”

He paused briefly, before continuing, but the rest of the group were already latching on to the call.

“Pigeon neck!”

“Pigeon neck!”

“Oi, dickhead!” A hush descended on them and from the corner of his eye, he saw them glance at each other, nervously. He kept moving, making sure to not look directly. They didn’t say anything else, and he quickly walked around the hedge that lead to the next field. What am I meant to do in those situations? Tell them to bugger off? They’re dumb kids… He shook his head. Also... pigeon neck? My neck isn’t that long – a bit thicker than others, I guess. He sighed, and continued to think about it, while passing a family by.

He eventually got tired of the subject, realising that he wasn’t going to come to any conclusions, and started to look around at the scenery. The park was massive. He’d never get over how big this place was. It was ridiculous. However, he really appreciated it. The space meant that there was plenty of room for activities, like Skating, rugby, football, barbecues, climbing trees or just peaceful walks. It was all available, but he didn’t do much but the walking, although he was tempted to climb the sturdy ancient trees that were around. He was a bit too old for that now though. He hummed a tune, and watched a dog go sprinting across the green field, searching for its ball, only for the owner to reveal they had it all along. The dog looked mightily unimpressed, and began to bark demandingly. Jason winced at the noise while quickening his pace to save his ears.

He entered the next field, drawing closer to his destination. His long legs helped him overtake a girl on her phone, who glanced up at him as she moved out of the way. Feeling a little self-conscious, he increased his speed even further. Why is overtaking people so damn awkward?

He finally stepped off the path and onto the grass, walking towards an especially dense cluster of trees, which were unlike the ones that sprouted all along the river. He pushed past the foliage, stepping onto the thick roots that held the hidden bay, and dropped onto the brown sand. He took a deep breath and moved close to the water, before squatting right in the middle and doing his best to remain still. He waited patiently, his eyes roaming across the water and the opposite bank. Finally, he saw a flash of blue in the corner of his eye; he slowly turned and smiled when he saw a Kingfisher flutter up the river, twirling and occasionally bobbing through the air. That was just the beginning. More animals came, although none were as rare as the Kingfisher, but he loved watching all of the ducks, the fish, and different varieties of birds. He even saw a snake of some kind, swimming through the river. Although, he hadn’t thought there were any in Wales. Maybe it's not a snake? Looked like one… He shrugged it off and shuffled forward, before leaning over the surprisingly calm water, revealing his reflection. There, looking back at him was a young man, with tied back brown hair and smallish ears. His weary hazel eyes stared into his, peering out from his thick eyebrows. His gaze moved to the only part of his face that he really didn’t like. My big fucking nose. Jason slowly blinked, and tried to look at it in a different perspective. It's not that bad… there’s definitely people out there who wouldn’t mind it. He let out a slow breath. The problem is the people who would. Feeling glum, he continued to stare at the facial feature, right until a small furry face rose out from it. A shock ran through his body, and he nearly leapt back, but stopped when the small face recoiled as well. Keeping very still, he stared at what must have been a mink. Except, he was sure minks did not look like this. It had midnight black fur and pearly white whiskers. A cute blue nose that was twitching and releasing a shimmering navy dust. Most of all though, was it’s starlight eyes that glimmered with far-away constellations. It regarded him, relaxing after a moment.

“What are you…” Jason whispered in wonder. The Mink tilted its head , its gaze sharp. He got the impression that it was evaluating him – no, judging. Slowly, a tiny adorable paw, that made him hold back the urge to squeak, came out of the water and made a grasping motion. With a surge of hopefulness, he carefully lowered a trembling finger; It grasped it, gently. This time he really did squeak – very quietly though, as to not scare the beautiful creature away. Its mouth twitched and it nodded to him. His jaw hung open, as the Mink slowly began to move back into the water, while tugging his finger. In a daze, he allowed it to pull him, not caring if he got soaked. While his hand followed, he began to grin from ear to ear, and barely noticed when his arm started going in too. It was when he had to kneel on the sand, with his nice tracksuit pants that he was startled out of his thoughts. The motion caused him to jerk back, and he realised that his finger wasn’t coming free. Frowning, he pulled again, but nothing happened. He was being dragged. Genuinely worried now, he started to try and escape, but no matter how hard he fought, it was useless. He had flipped around and was kicking at the dirt, searching for leverage, but it still didn’t work. His breathing became shorter as the water reached his waist, and he started screaming for help when the water rose up to his chest. Nothing changed and, with a deep breath, his head was soon submerged as well.

He opened his eyes and blinked, when he realised that he was floating in a vortex of lights. He saw the Mink giggle, tiny bubbles escaping from its mouth and popping. Terrified, he did nothing but watch while It continued dragging him, with its gentle grip. They started moving faster, and faster. The multitude of colours became a blur that began to make his head pound. After an eternity, his lungs started to burn, and his panic started to make itself free as air. His vision began to go dim and his struggles weakened. Suddenly, there was a loud splash and then – pain. Unconsciousness swept in.

When he awoke, his head was pounding and his body shivering. Groaning, he struggled to sit up and look around. What? He was on another bay, this one made of pointed pebbles instead of sand. Lurching to his feet, he quickly looked around, the motion making him aware of a horrible burning on his temple. Gingerly, he touched it, and hissed as it flared. His fingers came away bloody. Oh boy… Putting it out of his mind for now, he looked around for the Mink, or anyone else… but there was no sign. A breeze blew by, causing the trees to rustle. He didn’t recognise this part of the park, and he’d walked almost every single part of it. He had no idea what had happened to him; A unique looking mink could be explained, but being dragged into a Doctor-who-like tunnel? The only explanation he could think of, was that he was high as fuck. But, when? He hadn’t taken anything, unless the ginger biscuits from home counted.

“This is s-o-o…” He couldn’t finish, his teeth chattering too hard. With nothing else to do, he started walking up to the bank of roots. With some difficulty, he climbed over them and his eyes wandered hopefully for a path of some kind; There was none. Cursing, he pushed through the thick bushes, fighting to get out from the trees. It was after five minutes of this, that he realised that he still couldn’t see where the trees ended. He frowned. There shouldn’t be any forests around here. He continued, and made sure to listen for people. Where is everyone? A dark premonition settled on him, and he hurried. Time flew by as he smacked and pushed, when finally, he noticed the tree’s ending. Feeling relieved, he hurried and, with a final push, he stumbled out onto the grass again. Except, it wasn’t the grass of the football fields from earlier. No, it was a giant plain that led his eyes up to an enormous lake, with a castle in the middle, partially submerged. Its towers rose high above the strangely wavery water, its image shifting about constantly.

“Um…” He puffed his cheeks and stood there for a moment, considering, before starting to walk towards the place – what else am I going to do? He observed his surroundings as he got closer. He definitely wasn’t in the park anymore. It obviously didn’t have a castle, and it had never been so large that he could see the horizon. Wherever he was, it may… not even be his hometown. The thought made him grimace, and swallow. Not now – He focused instead, on the light brushing of the grass against his fingers. The slow swish of his feet as he pushed forward. The air was cold. The grey clouds above were becoming darker with each step. Just to test it, he took a few steps back, but saw that they remained the same. He chuckled. Nice to know it's just my crappy luck. He carried on, eventually stepping up to the water. He hesitated, before stepping into it, shivering. He waded towards the flooded entrance, which had two massive rusty doors. I wonder what castle this is? He made it there without any trouble, stepping inside and freezing when he saw the interior. It was...confusing. There were stairs everywhere, from almost every angle, much like a painting he had once seen. He wondered if this was evidence for it being in his mind? However, one thing that was very different, was the rippling tendrils of water. They were like shifting glass, reaching up from the floor and caressing the ceiling and walls. He watched as the one tendril squashed down and released an orb of itself, just like a lava lamp – Groovy, he thought with a strained smile.

He took a step forward and fell face first into the water, as he tumbled down the stairs, flailing. He managed to catch himself and wildly look around. He was no longer in the spacious room. He was now in a massive underground complex, filled with even more stairways. Looking up he saw the surface of the water shimmering above him, and glancing behind him, showed the way down. He groaned as he stood up, rubbing the already bruising skin. He took a step and nearly tripped again. Glancing down, he saw an incredibly pitted sword, just lying there – almost nestled against the skeletal arm. He stared at it uncomprehendingly, before gulping, and reaching down to pry the sword from under it. He held the weapon up, and looked around, as if someone was going to tell him off for holding it. He swallowed, and gripped it tightly, before he continued down the stairs...actually why am I going down? He paused, and then slowly turned around to go back up.

His head breached the water again, and he immediately smacked it against something. Cursing, he glared through his teary eyes. It was a wall, but it wasn’t right up against the water, there was still a bit of room for him to look around. Slower this time, he rose from the surface of the water and realised, that’s the ceiling… Somehow the whole room had sunk into the liquid, without appearing underneath it. Shit. There was no chance that he was getting out the way he came in. So, he reluctantly turned around and headed down again.

Time passed with nothing happening, so he just continued pacing down the steps, until the stairs took a ninety degree turn straight down. He gaped at it, and a reckless idea popped in his head. He slowly lifted a foot and moved it over the edge. Immediately, his sense of balance started screaming. He flailed and fell forwards, smacking against the floor. His eyes widened, as he realised he was now lying face first on a completely vertical surface, and he felt… fine, if a bit sore. Getting to his feet, he stared at the drop that wasn’t affecting him, and then barked a laugh. Shaking his head, he continued. As he walked, the stairways started to become stretched and twisted, sometimes curling in a loop.

it took him some time to realise something else, he was breathing underwater. He had to completely stop to consider it. This whole time, he had been walking around, without any trouble. This more than anything, convinced him that it wasn’t water. Its constantly shimmering surface had been a bit strange, but not out of this world kind of weirdness. He bit his lip, and suddenly felt very aware of his breathing. Fuck, I hope this stuff is safe, whatever it is…

He felt a sudden prickle on his nape, and he instinctively glanced around – There was a ghost watching him from another staircase… It was faded and wearing a simple white-brown robe, and its hair was the same. Its face was completely blank, its eyes lacking any irises to convey emotion. They both remained motionless for a moment, before the ghost started wailing and sped across the space between them. He bolted, flying down the steps, two at a time. But, the ghost could fly. He glanced behind him and saw it had quickly caught up to him. It slashed, the air distorting in front of it. With nowhere else to go, he leapt...and crashed onto another stair. Ignoring the scraps of his clothes that floated around, he carried on running. The steps were evening out, and he nearly tripped when it became completely flat. He recovered though, and sprinted straight ahead, leaving the ghost behind. Then... more wails started. His heart was hammering so fast, it felt like it was going to burst, and his face was flushed and his shirt was completely drenched. But, he kept running; he had to, because he could see a way out. A shadowy archway at the end of the path. He knew it might not lead anywhere, but it was his best bet.

Like a tide, more ghosts came from all around him, creating a sea of white faded faces. He kept running, while they came closer, and he realised that he wasn’t going to make it. The archway was just out of reach. The ghosts had started to block the way. He saw no other option than to charge, and he screamed as the first ghost reached for him. He tried to swipe it with his sword, only for it to pass straight through. He stumbled. I’m dead. The ghosts started clawing and striking at him, causing deep cuts; the pain was muted though – cold. He pushed on, determined to get to his goal, not bothering to do anything about their strikes. Finally, he fell into the darkness of the archway. He was so drained; he could only crawl forwards while the world around him became fuzzy. Dimly, he felt something grip his arms tightly, and he thought he was being lifted up. His head was lolling to the side and he tried to see what was going on. He blinked and managed to focus his eyes on the object in front of him. It was a distorted orb...of water? He observed it, noting its many tendrils that were reaching out towards him. But, before he could do anything, he was distracted by a sudden noise, and his voice speaking dispassionately in his head.

‘Ding’ [The Phantom Core ???].

‘Ding’ You have learnt the General Ability [Identify].

Oh, you’ve got to be shitting me.