1 The Parting

"In the heart of humans many things exist. 

In the downtrodden slum, where despair seemed to seep through the very air, there lived a small boy. He was just five years old, but life had already cast a heavy shadow upon his tiny shoulders.

His days began before the sun willed to rise, as he trudged through the narrow, muddy alleys of the slum, his tattered clothes hanging loosely on his frail frame. He carried a bundle of old, scrapped newspapers almost as big as he was. Each morning, his mission was the same: to sell these discarded relics of yesterday's news to scrape together a few coins to help his struggling self. 

It wasn't the best idea in making money, it wasn't the most effective way to earn credits but it was the only way the boy knew how to make money.

His small, determined eyes betrayed the weight of his circumstances, forgetting the simple joys of childhood children should have.

His voice, though feeble, rang out through the slum as he approached anyone who passed by, his little hand holding out a crumpled newspaper. He would utter the words, "Please" But in the slums, spare change was a luxury, and few had a spare.

The sun beat down relentlessly on him as he made his rounds, his small feet leaving faint imprints in the dusty streets. His hunger gnawed at his belly, but he persevered, refusing to give in to despair. His tiny shoulders may have been burdened by the cruel reality of life in the slums, but his spirit remained unbroken.

There were days when he would sit in a quiet corner, tears mixing with the dust on his cheeks, wondering why life had to be so harsh. But in those moments of despair, he'd remember his non-existent family's smiles and dreams of a better life hypnotizing himself in a hungry delusion. With renewed determination, he'd get up, wipe his tears, and continue his quest to sell newspapers.

As the evening sun painted the sky in hues of orange and pink, he would count the meager coins he'd collected, his fingers fumbling over each one. It was often not enough to fill his empty stomachs, but it was something—a small glimmer of hope in the vast darkness of their existence.

The little boy's story was one of resilience in the face of overwhelming adversity. He was just a five-year-old child, but he was a symbol of unyielding determination, a reminder that even in the harshest of circumstances, the human spirit could endure and continue to fight for a better tomorrow." 

"....... " After hearing this an unknown man hesitantly inhaled a breath. 

" Boss What the fuck, I go to buy ice cream for few minutes and you're already narrating someone's life. " He said while wearing a dark blue trench coat while holding 2 big scoops of ice cream. 

The narrator's eyes switched from the child and moved toward the buff bald man "You took too long" shrugging his arms and leaning his back into the public seat near the park "I needed to do something while you were gone or else this drowsiness is going to eat me alive " answered the teenager with short black hair wearing a 3-piece suit. 

Looking at the boy who was being narrated the bald man tried to make sense of his boss's story. 

The boy looked better than the story had suggested, his clothes were a little bit cleaner, not many people were buying his newspaper, but some people still bought it.

"Why are you narrating that boy's life and why did you make it so sad " handing one of the ice creams to the teenager, the bald burly man asked. 

"Well…. " Instead of taking one of the ice creams, the teenager took them both. 

Looking towards the sky the teenager begun speaking with a series tone

" I've been working too hard, people under us have begun to forget what life was like back then. " 

Not immediately eating the ice cream he looked back towards the bald man " I think our juniors should remember the times before it started, the times when people would almost resort to murder for synthetic paste, I just want people to be free… "

Looking back at the sky.

" I have a dream Julius I want our people to be free. " 

The bald guy looked at the teenager with no sadness in his eyes despite the sad story of the teenager " Boss, stop spouting nonsense, I know you're doing this, so you think I forget about the ice cream." reaching his right arm forward. 

Julius moved with great agility that doesn't match his size " Gimme that. " yanking the ice cream back with a simple jab like movement Julius took back one of the ice creams he bought.

The teenager snarled at Julius " You're no fun, but my point still stands I will make the slums great again. Smiling a little while gazing to the sky, the young teenager swore to the sky in a pose. 

" Boss I know you mean what you said but when you take a pose while saying it I can't take it seriously. " 

" Whadduyumean? " the teenager said while adopting another ridiculous pose. 

Julius just gave up, went silent and enjoyed his ice cream.

Couple of minutes had passed as the two enjoyed their ice cream, suddenly a black car stopped in front of them. A man who looked to be in his early twenties walked out of the car wearing another stylish 3-piece suit along with what people would call a magnificent goatee. " Boss, Julius for the love of God, WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU!!! the others were looking for you all over the place. We almost started another war because you guys went radio silent. "Cursed the man while approaching the two.

While the teenager waved his hand apologizing Julius took a deep breath and let out a sigh

 "Calm down Ronald, Boss just needed some ice cream. " 

After exchanging a few lines between the 3 guys got in the car and left the ice cream shop behind. 

During the silent drive to the police station the teenager broke the silence. " that boy " 

" hun? " J 

"the boy who was selling the newspaper. " 

"yes? "J 

"He reminds me of myself. " 

"how so "R 

"When I was his age, I too was selling newspapers hoping to earn enough to survive. I struggled everyday gathering the thrown away newspaper from the upper district scrapping them in order to sell them to sate my hunger. The boy reminded me of that " 

" Oh boss, I didn't know that. I'm sorry " Ronald said sincerely. 

" Don't trust in his bullshit Ronald, he is half lying to you, he was already a member of a gang when he was 6. I have been working with him since he was 8, the only reason he sold newspapers was because he thought it was a secure way of handling information and sending it to others. 

Ronald rolled his eyes at the teenager. " R'ly boss, I felt genuinely sorry for you, you know. " a small smile forming between the magnificent beard " But still 6 years old, that must be some kind of a record. " Praising his boss.

The teenager laughed at Ronald's words " sure give me a medal when I become an awakened. " 

As the small bickering went on in the car, slowly and steadily the car was nearing the police station. 

While coming close to the police station the teenager noticed his left hand shaking, raising his hand and looking at it the teenager took a deep breath 'No Fear", slowly but surely the shakiness of his hand stopped.

Finally reaching the destination The teenager looked at the two men *sigh* " I guess this is it, I think I should say some final words you know. " 

Holding his hand up before the two could answer back. 

" Julius as the head of our Dreamers, I hereby declare you as the new temporary head of Dreamers, Ronald you shall be the witness." Pointing three fingers at Julius the teenager continued.

"You know my ideals, Julius and I trust you to keep them. From the information I have gathered in order to awaken properly and with a decent ability, I need to become a sleeper first conquering my first nightmare. After that I should have some time before I need to enter another nightmare going somewhere in the Dream realm. " 

" If all goes well gentlemen, I will see you in 2 to 3 days in Soma's restaurant as a successful sleeper. " 

Before the two could respond he raised up his hand again. 

" And most importantly, you are not allowed to change the name, the 8 year old me decided that name and i will his wish, are we clear gentleman?" 

Ronald easily nodded with agreement, while Julis snapped his fingers with a *tch*.

Waving goodbye and exchanging last goodbyes to his men the 3 men separated.

Turning his back towards his friends, subordinates, brothers the teenager let out a breath deeply in thought remembering the chaos that was the last few days, Because of his stupid but logical schedule he wasn't able to discover it early, so when he realized it was a hellhole, all the plans he had went out the window, the small chance of being infected by the nightmare spell actually happened.

He has been acting like a fool to calm himself and his men but it wasn't working for Julius and Ronald were too close with him to be fooled.

But as much as it was a curse it was a blessing and vice versa. 

Finishing his thought, the teenager walked into the police station. At least he tried to, until a patrol officer outside the station stopped him. 

"Can I help you? "fixing the cap hat on top of his head the officer asked.

The teenager scratched his chin. "Yes, in fact, I am here to turn myself in. " 

"Excuse me? "the officer asked to clarify the situation. 

" Oh. "coughing to get a straight voice, the teenager said, "As demanded by the Third Special Directive, I am here to surrender myself as a carrier of the Nightmare Spell." 

The officer's expression instantly changed from confusion to wary. He looked at the young man once more, this time with piercing intensity. 

"Are you sure you are infected? When did you start showing symptoms?" 

The teenager shrugged. 

" 3-4 days, maybe 5 days? " 

The officer grew pale. 

"Shit" 

Then. with a hurried motion, he pressed a button on his radio terminal and bellowed: 

" Attention! Code Black outside the lobby! I repeat CODE BLACK" 

 ***