No Return (Shadow Slave Fan-Fic)

Before they even knew it , winter solstice was already here.

As Levi opened his eyes , he felt like he wanted to go to sleep once again. But he forced himself to sat up immediately because he knew this feeling , he had endured it for almost a week. It was time..

This was his last day on Earth... at least for a while. By nightfall, the Spell was going to take him away once again, this time to challenge the vast expanse of the Dream Realm. What was he going to face in that ruined magical world? Would luck be on his side this time, or would there be another disaster?

There was no point in guessing. He had already done everything in his power to prepare for the inevitable. Both Sunless and him had worked hard..

He didn't know why he was thinking about Sunny at a time like this , most likely because he was the closest thing he had that resembled a "close-friend". Levi shrugged it off and got up from his bed and stretched. He took a look at his body , he was always fit , but after becoming a sleeper his muscles looked more defined. He had a lean and a toned body , even if it looked lean , his muscles carried a lot of muscle mass behind them.

With a sigh, Levi got out of bed and went along with his morning routine. This was going to be his last hot shower in a long while, he was going to really enjoy it.

***

As he walked into the cafeteria , it was filled with Sleepers. The cafeteria was full of Sleepers, but no one was talking. Everybody was in low spirits and seemed to be uncharacteristically introspective. There was no usual laughter or boisterous conversations - only the Legacies remained calm and collected. However, even they kept to themselves.

He calmly walked to the coffee machine , and poured himself some coffee. Feeling a gaze on him , he turned to the right. It was the vampire-girl , Shashi. They looked at each other for a few seconds , after it started feeling awkward , Levi nodded to her as a greeting. Fortunately she nodded back , or else he would have been very embarrassed.

Taking his cup of coffee , he walked to the "Death Corner" , but after that ranking it didn't really seem like a death corner now , because Levi had a True Name , even if he didn't participate in combat training lessons , people could see he was capable by the way he carried himself.

He took a seat , looking at Cassia and Sunless:

"Morning.."

Cassia nodded at Levi , and Sunless muttered a "good morning" back. He was adding sugar to his coffee. But suddenly Cassia's blind gaze turned to Sunless. Sunless looked a bit creeped out..

"Happy Birthday"

Sunny gave the blind girl a strange look, opened his mouth, and then closed it once again.

"Uh ... thanks."

With a nod, Cassia turned away and seemingly lost interest in having a conversation once again.

Levi looked at Sunless with narrowed eyes. Was the short bastard mingling with the blind girl when he is not around? Why did she know his birthday? But he also noticed Sunny also looked surprised. So Levi also decided to..

"So.. its your birthday huh..? Happy birthday Sunny."

Levi said with a roll of his eyes , acting all sassy because Sunny had decided to tell his birthday to Cassia instead of him. He could also see Cassia shift in her seat , he hoped that she didn't they were dating or something , that would be very funny or even horrifying. 

"Thanks to you too.."

Sunny said hesitantly as he sipped his coffee.

"Wanna go visit Teacher Julius after breakfast..?"

Sunless asked Levi , Levi looked at him for a second - he was going to go visit Teacher Julius even if Sunless hadn't invited him.

"Sure."

With that both of them got up after finishing their coffee's , Levi said 'Goodbye' to Cassia before they got up. She replied back with a nod. He pitied the woman.. he just hoped she would somehow survive in the Dream World even if the chances were very low. With that he followed Sunless to visit Teacher Julius.

They visited the Wilderness Survival classroom and said their goodbyes to Teacher Julius. The old man got pretty emotional when sending them off. He gave both young men "one last tip" a dozen or so times in a row and even promised to apply for a research assistant position to be opened after the young men had become full Awakened people.

They left thanking him for his time and teachings.

After that, there wasn't much to do.

***

When the sun was close to setting, Instructor Rock gathered them in the foyer of the Sleeper Center and led them outside.

In the snowy parks that surrounded the white building, other Awakened were leading their own batches of Sleepers to the same destination. It was the Academy's medical center.

The center looked more like a shrine than a hospital. Its interior contained both highly advanced technology as well as some of the best Healers among the Awakened. For the duration of their first journey into the Dream Realm, the bodies of Sleepers would be kept safe in specially designed pods and sustained by the magical powers of those Healers if anything unfortunate were to happen on the other side of the Spell.

Of course, whether or not they would wake up in the end wholly depended on the Sleepers themselves.

To their surprise, after entering the medical center, Instructor Rock did not take them directly to the wing containing Sleeper pods. Instead, he led them to a comparatively deserted floor and then opened the doors to a spacious gallery that was brightly illuminated by the beautiful crimson rays of the setting sun.

There, they saw rows and rows of wheelchairs. In each wheelchair, there was a person with a blank, strangely peaceful expression on their face. All these people were completely silent, motionless, and still. They did not show any reaction to the appearance of guests.

They all seemed to be ... empty.

Instructor Rock looked at the empty people with solemn eyes.

"There is a reason I brought you all here. Look well and remember. Some of you may know who these people are ... for those of you who don't, they are called Hollow."

He gritted his teeth.

"Each one of them was once either a Sleeper or an Awakened. Some of them were weak, some of them were strong. Some were even incredibly powerful. All of them have perished in the Dream Realm."

"So done die out there."

Levi look at Sunless and whispered.

"I would look creepy if I became a hollow , I think."

Sunny looked at him as if he had said the most outrageous thing , then narrowed his eyes as if imagining how he would look like if he became a hollow. He felt Sunny shiver.

"Creepy is an understatement."

As they were going to separate after a few steps , Levi stopped to looked at Sunless. He felt kind of emotional , after all he was going to leave his.. 'Closest friend' behind.

"Sunny , don't die out there."

Sunless looked at him with a smug smile.

"I am quiet unkillable.. like a cockroach.."

Levi immediately narrowed his eyes at his sarcastic comment. 

"Whatever you say , bastard.."

Sunless chuckled in an amused tone.

All Sleepers were in their personal rooms , preparing to enter their pods.

He was looking at his own pod.. once again.. he was going into the dream realm.. and he was determined. A smile crept up to his lips. With that , he stepped forward and climbed into the pod.

***

In the vast echoing darkness, he heard:

[Welcome to the Dream Realm, Levi!]