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'Woah!'

What was that? I reached out and grabbed a glowing diamond amulet, its brilliance cutting through the darkness of the mysterious room I suddenly found myself in. As my fingers closed around it, the ground beneath me began to crack and crumble. Before I could react, the entire room collapsed into nothingness.

Now, I was standing on the edge of an impossibly large staircase suspended in the clouds. I could barely tell up from down, the fog around me so dense it was disorienting. But as I looked ahead, my eyes caught something: the stairs behind me disappeared with each step I took forward. There was no going back.

After what felt like an eternity, I stopped cautiouly. In front of me, glowing letters floated mid-air:

"AKUMA-SABLIA-FORMU-SADIPAR"

I didn't know what they meant, but curiosity got the better of me. Tentatively, I sounded out the words. On the third attempt, the amulet I had held earlier reappeared, glowing even brighter. It hovered toward me, and as it floated closer, I noticed a name etched onto its surface.

Reaching out, I gripped the amulet, intending to yank it off its hook. Just as I did, a sudden splash of cold water jolted me back to reality.

I shot up in bed, gasping. "It was... a nightmare?"

Standing beside me, Nysar hovered with an empty bucket. She sighed and flew around me, clearly upset.

"Vale! You've been having nightmares for two weeks now," Nysar said, her small voice tinged with worry. "Are you sure you don't need help?"

I tried to brush it off. "Nysar, aren't you just the cutest? Thanks for worrying, but I'm fine. It's just a dream, okay?"

Nysar frowned, clearly unconvinced. "Vale, this isn't normal. Please—"

"Nysar, I'll be late for school! We can talk about this later." I waved her off, glancing at the clock.

Her tiny voice rose in alarm. "Late? Vale, it's already 11:00!"

"What?!" I jumped out of bed in a panic. "Gotta go!"

I raced downstairs, grabbed a handful of macarons from the counter, and dashed to school.

When I finally reached the classroom door, out of breath, I froze. My heart sank as I realized...

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