Dreamless

Valentine woke up, he had no dreams for the past few weeks and last night was no exception. It was now roughly a month since he had been at the school. In that time other than the battle at New Alubon, nothing major had come up. A few lesser titans here and there but nothing to the level that Mantes was. Nowhere close. The class had gotten closer and more comfortable with each other, which was the goal of the dorm's environment. However, Valentine was still completely oblivious to what he had said in his sleep. Which had led to some... awkward situations.

The morning after the "incident":

Valentine walked out of his bedroom, He slept fine, although didn't dream which was odd. He saw Caira in the kitchen getting herself breakfast.

"Good morning." Val said. As he did she seemed to jump a bit and her eyes looked shocked.

"Ah... Good morning." Caira spoke softly.

"Sorry for passing out the way I did last night. I don't know what came over me. By the way, who should I thank for bringing me to my room?" Asked Val.

"Don't worry about it, and that would be Tyson." Replied Caira. The rest of that day was just training but a pattern from that day forward began to emerge.

First week in at the school:

Val woke up. Not in his bed, but in the training field. He looked at his phone and it read 2:13 A.M.

"How the fuck did I fall asleep here? No dream again too huh? That's a week straight." Val thought to himself. He walked out of the field toward the stairs. As he was going up he thought he heard a voice at the top of the stairs. He walked a bit faster to see if he could catch who it was. As he neared the top he crouched and walked silently. As he peeked up he saw Ubel and Caira sitting at the lounge. He closed his eyes and focused on listening.

"I feel like we shoulda told the teachers." Said Caira

"He'll be fine, he's tougher than nails, I broke his wrists in the entry tests and it didn't phase him at all. What's the worst that could happen anyway. As for me, if I got woken up in the middle of my sleep I'd be pretty pissed. So it's best if we don't." Whispered Ubel.

"I suppose you're right, I'm gonna head to bed now, goodnight." Replied Caira.

"I'm off too, goodnight." Ubel said. Both of them walked back to their rooms. Val crouched up the stairs hoping not to be spotted by anyone else who may have been up. Right as he opened his door he felt as if he was being watched. He snapped around and peeking out from around the corner was Caira. He wasn't sure if she saw him, however, because the room was pitch black. The thing was, his night vision was extraordinarily good because of the extensive training he had gone through as a child. He stood there in the dark for a moment, barely even breathing. For what felt like an eternity, he just watched in the inky black as the faint image of Caira peered out from her door.

"Someone's there." Caira told herself. "Should I see who it is? Wait, what if it's Val? I don't want to make a scene. Fuck why'd I have to have this damn ability?" She continued. Suddenly, the emotions she felt from earlier changed from an alert to calm. She heard a faint rustle around her and began to panic. She slammed her door shut as fast and quietly as possible. Her heart was beating out of her chest.

Second week in at the school:

Val and Elof had been doing primarily separate training from the main class for obvious reasons. However, they still did a portion of the normal routine such as basic sparring and the in-class work. It was a windy morning when the class was doing climbing drills, hands only. Caira was almost at the top when her hand slipped. She began to fall nearly thirty feet when her arm was grabbed by something. Val had grabbed her arm at around the twenty-meter mark, him being the third-highest on the pillar. His fingers had dug into the wooden handholds, nearly breaking them in half from putting all his power into the one hand. Caira snapped out of her shock and grabbed back onto the pillar. The class ended up all getting to the top. Caira looked around for Val, and as she spotted him, he jumped.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING YOU LUNATIC!" Screamed Elof. Val almost reached the ground before Sheppard stepped in and broke his fall, catching him inches from the ground.

"I already know what you were trying to do and trust me, the only thing that's gonna do is open a casket with your name on it. Not your Halo. The rest of the class ran down with Elof in the lead.

"Have you actually lost it?" Asked Elof.

"No, I was seeing if a near-death event would allow me to awaken my Halo. Turns out according to Sheppard that's not gonna go as I had hoped." Replied Valentine. He looked at his peers and most of them either had a look of disbelief or were laughing. But he caught a glimpse at Caira and thought he almost saw a look of concern.

Back to present:

It was about one in the morning, Val had gotten up to use the bathroom but decided to go for a stroll instead. It had now been a month since he'd had a dream which was almost unnerving. As he walked around the corner to head to the field he crashed into someone.

"Shit are you alright? Sorry I spaced out there and didn't see- Oh Caira, what're you doing up?" Asked Valentine.

"Just getting water." She replied quietly. She quickly got to her feet and began walking away briskly.

"Wait." Val said in a stern but quiet voice. "Why have you been avoiding me for the past month. You barely spoke to me in the mornings when I saw you, and I don't even think I got a thank you for catching you on the climbing drill. We've been working as a group for a month now, if I'm doing something wrong or you just don't like me you can tell me. I won't be offended, in fact, I'd rather you be honest." He told her. There was a deep silence. Her face was red and she was looking at the floor.

"I'm sorry, I should've said something about the pillar. I really am grateful, I was just in shock. I'm really sorry. You aren't doing anything wrong, in fact, you're one of the best in our class." She muttered. "It's just something you said after the battle at New Alubon. I don't know if you were asleep or not, but you said something about not wanting to fight me in the entries." She continued softly.

Valentine's face went pale with realization.

"No, there's no chance, of all the things I could have said in my sleep it was that?" He thought to himself. He tried to speak but no words came out.

"I- I'm sorry." He croaked. Her eyes shot up.

"No no no it's fine, this is my fault for getting so worked up over it. I shouldn't have treated you like some kind of outcast. Especially after you saved me from that fall." She said hastily.

"Hey, don't worry about it. let's head back to the dorms, honestly, I think we're both too tired to be talking about this right now." Val whispered. They walked back to their rooms in silence. When they reached the lobby Val turned to Caira as she walked toward her dorm.

"Goodnight, and thanks for worrying about me when I passed out in the field that one night, although Ubel was right. I woulda been just fine. But again thank you, it's the thought that counts." Valentine said quietly.

"Goodnight, and thank you." Caira whispered. Right as Valentine was about to ask what for, she closed the door. So he turned and barged into Wade's room.

"Please tell me I didn't say IT." He groaned.

"For one, It's like two in the morning so fuck you for waking me up, and for two; yeah you did. To quote "I don't like fighting pretty girls." Nice job numbnuts." Wade said groggily. Without a word, Val left his room and went back to his. He shut the door and shoved his face in his bed. Not a sound or word from him was made for the rest of the night. He opened his eyes what felt like a few hours later and began to walk around. It was still dark. It almost seemed like it was darker than before which was odd. Then it hit him, he couldn't see in the dark at all. He was basically blind. All he could see was the light from the kitchen appliances and other electronics. His heart started pounding as he began to run through his head the different things that could be causing this. It didn't take long for him to come to the conclusion that it must have been a dream. He balled up his fists and punched himself in the face as hard as he could. Nothing but a now aching jaw. He darted into the kitchen and looked around. He saw a knife in the sink. He grabbed it and without hesitation sliced the palm of his hand. All of a sudden he felt something grab his shoulder. He span around and raised the knife ready to strike.

"Val!"

His eyes shot open he was starring Caira right in the face as the doors to the other rooms swung open. He realized he had been sleepwalking the entire time. His hand was dripping with blood and in his other hand, the knife was high in the air ready to be brought down. His face filled with embarrassment. He quickly dropped the knife and went over to the sink. He turned on the faucet and began washing out the massive gash in his hand. He couldn't look at anyone now, especially not Caira.

"What the fuck was that? Why did that happen and to me of all people?" Val thought to himself.

"Hey, do you need to go down to the med bay? I can take you there if you want." Caira murmured.

Val looked sheepishly at the ground. He could barely look at her, much less let her be the one to take her down.

"I'm fine, just a small cut." Val whispered.

"Don't lie, I can see it from here. You need to go down. C'mon." Caira grabbed Val by the arm and began to walk toward the stairs. Val didn't fight it, he was too tired and far too embarrassed to. The med bay door opened, and Val walked up to the front desk.

"Jesus Christ it's like three in the morning, how the hell did you do this?" asked the nurse.

"Long story..." Val said faintly. They quickly finished sealing the cut and headed off back to the dorms. Val walked slightly behind Caira so as to not instigate discussion.

"You know that's not gonna work right? You're like eight feet behind me." Said Caira. "Now please, tell me what happened." She continued. Val looked up hesitantly, then slowly opened his mouth.

"I haven't been dreaming for about a month now. I didn't pay much mind to it until recently, and then tonight I actually had a dream. But it was more of a lucid nightmare than anything else. It was pitch black and I had this overwhelming sense of dread, and I think you know the rest." He said lowly.

"We'll go to the Headmaster first thing in the morning. He of all people should know how to fix this. He probably won't be too pleased to be dealing with something this trivial but if there's any sure-fire way to get to the bottom of it, it'll be through him." Caira said confidently.

" Yeah... that sounds like a good idea." Responded Val. he was shocked that she wasn't mad. He almost stabbed her not twenty minutes ago but she didn't seem to care.

The next morning he and Caira went up to the Headmaster's office as planned. They entered the massive room. To the left was a bookshelf nearly fifteen feet high and at least thirty across filled completely with books. On the right was a wall of artifacts of some sort, ranging from amulets to swords. On the ceiling was a masterful artwork with a massive shining chandelier. Finally at the end of the room was a massive crescent desk with a large leather chair. Behind it was a huge bay window overlooking most of the school. However, there in the leather chair sat the headmaster Faulknor.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Asked Faulknor. Val stepped forward toward the desk.

He spoke as clearly and as confidently as he could, "Last night there was an... incident. Over the past month, I haven't had a single dream. That wouldn't normally be an issue, however, I think there is a connection between that and what happened last night. I had a dream that was incredibly vivid and it gave me a horrible sense of dread and despair. I also was sleepwalking during the whole time and almost stabbed Caira. I know this is not the best use of your time but I was hoping I could get your assistance in solving this."

Faulknor looked calmly at Valentine with a slight grin. Then, he closed his eyes and spoke. "I regret to inform you, but I don't think there is much I can do for you at the moment. My powers are far weaker than they were in the past. However, I can put a guardian seal on you in case this is being caused by some malicious entity. If it is simply a mental issue, you can go down to the med bay and get yourself a dreamcatcher. Other than that I'm afraid I cannot be of any more use. I applaud you for your diligence on this issue though."

"Oh, this was all Caira's idea. She deserves the credit for this." Val sheepishly spoke. Faulknor looked over toward Caira and then back at Valentine.

"I applaud you both, Caira for the diligence, and you for the humility to follow. You are not one to be accustomed to being a follower yet you were one without issue. Your humility is quite promising. As for you Caira, I look forward to seeing you take the rains more often. You have superb intuition and I see you are not afraid of being blunt either. Being able to direct either of the twins is quite impressive."

"Thank you very much, sir." Caira blushed.

"You two may leave and continue on with your day. I hear there are big things planned for the first-year class this week." Said Faulknor.

Both of them walked out of the room, slightly in shock. There was little conversation between them as they moved down toward the field. Just talk about trivial things, but it was normal, the most normal talk they'd had yet. Things seemed to be settling back together.

"We're going to the Glass City this week for a field trip. It will be primarily R&R. But there will be a lot of important history assignments while we're there. It's an all-expenses-paid trip, so don't worry about bringing money unless you plan on doing something really outrageous." Stated Sheppard. The class looked in shock, Glass City was one of the most luxurious cities in the world post-war. It was one of the only ones that weren't significantly affected by the fighting which was ironic considering its name. This was a real chance for everyone to get well-needed rest and for everyone to properly enjoy time with each other for the first time. It was the break everyone needed.