The world was a vast, blinding canvas of nothingness. An infinite expanse of absolute white, void of horizon, air, or earth. There was simply nothing. Except...
Sitting upon a simple wooden chair was a monstrous, three-meter-tall creature with sickly greenish skin. Eight skeletal arms, resembling dry twigs snapped together at the joints, sprouted from its torso, each ending in a pristine white glove with seven twitching fingers. It wore a dark tuxedo, tailored so ridiculously tight it looked suffocating, and a tiny black top hat perched absurdly on its massive head. Its jaw was a terrifying vice of heavy, steel-crushing mandibles.
With its upper right arm, the entity tapped a cane against a rolling school blackboard that floated behind it, covered in chalk notes compiled from the waking world's lessons.
<
<
Before it stretched seven endless rows of school desks extending endlessly into the white void. Every single seat was empty, save for one. Sitting dead center in the very front row was a young man with ink-black hair, pale skin, and dark eyes.
Meeting the Jiminy Cricket's gaze, Sunny raised his right hand. "Uh... yeah. Mind explaining why, in my own damn dreams, you look like a fu***** demon from a Lovecraft novel?" he asked, his eyes heavy with exhaustion.
In truth, this was nothing but a dream.
Flaw: [Jiminy Cricket].
His Flaw demanded that he always give his absolute best, leaving no room for slack—a rule that apparently didn't sleep when he did. For Sunny, dreams weren't a refuge; they were a mandatory night-class where his subconscious forced him to review everything he learned during the day. Every single night, he found himself trapped in these desks amidst the nothingness, policed by his Cricket to ensure he never lost his edge.
The giant Cricket lowered its head, closing its compound eyes with a heavy sigh. <
With that, the creature droned on, until the distant, shrill chime of his communicator's alarm caused the white world to bleed away, dragging him back into the waking world.
Sunny woke up slowly, his consciousness drifting back to the surface as his eyes adjusted to the sweet sight of his Shadow. Myriad shade, like always, was sleeping with her head nestled against his chest, a soft smile playing on her beautiful, flawless face, as if she were waiting for a something to wake up.
Sunny gave her the usual gentle morning kiss on her forehead, requesting her permission to rise. Once on his feet, he went to the bathroom and got ready for the day.
He stepped out of his room with Thene melting into his shadow like a loyal guardian from the abyss. Crossing the threshold, he turned back to lock the door with two swift turns, slipping the key into his pants pocket.
As he pocketed the keys, he glanced down the right side of the corridor and spotted a girl with long black hair and a blue braid, her icy blue eyes fixed ahead. She was dressed in crisp white and light blue attire, making her way toward him. Recognizing Yuki, Sunny waved a hand.
"Hey, Yuki! How—" He started, but the words caught in his throat when his gaze locked onto a faint smear of red across the knuckles of her right fist. "What happened to you?" he asked, a trace of concern bleeding into his tone as he pointed his right index toward the blood.
Yuki stopped two paces away and tilted her head slightly. Lifting her hand, she realized what he was looking at. "The blood of an idiot," she replied, her piercing blue-celestial eyes locking onto his pitch-black ones.
Sunny blinked. "An idiot, huh?" He raised an eyebrow.
Probably, Sunny already had an idea about who she was referring to. Yuki had amassed quite a following of admirers during her first week; apparently, her ice, ethereal beauty had bewitched the hearts of many young dreamers.
Shrugging, Sunny and Yuki moved ahead and walked toward the cafeteria.
***
The cafeteria was as bustling and lively as always. Just like every other morning, Sunny carried his tray full of food past the usual rows of tables, which were occupied by the exact same social circles, as if they had long since leased the spots or carved their names into the wood.
As he navigated the maze of benches, his eyes casually cataloged the room. There was Caster at the table with the other Legacies; the Sleeper Markus, who invariably dined in absolute isolation; and then... him.
'Turns out I was right,' Sunny thought, his gaze landing on the table where the Sleeper Jayden sat, swarmed by a gaggle of girls completely infatuated with him.
The boy's nose was severely broken, crooked and swollen. A few of the girls at his table were fussing over him with deep tribulation, carefully applying bandages. For some bizarre reason, one of them appeared to be cosplaying a nurse.
'Wait a minute,' Sunny narrowed his eyes. He shook his head to ensure his senses weren't playing tricks on him. 'That's no cosplay. That is really the Academy's campus nurse.' His jaw dropped, hitting the floor with a resounding thud.
<
'Uh-huh!' Sunny nodded, his mouth still half-open as he stared at the spectacle.
Just then, as the nurse was applying a fresh bandage surrounded by the sympathetic, doting gazes of his harem, Jayden turned his head. His eyes locked onto Sunny, glaring with pure, unadulterated hostility.
'What the hell do you want, asshole?' Sunny narrowed his eyes, returning the gaze with a fierce, sullen glare of his own before turning on his heel. He walked away, heading straight toward his usual table, where a golden cat was already waiting for him.
Sunny settled into his usual spot beside the blind seer. "Morning, Cassie," he said with a genuine smile, pulling his overflowing tray closer.
"Hi, Sunny," Cassie replied, a sweet, radiant smile gracing her lips.
Sunny reached out to pat her head, his fingers gently threading through her soft golden hair, making careful sure not to tug on any stray strands. By now, Cassie didn't just tolerate the gesture—she actually leaned her head into his palm, seeking out the comforting warmth.
Sunny briefly considered scratching her chin the way people do with cats, but after the sharp bite he had received from her the last time he had tried, he decided it was better not to tempt fate.
Suddenly, his hand went still, and he looked straight ahead. At the exact same moment, both Sunny and Cassie focused on the opposite end of the table, where a sacred yet profane mountain of grease and sheer volume had just manifested in the form of a massive breakfast tray.
Standing behind this culinary monstrosity was a girl with eyes of pure ice. Yuki silently slid into the seat directly across from Sunny.
Sunny narrowed his eyes, locking his gaze onto Yuki and her terrifying tray of food.
'You won't trick me this time,' he thought fiercely. 'There is absolutely no way you can make that much food vanish in a single time.'
<
Sunny crossed his forearms on the table and leaned his chin on them, refusing to take his eyes off her. This psychological warfare had been going on for a full week. Every single time he looked away, even for a split second, Yuki made the entire mountain of food vanish. Sunny couldn't prove it, but he was absolutely convinced she was doing it entirely to mess with him.
The two of them locked eyes. Silence hung between them like an expectant audience. Neither moved a single muscle. Yuki's face remained a completely unreadable, chilling mask.
<
The two of them were lock in a perfect stalemate. And then, Sunny made a fatal mistake.
He blinked.
It was a mere fraction of a second—a single flutter of eyelashes in which, conceptually, a tens of thousands of galaxies might have collapsed in the deep void of space. But when his eyelids snapped back open, the food was gone.
Vanished, as if the void itself had claimed it.
A tiny, almost imperceptible twitch pulled at the corner of Yuki's lips. She was definitely grinning.
Sunny blinked once, then twice. He threw his hands up in sheer wonder. "What the—"
DING. DONG.
A sudden, sharp chime from the campus loudspeakers cut him off mid-sentence. An announcement blared through the halls, demanding immediate collective attention as a hush fell over the rowdy cafeteria.
"ATTENTION. SLEEPER NEPHIS IS HEREBY REQUESTED TO REPORT TO THE ADMINISTRATION OFFICE FOR RE-EVALUATION."
Instantly, the eyes of every student in the hall darted toward Changing Star. Whispers and wild rumors ignited across the tables, while others, simply uninterested, shrugged and went back to their meals.
Sunny watched closely as Nephis quietly stood up from her table and began walking toward the exit.
'What the hell is going on?' Sunny wondered.
<
"Excuse me, I need to go to the bathroom," Sunny said to his tablemates as he quickly stood up and went toward the public bathroom, locking himself inside a free stall.
Meanwhile, beneath his feet, his shadow detached itself, stretching silently across the polished floor until it caught up with the Nephilim, slipping beneath her boots to melt completely into her own shadow.
***
Nephis walked the long distance from the cafeteria to the Academy's administration wing, following the posted signs until she arrived directly outside the designated reception office. Beneath her boots, a Gloomy lay perfectly concealed in her shadow, mirroring her every step.
"Alright," Sunny murmured, scratching his chin. He was currently sitting on top of a closed toilet seat in one of the public restrooms, focusing all of his concentration on his shadow's sight. "Let's see what's going on."
Standing before the door, Nephis paused for a moment. Through her shadow, Sunny could feel a crushing wave of tension and long-buried resentment mixing together, radiating from her frame.
Nephis closed her eyes and lowered her head for a fleeting instant. When she snapped them back open, her gaze burned with a renewed, fierce conviction. She reached out and turned the doorknob.
Changing Star stepped into the reception room. Behind her, an independent shadow slithered across the floor, following her like a pitch-black serpent veiled in darkness.
The room was strikingly simple, almost minimalist. To the right stood a water dispenser alongside a standard coffee machine, while a single indoor plant occupied the far corner near the window. In the center of the room sat a desk, completely bare save for a mysterious red candle that emitted a faint, soothing fragrance of lavender.
Seated behind the desk was a single individual.
He was a man with short silver hair and sharp silver eyes, possessing the kind of striking, charming looks that could easily captivate a crowd. Yet, the sharp contours of his face were as cold and unforgiving as a headman's axe, and his sheer presence commanded the room like a high judge presiding over a supreme court. An earring dangled from his right ear, a simple yellow-colored ring. His shadow radiated a chilling, metallic aura unlike anything Sunny had felt before.
He was a Master.
The moment Nephis closed the door behind her and came face-to-face with the unknown Ascendant, the smoldering fire in her eyes violently erupted.
The man offered a faint, cunning smile. "It has been a long time, dear sister."
BANG.
A few hallways over, inside a closed toilet stall, a boy slammed his forehead hard against the tiled wall to his right. Amidst the flurry of muffled curses that immediately followed, one particular groan stood out above the rest:
"What a headache!"