Leon opened his eyes.
The armored ceiling of the police station hung above him. It felt familiar, unlike the cold sensation he felt in the prison.
Leon touched his face and examined it thoroughly. It felt normal. The wounds Aurelia had inflicted were gone.
"Congratulations on surviving your First Nightmare, Sleeper Leonar."
he heard a feminine voice say.
Leon turned to look at the source.
On a cheap plastic chair placed beside his bed, he saw a woman with short raven black hair and icy blue eyes.
'Jet?'
Leon thought to himself.
She was wearing a dark blue uniform, with black leather boots.
"I'm back.."
Leon muttered mindlessly.
Jet looked at Leon with an expressionless face,
"That's right, welcome back to the waking world."
Leon frowned and held his head. Memories of Aurelia rushed in.
Her bloody and mangled body, her final words echoing through his head.
Leon looked at both his hands, they were shaking.
"I killed her..."
he said in a low tone.
Jet sighed slightly.
"Kid, you alright?"
Leon snapped out of his daze.
He forced a smile and looked at Jet,
"Ah, yes, thank you for...waiting for me to not die?...uh"
"You can call me Master Jet. For the last three days I was on watch duty."
"Master?"
Leon frowned and continued "A nightmare gate?"
Jet smiled
"You're smarter than the other kid, I guess the outskirts has become deadlier than before."
She paused before continuing.
"Yes, there was a nightmare gate, but don't worry, it's closed now."
Leon pretended to let out a sigh of relief,
"I must thank you then, Master Jet. It's not every day I get beautiful women like you to rescue me."
He said while smiling.
Jet laughed,
"Well, at least you have better manners."
She then frowned slightly.
"Well then, how about you go shower, you reek of nightmare."
Leon's eyes perked up,
"A shower you say?"
He grinned uncontrollably. It had been so long since he enjoyed a nice hot shower.
"Oh and, don't get too surprised when you look in the mirror."
Jet added.
Leon's eyes twitched,
"My face? My eyes?"
He asked calmly, grabbing his face and trying to feel it.
"Relax kid, you're fine, better than fine actually"
she paused and then added:
"It's just that your hair...it turned silver."
"Huh?"
***
Leon walked towards the shower as instructed by Master Jet.
'Silver? But why?'
As he approached the towel rack he heard someone's voice sound.
"What do you mean, 'no'?! You've just moved your head! Do you think I'm a fool?"
Leon slowly approached the room as he observed Sunny talking to his shadow.
'This is much funnier to watch than read.'
He kept silent as he saw Sunny try various things with his shadow, but eventually Sunny noticed him staring and froze.
Leon frowned slightly,
"Sunless..." he spoke in a sad voice "So the nightmare made you go insane"
he sighed "I should have said goodbye."
Sunny grimaced,
"Who are you calling insane you fool?"
He changed his expression almost immediately
"Wait... You're the creepy guy from before the nightmare!"
Leon squinted his eyes,
"Creepy? Have you seen yourself? Talking to shadows."
Sunny coughed embarrassingly.
"What's up with your hair though, the spell gave you a hair job?"
Leon moved near Sunny and saw himself in the mirror.
He saw a pale boy who was skinny. He had white silver hair and his eyes were silver gray.
"To be fair, this is the first time I'm seeing myself in the mirror, so I don't know if I changed."
Sunny snorted.
"Whatever."
Sunny stormed away.
Leon admired himself one more time in the mirror and went to take a shower.
***
The hot water falling on his body felt rejuvenating.
'Ah, this is heaven'
Leon enjoyed the soothing effect of the water for a while before summoning his runes again.
Name: Leonar
True Name: -
Rank: Dreamer
Resonance Core: Dormant
Resonance Fragments: [1/1000]
Aspect : Gaze of Unmaking
Aspect Rank: Sacred
Aspect Description: [You possess the...
Leon read past the runes and focused on a new one. Leon widened his eyes as he read it.
Aspect Ghost: (Unnamed)
Aspect Ghost Description:
[A remnant of will born from unrealized futures. It remembers what you cannot, sees what you are not meant to know, and waits.
Though bound to your soul, it is not loyal to it.]
'What's the meaning of this?'
"Finally."
Leon heard a noise.
He looked around to find another copy of himself, nearly identical to his Earth counterpart.
He had black hair, black eyes, seemingly normal, wearing a simple hoodie, just like the one he had back on Earth.
"Surprised? Well, I doubt it considering your flaw."
Leon stared at the man in front of him for a while before turning the shower off.
"You are?"
"Your aspect ghost, I guess?"
Leon felt an amusing feeling, as if he was opening a newly bought toy.
He didn't feel fear or nervousness — he only felt an unquenchable thirst to know more.
"So what is this aspect ghost thing? I've never heard about it in the n--"
Before Leon could continue, his face frowned.
'The novel? Wait, why can't I remember?'
He remembered everything....until suddenly he didn't. He recalled fragments until the point where he was, but beyond that everything felt...
"The veil of forgotten truths, quite a nasty attribute."
The ghost cut him off.
Leon clicked his tongue and pieced things together.
He summoned his runes and focused on his attribute, the veil of forgotten truths.
Attribute : [Veil of Forgotten Truths]
Attribute Description: [Your memories of future events, hidden truths, and destined outcomes are constantly being sealed by Fate. Knowledge that would distort the natural flow of causality is gradually erased from your conscious mind.
However, nothing is truly lost.]
He read through the description, stopping at one sentence.
'Nothing is truly lost.'
"Are you the version of me that remembers the future?"
Ghost smiled as he replied
"My other self is smart, good...Yes I am the part that knows."
"And the limitations?"
Leon asked.
'Why can't he just tell me everything?'
Ghost stayed silent for a while.
He then spoke,
"I just tried to tell you about the second nightmare, but I can't."
Leon sighed, "And?"
"Cheap gruel, three pieces of advice from Jet..."
He paused
"I guess I can only tell you events that are soon to happen, nothing too far in the future. There might be other limitations."
Leon took a deep breath.
"This makes it complicated, less certain."
"Well, that is unfortunate."
The ghost sighed before adding,
"At least there's one thing, even if I can't tell you the future, I can still tell you what to do."
Leon smiled slightly,
"I guess...you can."
"Can you see our runes?"
Ghost shook his head, indicating that he couldn't see the runes.
"I see, can you possess me?"
Ghost hummed in thought,
"Relax your body."
Leon paused for a while, thinking. But then relaxed his body, trying to allow any foreign influence to affect him.
But nothing happened.
"Can't"
Ghost added.
"That is unfortunate, I guess we can experiment later, we're already running late."
With that, Leon stepped out of the shower and gripped a towel.
His eyes read through the runes of aspect ghost, focusing on one singular sentence.
[Though bound to your soul, it is not loyal to it.]
***
Leon was wearing a clean police issued tracksuit. He looked at the mirror one last time.
Looking at his silver hair, he frowned slightly.
'Am I forgetting something?'
Leon thought for a while before speaking up.
"Am I forgetting something?"
The ghost stood beside him, also staring at the mirror,
"I don't think so, although I have two questions."
"They are?"
"First, your hair color. Our memories are quite similar, only mine has extra details. But as we heard Jet say, it turned silver during the nightmare. Sounds awfully similar to Nephis's nightmare."
"Nephis?"
"Ah don't worry. You'll meet her soon...try not to antagonize her."
Leon simply nodded
"And the other?"
"Why don't I have a reflection?"
Leon raised an eyebrow and looked back at the mirror, confirming Ghost's sentence.
Ghost didn't have a reflection.
"Well...you're called aspect ghost, so."
Leon said in a doubtful tone.
"Yea, I suppose. What do we even call me?"
"I don't know, you want to name yourself perhaps? Something other than Leon preferably?"
Leon said.
The ghost looked at Leon silently. Leon stared back.
'Is he....confused?'
Leon could read a small semblance of emotion on the ghost before it disappeared.
"Noah..."
"Noah sounds nice."
The ghost repeated.
Leon nodded,
"Alright Noah."
He said as he opened the door and walked towards the cafeteria Master Jet mentioned.
***
Leon walked towards the table where Master Jet and Sunny were sitting.
He sat beside Sunny, who was devouring the gruel on his plate.
Leon looked down at his own plate. He started eating it without hesitation, although at a far more decent manner compared to his neighbor.
Jet looked at the two of them, amused.
"I'll wait till you finish your food, so take your time."
Leon nodded and continued eating.
After a while Jet spoke up.
"As per protocol, I am obligated to inform you of a few things. It is mostly a formality. First of all, concerning your Nightmare."
Jet looked at the two of them.
"You are entitled to receive free psychological counseling. No matter what traumatic experience you have encountered, there is no shame in asking for help. Your mind is as important as your body, it's only right to keep it healthy. Are you interested?"
Sunny shook his head.
Leon stared at Jet while his breath stopped abruptly. The spoon shook as he gripped it tighter.
-eon?"
"Leon?"
Leon snapped back.
"Uh...yeah?"
Jet furrowed her gaze,
"You alright?"
Leon smiled,
"Never been better, Master Jet."
Both Sunny and Jet stared at him silently for a moment,
"As you wish. You can also talk to me. Was it very hard?"
"It was simultaneously much worse than I expected and exactly as bad as I expected."
Sunny said.
Leon frowned,
"I'd rather not remember my nightmare again Master Jet, so we should continue."
Jet nodded,
"I won't pry any further. Us outskirt rats are far more resilient than people think."
Sunny looked at her in surprise.
"Master Jet, you grew up in the outskirts?"
She grinned.
"What? You can't tell because of my exquisite manners and polished exterior?"
Leon smiled,
"Of course not Master Jet, it never hit me that someone as charming as you was ever from that wretched place."
Jet laughed.
"Are there a lot of Awakened like us?"
Sunny interrupted.
Jet's smile disappeared.
"No. There's not. In fact, they can be counted on one hand."
Sunny stayed silent, while Leon silently glanced a peek at Noah, who was sitting beside Jet, looking at her with a bored expression.
Leon spoke,
"So what now Master Jet?"
Jet leaned back slightly before answering.
"That's basically it. There are some additional hoops to jump through, mostly having to do with your families, but, well. I've read your files, so I know it doesn't apply. The only thing left is to decide how you will be preparing for your first journey into the Dream Realm."
Sunny silently glanced at Leon before looking back at Jet.
Jet looked at her communicator.
"I must say, your lucks are exceptionally bad. There's not a lot of time at all."
"As Sleepers, you are also entitled to enroll in the Awakened Academy. You'll be provided with food, lodging and a wide choice of preparatory classes. This late into the year, you won't be able to learn a lot. But it's better than nothing."
Leon was silent.
'Academy...'
"So, what do you say? Do you want me to take you to the Academy?"
Leon looked at Jet.
He didn't know the best choice, he looked at Noah, who seemed to notice his gaze.
Noah simply put his thumbs up.
"Yeah. I want to go to the Academy."
Sunny spoke.
Jet turned to Leon, he sighed and added.
"What he said."
***
On their drive to the academy, Leon stared at the passing sight outside the window.
The cities looked vastly different from Earth. There was less green and the buildings seemed much more complex.
At some point, Master Jet looked at them and said:
"Since we all come from the outskirts, I'll give you guys three pieces of advice. Whether you listen to me or not is your business."
Leon looked back at Master Jet while Noah's voice sounded.
"Gods Leon, this is so boring, can you tell her to skip the chattering? I can basically tell you everything she says and more."
Leon ignored Noah's bickering and focused on Master Jet.
"First: once you're registered in the Academy, they'll offer you psychological counseling again. There will also be a valuable reward for sharing your experiences in the Nightmare and the details of your Appraisal. You'll be able to receive a soul shard, maybe even several of them."
Sunny frowned.
"Are you trying to convince me to visit a psychiatrist again?"
he asked.
Jet shook her head.
"No. I'm telling you to refuse."
Surprised, Sunny raised his eyebrows.
"Why?"
There was a pause before she answered.
"You're too green to understand, but out there in the Dream Realm, Nightmare Creatures are not the only danger. Once you grow powerful enough, humans will become an equal threat. The less they know about your Aspect, the better."
Leon closed his eyes. He knew this better than anyone. After all, he was one such threat.
"The easiest way to defeat an Awakened is to use their flaw. The academy folks will try their best to get that information out of you, so be wary. I'm not saying that the government will leak your information, but once two people know a secret, it's no longer a secret. And there's a lot of people working for the government."
Leon and Sunny both spoke at the same time.
"Thank you, Master Jet"
Jet smiled before continuing.
"Second: there will be a lot of courses to choose from. All types of combat training, deep dives into Nightmare Creature categories and vulnerabilities, basics of various types of sorcery, artifact study and so on."
Leon grimaced,
"Ah, this is going to be bad."
Jet raised her eyebrow,
"What's wrong Leon?"
Leon was taken aback,
"Oh, did I say that out loud? Ah, my bad."
"It's just that, I seem to be very bad at combat, and I don't have a single weapon memory."
Jet nodded in understanding.
"Don't worry, I'm sure you two will do fine, not a lot of people from the outskirts survive their first nightmare."
Noah interrupted.
"Tell her you'll buy her dinner once you're back."
Leon hesitated for a moment. He looked at Noah who was grinning while looking at Jet.
Jet continued,
"Disregard all other classes. The only course you have time to attend is Wilderness Survival."
Looking at Leon and Sunny's confused expressions, she sighed.
"It's different for city kids, who learn all sorts of useful things in school and from their tutors. But we don't have that advantage, do we? What was the biggest threat to your life during the Nightmare?"
"The cold."
Sunny said.
"A princess?"
Leon added.
Sunny and Jet looked at Leon with their mouths open.
"You had a princess in your nightmare?"
Sunny asked.
"Relax dude, I was in a prison first."
Jet coughed,
"Either way, the Dream Realm is mostly made of wilderness, you never can guarantee that you'll end up near a citadel. Trust me, I've learnt it the hard way."
At that point, Master Jet had stopped the car and opened the door, getting out.
Sunny and Leon stepped out of the car, as they stared at the gates of the academy.
"This is as far as I go,"
she said, looking cheerlessly at the walls of the Academy.
"I've already notified them. Someone will come fetch you in a while."
Leon was busy admiring the academy while Sunny asked
"What's the third advice?"
Master Jet glanced at him, then sighed.
"Remember, no one can survive in the Dream Realm alone. That's not an opinion, that's a fact. Try to get along you two, especially with your peers, even if they don't treat you well. It might save your life."
Then she suddenly smiled and patted them both on the shoulder.
"You've done well to survive until now. Make sure to keep yourself alive in the future, too."
Then she got back into her PTV and drove off. Just like that, she was gone.
***
Leon stood in front of the huge, seemingly indestructible red gates of the academy.
It was basically a fortress with walls made of hard alloy, a deep moat and numerous high-caliber turrets.
Noah whistled,
"This is impressive, never thought I'd witness this."
Leon remained silent and walked forward.
Snow fell on the ground, it was cold and silent in front of the gates.
Leon noticed another person near the gates — it was a tall, slender girl of around his age, with clear grey eyes and a detached look on her face.
She had strange, silver-white hair that was cut short and neatly parted to the side.
'We have the same hair...'
The girl noticed Leon's gaze. Her face slightly shifted as he could sense a feeling of shock in her eyes.
"You."
She said while looking at Leon.
Leon raised an eyebrow.
"What is your name?"
Sunny looked at Leon with a confused expression.
Leon ignored Sunny's gaze and looked back at the silver-haired girl.
He extended his hand and smiled
"My name is Leonar, pleasure to meet you..."
"Nephis."
she said without shaking his hand.
Leon took his hand back still maintaining his smile,
"Nice to meet you, Nephis."
Leon used the Gaze of Unmaking. He sensed that Nephis seemed to be agitated, nervous even.
"Could I ask which clan you're from?"
She then froze, as she glanced at the police issued tracksuit Leon wore.
Leon's smile disappeared slowly.
"Apologies. I am from the outskirts. I don't have any family either..."
He leaned forward
"But may I ask why the sudden interest in me Nephis?"
Nephis seemed to have realized her forwardness as she coughed.
"Sorry, it's just..." She paused
"You looked interesting."
Leon blinked.
'Is she...hitting on me?'
Sunny's mouth opened as he stared in disbelief.
"I...See"
Leon was unsure how to reply.
Before he could, Nephis turned away and left.
The end of the metal bridge hit the special grooves in the ground and stopped moving after a set of loud clicks.
Sunny finally closed his mouth,
"Is that your aspect ability? You look more handsome or something?"
Leon continued to stare at the girl,
"I'm not sure such an aspect exists."
He turned to Sunny,
"I guess I'm just likeable?"
Sunny scoffed and followed the girl into the academy.
Leon followed.
"Do. Not. Date. Her."
Noah said with a serious expression.
Leon frowned
'I wasn't even thinking about that, dude.'
he silently thought to himself.
***