Chapter 5: The Journey Within

Soon, Instructor Rock started his speech. As he continued, Arcadius shifted his gaze to look at Cassie once more. She really was quite beautiful. Her beauty was not sharp and deadly like Master Jet's, nor was it refined and sculpted like Nephis's. Instead, it was soft and delicate. Her attire was neat and tidy, not expensive but still rather tasteful. She had pale blond hair, big blue eyes and an exquisite face. She was... subtly breathtaking. 

Arcadius shook his head silently, banishing the unnecessary thoughts. He tried to focus on Instructor Rock's lecture but couldn't, since he already knew everything the man was saying. He let his thoughts wander slightly before being brought back to the real world— well, as real as this world could get— by Cassie's voice. "Arcadius?" 

"Hmmm?" he said, looking in her direction. 

She wore a contemplative expression. After a moment of silence, she also turned to face him and said, "I know I said that asking you anything more than your Ability would be selfish, but... I am still curious about those two strange Attributes of yours." 

Arcadius paused for a bit and then sighed audibly. "I know you must be confused but I'm not sure I can explain those to you. That first one in particular is simply impossible for you to know about. In fact, I don't understand it completely myself. I know it sounds crazy but it's the truth. Maybe someday you'll understand. Even the second one is kind of a mystery to me. I really don't know what it means when it says 'many curses and blessings of this world are ineffective against you'. I guess we'll find out in the Dream Realm." 

She kept looking at him for a long while, the same calculating and contemplative expression on her face. Finally, she sighed lightly and said, "Fine. I'll take your word for it... for now. I expect you to be able to explain both of them to me. In due time." 

Arcadius smiled. "Of course." he said cheerfully, standing up. "Alright. It's almost time to move to the dormitories. I'll see you in the cafeteria for supper?" 

Cassie turned her face toward him and smiled. "Okay. See you at supper, Arcadius." she said happily and looked away. 

"And Cassia?" He asked, sounding hesitant. She turned to look at him again and he continued. "I know I said all those things about trusting you... and don't get me wrong; I meant every word. It's just that... would you please keep my Attributes a secret? I mean, you knowing is fine. Because I trust you completely but others... I'm not so sure." He looked at her sheepishly. She seemed amused. 

"It's no problem, Arcadius. You could've hidden from me because you knew that I could see your Attributes but instead, you chose to trust me. I won't break your trust," she promised. 

"Thank you Cassia, and please... call me Cade." he said lightly. 

"Okay, got it." she said, getting to her feet. She looked around, as if searching for something. 

"Uh, what's wrong?" Cade asked. 

"I'm looking for a social worker. They help me get around and about." she replied, sounding almost embarrassed. 

 "Oh, that's alright. I can help you." Cade said, offering her a hand. 

She hesitated for a moment but then slid her hand forward. Cade took it into his own and they started moving towards the dormitories. Eventually, they stopped at a corner. Cassie faced him with a silent question in her eyes. "It's the way to the girls' dormitories. It'd be indecent for a guy to enter, don't you think?" he said. 

Cassie seemed to understand. She said, "Oh. Oh, yeah, you're probably right." 

He released her hand and looked around, trying to find some female Sleeper to accompany Cassie the rest of the way. And he noticed one. His lip curled. Perfect. 

Nephis was approaching the entrance to the girls' dormitory. Cade inspected her as she was moving toward the entrance. When she was almost in front of him, he gestured her to stop. He didn't say anything because she was wearing her headphones. She glanced at him and then took off her headphones. "Yes?" she said. 

"Sorry to bother you. My name is Arcadius and this is Cassia. Could you please help her get to her room, um...?" Cade said in a swift tone. 

She inspected him for a moment with those cold and clear grey eyes. After a while, she said, "You're the pervert." 

Arcadius almost stumbled. Gaining his balance, he looked at her with indignation plastered across his frame. Then he palmed his face and said, "No. No, I'm not. And neither is he. We just sort of look alike." 

Nephis turned to Cassie and looked her up and down. Then she asked in an indifferent tone, "He's not?" 

Sensing that she was addressing her, Cassie shook her head and added, "That's just someone he knows. And resembles. Cade is actually quiet the gentleman." 

Nephis looked back at Arcadius, remained silent for a moment and then, said with cold indifference. "Oh, sorry about that, then. Hello, Arcadius, I'm Nephis." 

As soon as she heard her name, Cassie looked up at Arcadius; he was quite a bit taller than her. Cassie was obviously curious as to why he had bothered asking her name as he knew exactly who she was. But she didn't say anything. That's my girl, Arcadius thought. Looking at Nephis, he smiled and added, "It's very nice to meet you, Nephis. Now... would you mind?" He nodded at Cassie. 

Nephis looked at Cassie, shrugged indifferently and grabbed her hand. "Let's go," she said and started pulling Cassie along. 

Cassie waved back at Cade as she walked toward the girls' dormitory, led by Nephis. Cade waved back as the two girls disappeared from view. Then he started towards his own destination. 

Moving back to his own room, Cade passed Sunny near the boys' dormitory. 

Cade smiled at him, "Hey, what's up, Sunny? You just disappeared on me, didn't you?" he said in a somewhat mocking tone. 

Sunny paused and looked at him, obviously not amused. "You're the one who disappeared, you degenerate. Whatever happened to 'working together', huh? You just saw a pretty girl sitting alone and started hitting on her," he spat. 

Cade didn't break his smile. "So, you were keeping an eye on me, were you? How cute. Anyway, what I did was necessary. And besides, I'm not the one who's notorious as the infamous pervert. Honestly, dude, gimme a break, will you? People are seriously mistaking me for you, calling me the pervert." he said, shaking his head. 

Sunny's lip curled upward in a sneer. He was clearly enjoying himself at Cade's dilemma. Holding the smug expression, he said, "Serves you right. I'm only posing as one. You probably are one. And a big one at that, I'd wager. I saw how you were looking at Master Jet." 

Cade threw his arms up and shrugged. He admitted, "I'm not a pervert but I won't deny that I was checking her out. I mean, have you seen her? Honestly, any guy who doesn't get indecent thoughts after looking at her is the weird one, in my opinion." 

Sunny looked at him in silent disbelief. But then, he seemed to come around. "Yeah, well, can't deny that..." he muttered under his breath. 

"What was that?" Cade asked. 

"I said, 'you can't deny that', okay? Now leave me alone." he said with frustration. Then he turned around and walked away, toward his own room. 

Once he was out of earshot, Cade said to himself in a low voice, "Oh, Lost from Light. I could make you my bitch with just a few words." Turning around, he sighed, "Be grateful that I don't wanna change the course of this story. For my own sake, of course."

Then he, too, started to walk towards his own dorm room.