When the day began, Miguel woke up exhausted. He had no energy left in his body.
Today was the Winter Solstice.
By nightfall, he'd be entering the Dream Realm.
Not that Miguel particularly cared.
He followed his usual routine. Got out of bed, brushed his teeth, took a cold shower, got dressed, and headed to the cafeteria. He wasn't hungry... but he was pretty sure he'd find Sunny there.
"Hey, Sunny. How you holding up?" Miguel asked as he stepped into the cafeteria. Everyone around looked pale and anxious-drained by the thought of what the night would bring.
Miguel, as usual, looked relaxed and completely unfazed.
"Not much... just a little worried about entering the Dream Realm," Sunny replied. His words were calm, but he didn't seem too shaken. He and Miguel had both prepared as much as they could. Now, it was all down to luck.
A girl with blonde hair and pale blue eyes glanced at Sunny from across the table. He tensed up the moment he noticed.
"W-What?" he asked, caught off guard.
The girl smiled kindly. "Happy birthday, Sunless."
"Th-thank you..."
Miguel blinked. "Wait, it's your birthday today? Damn. Congrats, I guess. Though I gotta say... the gift you're getting ain't exactly wrapped in a bow."
"Fuck you sideways for reminding me," Sunny muttered.
"Cursing won't help, bro," Miguel replied, then turned to the blonde girl. "By the way... we never got your name."
"Oh! Right! Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself earlier," she said, a little flustered. "My name's Cassia. But since you've both kept me company, feel free to call me Cassie-or Cass."
"Nice to meet you, Cassie," Miguel and Sunny said at the same time.
After that, there wasn't much else to do.
As the sun began to set, Instructor Rock gathered all the Sleepers in the foyer of the Sleeper Center and led them outside. In the snow-covered park that surrounded the white building, other Awakened were leading their own groups to the same destination: the Academy's medical center.
Despite its name, the center looked more like a shrine than a hospital. Inside, it housed some of the best Healers among the Awakened, supported by highly advanced technology. For the duration of their first journey into the Dream Realm, Sleepers' bodies would be protected in specially designed pods, sustained by the Healers' magic... if things went wrong on the other side.
Of course, whether they'd wake up or not depended entirely on the Sleepers themselves.
To Sunny's surprise, Instructor Rock didn't take them directly to the pod chamber. Instead, he led them to a quiet, isolated floor and opened the doors to a large gallery bathed in the crimson light of the setting sun.
Inside were rows upon rows of wheelchairs.
Each one held a person with a blank, peaceful expression-completely still and silent.
Lifeless, yet breathing.
Miguel's eyes narrowed.
Sunny felt a chill crawl down his spine.
These people looked... empty.
Instructor Rock's gaze swept over the room, his voice grim. "There's a reason I brought you here. Look closely. Remember this."
He paused, jaw clenched.
"Some of you might recognize a few of them. For those who don't... these are the Hollow."
His voice hardened. "Every single one of them was once either a Sleeper or an Awakened. Some were weak. Some were powerful. Some were unbelievably powerful."
He turned toward them.
"All of them died in the Dream Realm."
Sunny's stomach dropped.
'Their... their souls are gone,' he realized, horrified.
Instructor Rock's voice cut through the silence like a blade. "If you're lucky, your body dies with your spirit. If you're not, you become like them. Hollow."
He shot a glance at Caster and Nephis, standing in the back.
"So don't die out there."
Half an hour later, each Sleeper had been taken to their assigned room to prepare for their descent.
In one room, Cassia was struggling to orient herself, her hands running along the smooth walls and strange machinery. She trembled as tears streamed down her doll-like face.
In another, Legacy Caster sat on a chair, eyes wide, staring at the floor. His lips moved silently, repeating the same strange phrase over and over again. He was shaking.
Elsewhere, Changing Star Nephis stood in silence, her hands glowing faintly with a soft white radiance beneath her skin. Her face was twisted in silent agony.
In a different room, Sunny turned away from the pod and looked down at the shadow stretching beneath him.
"Well? You ready?"
The shadow shrugged.
Sunny sighed. "Yeah, me too."
And finally, in another room, Miguel-the Dark Slayer-stretched as he lay back comfortably in the pod.
He stared up at the ceiling, smirking slightly.
"Well... this is probably the last time I'll see this place. So... thanks for everything, Academy."
In the vast, echoing darkness, a voice boomed:
[Welcome to the Dream Realm, Miguel!]