The morning sunlight bled through the dusty classroom windows, casting golden stripes across the chalkboard. Kael rested his chin on his palm, staring at absolutely nothing. His eyelids felt like bricks, his mind replaying fragments of the night before: whispers, endless dunes, a monstrous beast collapsing in a rain of shadows.
And then Juno screaming as the corruption tried to drag her away.
Kael shook his head. It was just a dream, he wanted to tell himself. But the faint ache in his fists—the ghost of fire and water that had coursed through him—was proof enough.
Across the aisle, Juno wasn't doing much better. Her head was buried in her arms, and every so often her shoulders twitched like she was still fighting in her sleep.
Talia, however, sat perfectly straight at her desk, uniform immaculate, eyes fixed on the board as though she actually cared about whatever geometry problem was scrawled there. She looked… composed. Untouched. If you hadn't seen her last night slicing apart an abomination made of whispers, you'd think she'd spent the evening studying.
Kael couldn't help but glance her way. She caught his eye for half a second. Just half. And then she looked away.
A faint smile touched her lips.
Marco saw it.
At the back of the room, Marco's jaw tightened. He leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, eyes narrowing at Kael. Everyone knew Talia hardly ever smiled at anyone. Yet somehow, the quiet transfer student who barely spoke to people had gotten her to crack.
His two cronies noticed too. One elbowed him. "Hey, boss… did you see that? Talia actually—"
"Shut it," Marco snapped, though his eyes never left Kael. His mind was already spinning with ways to knock the other boy down.
When the bell rang, the students flooded into the hallway, chatter echoing off the tiled walls.
Juno stumbled along beside Kael, yawning so wide she nearly walked into a locker. "I feel like I fought a war in my sleep."
Kael gave her a sideways glance. "You did."
"Right. So, not just me then?"
"Not just you."
"Good. Because if I was dreaming about monsters while you two were dreaming about—uh—I don't know, unicorns or something, I would've been really mad."
Kael smirked. "Definitely not unicorns."
"Dragons then?"
"Closer."
Juno squinted at him. "You're not funny, you know that?"
"You're just slow."
Before Juno could shove him into the wall, Talia's voice cut in from behind. "Both of you. Lower your voices."
They turned to see her walking calmly, as though the crowded hallway parted for her on instinct. She wasn't wrong—students gave her space, their curious stares lingering on her expensive watch, her perfectly neat uniform, her aura of untouchable grace.
"Right," Juno muttered, "because the hallway police might arrest us for excessive sarcasm."
Kael snorted. Talia gave Juno a flat look.
"…That was a joke," Juno added weakly.
By lunch, Marco had made his move.
Kael, tray in hand, scanned the cafeteria for a seat. Most tables were full, noisy with chatter and laughter. He spotted Juno waving him over—she had already claimed a corner table, her plate piled high with fries she was clearly losing a battle against. Talia sat beside her, sipping water as though she had been born in a palace.
Kael was halfway there when Marco's foot shot out.
Tray. Air. Food. Disaster.
Kael stumbled, barely catching himself, but his lunch didn't survive. Fries scattered across the tiles, juice splattering across his uniform shirt.
"Oh, my bad," Marco said, leaning back casually in his chair. His friends snickered. "Didn't see you there."
The cafeteria hushed. All eyes turned to them.
Kael clenched his fists. Fire itched at his palms. He could almost see the flames dancing, begging to come out. But he forced them down. Not here. Not like this.
Instead, he straightened, meeting Marco's smug grin with a calm stare. "You need new lines. That one's ancient."
A ripple of laughter spread across the cafeteria. Marco's grin faltered.
Kael stepped over the mess, not sparing him another glance, and slid into the seat beside Juno.
"Smooth," Juno whispered, shoving a fry into her mouth. "Very smooth."
Talia's eyes lingered on Kael for a moment longer, unreadable, before she looked away again.
Marco's fists tightened under the table. This isn't over.
The rest of the day passed in a haze of classes and stolen glances. Talia never spoke much, but when Kael passed her a pen in math, she thanked him quietly—and Juno nearly choked on air when she saw it.
After school, the trio walked out together, the sun painting long shadows across the pavement.
"So," Juno said, kicking a pebble along the sidewalk, "do we… talk about it? Y'know, last night? Or do we just pretend none of it happened?"
Kael shoved his hands in his pockets. "What's there to talk about?"
"I don't know, maybe the fact that we were literally fighting monsters made of smoke?"
Talia's voice was calm, but firm. "Pretending it didn't happen won't change the fact that it did."
"See? Exactly," Juno said, pointing at Talia like she'd won a debate. "We're all in this together now, right?"
Kael glanced at them both. Talia, composed as ever. Juno, still jittery but determined. Something in his chest tightened, like a thread was pulling the three of them closer.
"…Yeah," he said finally. "Together."
That night, when he closed his eyes, the dunes stretched before him once more. The Dream Realm.
And waiting for them, the hooded figure.
"Your trial has only begun," he said, his voice echoing across the endless sands. "The corruption stirs. You will need more than strength. You will need each other."
Kael exchanged a glance with Talia, then Juno.
Somehow, he knew. Whatever came next, their lives would never be the same.