Ruben walked the campus grounds as he always did. He had been doing it for over twenty years, and yet he never found the task boring. He didn't envy those poor souls in the Clan War. That was a young man's game.
Things were quiet that night for the first time in weeks. Even the streets outside, which had been in turmoil almost nonstop, had finally found a little bit of peace.
The guard drank in the quiet with a deep breath. Inclining his ear, he frowned.
"That sound has no business occurring at this hour." He turned on his heels and spotted a lone figure traipsing across the campus in the pale moonlight. "Halt! Who goes there? State your name and business!"
The figure turned, and the pale face of a young man with dark hair and a dazed expression looked out from beneath a blanket from one of the dorm beds.
"Arcana."
"Yes, you can-a."
The young man blinked. "What?"
"I thought you were asking about your ability." Ruben scratched at his ear. "What are you doing out at this time of night, Arcana?"
"I awakened." Arcana furrowed his brow.
"I can see that. That tends to happen after you go to sleep. Unless you are sleepwalking or never went to bed, that is pretty much your only option."
Arcana shook his head. "No, sir. I don't mean I woke up. Although I did that too. I was a Dreamer, and then I became an Awakened."
"That is generally the progression, young man. If you were confused about the process, then I would say you didn't take enough time in classes." Ruben clicked his tongue. "Is that why you have come back, to take night classes?"
"Sir, you don't understand. I went to sleep in the dorm as a Dreamer, and I woke up a few minutes ago–as an Awakened!"
"How the blazes did you do that?!" Ruben shook his head. "Speaking of blazes..." he muttered, summoning a luminescent Memory. "Tell me, Arcana. What does one do to go to sleep as a Dreamer in the middle of spring and wake up as an Awakened? You didn't spring forward to the solstice, did you?"
"What? No! I swear I didn't do anything!" Arcana's eyes were wide. "You have to believe me! It just happened!"
The young man grabbed the officer's arm, throwing back the blanket surrounding him. Long curls sprang from their cloth prison in a wild array.
The tall guard tugged at his short brown beard. "There's no need to panic. We have a form for panic."
Arcana blinked. "What? A form?"
"Yes, and then form a line for the form. These are formative years after all, for you at least." Ruben nodded seriously. "So let's dispense with the paperwork. Tell me plainly what happened."
"I went to bed as usual after checking on the status of my transfer. No one has been approved in many weeks now, but being at the top of the list, I was still hopeful. Well, I must have been hoping too hard because when I fell asleep, I dreamed that something took my arm. It felt soft and feathery, and the next thing I knew, I was lying on the ice beside a Gateway."
"A Gateway?" Ruben rubbed his forehead and looked around. "There's almost no ice left in the NQSC, and the only gates you will see around here belong to the Academy's walls or those infernal Nightmare Creatures."
"That's the thing. I was in the Dream Realm! The sentry was confused by my disoriented state. He told me I was in Ravenheart. I touched the gateway and ended up back in my bed. How does that even make sense?" Arcana pressed his hands against his head as if it might burst.
"Now hold on. This sounds like a dream. You even have your own blanket still wrapped around you." Ruben furrowed his brow.
"The change is real!" Arcana insisted.
"Well, that all depends on what kind of change you are referring to. Political change? Climate change? The ever-present need for spare change? Or, if you are particularly philosophical on this pleasant evening, metaphysical change?"
"I mean the change in me! I changed!" Arcana felt like he might be losing his mind.
"You look the same to me. How would you have changed out here in the cold unless you did something under that thin blanket?"
Ruben held his light closer to examine the lightweight covering.
"Pale Moonbeam," Arcana mumbled.
"What?" The guard stepped back. "I know I look older than my age due to my Flaw, but I am not pale!"
"The name of your Memory is Pale Moonbeam. I can see it due to my new Awakened Ability. How could that be true if everything that happened to me was a dream?"
Ruben looked at his Memory and then back at the boy. That was indeed the name of the magical object in his hand.
"That makes all the difference, and I don't mean in a mathematical sense. Though don't ask me for any cents, mind you, I've paid my debt to society."
Arcana blinked. "I don't follow…"
"Of course you don't! I haven't started moving yet. Now, come on and let's get you sorted." The guard took off at a measured pace, causing the newly awakened young man to tilt his head.
'Isn't his walk…a bit silly?'
Arcana knew better than to point this out. He would likely get a lecture on how all walks are silly or some quip about life being a walk in the park.
Wait, what was he thinking? He needed to move!
Pulling the blanket more tightly around him, the young man chased after the guard.
They moved across the campus, Arcana running over the events in his mind. What exactly had happened to him? Beyond being able to see the names of Memories, something he certainly couldn't do when he went to sleep, Arcana could feel the essence coursing through him. It was a strange experience.
And he had no idea how it had occurred. The one thing he was certain of was that he was different now—no, everything was.
That brush against his arm. Had it been real? Arcana wasn't sure. It had felt real at the very least before he was pulled between worlds.
The moon was suddenly blocked out by an austere-looking building. Arcana realized he hadn't been paying attention to his journey. Part of him had assumed the guard was sending him back to bed, but in hindsight, the strange security guard hadn't asked which dormitory he was residing in.
"Where are we going?"
"Forward, unless circumstances dictate otherwise." Ruben scratched at the grey hair around his temples. "What a strange question."
The young man quickened his pace. "I mean, where are you taking me?"
"It is always good to say what you mean the first time. Unless it is mean, of course, then it's better to say nothing at all. I am taking you exactly where you need to go. Did you think I would lead you astray? Tsk. Kids these days are so distrustful of their elders!" Ruben opened the door and yelled into the entrance. "We've got a live one!"