This...was now the norm for him, everytime he passed out it seemed.

First, it was a dream about a life he lived with parents he never had, but now, it seemed that the dream was about an Eclipsed corpse filled land.

But this time, something seemed different.

The being of light that was still sitting atop a pile of Eclipsed corpse, but instead of the usual powerful aura it released, it now seemed more restrained.

No, it wasn't that the being was the one restraining it, rather there seemed to be a barrier around it that kept it restrained.

Floating before it was a text that released a dark purple miasma.

σφραγίζω

Nox could neither understand, nor read the text but for some reason, it felt familiar, almost as if he had seen it somewhere.

The being seemed to be silently observing him as he was also observing it.

With a sigh, he slowly walked forward, stepping on the pile of corpses that lay on the ground.

Climbing on them was uncomfortable, but with what he had just gone through, he didn't seem to mind.

Nox stopped just before he reached the barrier and extended his hand, only for it to stop the moment it got close to the text.

He then had a good look at the being before him.

It was undoubtedly in the form of a human, but Nox had seen one too many Eclipsed pose as humans to believe that this being was also human.

"There wasn't a barrier here the last time," he muttered as he tapped on it, "what happened?"

The being didn't reply, it just calmly continued looking at him.

Though, Nox knew that it definitely was capable of talking, after all, the first time he appeared here, it had spoken.

"Anyway, thanks for the heads up on the Eclipsed."

Again, there was no response from the being but he didn't mind, he was sure it would reply when it was ready to.

For now, he was just satisfied with hanging around until he woke up, probably in the belly of an Eclipsed.

He wondered how that would feel before shaking his head and chuckling at the intrusive thought.

"Ah, by the way," Nox sat down on the pile, "who are you? And what is this place?"

Looking around now, this placed seemed eerily similar to the Eclipsed realm, but he could see that there were cracks in the sky.

No, rather, the sky was shattered open, a scene which was really familiar.

"Is this connected to that dream?" He asked again, and since the being answered none of his questions, he still kept asking.

Honestly, he was just relieved that he was speaking to someone else in a month, without having to worry about them being an Eclipsed.

The being let out a sigh, similar to his before standing up.

καρδία

"I was right," Nox muttered, "you can talk, though, I have no idea what you just said."

The being of light didn't explain, it just slowly sat back down and before Nox could ask anymore questions, the pile suddenly opened beneath him.

"I guess it's time I wak—" before his words could be completed, gravity took hold and he fell.

***

Nox's golden pupils snapped open and the first thing that came into view was a high ceiling.

It was one he had seen before and it was only found in one place he had been to,

The Academy's medbay.

"Another dream maybe?" He muttered before closing his eyes and waiting for a couple of seconds before reopening them.

It was still the same view as before.

"Are you done confirming whether or not this is a dream?" A familiar voice called out from his side causing him to turn.

"Ascended Dawn?" He asked to make sure, before sitting up, "I guess this definitely isn't a dream."

Astra frowned at his words, before muttering, "what does that mean?"

"Well, you're the crazy lady who wants to turn me into a lab rat," he explained, "so there's no way I'd dream of safety with you in in."

Astra expression got a bit darker and the voices were not helping.

"I know he called me crazy, but I can't hit him just yet, not until I have an excuse to." She said, but Nox was already used to her talking to herself.

"Of course it's not because I'm scared of that blind bat."

Nox got off the medbay bed, only to realize that his feet was bare, speaking of things that were bare....he was receiving a lot more air than usual, down south.

He looked down and realized that he was only wearing a thin hospital gown, one that was very much open at the back.

There was a brief, very heavy silence.

Nox slowly reached behind himself, felt absolutely nothing protecting his dignity, and then froze.

"…umm," he said carefully, without turning around, "why am I naked."

"Well, we had to get you cleaned up," She replied flatly, "especially since you've been unconscious for a week now."

There was another round of silence as Nox's brain slowly registered what she just said.

"…a week?" he repeated.

"Yes," Astra replied without hesitation. "Seven days, when I found you in the rift, you were barely alive, I'm even surprised you managed to survive in that state."

"Half the organs in your body had been pierced by your ribs and your SE wasn't moving at all."

"I see," he muttered, sitting back on the bed, mostly due to the fact that his ass was still out in the open.

So in total, a month and seven days.

In just that timeframe, he had watched his team die to another one of his teammate who was actually an Eclipsed disguised as human, died,

Fought a Wendigo Eclipsed, discovered half a dozen new abilities, blown up his emotional support rock, passed out, talked to a glowing thing again… and apparently slept through an entire week.

"I missed classes," he muttered.

Astra stared at him.

"That," she said slowly, "is your concern?"

"Well," he shrugged weakly, "if I'm already getting expelled, I'd like to know."

Rather than the fact that he was going to be expelled, it was more so the fact that he was going to become a lab rat.

With a sigh, Astra turned to the side picked up a capsule and tossed it to him alongside his...or rather, Elias's watch.

"The blind bat wants to have a word with you."

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