Sunny's eyes slowly slid shut, his movements growing sloppy. Every muscle in his body screamed at him to lie down and sleep.
The very next second, a sharp slap landed on the back of his head.
"Can't go to sleep yet, sleepyhead."
Sunny blinked and turned to see Bin standing there, hand still raised.
"I know, I know," he muttered, a yawn escaping his lips. "But it's pretty hard to stay awake at this point."
They had been training nonstop until the afternoon, and yet Sunny still hadn't broken through his bottleneck.
And the promise of sleep loomed over him like a spell he couldn't resist.
'Damnation... I wanted to get more done.'
But pushing himself any further would only end with him collapsing face-first onto the floor. It wasn't that he didn't trust his sisters to carry him to his pod—actually it probably was... but Sunny wouldn't let it come to that.
Sunny glanced up to see his sisters watching him with quiet concern.
He smiled faintly. "Guess it's time for me to go to the Dream World..."
Rain's face fell instantly. The rest of his sisters tensed, but Rain had never been good at hiding her emotions unlike everyone else, especially when family was involved.
Sunny turned and headed inside. Bin followed closely, with Rain trailing a step behind.
He wanted one last shower before sleeping. Who knew how long he'd be gone this time?
"Rain and I will wait in your room," Bin said, her heels clicking against the floor. "Hurry up—you stink." Rain quickly said after Bin spoke
"Okay," Sunny replied, glancing back. "But don't you always say that? It's getting old."
Rain shrugged. "I don't really care."
Sunny rolled his eyes.
A sly smile tugged at her lips. "For me, it'll never get old..." She paused, then added with a sharp gaze, "Because it's true."
Sunny shook his head, smiling to himself as he walked on.
⸻
Soon enough, he stood in front of his pod, only to find far more of his sisters waiting than he'd expected.
His eyes sank. "You know you all look really weird just standing there, right? Are you planning to watch me fall asleep?"
"I don't care what we look like," Revel growled, stalking closer. "Our little brother is going to the Dream World."
Several heads nodded in agreement.
Sunny sighed. "Whatever, you guys..."
He stepped toward the pod, exhaustion clawing at him.
Then a hand grabbed his arm.
Before he could react, he was pulled into a tight hug.
"What do you think you're doing?" Hel muttered. "Leaving without hugging your sisters?"
Sunny blinked in surprise. "Uh... i was walking towards my Pod until you stoped me. And I was planning on leaving without a hug."
She just gave him a dead pan expression.
He smiled, but what Hel said caught him off guard. When he looked around, he realized the others were thinking the same thing as her.
A quiet sigh escaped him. He opened his arms wide.
"Alright, then... let's all have a big hu—"
He never finished the sentence.
A pile of bodies crashed into him, knocking him flat.
"Damnation!"
Sunny found himself completely buried beneath his sisters, suffocating under the unexpected weight.
This was supposed to embarrass them, not cause this!
He hadn't expected such a reaction. Sure, there were occasional pile-ups, but never like this, and never involving everyone - well except for Seishan.
Despite it all, Sunny smiled.
Then his smile slowly faded.
The First Nightmare had been terrifying, but survivable. As his mother had said, the Spell was fair.
The Dream World, however...
It was cruel. Unpredictable. You could be dropped into a death zone and die before you even understood what was happening.
And no matter how much confidence he showed—
Sunny was scared.
⸻
Eventually, he managed to extract himself from the pile and stood before his pod once more.
He turned around and smiled. "See you all when I get back."
"See ya, little brother."
"Bye."
"Come back safe."
"Goodbye, Sunny."
The words overlapped, whispered and spoken all at once.
Sunny ruffled Rain's hair as he passed her, ignoring the tears in her eyes.
The pod opened. He got in, settling down in the quiet comfort of his pod.
"Come back alive," Moonveil said quietly.
Sunny smirked. "Of course. Who do you take me for?"
He closed his eyes and let sleep claim him.
And then—
[Welcome to the Dream Realm, Sunless!