[Wake up, Lost from Light!]
As Sunnless shot up only on thing was going through his mind, pain. Sharp, stinging pain. Sunnless, that was his name right?But he reminded being called Az also.As Sunnless grasped at the source of the pain, his left eye. But could not reach it due to the restraints holding him on to the medical bed.
"You alright there?" A cold and measured voice sounded from behind. Sunnless for the first time since waking up gave a sound from him : "I do not think so, I can't see properly"
Sunny rememberd that Az had lost his eye due to loosing a {Game}, but why was his eye hurting?
A firm but slender hand grasped his chin,turning his head to the left. Thanks to this Sunnless could now clearly see with his right eye who was talking to him, he saw Leaning on his reinforced medical bed, and holding his chin and inspecting his eye, was the with out a doubt most beautiful woman he had ever seen, be it in person or on his phone.
What was a phone?
She had short, raven-black hair and icy blue eyes. Her flawless skin was smooth, supple and as white as snow. Actually, this was Sunnless's first time meeting someone as pale as he himself was. However, while Sunnless's pallor looked strange and unhealthy, the beautiful stranger was nothing short of striking.
The woman seemed to be in her late twenties. She was wearing a dark blue uniform with silver epaulets and black leather boots. The jacket of her uniform was casually unbuttoned, revealing a black tank top beneath.
Currently, she was supporting herself with her arms, clearly Surprised and annoyed . The gesture changed how gravity effected her assets, and provocatively accentuating her full breasts.
It was a sight that he would never forget,like most things since he woke up.
"Huh, it's already scarred. Can you see anything through it?" The Beauty asked. "Yah, but only partially." was the answer she received before Sunnless could think. "And what are you seeing?" "You breasts" came the answer from the disoriented boy.
A wave of terror suddenly drowned his mind.
The woman slowly smiled with a dangerous gleam in her eyes.
Then, without any warning, she moved her hand and slapped Sunnless across the face.
And despite giving more resistance than usual Sunny whole body was turned around. If it wasn't for the restraints holding him in place, he would have probably flown off the bed.
For a moment, he even saw stars.
But it could still be considered getting off lightly. An Ascended, the woman was an Ascended! She could have torn his head clean off with a flick of a finger. Why did he have to offend someone so powerful, of all people?!
Meanwhile, the woman cleared her throat and crossed her arms.
"Are you awake now?"
Sunny held his numb cheek and carefully nodded.
"Good. Let me give you a piece of advice: don't just say anything that comes to your mind. Especially to girls. It's not like you haven't seen a girl before, right?"
'Say "Thank you! I definitely will not!' Sunny thought.
But instead, his mouth moved on its own, and he said:
"I've seen plenty... but no one as beautiful as you."
The woman stared at him for a few seconds and then burst into laughter.
"I see you haven't met a lot of Awakened then. By Awakened standards, I'm below average."
Sunny glanced at her with doubt.
The woman shook her head.
"As your soul core develops, the body gets rid of all its imperfections. So it's hard to find an unattractive Awakened, especially among the stronger ones. Live long enough, and you might just become a flower boy yourself."
Then she gave him a thorough look and added:
"Well... maybe. In any case, since you're awake - welcome back to the land of the living. Congratulations on surviving your First Nightmare, Sleeper Sunless."
"*"
Sleeper Sunless.
That was how people would address him now, at least in the short span of days until the winter solstice - after that, he would either return from the forgotten shore, if his suspicions were correct, as an Awakened or not return at all.
It felt strange to have a title put before his name. In the past, Sunny was rarely even addressed by name. People mostly called him things like "boy", " punk" and Az , the other name he had he could not recall
Sleeper Sunless...
Once he escapes and becomes an Awakened, he would live his life normally during the day and return to the Dream Realm every time he falls asleep. The Awakened were called the same by the Spell and the humans.
Then, when he were to enter a Second Nightmare and managed to survive, he would become an Ascended - people called them Masters. Masters could enter and exit the Dream Realm as they wished. Some even chose to never come back there at all. More than that, they traveled between the worlds physically, not just in spirit.
And then, above the Masters, there were Saints - those who had conquered the Third Nightmare and earned the right to call themselves Transcendent. They were as powerful as demi-gods, and even more rare. Not only could they travel between the real world and the Dream Realm, but they could also take others with them.
But coming back to Masters...
'I have to confirm if My memory's and more importantly the story are correct.'
The beautiful woman, who's name should be Jet, stood up and approached the reinforced medical bed. With practiced moves, she began to undo the restraint holding Sunny in place.
"I am Ascended Jet. You can call me Master Jet. These past three days, I was on watch duty due to your Nightmare."
'Right… the she has the same name as she should. But still I should make sure…'
"Master Jet? I have a question."
"Go on."
"Why would a Master be put on watch duty? Isn't it... below your pay grade?"
Jet gave him a dark look.
"You're smarter than you seem. Recently, there was a lot of Gates opening in this sector. Most of the local Awakened are either wounded or occupied with the clean-up. Or dead. It's always like that close to the winter solstice.
She opened the final restraint and took a step back.
"Plus, there's not a lot of Awakened who, like me, directly work for the government. It's by far the least lucrative or glorious carrier one of us can choose. Would you abandon wealth and fame to work abysmal hours and risk your life, fuelled only by altruism and sense of duty?"
Sunny new just what she wanted to hear, so he answered with the honest truth.
"Of course not. I'm not an idiot!"
She stared at him with a humorless expression. Sunny thought that maybe he was just delirious, andthat he was going to get slapped again.
But instead, Jet smiled.
"See, I was right. You really are smart."
Sunny, or who ever he was, sighed inwardly his mind.