Shadow Slave: Arcadius of the Forgotten

Master Jet scanned him with a bit of surprise showing on her face. Sunless hadn't shown any emotion up until this moment, but even he seemed kind of awestruck. A tired-looking policeman had also come out a few moments earlier and he looked nothing short of horrified.

Arcadius more or less knew the reason behind this sort of reaction. After all, he had put the entire mundane population of the outskirts and the city proper at risk by not coming to the police station as soon as he started showing the symptoms of the Spell. But for now, he decided to feign ignorance. "Um... what's wrong?" he asked with a bit of confusion in his voice.

Master Jet stared at him some more. Then she said with a hint of anger seeping into her voice, "Are you out of your mind, kid? Do you know how many people would have died if you weren't lucky enough to survive your First Nightmare? Why didn't you come to the police as soon as you started feeling dizzy?"

Arcadius tried to look embarrassed and scratched the back of his head awkwardly. Then he said, "Uh, sorry, I didn't think about that. Actually, it was raining heavily and I didn't think I'd make it to the police station. So, I found an abandoned shack and settled down there."

Master Jet remained silent for a few moments. Then she leaned forward and took his left arm in her gloved hand and squeezed tightly. She studied him for another moment and let go of his arm. "Well, you aren't lying. You're definitely at least a Sleeper. And a tough one at that, I'd wager. Guess there's no use lingering on what's done. So... go on. Tell me your name and where you live. Although judging from your looks, I'd say that's obvious."

"Uh, I'm Arcadius. And yes, I'm from the outskirts." Arcadius said, still a little surprised after being touched by Master Jet. She was wearing a glove, you idiot. And she's almost ten years older than you. Get a grip, you degenerate.

Master Jet scoffed, amused. "Two brats from the outskirts Awakening on the same day. Who'd have thought? Anyway, I'm Ascended Jet. You can address me as Master Jet. This is Sunless." She nodded at Sunless. "He's also a Sleeper, just like you. I was just about to take him to the Awakened Academy. But I guess I have to deal with you first, now. Go inside, take a shower and ask the officers for something to eat. I'll get the paperwork ready in the meantime."

As Arcadius nodded, she turned to look at Sunless. "Sorry Sunless, but you're gonna have to wait for a bit longer. As an officer of the government, I can't exactly leave him here. It won't take long."

Sunless looked at her and then, at Arcadius. Arcadius gave him a smile, which he didn't bother returning. He looked back at Master Jet and said, "Alright, Master Jet." He was obviously not happy with this strange turn of events. Arcadius could just hear him saying internally, 'Damnation!'

Master Jet nodded and walked away, leaving Sunless and Arcadius in front of the police station. The police officer who had been standing there gestured for them to go inside and they followed.

Arcadius took a hot bath in the police station's showers and was provided with a police-issued tracksuit, identical to the one Sunless was wearing. Then he walked toward the cafeteria. There, Master Jet and Sunless were waiting for him at one of the tables, with a tray full of steaming synthetic food in front of them.

"Help yourself." Master Jet said as he approached.

Without so much as a second thought, Arcadius attacked the cheap gruel in front of him. He didn't much care for the taste, as his body had been starving for an entire month while he had been eating monster meat in his Nightmare. Come to think of it, I didn't have any medical apparatus keeping my body alive, he thought. How the hell did I survive for an entire month like that? He shrugged and concentrated on the food. Little by little, the food began to disappear and soon, he had finished it all. Arcadius was more or less full.

He glanced at Master Jet and Sunless. The former was inspecting him with a raised eyebrow and the latter was obviously annoyed by the fact that he had to sit here and watch this glutton devour a tray full of food.

"So... now that you're done – welcome back to the land of the living. Congratulations on surviving your First Nightmare, Sleeper Arcadius." Master Jet said in a practiced tone.

Arcadius smiled. Being addressed as "Sleeper" was weird. Partially because he still considered this world as fictional and partially because he had never considered being in a situation like this. Of course I hadn't. Who would? If I wanted to be someone from this world, I would want to be a Saint, at the very least.

After that Master Jet went into her speech regarding the psychological counselling and how the paperwork included stuff like informing his family and what not. He politely refused the counselling session and dodged the question regarding his family by saying, "I've always been on my own, really."

Finally, she informed him about his place in the Awakened Academy, to which he nodded enthusiastically, saying, "Yeah, the Academy. I'll go to the Awakened Academy." 

Master Jet nodded in affirmation and stood up. Arcadius and Sunless followed.

Soon, they were driving toward the Academy in Master Jet's PTV. It was very much like a normal car, but at the same time, it seemed slightly more... robust. Arcadius and Sunless were sitting in the back, looking out the windows.

At some point, Master Jet looked at them through the rear-view mirror and said, "Since we're all outskirts rats here, I'll give you two three pieces of advice. Whether you listen to me or not is your business."

Sunless tensed and turned to look at Master Jet's reflection in the mirror. Arcadius remained indifferent, still looking out the window, acting as if he hadn't heard anything. Of course, he already knew what Master Jet was gonna say, so he paid it no mind.

As soon as the vehicle stopped. Arcadius got off and turned to look at the Academy. It was... enormous. 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-tight suppression dome. It was truly breathtaking.

Arcadius turned around and saw that Sunless was listening to Master Jet telling him something. He couldn't hear what she was saying, but he didn't need to. He knew that she was giving him the "no one survives in the Dream Realm alone" speech. Sunless got off and thanked Master Jet. Master Jet nodded and looked at Arcadius.

Arcadius smiled and bowing slightly, he said, "Thank you, Master Jet. I won't forget the kindness you've shown me."

Master Jet shrugged lightly and said, "It's my job. Anyway, try to stay alive, kid. It's not every day people from the outskirts get this kind of opportunity. Try to make the best of it." 

Arcadius waved at her as she drove away. He walked toward where the bridge would eventually be. While walking, he took a look around, hoping to find the other person who was supposed to be here: Nephis of the Immortal Flame Clan. But there was no one in sight except for Sunless and himself. I distinctly remember Sunless seeing her for the first time here, he thought. But where is she? He frowned, but then realized that Sunless had not reached the Academy at the time Nephis had, because Arcadius had delayed him at the police-station.

I hope this won't affect the story too profoundly. The more the story deviates from its original storyline, the more troubling it will be for me. He looked at Sunless, who was staring ahead with grim determination. Arcadius walked to stand beside him. Without turning his head, Arcadius spoke.

"So... no one survives in the Dream Realm alone, huh?"

Sunless looked at him. He narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "How did you hear that? You weren't there when Master Jet said told me this."

Arcadius shrugged and said in an indifferent tone, "It's general knowledge really. Don't think that Master Jet came up with that herself. She most likely heard it from someone else. You give her too much credit."

Sunless raised an eyebrow. "Too much credit? She's an Ascended. She's cleared the Second Nightmare. No matter how much credit I give her, it isn't enough."

Arcadius looked him directly in the eyes. "So what? I'm not looking down on her, if that's what you think. Hell, she could probably rip my head off with a flick of her finger. No, what I'm saying is that it's not that big of a deal, being an Ascended."

Sunless's eyes widened slightly. "Not that big of a deal? What are you, an undercover Legacy or something?"

Arcadius gave him a hearty chuckle. "No, Sunless. No, I can assure you that I'm as much of an outskirts rat as you are. I'm simply... confident that you and me, we're meant to be much greater than mere Ascended. Maybe Saints or maybe we'll be the first ones to clear the Fourth Nightmare. Who knows?"

Sunless looked at him in disbelief. Then, his lip curled and he gave Arcadius a vicious smile. "You're crazy. You've cleared one Nightmare and you're cocky enough to think that you can be a Saint? Or a touch beyond that? Yeah, you're definitely soft in the head." He shook his head slightly and looked ahead again.

Arcadius looked at him in amusement. Knowing what he knew, he found this conversation to be quite funny. I wonder what he'll think if I tell him that he becomes one of the strongest Saints in the history of the Nightmare Spell, if not the strongest, he mused. However, he decided to refrain from doing that for the moment.

At that instant, the bridge started to descend. He smiled again and said, "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. I guess we'll find out. Anyway, I look forward to working with you... Sunny."

Sunny spared him another glance, seemingly not caring about what he called him and slightly distasteful because Arcadius had just assumed that they'll be working together.

Arcadius noticed the distaste and said, "What? Of course, we'll be working together. We're both from the outskirts. We gotta look out for each other. Anyway, I'm Arcadius, as you know." He held out a hand. "But you can call me Cade."