Chapter 32

Dane woke up feeling languid and indescribably sapped. His throat begged for water…but the bottle was on the desk on the other side of the room. Was his body crazy? How could it ask for water yet make this bed feel as comfortable to him as it did now?

His back sunk into it, and it cushioned him. The pillow was cool to the touch, and nothing could feel better. The blanket covered him, keeping him warm from the wintry touch of the early morning, but it also felt chilled, not bitingly cold, but cool enough to drain your will to move.

The answer was yes, his lazy brain realized. He summoned the myriad vial. He brought it to his lips, the right side of his face on the pillow. The warm water dripped from the vial, seeping into his sheets.

Dane stirred, disturbed, and then settled back in. It was still comfortable. He had felt this way before…ensnared and dreamy. It gave him a feeling of unease, telling him something was wrong. Yet, it felt right enough that he wouldn't act on that unease. That fearful thought was stark and clear in his mind, like a freshly forged sword amidst an armory of dull, unfinished lumps.

He groaned, stretching in bed, twisting, and he tried to push himself off the bed. The blanket rolled around him, trapping him, or was it his hands pulling the blanket? He fell on the floor with a thud. "What a great start to the morning," he muttered.

Dane painstakingly freed himself from the blanket, slapped himself awake, and began his morning routine. A hot bath almost lulled him to sleep, so he switched to cold water. Dane wondered if the others felt prepared for their descent into the Dream Realm. He didn't feel all that ready. While others may have been training all day, he wasn't. His limit was five hours a day. That meant that when Dane factored in the rest time that the other Sleepers took, he trained one day for every three or four days they trained.

He felt severely underprepared, and for some reason, he couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible would happen. He shook his head, dressed himself, and headed to the cafeteria.

It was full of Sleepers, but the tension inside was unrecognizable. Other than the clinking of utensils, it was silent. The suffocating atmosphere did him no favors, so Dane nodded Sunless a hello, grabbed a hot coffee, and left. It was cold outside, with the winter snow falling. He shielded his cup with his body and found a seat in the park.

He had always hated days like this. When Eliana ventured into the Dream Realm for the first time, the pit in his stomach didn't leave him until she returned three months later. Now, that pit was hollower, darker, and colder.

He sipped the bitter coffee. He had forgotten the sugar in his hurry to leave. He sighed, summoning the Gargantuan Sack. He pulled out a packet of sugar. He wondered what he was doing…when did he get so choosey? Sunless had grown up in the outskirts. He doubted the boy had ever had a cup of good hot coffee before this month, and here he was. How spoiled. He put the sugar back and dismissed the Memory.

He was being too hard on himself, he knew. But it was hard not to be. He felt lonely. He was surrounded by people who seemed alien to him. It was like he wasn't there or even human. He was to blame, probably. He was too afraid of putting himself out there.

A voice came.

He almost jumped, turning to look behind him. A girl stood behind him, a large drawing book and pencil pouch in hand. Her gray-green eyes looked into his, and snow stuck to her brown hair.

Dane reached into his pocket and pulled out the thin glass.

["Are you nervous?" - Unknown]

"Yeah," he said. The girl sat down beside him, staring at the park. All the leaves were gone, fallen to the ground. ["If it makes you feel any better, I'm sure you'll do fine." - Unknown]

Dane leaned against the bench lazily. "Thank you…"

["I'm Catphine. My dad works here as a professor." - Unknown. Would you like to save this voice under the introduced name 'Catphine'?

{Yes} {No}]

Dane clicked yes. "I'm Dane."

She nodded, carefully drawing something in her book. "I've heard. One of the two Sleepers who got a True Name but only goes to a Memory Utilization class." - Catphine]

"That's me," he chuckled. "What are you drawing?"

She paused, looking at him thoughtfully. ["I'm not sure yet. I'm still deciding if I should draw what I see or what I think spring will be like." - Catphine]

"Spring is far away," he mused.

She smiled. ["Closer than summer." - Catphine]

It was closer than summer. They didn't speak after that, leaving each other to themselves. He peeked at her drawing from time to time. She had chosen to draw spring, with thick leaves, blooming flowers, and a bright sky.

Dane got up after some time. Maybe it was just being around a person, but he didn't feel as bad as he did before. ["Best of luck." - Catphine]

He smiled at the girl. "Thanks."

Dane visited Professor Noble's classroom later, exchanged pleasantries, and left. When it was close to sunset, the Sleepers gathered in the foyer before Awakened Rock and were led outside.

They were led to the medical center, joining up with all the other batches of Sleepers. During their journey to the Dream Realm, they would be kept safe in sleeping pods powered by the best technology. And they would be sustained by powerful Healers. All of that would be here.

Awakened Rock first showed them the wing containing the Hollows. Dane did not bother. He had already seen all of it. After a speech, they were led to their rooms.

***

Dane closed his eyes, already in his pod. "Glory to the Gray Gust," he whispered. He was as ready as he ever would be. Sleep harvested his consciousness soon after.

In the vast, echoing darkness, he heard the Spell.

[Welcome to the Dream Realm, Dane!]

With that, he felt himself falling. When he opened his eyes, he saw a beautiful silver moon in the sky, shining softly over a tranquil desert. He was falling towards its dark dunes. And then, it was tranquil no more.

All the sand in the world erupted into the sky, and he saw hundreds of thousands of perfectly black bones emerging from the ground as if crawling out of the cursed pit of Hades.

***

A/N: Taking a day's break. Chapters will start rolling out again the day after tomorrow...also leave a Review!