No Return (Shadow Slave Fan-Fic)

After some chit-chat , Master Jet had sent of them to take a hot-shower in the police station. Saying that they both reeked of a "nightmare."

The shower felt nice and refreshing. Levi let himself relax as the nightmare was over. Now that the poison was gone.. he was feeling much calmer.. He was not so weak minded after all.. it was just a curse.. But he was still filled with hatred.

He slapped himself across the face , forcing himself to forget all of those things.. he wanted to relax for a while. And.. the small guy was talking to himself on the other side of the room.. 

'weirdo..'

They did not really chat with each-other. Both were introverted it seems. A few minutes after that, they were wearing a clean police-issued tracksuit and heading for the cafeteria. Master Jet was waiting for them at one of the tables, with three trays full of steaming synthetic food in front of her. 

"Help yourselves."

They both took a seat.. eating like hungry wolves , it seemed like both of them had forgotten their manners..

After they finished the food Master Jet spoke up once again.

"Then I'll begin. As per protocol, I am obligated to inform you of a few things. It is mostly a formality. First of all, concerning

your Nightmare ... "

She glanced at him and sighed.

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

Sunny shook his head , Levi also followed suit. Jet shrugged and continued:

"As you wish. You can also talk to me. Was it very hard?"

Sunless Looked at Master Jet and answered.

"It was simultaneously much worse than I expected and exactly as bad as I expected."

Then Master Jet looked at Levi.

"It was bad."

She nodded, satisfied with that explanation.

"That's a good attitude. I won't pry any further. Us outskirt rats are way more resilient than people think."

Sunny looked at her in surprise.

"Master Jet ... you grew up in the outskirts?"

She grinned.

"What? You can't tell because of my exquisite manners and polished exterior?"

He blinked a couple of times, surprised.

"I couldn't tell at all."

"me neither."

Sunless looked at Levi.

"Your from outskirts too?"

"Yes."

Sunless looked at Levi , analyzing him.

"I couldn't tell about you either. You look too good to be an outskirt rat."

"Uh.. thanks..?"

Master Jet scoffed , amused.

"So ... what happens now? What else are you obligated to tell us?"

Sunny had no idea what he was supposed to do after leaving the police station. The winter solstice was just several weeks away.

Jet leaned back and answered:

"That's basically it. There are some additional hoops to jump through, mostly having to do with your family, but ... well. I've read your file, so I know it doesn't apply to you both... 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."

Both of them-Sunless and Levi-were not very well versed in partying.

"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."

Both of them were silent.

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

Levi Replied first:

"yes.."

"Yeah I also want to go to the Academy."

Sunless followed suit. Both of them wanted to go to the Academy.

***

Sunless and Levi was standing in front of the massive, seemingly indestructible red gates of the Awakened Academy. The Academy was, in fact, a city within the city. It was built like a fortress, with a high wall made of hard alloy, deep moat and numerous large-caliber turrets which were placed in certain positions to create a deadly air-suppression dome. No Nightmare Creature, not even colossal titans, were supposed to be able to break through its defenses.

It was a legendary place. Actually, many of the most popular webtoons, youth dramas and novels took place right behind that wall. Adventures, rivalries and romantic entanglements of the young Awakened heroes were the mainstream theme of modern entertainment. Never in his wildest dreams did Sunny imagine actually becoming one of these heroes.

Of course, how things really were differed a lot from how it was portrayed in the media. More than that, he had only four weeks to spend here before venturing into the Dream Realm. Even if he wanted to, there was not enough time for any type of entanglement. And he definitely did not want to.

He had to learn how to survive, not waste time on such nonsense!

The snow was slowly falling to the ground. It was cold and silent in front of the Academy gates. Except for Sunless and him , there was only one other person other than them - another new Sleeper, if he had to guess.

It was a tall, slender girl of around his age, with clear grey eyes and a detached look on her face. She had strange, silver-white hair that was cut short and neatly parted to the side. Just like them, she was dressed in a police-issued tracksuit and had no personal belongings with her. On her head, there was a pair of old-fashioned headphones. She was calmly listening to music while they waited.

The small guy was staring at the girl , he didn't think much of it. After all she was taller than both of them.

Master Jet had gave both of them 3 pieces of advise , do not take therapy , conceal your flaw and your aspect.

Second one was to take Wilderness Classes.. it would come in handy.

And Third one was to not be alone. And Levi had already found his partner.. it would be this small guy.. Sunless was interesting.. and he did not sound like a half-bad person. He was.. a bit too sarcastic , but that was alright. Although he didn't know what Sunless thought about him , so he didn't even know if he would want to be partners with him.

Finally, the gates began to open. The giant, ridiculously thick sheet of reinforced metal slowly descended, creating a long bridge. Both of them looked ahead with grim determination.