Bab 4: The Return
Sunny opened his eyes.
The armored ceiling of the police station's vault hang above him. No one would call its aesthetics beautiful, but to him, after the events of this repeated nightmare and everything prior, it was such a majestic sight. The thought that he had returned was absurd.
Now he could change it all.
At the moment, he felt safe and reassured, knowing that nothing bad is going to happen in the near future. It was a time that he could use to relax. Unlike the Third Nightmare in the Tomb of Ariel, where he remained mentally trapped for what was likely thousands of years, or the horrors of the, yet to happen, Chain of Nightmares.
It was absolute bliss.
'I returned...'
He looked down, knowing what to expect.
On a cheap plastic chair placed beside his reinforced medical bed sat Jet, the person that he considered his first mentor, the person that introduced him into the Awakened world, his dear comrade and someone that could be considered a member of the same cohort during the Third Nightmare.
She looked just like he remembered, short raven-black hair, ice-blue eyes and smooth, pale, snow-like flawless skin. The beauty standards were incredibly high in the Awakened society, but he still considered her one of the most beautiful women he has ever seen - though she would most likely disagree.
While he was studying her facial features, Jet noticed that he was staring at her and asked with a cold tone.
"What are you looking at?"
"You. I hope you don't mind me asking, I noticed the insignia on your left shoulder, are you a Master by any chance?"
Jet showed him a weak smile, she didn't seem angry at him for staring. Perhaps she was slightly interested in Sunny, because he appeared to be entirely calm after returning from his supposed First Nightmare. An experience that's considered traumatic for many.
"Indeed, you are quite observant for your age. It's a good trait to have for outskirt rats like us, and all people in general. Though.. You might want to tone it down with the staring next time, someone might take it the wrong way."
Jet chuckled a bit and continued to look at Sunny with an amused look on her face.
Sunny blinked a few times, his face flushed with embarrassment. He didn't want her to get the wrong idea, there already is a woman that he is interested in. He coughed awkwardly and tried to change the subject.
"Ehh, I don't want to be rude or anything, but did you say "outskirt rats like us"?, I wouldn't have guessed at first glance. Also, isn't it kind of below your pay grade as a Master to be taking care of a nobody like me?"
Jet stared at him for a bit after he asked, she noticed the tiniest hint of a blush on his face, realizing what he was trying to do. She leaned back on the chair and burst into loud laughter.
"Hahaha, kid you are good, I am dying here.." (too late for that)
With a slight cough, she continued.
"You're smarter than one might think. Indeed, I come from the outskirts, just like you - it's part of the reason why I am sitting here talking to you, but it's not the entire reason. Recently, there were many Gates opening in this sector. Most of the local Awakened are either wounded or preoccupied with cleaning up this mess. Or dead. It's always like that close to the winter solstice."
She tilted her head slightly and continued.
"Oh right, forgot to introduce myself - I am Ascended Jet. You can call me Master Jet, I've been on watch duty for the past three days due to your nightmare. Anyways, welcome back to the land of the living. Congratulations on surviving your First Nightmare, Sleeper Sunless."
Sunny showed her a smile and nodded.
"Thank you, it's a pleasure to meet you."
Jet spared him one last amused look and smiled, she told him to clean himself up, her exact words being something along the line of "You reek of Nightmare". He enjoyed the amazing hot shower, he didn't have a chance to have one in a long, long time. After cleaning up, he dried off and looked at his reflection in the mirror.
'I am really back, huh?'
Sunny was grinning from ear to ear, one might think he is insane, considering the crazy-looking smile on his face. But at that moment he couldn't care less if anyone saw it. He was overjoyed, his life finally showed a tinge of good luck.
His body looked the same as it did when he returned from his First Nightmare, but there was something different about his presence. His eyes. They looked like a bottomless pit of pure darkness, their onyx color shining strangely, they had the aura of absolute confidence and unimaginable resolve. While studying himself, he noticed that his shadow moved on its own for the first time, he didn't say a word and just stared at it for a bit and chuckled.
"Let's make this thing count, alright?"
His shadow didn't move, but he could feel its gaze and after a while, it just shrugged and went on to mind its business.
'Still gloomy, are we?' Sunny chuckled mentally.
Sunny went on to try out the split perception part of [Shadow Control], that he called Shadow Sense, again for the first time after regressing. The sensation felt the same, although it seemed to grow deeper and he was certain that he was seeing farther than before. It wasn't a big difference, but noticeable nonetheless. He wasn't quite sure if the distance that he could send his shadow changed, but he was inclined to believe that was the case.
After he was done checking out the effects of [Shadow Control] he tested his new Innate Ability - [Shadow Projection]. The feeling was strange, its effects were sort of what he expected. From the core of his being, shadows could be summoned and taken in - just like the Shadow Lantern. The invisible space, where the shadows went into was limited, unlike the Aspect Legacy relic. He was almost certain it would keep growing if he continued on the Path of Ascension.
'It's weird... The shadows that gather create something that feels like an extremely weakened version of the Fragment of the Shadow Domain, but I am in control of it... Is this ability perhaps the mold that'll be used to create my domain, if I were to ever become a Sovereign?'
There was still a lot he didn't understand. It was all a mystery to him. Shadow God was also known as the God of mysteries, so it was fitting that he was completely clueless, he wasn't happy about the fact though.
He was done studying his new powers, any more thinking and he was certain that his brain would cease to function. He put on a clean police-issued tracksuit, which was given to him and went to meet Jet in the cafeteria.
***
She was already waiting for him, two trays full of slightly warm synthetic food in front of her. He took longer than he thought, the food has cooled down quite noticeably. Jet didn't seem to mind it and said with a smile on her face.
"Help yourself."
With that, he sat down, gobbled down the food and had a conversation with Jet. It was the same as before. He was given some instructions and tips, she asked him if he wanted psychological counseling, which he promptly rejected. He was also given the opportunity to enroll into the Awakened Academy, which he gladly accepted. After finishing up their meal, Jet arranged for a PTV and took him on a drive to the Academy.
"Since we both come from the outskirts, I'll give you three pieces of advice. Whether you listen to me or not is your business."
Sunny turned his head, waiting for Jet to continue, already sure about what he was about to hear.
"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."
He looked at her with an emotionless face.
"I assume that I should decline, right?"
Jet nodded.
"Indeed, the less anyone knows about you and your powers, the better."
Sunny understood what she was talking about, it would make sense to share information about his powers and experiences to others, for the safety of humanity, since they are supposed to work together to save the world. But Sunny wasn't naive and knew about the risks of giving up too much information.
She continued.
"Make sure to never tell anyone your Flaw, it's the easiest way to defeat a powerful Awakened. Young idiots in the Academy are inclined to share that info, because of their naivety and the promise of receiving great rewards. But it's not worth it. I'm not saying that the government, if you decide to take on the counseling, 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."
Sunny nodded, he agreed with Jet wholeheartedly. He knew well about the pain that would follow from revealing his Flaw. After all, it happened once and he paid a great price...
"Thank you, Master Jet."
She gave him a sharp nod.
"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."
"Disregard all of that. The only course you have time to attend is Wilderness Survival."
Indeed, that would be the case if he was a regular outskirts kid. But he was already well-versed in that regard, he was also a renowned explorer back in the day, writing many reports on several mostly or completely unexplored regions of the Dream Realm. He was still going to take the course. But he wasn't going to choose only that one this time.
"Makes sense, the biggest problem in my First Nightmare was the cold. The place I ended up in had extremely harsh conditions."
Jet smiled.
"Smart. For now, you've learned how to survive in the city. But the Dream Realm is mostly made of wilderness. Making fire, procuring food, finding a safe shelter. All of those things are the most important, disregard fighting monsters. Yes, it's important, but useless if you die of hunger or exposure to the elements. I've learned it the hard way myself."
Sunny nodded, he was curious about Jet's experiences in the Dream Realm. He already knew that she died in her First Nightmare and somehow rose from the grave and finished the trial, but he didn't know much about what she actually went through afterwards. He wasn't going to ask her about it though, since it seemed rude.
The PTV stopped and they both got out, before Jet left Sunny asked her a question.
"And what's the third piece of advice?"
Master Jet glanced at him with a smile on her face.
"Remember: no one can survive in the Dream Realm alone. That's not an opinion, that's a fact. Try to get along with your peers, even if they don't treat you well. It might save your life."
She patted him on the shoulder.
"You've done well to survive until now. I believe in your survival, you seem like a smart kid, keep yourself alive in the future, too."
She grinned and added.
"Once we meet again, let me treat you to a proper meal, not that synthetic slob."
Sunny chuckled at her words.
"Sure, I'd like that. It's a promise."
Jet got into the PTV and drove off. She was gone, just like that.
***
The end of the metal bridge hit the special grooves in the ground and stopped moving after a set of loud clicks. Sunny looked ahead, already knowing what kind of life was awaiting him for the next four weeks.
He wasn't worried about it, now that he didn't have to make his reputation bad, he actually felt quite happy. He had no intention of revealing his powers nor the fact that he had obtained a True Name in his First Nightmare, just like Nephis.
Nephis...
Seemingly free of any concerns one might have while entering an institution like this, the silver-haired girl, that he knew very well, was standing close to the bridge. He remembered the first time he saw her, she wore headphones on her head, with an aura seeping out of her like she didn't belong to this world, as if she was just a visitor in an unknown place. He knew that she was just extremely socially awkward and very guarded due to the fact that there was someone waiting for her, secretly wanting to assassinate her. She also looked... younger.
'Wait!'
'D-Doesn't that make me a... a... J-just how old am I?'
He realized that he was staring at her and somehow Nephis managed to sense his gaze and looked at him without even a sign of emotion on her face. He quickly became nervous, he didn't want to get onto her bad side from the very beginning. He regained some of his composure and decided to walk up to her, fearing that she might approach him and ask why he was looking at her, making it extremely awkward.
"H-Hey! Sorry, if I was staring, I was kinda lost in thought, I didn't mean to be rude..."
Nephis stared at him, emotionless as ever. She didn't reply.
'Quick! I need to save this somehow!'
"I... ehh.. This might be a dumb question, but... is that your natural hair color?"
Nephis continued to stare at him. Sunny thought he was completely doomed, but then he was certain he heard some sort of noise coming from her throat. It was very faint, but it sounded like... was that a... chuckle?
The faintest of chuckles possible, but he was sure of it!
Nephis finally opened her mouth and said.
"No, it is not."
Sunny replied, still embarrassed.
"Oh.. is that so? So what is your natural hair color?"
Nephis stared at him for a bit before replying.
"Black."
'Well that was a very plain reply...'
"Cool.." with a slight cough he continued.
"We should probably go, we shouldn't miss the opening ceremony. Let's go, Miss...?"
He was waiting for her to finish his sentence and tell him her name, Nephis didn't seem to catch on to what he wanted from her, so she kept on staring.
After a while, Sunny decided to help her out and said:
"This is the part where you're supposed to tell me your name..."
Nephis looked at him, her face still unchanging, but after spending so much time with her, he was pretty good at reading her and knew that deep within she was embarrassed after realizing what was happening.
"Nephis." She replied, the look on her face remained the same, she didn't even twitch after embarrassing herself like that.
"Sunless, but feel free to call me Sunny." Sunny replied with a big, warm smile on his face.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
WhoKnowsTheWriter
WhoKnowsTheWriter back at it again, immaculate info dumping, the meeting...
one of yall on wattpad said that i shouldnt make it a nephis ship, since he was like 21 and she was not even an adult, so i decided to add in that little part. i think it doesn't even matter, and i am pretty sure she is 17 at this point? she'll turn 18 eventually in the forgotten shore so whatever, let's not make it weird for ourselves ight
anyways merry christmas you guys, thanks for reading
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone