in shadow slave

Ares opened his eyes for the third time, hopefully, another nightmare wasn't waiting for him.

He almost cried with relief as his eyes met with an armored ceiling of sorts, he could also feel his body being restrained by the bed he was sleeping on.

He stayed calm and observed his surroundings before taking any actions, he was in unfamiliar territory after all. Surrounding him were sturdy steel walls, and not far from him lay another empty bed with a cheap plastic chair near it.

His eyes then fixed on the steel door across from him as he could hear footsteps nearing the room.

The door opened and then a woman entered, as their eyes met, he was sure she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and the most dangerous, she was no ordinary woman alright. She had short, raven-black hair and icy-blue eyes. Her flawless skin was smooth, supple, and as white as snow.

She wore a a dark blue uniform fashioned with silver epaulets and black leather boots, her jacket was unbuttoned, displaying the dark tank top underneath, which somehow emphasized her assets, he didn't miss the insignia on her left sleeve, showcasing three stars.

'must be a member of the military or the government' Of course she was also sizing me up, Her eyes met mine as she spoke, "Like what you see?"

Honestly? Yes, but I ain't gonna say it right now.

*cough cough* "Sorry but, who are you? And where am I?"

" tch..smart...I am ascended jet, you were in a nightmare earlier, so you're being restrained in this police bunker in case of...failing. and who might you be?"

I'm sure she sounded like she wanted to smack me or something, anyway, ascended ? Gotta be a high position from her authoritative tone.

"My name is Ares...honestly that's all I remember..." she flashed me a pitying look as she sighed.

"must be one hell of a nightmare huh" She then undid my restraints and patted me on the shoulder, "Go wash yourself, you reek of the spell, and come to the station cafeteria for a briefing after you finish." she then turned and left me alone.

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"ah~ now this is worth living for~" Ares mused as hot water washed his body. The station's showers were empty so he enjoyed himself to the fullest.

After a few minutes, he turned off the water tap and left to the towel rack, as he was passing by he saw his reflection in the mirror for the first time.

"...jeez, no way that's me."

A perfectly symmetrical face, healthy pale skin, and flowing long crimson red hair that looked aflame. His pupils were unnaturally red, demanding attention. ( search Medici from lotm)

his body looked sculpted, perfectly made for battle, he stood at around 185cm, taller than the average man, looking down, it seemed the well gifted him in more ways than one.

"you know what, that pain was totally worth it."

After a few minutes, he was wearing a police tracksuit and heading towards the cafeteria. Waiting for him was master jet and another girl at one of the tables, the girl, in particular, was eating the food as if she had been starving for decades.

As he was walking towards the table, he felt numerous gazes on him, 'What? Never seen a red-haired guy before?'

The petite girl with a stuffed mouth finally took notice of Ares as he sat down.

*cough cough* she choked on the food the moment she saw his face, she reminded him of a small raccoon or a squirrel.

Taking a closer look at her, she looked pale, but not that healthy paleness, she looked malnourished and weak, but behind that facade lay a treacherous woman that would survive no matter what.

"Princess finally decided to show up, you sure are a sight....lucky brat, not even a master and yet..." she whispered the last part loud enough for me to hear.

I sheepishly scratched my head, 'it wasn't for free you know'

"I'll take that as a compliment"

"Anyway, since we're tight on time, I'll do the briefing while you guys eat. As I was telling your sleep buddy sunny here, I'm obliged to inform you of a few things. It's mostly a formality. First of all, regarding your first nightmare..." she glanced at both of them and sighed.

"you are entitled to receive free psychological counseling, no matter what traumatic experiences you have encountered, there is no shame in asking for help. Your mind is as important as your body, it is only right to keep it healthy, are any of you interested?"

Sunny and Ares both shook their heads, Jet nodded and continued.

"as you wish, you could also talk to me. Was it very hard?"

Sunny thought a bit and answered vaguely. "it was simultaneously much worse than I expected and exactly as bad as I expected." she seemed proud of that smart answer.

"And you, Ares?" master jet fixed her cold eyes on him.

'was it hard? Yes, you could say I even died' 

Ares sighed, "It was hard, it's not easy being hunted by a rabid dog, but the sucker got what it deserved."

Both Sunny and Master Jet knew it was not as simple as he made it to be, but they didn't fix on it, everybody had secrets.

"that's a nice attitude, I won't pry further, us outskirt rats are way more resilient than people think.

Sunny was surprised by what she heard, "Master Jet...did you say you grew up on the outskirts?"

"what? You can't tell because of my exquisite manners and polished exterior?" she flashed her a cheeky grin.

"I couldn't tell at all" Sunny muttered as she glanced back at Ares, "and you're telling me HE is from the outskirts too?" she pressed on the 'he' as if she couldn't believe someone as good-looking and tall could be from the outskirts, where everyone Is hungry and malnourished, barely scraping by.

'the outskirts gotta be a bad place for all of this reaction'

"truth be told I found him passed out in the outskirts naked, I'm pretty sure city folk don't wander in those parts, in addition, there is no trace of him in the government system"

Sunny had her mouth open at the confirmation, "of course, he did not look like this before, he was just a scrawny brat just like you"

*pfft* my bad I couldn't hold it, wait, that means me as well!

"what are u laughing at, giant!" she glared knives at him

"better than being a munchkin in my books"

"the hell is even a munchkin ?!"

"Alright you two, I'm not done talking" master Jet cleared her throat.

"There aren't many of us outskirts in the awakened, in fact, you could count them on one hand."

'yikes, that ain't a good sign'

Sunny seemed encouraged instead.

"is that all?" Ares asked while eating.

"There are some additional loops to jump through, mostly having to do with your families, but… well. based on your files and your lack of...I know it doesn't apply. The only thing left is to decide how you will be preparing for your first journey into the Dream Realm."

She looked at her communicator and grimaced.

"I must stay, your luck is exceptionally bad. There's not a lot of time at all. First of all: you are free to do what you want. No one is forcing you to make a certain decision. That is to say, you can choose to prepare on your own, or not prepare at all. Party until the lights go out."

'yeah no thanks for offering'

"However, I would advise against that. As a Sleeper, you are also entitled to enroll in the Awakened Academy. You'll be provided with food, lodging, and a wide choice of preparatory classes. This late into the year, you won't be able to learn a lot. But it's better than nothing."

She was silent for a few seconds, then added:

"More importantly, you will get acquainted with most of the people who will enter the Dream Realm with you. Some of them might become your companions for life." 'dream realm? and it seems monsters aren't the only thing I should look out for.' she then looked at me.

"you'll get everything later, there isn't enough time."

"So, what do you say? Do you want me to take you to the Academy?"

Sunny thought for a bit, the free food and lodging enticed her.

"Yeah. I want to go to the Academy." *sniff sniff* I could smell the poverty, not that I'm one to talk.

seeing as it is Ares's only option, and his only chance to learn of what's going on, he swallowed his food and replied.

"what the midget said."

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and that's my first ever character interaction, tell me how I did Xd