Chapter 2563: Old Haunts |
Sunny and Nephis had stood on this exact spot eleven years ago, waiting for the gates of the Academy to open for them... well, it had been eleven years for the world, but a full dozen for them, considering the time spent in the Tomb of Ariel.
It was funny to think that they had not even known each other back then. They had not paid much attention to each other, either—Sunny had been busy thinking about the advice given to him by Jet during the drive from the police station, while Nephis was listening to music and looking at the walls of the Academy with an aloof expression. They had just become Sleepers. And now, twelve years later... they were both Supreme. They were demigods wielding power so terrifying that the towering walls of the Academy, which had seemed impossible to breach once, were not even worth thinking about. Sunny and Nephis were capable of conquering all of Earth now—or destroying it, if they so wished.
‘How times have changed.'
Sunny could not help but think about how much that short conversation with Jet had shaped his life. She had shared a few pieces of priceless wisdom with him back then—wisdom that she herself had earned by making mistakes and paying for each one with blood. Among other things, Sunny would have never chosen to dedicate his time at the Academy to learning how to survive in the wilderness.
He would have spent those few weeks training uselessly with a sword, instead. Then, he would not have had the knowledge to piece together the past of the Forgotten Shore... which was the start of it all. In fact, he would have drowned immediately after entering the Dream Realm on the winter solstice. It was Teacher Julius, after all, who had insisted that Sunny learns how to swim. ‘It is strange to think that my life could have ended so ingloriously all the way back then.' A future Sovereign died as a Sleeper because he didn't know how to swim. That would have been quite a twist of fate.
Shaking his head, Sunny glanced at the gates of the Academy. The sea of candles in front of them still burned—they had been placed there by those who hoped for Changing Star's safe return after the siege of the Crimson Spire, initially, but people continued to light new candles even now that Nephis was Supreme and ruled the entire world.
If anything, there were more candles burning in front of the Academy than ever before. The sea of fragile flames was very much like humanity itself, each one representing someone's hopes and dreams. Individual flames could be extinguished and snuffed out, but the radiance of the candles as a whole never dimmed.
If there was a physical representation of the Human Domain, this was it—the immortal flame that refused to go out, fueled by longing.
...And, of course, each of the myriad candles had a shadow.
This soon after the winter solstice, there were not many Sleepers attending, so Sunny did not need to exert himself even a little to remain unnoticed. He cast his shadow sense far and wide, easily encompassing the entire Academy, and sensed every person within its walls—the students, the instructors, and the staff.
Then, following an odd impulse, Sunny spent some time visiting his old haunts and remembering the past. The assembly hall where he had met Cassie for the first time, both of them assumed to be no different from walking dead and relegated to the corpse corner, his small room in the Sleeper dormitory... gods, it had felt like the pinnacle of luxury back then...
The cafeteria where he had enjoyed good food for the first time in his life, the lecture hall where he had taught a class of unruly Sleepers as a guest lecturer, the fortified room on one of the underground levels of the Academy's medical center where Nephis had been kept while wandering the Dream Realm alone—that one had been renovated after being blown up—and a few more places.
All of them contained memories that were meaningful to him. These memories were like ghosts—no one else remembered to cherish these quiet moments, and they only continued to exist in his head. All traces of the life Sunny had lived were erased from the world, and the places he visited did not mean anything to anyone anymore... not in the same way they meant the world to him, at least.
Sunny was not exactly a sentimental person, so it was strange to find himself wasting time on a walk down memory lane. But it was just that... he had a feeling that he would not return to the Awakened Academy ever again.
Entering the waking world was getting hard now that he was Supreme, and it would only get harder in the future. Earth itself was changing, too—dying, really.
So, Sunny had a feeling that the next time he saw the Academy, it would be as a ruin lost in some godforsaken corner of the Dream Realm.
But that was alright, as well.
Time was flowing, and humanity was doing its best not to fall behind its current. The nature of the Awakening was different now compared to when he had been a Sleeper—more and more of those infected by the Nightmare Spell resided in the Dream Realm, and so, the way they were taught was changing as well.
There were already branches of the Academy in the Dream Realm. The first one had been opened in Ravenheart, while the second one was located in Bastion—granted, they focused more on preparing young men and women who wanted to challenge the First Nightmare for its terrible demands.
The trial of the winter solstice itself was going to become a thing of the past before too long. After all, there would be no distinction between the Dream Realm and the waking world anymore, so the Spell would have no need and no reason to send Sleepers on a fatal pilgrimage.
‘Awakened live long lives...’
And someone like Sunny was almost immortal.
When he glanced at the world in a hundred years, would there be anything left behind from the one that he knew?
Letting out a quiet sigh, Sunny glanced around one last time, then made his way to the Wilderness Survival classroom. Actually, Teacher Julius did not teach here anymore—he and his family resided permanently in Bastion now, and the old man spent his days building a new education system for the courageous new world being built in the Dream Realm by the Human Domain.
But he still visited NQSC occasionally, and when he did, this classroom served as his office.
Walking over to the desk, Sunny placed the journal on its surface and studied it for a few moments.
Then, hearing someone opening the door, he dissolved into the shadows.
His job here was done—he had submitted his last research paper to the man he trusted to treat it caringly the most.
And what a research paper it was...
Sunny sighed bitterly.
‘Oh, gods... all the contribution points I am missing out on! Ah, my heart hurts...’
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