"Now, our bond is broken."

"Will you disappear?"

"For now. Let's meet in another dream"

Does a high school AU count as 'another dream'? You think Nomura will ever follow up on that in the next 10 years or so, or...? Whelp, until then:

Thank you for reading!

From the moment Anora woke up that morning, something just felt… off. The world seemed to operate in slow motion as she got out of bed. While she picked out her clothes, her head swam in an endless loop of 'haven't I already worn this?' and 'I don't care what I wear today.' A trip to the shower didn't help much either; she refused to have the water run ice cold against her body, but the warm water only served to make her even more exhausted. Putting her things together for the rest of the school day also caused some confusion; did she have health today or history? Or maybe it was math? She actually had to pull out her schedule to check- even then, she still put the wrong textbook in her backpack by accident.

Deep down, a part of her knew that this wasn't normal. She could feel -no, hear- someone continuously whispering soft words into her heart that only made her want to drift into whatever realm they were willing her into. She couldn't let that happen. Their words were sweet, but she could still sense their malice. She had to fight it. She had to stay awake to guard her heart. She had to…

"If a wielder is overcome by malice -or rather, their heart is tainted by darkness- their adorable little Spirit will turn dark and become a Nightmare." There were opinions from the other people in the room, but Anora could not hear them. Whatever they said, the man with the black coat agreed with them. "And if you don't stop this renegade Spirit, it'll plant darkness in the hearts of others, and you'll have an army of Nightmares on your hands."

Anora jolted like she had been shocked by a live wire. The voices had come so clearly, it definitely did not feel like she had been dreaming. Was she that exhausted to the point where she was learning how to astral project too? Maybe it was that voice whispering at her. Its encouragement was starting to get louder now. But she couldn't give in. She couldn't give it what it wanted.

"There's no way you're taking -'s heart!"

Another jolt, and Anora felt five times more worn out than she did before. She hoped her teachers didn't notice when she started to nod off during class. Each time she closed her eyes now, she could see new people with incredible detail. One of particular note was someone that looked a lot like Ventus; they slept on a throne-like chair in a large white room. Something was going on on the outside of this room. Something about a boy with a key…

"Is your heart sleeping too?" the boy on the throne asked her. "I wouldn't mind the company, really. I'd invite those people in black coats, but something about them feels wrong."

"No, I… I'm trying to stay awake."

"It's not very easy, is it?" the boy lightly laughed. "Have we met before? There's something about you that I can't quite place..."

Anora wasn't sure if she could answer at first. She moved closer to the boy, looking over his features and realizing that she certainly did look like Ven. Maybe a few years older.

"Do you know where he is?" Anora asked the boy. "Do you think he can help me before it's too late?"

"Who?"

"Sor-"

"Anora."

This time, the young woman let out a sharp inhale as she was forced out of her waking dream. Her eyes frantically looked around before realizing that Ephemer was in front of her. She idly looked down at his hand -firmly grasped on her arm in fright- before looking back up at him with a lazy raise of her eyebrow.

"I've been trying to get your attention for the past minute." he told her. His voice slightly cracked, to which he covered up with a quick cough. "You were just so completely spaced out. I was getting worried..."

Anora blinked. Her eyes looked from him to above them; apparently, he had gotten her attention while she was on the way to… Where was she going? Based on where the sun was, wasn't it a little late for morning classes?

"What time is it?" she asked Ephemer as she looked back to him.

"Noon." came the rather small answer. "We agreed to go to lunch together, remember?"

Again, Anora gave him an absent blink. Ephemer looked back at her with a face that detailed an even greater worry as they remained there.

"Come on," he eventually offered, holding his hand out to her, "We'll go together."

Despite not falling into another waking dream, Anora felt the same jolt. She didn't hesitate to take his arm and tightly hold him as if she were about to fall over. Maybe she would. Ephemer swallowed back dry saliva before leading the two of them to the cafeteria.

They were the last ones to arrive to lunch, based on the happy laughter from Pyra's study group and Skuld. Ephemer guided Anora to an empty seat before sitting next to her. The young woman didn't even hesitate to place her head against his arm. If he didn't find it so adorable, Ephemer would have asked what had gotten into her. They barely ever showed their affection in mixed company. At least, not on the laying on each other front. It didn't take much for the others to notice as well.

"Are you alright, Anora?" Pyra curiously wondered as she looked her over. "You look super pale today."

The girl slowly nodded her head before burying her face into Ephemer's arm. His jacket just smelled so warm and welcoming; like roasted sunflower seeds on a toasted bun. She could feel herself drift away until Ephemer used his free hand to touch her head. The jolt from the touch caused her to sit up. She looked at him with a little pout- her mind too foggy to actually recognize how concerned he looked.

"What time did you go to bed last night?" Ephemer asked her.

"As if you don't already know." came the sarcastic stance from Skuld. For once, Ephemer ignored her.

"Usual." Anora carefully replied.

"Maybe her blood sugar's low." Affie suggested as he took a large bite of his sandwich. After chewing for a bit and swallowing it down, he then asked, "Have you had anything to eat?"

"Smoothie."

"For breakfast?" Nin questioned, raising a careful eyebrow.

Anora nodded. "Banana and strawberry." she even affirmed.

"Breakfast of champions." Affie snickered. "Better than nothing, I suppose."

"It must be the autumn equinox!" Mog then declared, flicking his spoon around. Little bits of yogurt went flying through the air as a result. "It's right up there with Halloween on the 'weird stuff tends to happen on this day' list!"

"I don't think that's a thing." Nin disagreed.

"Can you prove it isn't?"

There was a small pause before Nin let out a small, "Fine. You've got me."

With that seemingly settled, Anora placed her head back on Ephemer. She closed her eyes for only a moment, a vision of her boyfriend fighting against some dark monster came to mind. Then she was waiting for him at a town square with a fountain that looked a lot like the school's. But he never showed up. The next time she saw him, he was enveloped in a white light as she lay-

"Please Ava, I can't leave her alone like this."

Another jolt brought Anora back to her senses. Now, apparently, they were no longer at lunch but in Headmaster Ava's office. Ava was sitting at her desk, eyebrows furrowed with sympathy, as Ephemer stated his case. Anora herself was sitting in the visitor chair. It was a very nice view of Ephemer's…

"Is Mrs. Tien-Kirvi not in her office?" Ava curiously inquired. Ephemer gave her an adamant shake of his head.

"There was a note that said she had to run some errands in town. Which usually means that she's going to see her grandkids while she's at it."

Ava made a little sound of thought as she considered this. "I'll have to talk to her teachers about this." she softly decided. "Along with bring it up with Ira, just in case. But you say she's been like this all day?"

The nod Ephemer gave was quick and nervous. "She was like this when I met her before lunch. You're not close enough to see it, but her eyes, Ava, they're just so… blank. It's like she's seeing something I can't. Or… or fighting something. I can't explain it."

A small silence filled the room as Ava came to her final thoughts.

"Take her up to her dorm. Somewhere safe." she then instructed the young man. "If anyone asks, tell them to come see me directly. When Mrs. Tien-Kirvi gets back on campus, I'll send her to Anora's dorm." There was a short pause before Ava added, "And Ephemer? She'll be alright. Promise."

A little sniffle indicated that Ephemer, in fact, did not believe Anora would be alright. Regardless, he turned around and helped Anora out of the visitor's chair. He held on to her by the arm; if Anora had the proper head space, she likely would have tried to wiggle out of his grasp.

By now the whispering voice was all but demanding that she give in. Her heart belonged to that voice and she needed to hand it over. The warmth of the afternoon sun only made her thoughts become more blurred from what was real, and what wasn't. Looking over at Ephemer made the whispers stronger. 'I think we should send a Dandelion' 'But it's too dangerous.' 'What do you think?' 'I'll go.' 'What!?'

And so, as foretold, darkness prevailed, and light expired.

Ephemer almost yanked Anora's arm off when the girl decided to suddenly stop. Her feet became lead attached to the sidewalk and refused to budge. Anora's eyes were trained forward, but were focused on nothing.

"Ephemer..." she softly mumbled. "I don't think I can fight it anymore..."

If the young man wasn't afraid before, he certainly was now. He turned to look her directly in the eye- his face paling as he carefully asked, "Fight what?"

"My heart."

"Your…?" Ephemer started to question before Anora's legs gave out from under her. Whatever sentence he was going to say was instead replaced with a horrified, "Anora!"

Anora no longer had the strength to answer him. Her eyes watched, but not seeing, as Ephemer frantically tried to get her to respond. Instead, they focused on her heart, now rising from her body as if it were summoned somewhere else. It floated high and higher up into the sky to another world. Another time. Another place. A lazy thought entered her mind in whether Ephemer could see it too. Perhaps not, because if he could, he'd know that everything was all going to be alright.

This was only another dream, after all.