New Beginning

(DO THE TIME WARP)

(ZDVJHDFG,JHNTHFGM,FGHK,TJSEMJHSEG.JHRSELHJ/.DHDT.LKJEGKJH;LKN;LKDFLKJDKLJFJ/;KLM;LKGNKJFNKLG;LKDLJHSGKLJHASDGSDJLDFDKJHSLKJFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF)

The bell rang and James led Justin out of their fourth period classroom and to the cafeteria.

"You at least seem like you're holding up pretty well so far," James said, looking at Justin as he held open the cafeteria door for the brunet.

"That's probably far from the truth but you're at least putting on a good show of being okay," he added a little more quietly.

Justin only nodded stiffly in reply, eyes trained straight ahead as he avoided the chance of even catching the glances of the students around him.

"W-where to next?"

"We get some food, or if you're not hungry we can just sit at a table in the corner somewhere and relax. Lunch lasts for a half hour so we have some time to sit around."

He glanced at Justin again.

"What do you want to do?"

Justin paused.

"Food'll m-make me sick. If you want something, I can just wait somewhere for you."

He ducked his head.

"If that's okay with you..."

"Nah it's fine. I have a granola bar in my backpack. I'm not going to leave you."

He scanned the large overly crowded room, trying to see if there were any relatively empty tables left. This place filled up fast.

"There! Let's go," James said, grabbing Justin by the arm and leading him through the crowd, sliding through the people with practiced ease.

He tried to blend in and not draw any attention to himself, but every time he would accidentally brush against a Real, he'd freeze or flinch with a yelp.

Once they had finally made it to the empty table, Justin sat heavily in the uncomfortable, plastic chair. He threaded and twiddled with his shaking fingers, not looking around, only in his lap.

"S-sorry..." he stuttered.

"Why are you apologizing? You haven't done anything wrong," James said, smiling a little. He set down his backpack and leaned over to unzip a smaller compartment, pulling out a bar.

Justin shook his head.

He didn't know why he had apologized, he didn't know why he ever did. He just... He did, on reflex.

"I'm so-" he was about to apologize again, but James never seemed to like it.

James raised an eyebrow, that smile still pulling a little at his lips.

"It's fine Justin. Really."

Justin just nodded, still looking at his lap. He took in a deep breath.

"So... What's next?"

A TIME SKIP IS NEXT THAT'S WHAT

-it is now maybe a week or so or a month or something later and James and Justin are Lucid and have gone through a considerable amount of training so they can be on their own now without Lilith and/or Derek babysitting-

Camden sat on the ground with his legs sprawled out in front of him. He played with lthe ittle whisps of white that rose around him as he spoke. He and Saint were in the Lucid Realm, taking a break. They hadn't found any Nightmares tonight and really didn't want to go out looking for trouble. Plus technically they were still in training, and Lilith had told them to take it easy the first few months, so they were fine.

Saint was sitting with his legs in criss cross applesauce, hands placed neatly in his lap as they talked.

The topic wasn't of great importance, it was probably about something stupid, like school. Or sex. Whichever.

Camden jumped when a figure crackled into sight, solidifying into Derek. He wore an odd look on his face. A smirk? Or maybe more genuinely happy and triumphant. Or it might be annoyance. It was really really difficult to tell.

Saint, on the other hand, wasn't fazed at all. he was really like a completely different person when he was Lucid.

"We got your third partner. Just picture Lilith and appear where she is. It's still this Realm, just not right here. Come on."

He waited for the two to stand then disappeared in the same fashion as before, leaving a few crackling sparks behind.

Camden stared at Saint like a lost puppy.

"Th-this can't be happening so soon. We're not even out of training yet!"

Saint merely smile reassuringly and placed a hand on Camden's shoulder.

Then, within the blink of an eye, he was gone.

Camden bit his lip and followed Saint's lead, reappearing next to Saint. Lilith was talking to a skinny little girl with dirty blonde hair pulled back in a loose ponytail. She wore extremely short pajama shorts and a tank top. Derek was watching the girl, lips persed in thought.

Lilith and the girl turned upon seeing the other Lucids appear.

"It was a lot sooner than I hoped it would be, but we found you guys a new partner. Normally, we'd just shove her at you and make you guys train her, but since you're still pretty new at this I'll let Derek help you with explaining stuff to her and showing her how to transform. After tonight, you're on your own."

The girl tilted her head to the side and watched Camden from under her eyelahes, smiling shyly.

Camden swallowed and looked away. He didn't like where this was going. And he hadn't even talked to her yet, and she wasn't even in her true Awake form.

Saint's eyes suddenly narrowed at the silent exchange between the two. Or, at least, the one sided puppy-love from the girl. At least, he hoped it would only be one sided...

"What should we do now?" He asked Camden quietly, leaving it to the electric-blue-haired boy, to gauge is reactions.

"I...I guess we have to show her how to transform..."

Lilith cleared her throat. Camden jumped.

"If you guys think you can handle this on your own then we won't stay around. We'll check up on you all tomorrow and see how it's progressing."

She looked to from Saint to Camden, waiting for a response. Camden looked a bit too bewildered to make up his mind so she turned back to Saint.

Saint nodded firmly, meeting Lilith's eyes with a steady gaze. Oh, how he had changed.

She smiled and replied, "Great. Don't forget the PASOS (that's my new word for binding XD). One of you needs to meet up with her and get one. Doesn't have to be both of you. And don't let her say her real name. I'm sure you'll do fine."

She waved and disappeared silently. Derek followed seconds later.

Camden swallowed nervously, looking to Saint for a lead.

Saint looked back to the other boy, smiling again, trying to give him someone semblance of stability. He stepped towards the girl and held out his hand in what he hoped was a neutral greeting.

"Hello. I'm Saint, that's Camden. Make up a name, and never say your real one, okay?"

She stared at the outstretched hand with the slightest flicker of distatse, then smiled sweetly and grasped it, giving it a little shake.

"Why do I have to make up a name?"

She directed the question to Camden, tilting her head to the side and blinking up at him coyly.

Camden blinked and cleared his throat.

"Erm, th-the Nightmares can use your name against you."

He winced at how idiotic he sounded, stutter and all. He had no idea why this little girl was making him feel so...uncomfortable, like he was under the stare of some great serpent sizing him down. This was only going to get worse when she transformed, he just knew it.

His eyes flicked over to Saint, silently pleading with him to take control of the situation.

Saint rolled his eyes good naturedly at Camden's inaudible pleading and once again, took control.

"You need a new name so the Nightmares can't find you in the Awake Realm. Make something up quickly and then we'll work on making you look aesthetically presentable."

...

Yeah, he didn't like her.

She visibly flinched at Saint's words and quirked an eyebrow, then quickly replaced it with another smile.

"Well yeah, I'm in my pjs right now. Might be better if I just took 'em off."

She winked at Camden, who swallowed hard and looked away, blanching a little.

Really, it was like she didn't realize that she wasn't even up to their shoulders. Then again, this was her first time being Lucid, so she might not.

"Ew, please don't." Saint retorted easily.

"I'm sorry, but I don't enjoy staring at skeletons with skin. Plus, I might second guess my idea on your gender, considering you have no chest."

He shrugged his shoulders.

"But that's up to you, I guess. So, anyways, name?"

Her eyes widened considerably at that.

"I-"

She stopped herself. Took a moment to compose herself. Then the smile was back.

"Rowan."

Saint smiled back, mimicking the cold, falseness.

"Nice. Now, for your body."

His arms crossed across his chest.

"Just close your eyes and pretend you look like something else."