It was finally break time. Mitsuki, Arlene and Concordia had gathered in the school's yard with Keiran, Saito and Ariel.
"We're finally here but what do we do?" Keiran asked.
"I have my sigil Christopher scanning Central Dream City while on standby mode. In standby mode, it's practically invisible and all its images are relayed directly into my mind. If there is any disturbance, I will know" Arlene said.
"How're you doing this while maintaining focus in class?" Concordia asked in surprise.
"Christopher is also scanning our classroom so I can maintain focus. It's my sigil and since a sigil represents the identity of a Dream Knight, multi-tasking comes naturally to me. You should have deduced that from the nature of my sigil" Arlene explained.
"Yeah, in a sense, my Kraken Andromeda is similar to your Christopher" Concordia admitted.
"Anyway, the first thing we need to do is find a safe place where we can carry out our strategy meetings and Dream Knight duties without the risk of disturbance" Concordia said.
"In most popular anime, the heroes often come up with a set of extra-curricular activities. School clubs are usually granted spaces for their activities like unused classrooms and places of the like" Ariel suggested.
"You're a genius Ariel! That's exactly what we should do!" Saito praised.
"But if it's a club, eventually, new members are going to want to join. We'll have to limit our use of sigils when that starts to happen. We're also going to have to stop using terms that describe the realities of the Dream World like 'sigils' and the like" Mitsuki pointed out.
"We should decide what sort of club we're coming up with. It should be a club that can allow us to hone our abilities while simultaneously beneficial to students who join and to the school in general. Besides, we might need to send some sort of formal application for stuff like this and if our club is considered unnecessary, our application could be turned down" Arlene said.
"How about an archery club?" Concordia said excitedly.
"You're the only archer in our group. It can't be too narrow" Saito said.
"A Martial Arts Club?" Mitsuki asked.
"Probably taken already. Besides, Dream Knights like Arlene specialize more in support than in actual combat. Arlene would be left out" Keiran said.
"We could call it a Special Talents/Special Skills club or something of the like. It's not too narrow plus it factors in the abilities of any potential form of backup Dad and the Dream Knights might send our way" Saito said.
"That's a good idea. It's beneficial to both us and the students and factors in potential backup. Let's go with that" Concordia agreed.
"I'll prepare our application then. Looks like the girl from this school's News Committee is also the head of the Student Council Body. I'll meet up with her and present our application" Arlene said.
"You figured that out in just an hour?" Concordia asked in surprise.
"Information gathering is a fundamental tactic when it comes to both offense and defense" Arlene said with a smirk and walked away.
"Scary!" everyone froze in horror.
Roughly thirty minutes later, Arlene returned to the others.
"How did it go?" Concordia asked.
"I submitted our application. The Student Council appears to be processing it right now. They'll be done by the end of class" Arlene said.
"That's in the next two hours and thirty minutes" Mitsuki said.
Suddenly, the bell rang to announce that break was over.
Arlene, Mitsuki and Concordia returned to our class while Ariel, Saito and Keiran returned to their classes. Classes ended at twelve pm on the dot and Arlene, Ariel, Saito, Keiran, Concordia and Mitsuki gathered in the school's corridor. Arlene led them to the door of the Student Council's meeting room.
"Okay, here goes" Arlene said and walked in.
"What do you think? Do you think they'll consent?" Ariel asked worriedly.
"That's why we left it to Arlene. She's not only an information specialist but also an expert at negotiation" Concordia said.
Thirty minutes later, Arlene walked out holding a sheet in her hand.
"How did it go?" Concordia asked.
Arlene made the symbol for victory with her hands.
"It was a victory. But there's a slight catch. All the other school clubs have taken up most of the good spaces on campus. The only space left was supposedly the school's old library. It's been cleared out however no one's set foot in it for years. It periodically undergoes maintenance though so it's sturdy" Arlene said.
"That's good enough. Let's go check it out" Ariel said excitedly.
Moments later, they stood before a very large three storey building. On the outside, it appeared painted and neat. Concordia opened the door. It was composed of two large wooden doors that could only be opened by pushing it inwards. Once the door was fully open, Concordia, Arlene, Mitsuki, Keiran, Saito and Ariel stared at the interior in horror. Not only was it unkempt and dusty but cobwebs covered virtually every space.
"When I see things like this, I'm reminded that there are some Nightmares even sigils can't beat" Arlene said with her mouth wide open.
"I can see why the other clubs avoid this place" Mitsuki said.
"Yeah, but we don't need sigils for this, just the good ol' broom and mop and some ceiling dusters, maybe a ladder. This space might actually be a blessing in disguise. It's vast and has three completely free floors. We should be able to move freely here when we train and we could also easily avoid interfering with one another's training. If we do eventually get new members, we could dedicate one of the floors to Dream Knight Strategy meetings and the like. If all we have to do is get rid of a little dirt to be able to use this space, it's a small price to pay" Concordia said.
So Concordia, Arlene, Mitsuki, Saito, Keiran and Ariel got to work tidying up the old library. They divided themselves into three groups each composed of two members each. Saito and Ariel took the Lower Floors. Keiran and Concordia took the Middle Floors and Arlene and Mitsuki took the Upper Floors.
By the time they were done, it was four o'clock in the evening. They sighed tiredly and inspected the library which was now sparkling brilliantly.
"I'm totally beat" Keiran sighed.
"You probably need more training" Saito joked and they all laughed.
"I suppose it's time we headed home. I'll continue monitoring Central Dream City. I'm sure your Dad will eventually send other Dream Knights to safeguard this part of the city so we should all get some rest" Arlene said.
"I'll find out from him now" Saito said and called our Dad.
After talking with him for about a minute, she hung up.
"My Dad's already sent Dream Knights this way. We can head home now" Saito said.
The six Dream Knights walked together till their paths began to go separate ways. Then Arlene and Concordia took one route while Mitsuki, Keiran, Saito and Ariel took the route that led to Upper West Side Dream City.
The next morning arrived and coincidentally, they all met at the spot they'd parted ways the previous day. Together, they headed to school. When classes ended for the day, Concordia, Arlene, Mitsuki, Saito, Keiran and Ariel met in the school's yard and prepared to head to the old library. Ciella approached them.
"Good afternoon you guys" Ciella greeted.
"Why so formal Ciella?" Saito asked.
"Um…I heard you guys formed a school club yesterday. Can I join?" Ciella asked.
"Just a moment" Concordia said and pulled the others aside.
"What do you guys think?" she asked.
"I have no problem with Ciella joining our club. San already told her about the Dream World and Dream Knights and she believed him. We should be able to at least train freely in her presence but I doubt it would be advisable to involve her in tasks strictly limited to Dream Knights. We should avoid doing anything that could turn her into a potential target" Saito advised the others.
"You're right" Concordia agreed and they returned to Ciella.
"Sure, you can join our club" Concordia said with a smile.
"Pleased to have you Ciella" Ariel said happily.
Soon, they stood before the old library. Concordia pushed the doors open.
"Welcome to our HQ Ciella" Keiran joked.
Everyone put their bags aside and Concordia shut the doors. The girls headed into one of the many rooms in the old library to change into their jerseys while Keiran headed into another room to prepare himself.
When they'd finally gathered in the main hall on the ground floor, they began to talk.
"So what's your club about?" Ciella asked.
"It's a special talents/special skills sort of club" Saito explained.
"Really? Sounds exciting" Ciella said.
"But we'll also be doing some special Dream Knight training as well whenever we can" Ariel said.
"Most of that will be done when there's no one else around. We don't mind training with you around though because you believe in the Dream World and Dream Knights" Saito said.
"Uh…Thanks?" Ciella said with little uncertainty.
"Don't mention it" Ariel said.
"You guys ready to commence training?" Concordia asked.
"Sure thing!" everyone said enthusiastically.
"I'll be doing my own kind of training. I'm not a combat specialist like you guys so it would be futile for me to undergo the same training method" Arlene said and walked to a corner.
She sat down and summoned a mini representation of Christopher.
Ciella stared at her sigil in awe.
"Whoa! That just popped out of thin air! Is that the thing called a sigil?" Ciella asked.
"It's not a thing" Arlene said seriously.
"Sorry if I offended you" Ciella said worriedly.
"A sigil is the manifestation of its wielders identity so in a sense, it's more of a person than an object" Arlene explained.
Then she sighed.
"You're right though. This is a sigil" Arlene said with a reassuring smile.
"San said I might eventually be able to summon one and that I have the potential to become a Dream Knight. He might have just said that to cheer me up but sigils really sound cool" Ciella tried her best to be friendly.
"No, San didn't just say those things to cheer you up. Every human being has the potential to become a Dream Knight. How likely they are to actually become one is to a large extent dependent on how open minded they are. You easily believed San when he told you about the Dream World and Dream Knights so I can tell you're a very open-minded person" Arlene said without shifting her focus from her sigil.
Ciella smiled.
"Thanks" she said.
"So could you teach me how to summon a sigil?" Ciella asked.
At this request, Arlene slightly shifted her gaze to stare at Ciella from the corner of her eyes.
"No, I won't" Arlene refused.
"Why not?" Ciella asked.
"Being a Dream Knight is not a task for the faint of heart. If you decide to become one, it should be after you have properly considered the risks involved. I doubt you understand that yet" Arlene said.
"Then why don't you explain it to me?" Ciella insisted.
Arlene sighed.
"For starters, if you decide to become a Dream Knight, your perception of reality is going to be drastically altered. You'll have to live the rest of your life constantly aware of the existence of Dream Beings and Nightmares. That will basically become your new reality and there will be times you'll be forced to confront antagonistic forces, the monster that attacked Dream City all those years ago being one of them. If after considering all this you're still willing to become a Dream Knight, then I have no objections" Arlene said seriously.
Ciella was shivering uncontrollably.
"I-I'll think about it" she said and sat down.