Aena first opened her eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling. 'Hmm? Is this my room?'
She didn't remember the ceiling being so far away. Wait, that's right, she wasn't at her run-down home anymore, she was at the academy, with nice, clean rooms. She turned her head to the side and saw a curtain. She frowned. 'I don't remember putting up a curtain.'
Aena weakly pushed herself up with her hands and felt the bed beneath her conforming to her every touch. The dorms had decent amenities, so she wasn't surprised, but this bed somehow felt even better than her usual nightly mattress.
Her hand sank in blissfully into a material that felt like the down feathers of a mother goose. She couldn't help but fondle the mattress in wonder. Snapping out of the moment, Aena begrudgingly lifted her leaden body off the bed and pulled aside the curtain. Behind it, she espied a mature woman busily scanning documents at her desk.
Aena was about to open her mouth and ask where she was when the woman appeared to notice her presence and glanced up.
"Oh!"
She gasped and hurriedly rushed to Aena's side.
"Lie down! Lie down!" the woman gushed and gestured for Aena to relax. Dazed with the women's maternal activity, Aena obediently lowered herself back onto the cot.
"Um…" Aena tilted her head and hesitated, "May I ask where I am?"
The woman gave her a confused look before realization dawned on her. Kindness swiftly spread across her visage.
"This is the hospital ward," she threw her hands out like a dramatic event announcer.
"Hospital ward?" Aena asked anxiously. She quickly scoured her recent memories. She didn't remember much, and she didn't discover any action that could've landed her in such a situation. Horror seeped over her. Did she lose her memories too? Was her injury that bad? Wait… Everything's happening so fast. Aena drew in deep breaths.
"Yes," seeing that Aena was still lost, the woman quickly added more information.
"You were admitted three days ago when you were carried here unconscious. We performed a diagnosis, but nothing physically abnormal could be discovered, so we just decided to wait a while before taking more drastic measures."
'Three days?!' Aena was internally shocked. That was an incomprehensible time to be out for no apparent reason. Even that time she had almost died eating the suspicious fried meatball sold by a street vendor had only caused her to lose consciousness for one day… and that meatball was distinctly not something for human consumption. It was probably recycled waste from a sewage plant for all she knew.
Seeing the plain disbelief written in Aena's eyes, the woman started rambling about other trivial matters in an attempt to soothe her.
"Ah yes. That lovely girl carried you all the way here. What a sight it was! Such beautiful young friendship. What a nice friend you have," she said with a wistful smile.
Aena was bewildered. Girl? Friend? She had no friends as far as she was aware, so just who was this girl who undertook such an arduous task? Could it be one of her missing dormmates?
"Girl?" Aena asked tentatively.
"Yes, yes. A charming young lady with brilliant purple hair," The lady nodded as she recalled the scene.
"Very polite too," she added as an afterthought. She laughed. "Cute too, the way she tried to hide her fluster."
Only one person who fit those characteristics occupied her mind. 'No way… it couldn't be…' But it must've been her—the question was why?
Only more questions jostled for attention in Aena's mind, but the woman beside her obliviously prattled on about the vicissitudes of adulthood and her own missed opportunities. It seemed that she was greatly misunderstanding something, but Aena didn't bother to correct her.
There was still something bothering her—why exactly did she faint?
"Um, excuse me Mrs…"
"You can just call me Doctor," she said simply.
"Yes… then Mrs. Doctor," Aena sounded out slowly, "do you know the reason I was unconscious?"
The doctor just gave her a funny look.
"You don't know why? That's odd…" She frowned and started mumbling under her breath. "But that would mean… wait, no? Perhaps…"
Realizing that Aena was still waiting patiently for an answer, the doctor quickly answered her.
"Your condition almost perfectly matches that of an unconventional awakening: a state of unconsciousness strewn with interludes of signs of a nightmare. The only strange part is that it lasted three days, compared to the usual twelve hours. Different people have different constitutions, so I wouldn't worry about it too much," the doctor comforted.
"This facility is equipped with the latest medical apparatuses, and they didn't detect any abnormalities," she patted a box-like interface by the bed affectionately.
But Aena knew a critical piece of information that the doctor didn't: she was already awakened. Wasn't she? So it couldn't possibly have been an awakening. If not, then what was it?
Shrugging off her worries, Aena just excused herself from the chatty woman with a request to recover alone. After resting for a few more hours, Aena was back in optimal condition and requested to be discharged.
"I would say see you soon, but I don't think that's something either of us wants," the amiable doctor laughed heartedly as she bid Aena farewell.
Leaving the medical wing behind, Aena headed toward her first stop: the instructor's offices. She recalled that the doctor had told her she had missed three days of classes, at the beginning of the semester no less. She felt pain imagining the mountain of homework to be made up.
She entered the building, a seldom visited space located a short distance from the campus square. It was almost indistinguishable from other buildings solely based on aesthetics, but the inside had the telltale signs of a special place. Compared to the lecture classrooms which always had some indication of student presence, the halls here were silent.
Instructor Rutherfield currently wasn't teaching a class. Compared to some of the other instructors who taught multiple classes, he only ever managed one class at a time. Yet rather than feeling lucky by having the honor to call themselves his pupil, those who had him as a teacher only ever felt despair.
The last graduating class under him had possessed the highest dropout rates in all of Sigma class, and scandalous rumors were constantly surrounding him. Aena didn't see what was so terrifying, but she held her tongue to not jinx the future.
Aena lightly knocked on the instructor's door. She only knew the exact location due to previously memorizing academy details. There was a scuffle of rustling papers before a deep voice came.
"Come in."
Aena pushed open the heavy door and found herself in a well-maintained, spacious room.
Tidy bookshelves lined both sides of the room contributing to the erudite atmosphere. Sandwiched in between stood a broad desk built of synthesized wood. The afternoon was nearing evening, so yellow squares of light streamed in through the large windows in the back.
Sitting behind the desk was Instructor Rutherfield, his suit meticulously maintained even in his private abode.
"Sit down," he ordered in a firm but gentle voice.
Aena pulled out one of the two chairs facing his desk and sat down.
The man was still busily cataloging documents with his hands. With graceful motions, he stacked them together and placed them neatly to the side. Aena stayed perfectly poised, sitting at the edge of her seat with her back straight.
"So what did you do?" he asked.
'Huh?'
Aena didn't know what he meant, so she merely sat in silence.
Taking her silence for stubbornness, he continued.
"The report stated that your absence was due to an unconventional awakening," He put his hands together, "but we both know you are already awakened."
He stared at her with serious eyes. Aena knew the right method of action: when accused, just remain mute so nothing could be used against you. This probably wasn't the conventional scenario, but she was sure that rule applied here too.
Instructor Rutherfield narrowed his eyes.