Back in the current time, Caspian had escaped the underground tunnels a few days ago.
He wandered towards the large, dark veil he saw south.
'My travel speed is too slow .. I think I should use it.'
Memories: [Bag of holding], [Oak Spear], [Chilled Trident], [Flying Chariot], [Scales of Water], [Heart of Ignis]
[Flying Chariot]:
Type: Mount
Rank: Transcended
Tier: 1
Attributes: [Flight]
Description: "A flying chariot carried by seahorses, which was build for the King of the Water."
'Another Memory my dad gave me. I should probably use it since it's safer and I waste less stamina and time. I've already been stuck in the Dream Realm for too long.'
A few seconds later, a giant Chariot and two large Seahorses appeared infront of Caspian. He walked inside, sat down and then held the ropes to make the Seahorses move.
He flew up, a few dozen meters into the sky, before moving forward in abnormal speeds. It was a transcended Memory afterall.
A few hours later, he had already passed the dark veil and arrived in the same place the others were located.
Everything under him was just pearly white sand. The stronger heat now shining down on him.
Over the next few days, Caspian was very bored. Flying on the chariot was safe and not very hard, but just boring.
He longed for something to do, but he also knew that staying up in the sky was way more beneficial.
But soon, his boredom would stop, since he had seen three people and a weird creature, all of them riding a Nightmare Creature ?
'What are they doing ? And who are they anyways ? Are they also sleepers ? I have only been to the Academy once, so I don't really remember them.'
***
The small cohort had been riding a large Nightmare Creature for a few days now. It was the perfect mount, running on all four and having a large back.
They didn't talk for a while, but then Celeste spoke up.
"We are being watched .. my star told me. It's a human, but I don't know where he is."
Ragna and Layla looked around but saw no one.
"Are you sure ? A human? Do you think it's a sleeper ?"
"Probably."
"But why would the person be watching us ? And how can't we find them ?"
Before Celeste could answer, they suddenly heard heavy clanking sounds and sounds that kinda sounded like sea horses .?
(Papa, over us.)
Ragna looked up, the others following him, as they saw what looked like to be a chariot above them.
'What the -'
Ragna squinted, trying to make sense of what was happening above them.
"Seems like they aren't hiding anymore", remarked Layla.
Ragna considered their options. Whoever was riding that Chariot was surely powerful.
Before he could pick something, the Chariot started descending faster, slowly at first, then more deliberetly as it neared the cohort.
As the chariot landed, a cloud of dust appeared around it.
The cohort held up their weapons while Cera held her hands infront of her. This also meant that Ragna couldn't keep the Nightmare Creature alive with the Crimson Strings.
"Who are you ? And why were you following us ?" yelled out Ragna.
The silhouette held its hands into the air, seeming to not be hostile. But trusting someone you didn't know in the Dream Realm was suicide.
"I'm Caspian. And I wasn't following you. I just randomly saw you from above and thought I'd say hello. You guys are Sleepers right ?", said a tall boy, as he stepped out from the cloud of dust and revealed his blonde hair and blue eyes.
'Caspian ... from where have I heard that name ?'
"Wait, Caspian ? Caspian as in the Caspian from house of Night ? The prodigy ?", asked Celeste
"... Yeah, I guess so. I wouldn't say I'm a prodigy tho."
The others slightly lowered their weapons, but Ragna still didn't trust him that much.
"Why have I never seen you in the Academy ?"
"I'm from a great clan, remember ? I have personal trainers to teach me.", said Caspian with a charming smile.
'Tsk, what a rich kid.'
"So what do you want ?"
Caspian froze slightly at the distrust but answered gently.
"Well, you know .. I just saw you all and thought that maybe we should team up. The more the better, no ? And I've been bored so long, having no one to talk for months."
Ragna slightly lowered his Sword but still didn't trust him fully. Layla tugged his cloak, gaining his attention.
"Common, he's not that bad. Let him just join us. You said that we need more teammates, no ?"
Ragna sighed and now fully lowered his weapon before turning around back to the dead Nightmare Creature and making it come back alive with the Crimson Strings.
"Alright .. you can join us, I guess."
As Caspian saw the red strings attach to the dead body and making it stand ip again, he looked at Ragna with Intrige.
"What are you doing ?"
"Creating a mount."
"We can use my chariot, you know ? It can carry ip to eight people."
Ragna turned around looking at the Chariot. He really didn't like heights, especially because when he first arrived in the Dream Realm, he had been falling from very high, being right above a volcano.
As the others walked towards the chariot, Ragna sighed again.
"I guess so."
***
They had been flying in the air for a while now, Cera looking at the ground while smiling to herself.
"Soooo, who's that little demoness of yours ?"
"... An Echo of sorts but not directly. She has a full mind of her own and I can't call her back into my Sea of Soul without her consent. Her name is Cera, by the way. Since you joined our cohort now, we should exchange our Aspects, no ?"
"Oh, yes, of course. I'll start then. My Aspect basically let's me summon water. I can't summon an infinite amount tho but i can make the amount grow permanently under certain circumstances. I often use it to push Creature back or make them drown. It's also drinkable, if someone of you wants."
'What a strong Aspect .. You can even drink it ?'
Celeste was the next one to speak up.
"My Aspect basically lets me manipulate the gravity around me to a certain degree. Our way of thirsting thirst right now is nice, but defenitely not as good as drinking normal water. So, happy to have you here !"
'Why is she so happy to see him !?'
Layla answered next, keeping it short.
"I can either weaken Nightmare Creatures Physically or make them go blind for a while ..."
'She didn't tell him that she can also disable Aspects for a certain time and she also only said that it works on Nightmare Creatures and not humans. Good girl ! I knew you wouldn't trust him too, Layla.'
Since Ragna was the last one left, he also spoke up.
"My Aspect isn't that special. I can just strengthen myself or my Memories ... My Echo can summon and manipulate Blood."
'Ragna also didn't give him all of the details, wanting to let him think that his Aspect was just a unspecial one that can strengthen himself.'
"I see. You all seem strong and y'all have survived in this hellhole for so long. Which legacy clan are you guys from, if I may ask ?"
'Why does that bastard think we are from a clan ? Just because we have survived for a while ? Us normal ones can also be strong !'
"We aren't from a clan."
Hearing that, Caspian looked at them differently ... like he was disgusted. But it seemed like Ragna was the only one to notice, before Caspian put on a mask of a charming guy.
'Yeah, he's defenitely bad news.'
***
The now larger cohort, had been sitting on the flying Chariot for a while now.
Ragna just looked down, Cera sitting on his shoulder while he thought of some unimportant stuff.
'Oh, I haven't looked at that for a while.'
Ragna summoned his runes and searched for a specific Memory.
[Mirrorblade]:
Type: Tool
Rank: Ascended
Tier: 3
Attributes: [Reflective Edge], [Emotional Blade], [Echo of the Void]
There was a specific Attribute he wanted to look at.
[Echo of the Void]: "Upon landing a killing blow with the blade, it receives a fragment of the dead."
Kills [658/2000]
'Still so far away ... But already killed so many Creatures. I wonder how much longer it will take and what I'll obtain from filling it.'
Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted be the intimidated and strained voice of Layla.
'Hey guys .. what's that in the distance ?'
Ragna looked up and what he saw, shocked him.
It was a large tower, completly made out of glass and spanning into the sky.
'Common, glass again ? The last time I was in contact with glass, it was horrible. But I got the Mirrorblade from there, so I guess it isn't that bad.
I forgot the name from the guy in the village, but he said that the Creature guarding the Waypoint is something connected to reflections of light, and this place defenitely looks like a place that would contain a Waypoint ... so maybe this is our way out.
"I think it's our way to becoming Awakened."
——-Author's Notes——-
Words: 1542
So we are back in the Dream Realm now, after experiencing the First Nightmare of Layla.
I'm not sure how many more chapters it will take for them to awaken, but I don't want to speedrun it, nor take too much time since I have really cool stuff planned for the future.
Peace ✌️