Shadow Slave: Rainy Days

The Awakened Academy is a place made for helping newly awakened people through their Nightmares and nurturing them into confident Awakened. And in front of the large red gates which lead into the academy, stood a singular girl.

She was tall, slender and had silver-white hair, which was cut short around her neck. She had just conquered her First Nightmare a few hours ago and been sent here to the academy directly after- also the reason why she still wore a police-issued tracksuit.

She had no belongings, except for a pair of old-fashioned headphones, which she wore neatly on her head, as she calmly listened to music. There was also a detached look on her face, like her mind wasn't thinking about the presence but about something important far into the future, which made her seem somewhat unapproachable.

And that girl's name was Nephis.

When the gates began to open, the sight of ridiculously thick and reinforced metal slowly descending, morphing into a long bridge, filled her vision.

Nephis stayed motionless for a while, charmed by the beautiful sight of snow falling from the sky, which made her freeze into the moment.

Exactly when a snowflake landed on Nephis's small nose, she stepped forward confidently, and walked along the bridge.

***

The sleeper part of the Academy was by comparison one of the smaller ones, being situated on the southern part of the Academy, and fully surrounded by training fields and parks.

It was a modern building constructed with reinforced walls, like most of the buildings in the academy. The building was relatively small, at least when you looked at it from the outside- most of it was underground after all.

And inside the building were many newly awakened sleepers- Nephis of course included, who had just been lead here a few minutes ago. The hall where Nephis stood in was large, easily accommodating hundreds of Sleeper right at this moment.

She quickly moved towards a corner in the back, leaning against the wall and continuing to listen to music, while also analyzing the room.

One thing she quickly noticed was that her clothes alone already made her stand out from the rest. While she still wore a police-issued tracksuit, everyone else either had on suits or high quality clothes. The reason for that was that they had probably awoken a few days ago, and not just some mere hours, like how Nephis did.

Everyone was waiting for the introduction ceremony at this moment, which was normally held each month, but now, since the winter solstice was close, every week. They needed to be held that often, since people got infected randomly and at any time, meaning that an introduction ceremony being held once a year, like how they were at normal academies , was rather unpractical and really stupid.

Thankfully, the ceremony was about to be held today, meaning that Nephis didn't have to wait as long as pretty much everyone else in this hall did.

Nephis took a deep breath, closing her eyes and just listening to the song she was listening to at the moment, which was sung by a really famous singer called Night.

'I'll guide you as your lullaby,

And protect you from the horrors that comes with Night

Help you cross the dreams safely,

Where shadows can't reach and steal you away from me

Through the darkness, I'll be your light,

Singing about peace, so the fear won't bright.', sang Nephis softly in her mind, slowly copying the beautiful voice of the singer.

But her thoughts were cut off, as she felt something- no someone, having just run into her.

When she opened her eyes, Nephis saw a girl the same age as hair, with golden blonde hair and breathtaking blue eyes. She was a little bit smaller than her, so she normally would've looked up while speaking to Nephis, but the girl didn't. Why ? Nephis would realize in a second.

"Oh, I'm so s-sorry for having run into you. My flaw makes me blind, and I still haven't mastered walking around like this, stupid me. Ah, I forgot to introduce myself .. My name is Cassie."

Nephis looked at the blind girl, whose name she now knew. Nephis didn't really care that the girl had run into her, she also wouldn't if Cassie wasn't blind- but Cassie now definitely intrigued her.

'She has a flaw that makes her blind ? Her Aspect must be strong, then.'

"It's alright, Cassie.", Nephis started calmly. "Things like this happen, especially when your blind, I guess. My name is Nephis, by the way.

The blind girl smiled gently, which seemingly made the whole room grow brighter.

"Thank you for reacting like that ! I have already experienced people getting mad at me for this exact situation. I'll see you later in the Academy then, I don't want to take too much of your time after all. I'll see you later ? That doesn't make a lot of sense for me, I should probably say something like I'll hear you later ? Ah, I'm talking too much again. Well then, bye Nephis.", said Cassie, before slowly and carefully walking off.

'What a … weird girl.'

***

Just when Nephis wanted to fall back into the music she was listening to, a tall man in a dark blue uniform stepped onto the stage, gaining the attentions of hundreds of sleepers at the same time.

The man wasn't just tall, but a giant of sorts- not only because of his height, but also because of his shoulders.

The tall man took a long look around the whole hall, observing every single new sleeper individually. His eyes seemed to linger on Nephis for a little while longer though.

"I am Awakened Rock. Sleepers, welcome to the Academy."

The voice of everyone muffled down because of Awakened Rock's strong Voice.

"In just short off a month, you all will be summoned into the Dream Realm. Some of you, especially the legacies will think that you are well prepared. To put it shortly, you are not. The spell is not something you can just train for. It will hit you like a brick, especially when you think everything is going well. I've seen countless of people like you die- and every single lost life was already too much. So don't get too confident in yourselves. I've seen master, even Saint die- and they are way stronger compared to the likes of you."

'I will survive. There is no other option for me. The spell will die by my hands.', Nephis thought, being fully convinced that she would archive her goal.

"During the next four weeks, we teachers will do everything in our power to prepare you for your time in the Dream Realm. But that shouldn't give you false hope. In the end, you're still the only one who can keep you alive, so don't forget that. And now, let's get to the differences of Nightmares and the Dream Realm."

Nephis closed her eyes, seeing no reason to continue listening, since she already knew everything she needed to, before falling back into the world of music.

Nightmares and the Dream Realm are connected in a way, but they still are very different from one another. For starters, a Nightmare makes you follow a "story" of sorts. Your objective is to either stop a conflict or kill a certain Nightmare Creature.

Nightmares are also "fair", everyone having a certain limit of a highest rank a Nightmare Creature can have.

In the meantime, the Dream Realm is like a second world you visit, fully filled with millions, maybe even with billions of Nightmare Creatures. In the Dream Realm, you do not have to follow a story, but rather reach a gateway to escape back into the real world. But what makes it truly dangerous is that there is no limit to a rank a monster can have. You could theoretically get killed by an unholy titan the second you appear in the Dream Realm, and literally do nothing about it.

"This is all for today. Next, follow the instructions send to your communicator to find your assigned dormitory. Once settled, you may proceed to the cafeteria for some late supper. You'll be interviewed after that, so we can prepare your curriculums. And one last thing, your training will start tomorrow, so get a good night of rest."

***

Nephis followed the instructions on her communicator, quickly finding her neat little room and deciding to rest in it. After a while, she got another message on her communicator, which basically just told her that her interview was about to take place.

She sighed and got up from her bed, before walking off to the designated room.

Inside the small office room, Nephis found herself in front of an administrative worker. The worker seemed very kind and spoke in a soft tone.

The first thing she die was ask Nephis if she wanted to get therapy, which Nephis declined.

The rest of the interview went pretty much exactly like the conversation before.. Nephis always either declined something or said that she didn't want to give any information. She of course did that so no one could use her flaw or her own abilities against her.

But there was one thing she actually did reveal about herself, her true name. She found no reason to keep it hidden, since it basically would only bring respect and admiration, which would definitely come in handy.

The administrative worker, of course shocked, quickly ended the interview after.

Nephis then walked back towards her dorm room, before brushing her teeth and quickly falling asleep.

'My first day in the Academy … I can't wait till I'll go into the Dream Realm.'