Asteria was always a dreamer.
Daydreaming? She did it.
Falling asleep in class? She did that too.
But, in this world? Dreaming is synonymous with nightmares.
The Nightmare spell. An infection that tore this world in half overnight. Trials some are forced into to mysteriously gain superpowers compared to the mundane. Awakened.
The nightmare spell was a cruel twist of fate to anyone like her, who loved to dream big and think bigger.
That was until – She started showing symptoms of this "disease" himself.
A day as normal as ever... as far as normal went within the NQSC. Daydreaming about the future, a hopefully peaceful life amongst this daily chaos they've quickly learnt to control.
But that "normal day" went south. Fast. An uncontrollable desire to sleep.
After all, it wasn't unusual for her to be tired, but after a few days of feeling more exhausted than usual, she figured it out.
She too, was infected.
Thankfully, she was reasonably close to a police station. The same one with those reinforced walls and turrets lining the walls and scruffy men in uniforms with a scowl on their face.
"Are you lost, kid?"
"This is the police station right?" Asteria, feeling quite amused with herself pulled her cheek wide, trying to smile.
The officer was puzzled at the girl's antics and added:
"Yes but – are you lost?"
"Nope! I'm here to surrender myself or whatever that means. Super tired, nightmare spell, right?"
A mix of shock and horror painted the man's face.
"How many days have you felt it?"
"At least four."
'Is that bad? I heard some people can last over a week, I'm just trying to keep out of trouble'
**
A few minutes later, Asteria was yawning, eyes half open, with a crowd of officers around her. Soon she was restrained, buckled and practically chained to a chair.
"Hah," A laugh escaped her lips, "I didn't know you were into this."
Dead silence.
"Tough crowd, huh?"
"This is no time for jokes, kid. I assume you know what the spell is, right?"
"Sure do, I've read about it on webcomics about the awakened all the time."
A splash of relief hit their faces:
"Saved the little time we have left instead of explaining, I'll keep this short. An awakened is on their way to observe your first trial, and to deal with you if you fail."
"I just have to kill a few things, survive, maybe run away, succeed and get an aspect right?"
"To put it simply – Yes, the awakened coming will brief you on the r-"
The door suddenly opened, and there stood quite a brooding and intimidating man.
"Kid, I'll be the awakened watching over you until you fail or if you wake up, I hope it's the latter because I'm really trying to get a day off."
'What? Is he... nevermind. '
"Great, awesome, right?"
'Honestly the audacity. '
"Is there anything you can tell me before I go in? Maybe something helpful, not 'don't die' Mr. I want to go on holiday."
"You took the words out of my mouth. Don't die kid."
'Did he just smile at me?'
Then, a tide of drowsiness fell over her."
[Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell. Prepare for your first trial...]