Ash exited the Dream Scape capsule with a yawn.
The sound escaped his lips with a naturalness that contrasted with the gravity of what he had just done. His expression was remarkably calm for someone who had just killed a friend in a virtual reality game. There was no tension in his jaw, no regret in his eyes. He simply stretched, turned his neck from side to side to loosen his muscles, and sat for a moment on the edge of the capsule, observing the dimly lit room.
He supposed it was just one of those things friends do to each other once in a lifetime. A strange, almost ironic statement, but one that made a certain kind of sense in his mind. After all, what happened in the Dream Scape wasn't entirely real, even if the emotions and memories forged there could certainly feel that way. Mongrel had died, yes, but he would wake up elsewhere, in another capsule, with the memory of defeat seared into his mind. Maybe he would hate him. Maybe he would understand. Ash wasn't sure which option he preferred.
Although he was sure it would be better to spend a few days in the Dream Realm and avoid going out to face Sunny or the others. The idea crossed his mind clearly. He didn't want to have that conversation yet.
He didn't want to explain why he had manipulated certain events of the Forgotten Shore in a particular way, using them conveniently for his own plans. He also didn't want to explain why he was the only one who stayed behind while the Crimson Spire crumbled after the Fallen Terror's death. And above all, he didn't want to explain why he never reunited with them after leaving the Dream Realm.
Instead of doing any of that, Ash would a thousand times rather challenge a Second Nightmare than have that conversation.
Stretching, he walked toward his kitchen, determined to make a quick meal.
Leaving the basement, he reached the main living area. Just a few hours ago he had been at the academy, and now he had his own home, the fruit of his effort.
A faint sense of pride washed over him.
Heading to his kitchen, he opened his refrigerator, lazily surveying the contents, and took out what he needed to make some scrambled eggs with toast. Nothing sophisticated, but enough to quell the hunger the battle had left in his real body.
While he cooked, the sound of sizzling oil filled the kitchen with mundane warmth. Ash focused on the simple movements: beating the eggs, heating the pan, sprinkling the salt. Things that didn't require thinking about swords or future plans.
He ate in silence, seated at a small table by the window. Outside, the city was just beginning to wake. The twilight hues painted the buildings in shades of orange and gold. Ash finished his breakfast, washed the dishes, and stood staring at the sink for a moment, letting the water run over his fingers.
Then, with a decision already made, he returned to the capsule. This time, he entered it to go back into the Dream Realm.
---
Elsewhere, just a few hundred meters away, Sunny exited the Dream Scape capsule with the shock still etched on his face.
His movements were clumsy, as if his body hadn't yet fully processed what his eyes had witnessed. He had seen Ashfall. The same one who had expelled him from the Dream Realm along with Nephis, staying behind without offering an explanation.
Sunny remembered that day with painful clarity: Ash's gaze before pushing them through the portal, the way his lips moved without ever uttering a single word that might serve as comfort or explanation.
Now, Ashfall was back. And not only that—from what he observed, he had returned some time ago, judging by the combat experience he had accumulated. Of course, Sunny hadn't visited Ashfall very often at the academy because he had been busy with the Forgotten Shore exploration report and his work as an explorer in the Chained Isles, leaving him little time to visit them. Even his cohort companions were very busy.
'Well, that doesn't matter now...' Sunny thought, setting aside the excuses for later.
Sunny wondered how Ash could have found another portal, or if he had challenged a Second Nightmare—something he doubted, since Masters were very different from Awakened, just as the Awakened were from Mundanes. The power scale between an Awakened and a Master was abysmal, and although Ashfall had always been exceptional, going through a Second Nightmare wasn't something easily hidden. It required time, resources, and a group capable of facing the deadliest challenges the Dream Realm could offer. And Sunny didn't recall any recent new group of Masters having emerged, as it would be quickly known due to the few Masters currently in existence.
Regardless, he needed answers. Or better yet, a seer who could tell him exactly where he was. And he knew a pretty good one. Someone who didn't ask uncomfortable questions as long as the payment was adequate.
Sunny stood up with effort, his legs still a bit shaky from the recent experience, and began to dress in street clothes. He had to move fast. If Ashfall was in the Dream Realm, he wanted to find him before he disappeared again.
---
Back with Ash, after eating, he returned to the Dream Realm—more specifically, to one of the rooms beneath the main bow of the Night Garden, a room just for him. The space was modest but comfortable, with dark wooden walls that creaked softly with the movement of the giant ship. A simple bed, a table with unfolded maps, a dim lamp that never quite went out. Ash had chosen this place precisely for its discretion. No one came looking for him here. No one asked him uncomfortable questions.
Unlike the other two great strongholds, the Night Garden housed several thousand Awakened, compared to the tens of thousands of Awakened at Bastion and Ravenheart. It was a smaller, more intimate fortress, where everyone knew everyone without that necessarily meaning they meddled in each other's affairs. The main bow, in particular, was almost virgin territory. Most Awakened preferred the central areas, better defended and closer to basic services. Ash, on the other hand, found peace in the ship's constant rocking and the distant sound of waves breaking against the hull.
Stretching, he summoned his Mantle of the Mist and his pale needle. The somber fabric fell over his shoulders with a barely audible whisper, and the white blade materialized in his right hand, as light and deadly as ever. The familiar weight of the weapon returned to him a sense of control that breakfast alone hadn't been able to provide. It was time to continue killing Awakened monsters. Not out of necessity, not because there was any urgent mission to complete, but because it was the only thing that allowed him to empty his mind of all unnecessary thoughts.
"Better stay here for a few days," Ash thought as he walked out onto the bow, heading toward the vast forest filled with nightmare creatures.
The wind of the Night Garden struck his face, cold and damp, laden with the smell of wet wood and decaying leaves. Before him stretched the forest, a dense mass of twisted trees whose canopies disappeared into a perpetual mist. He knew that somewhere among those shadows lurked the Gates, and within them, the monsters that needed to be eliminated.
Ash adjusted his grip on the pale needle and took the first step beyond the safety of the ship.
The wood creaked under his boots, and then, suddenly, he felt the soft, damp ground of the forest. The trees closed in behind him as he advanced, a new environment enveloping him completely, swallowing him whole.