Prince Kael'thas was most certainly having issues – what those issues were, no one really knew.
However, one day Kael woke up with nasty purple bags under his eyes and found himself continuously vomiting until there wasn't much left in his stomach than acid. He realized, after examining his "tossed cookies", he found that his issues were being caused by abuse of drugs – most specifically, magic. Magic is the most notorious drug Azeroth, the Outlands and Kalimdor (followed by shimmerbliss, an inhalant made from shimmerweed) and he decided that he needed to get off magic – even though mage's high was a most pleasurable experience.
The blood elf found that there was only one way to get off magic: withdrawal. He had experienced withdrawal before, the hungry, unbearable gnawing at his soul (coupled with nasty mood swings and a bad cold) made him shiver with recurring memories. However, after poking around at Google, he found another answer – drug rehabilitation centers.
There was a certain center he had an eye on – it was run by Drek'thar, an orc shaman, after helping many orcs recover from withdrawal from demonic energies and after he fixed a rather nasty addiction to shimmerbliss. Ever wonder why you have to gather shimmerweed for him in the bonus orc FTF campaign? After experienced withdrawal with a couple of blood elf buddies, Kael knew that it was better to suffer with others, and that the end result would probably be better – magic was starting to eat away at his soul, not to mention his appetite.
Magic was starting to eat away at his strength, and even as his hand dialed numbers on a phone, Kael's fingers were weak and shivery.
"Hello, this is the Stormrage residence. Who is this and how may I help you?" A wise Kaldorei woman's voice sounded at the end of the phone.
Tyrande? What in the name of the late Quel'thalas was Tyrande doing at Malfurion and Illidan's house? Then the elf remembered Furion and Tyrande's relationship – it would probably be better to not ask.
"Ishnu'fallah, it's Kael'thas. Can I speak to Illidan?" He cursed himself for his slightly slurred, feeble voice.
"Ishnu'fallah. You sound terrible, Prince – are you well?"
Kael pondered what the Priestess' reaction would be if he told her that he was a pothead – magichead. Her views on the demonic powers were probably much like Furion's, after the whole drama with the younger Stormrage. "Just a bit of a stomach thing. Made me vomit a little, but otherwise, I'm fine."
"Here's Illidan, then."
"Kael?" The demon-elf-something was slightly groggy-sounding in the morning.
"Ancestors help me, I'm addicted to magic."
"Every one who uses magic gets addicted. What is your point?"
"You seem to be missing my point. I'm not just addicted, I'm horribly, nastily, life-damagingly addicted. I'm going to rehab today, and I need a ride."
"Sounds like Azshara." There was a pause. "And Furion just kindly reminded me that I was addicted to magic. Sure, I'll drive over to your flat – give me a chance to escape Mal and Ty. They're not even young and they're acting like seventeen-year-olds! And the age gap..."
Kael knew Illidan was jealous of his older brother's happiness as he hung up the phone.
"Hi, I'm Steve, and I'm an Everquest addict. I'm here because I tried to sell my kids on Ebay to get a 9 medallion of Wisdom – my wife made me quit and come to rehab."
"Hi Steve!"
Kael stood up after Steve, a middle-aged man with glasses and black hair, finished his introduction. He was dressed in civilian clothing; jeans and a black Blizzard T-shirt.
"Hello all. I am Prince Kael'thas, blood elf and blood mage – as you can guess, I am a magic-addict. After my soul was nearly eaten, I decided to find a rehabilitation center."
"Hi Kael'thas!"
There were many faces in the crowd. Some were humans like Steve who had surrendered themselves to serious drugs or online gaming, some were elves and some were orcs. There was even an undead woman who looked like one of Sylvanas' Forsaken.
The rehab would be difficult to face – but Kael would face it.
Well... umm... Reviews are welcomed! The second chapter's coming soon – we'll see what happens when His Majesty meets the other addicts, be they of drugs, magic, or MMORPGs.