What A Dream Wants

Outside the dorm, a few people were still loitering around. Steven and Zero walked in.

The Super, Bob, greeted them, a bit drowsily.

They went up to their dorm rooms.

Steven opened his door.

"Okay bye-" Steven started to say-

"Wait," Zero interjected. "How do you feel?"

"Tired." Steven yawned.

"No, I mean, how was the plum soup?"

"Good." Steven licked his lips.

Zero's eye seemed to have twitched for a second. "I mean, did the Yang Qi in the soup help you?"

"I dunno."

Zero clasped his hands together and thought a bunch of letters that didn't mean anything alone, but meant something together. "Ok, let me check."

"Okay," Steven shrugged, wishing he could sleep.

Zero sent a flurry of qi into Steven's spiritual sea. He observed that the Yin and Yang Qi were now perfectly balanced as all things should be.

"They're balanced now. Try combining the Yin and Yang Energy together." Zero advised, walking away.

Steven cried. He really just wanted to sleep.

In the end, he complied.

Walking into the dorm, He sat down on the floor and closed his eyes. The two energies, separated by their functions, were like oil and water. They didn't seem to want to combine together anytime soon. Using his non-attributed Qi, he slowly suppressed their volatile nature. The energies swirled about and coalesced.

After an hour. He was done. Well, not done. But he was. He had converted a moderate portion of the two energies into a more balanced qi.

He sighed. Droplets raced down his forehead and drenched his shirt.

'That was tremendously straining and difficult...' He thought to himself. He only succeeded after a long tribulation. Not to mention working up a sweat...

If only other's knew of his thoughts...

If only they knew he was disappointed with his lack of ability to combine the energies easily, overlooking that he had succeeded on his first try.

If only other people knew.

Oh well, Steven wasn't other people.

Steven got up and walked into the bathroom. He took a quick shower and then changed his clothes.

The time on his phone read: '9:27'.

He decided it was time to sleep, so he brushed his teeth, and laid down on his bed. Soon, his mind drifted to another world.

. . .

He looked around.

The olive haired girl was sitting on the cloud, bored.

"Hey," spoke the girl, twiddling her hair.

"Olivia, do your parents force you to go to sleep early?" He smirked.

"Whatever." She grumbled, tossing her braid.

"Lukas still isn't here?" Steven asked.

"He's busy."

"Should I go to HQ's first then?"

"Sure, I don't really care." She uttered, looking down at her fingers.

. . .

Steven materialized inside the room.

The room was brightly lit, with a receptionist desk. A couple of other people were also gathered around, simply waiting.

A brown-haired receptionist greeted him.

"Hello, Sir." She greeted.

"Estevan is fine," Steven mentioned.

"I apologize, sir," She frowned, "But our work-conduct-policy forces us to address you with honorifics."

"I see." He noted, "Is there anything for S-7?"

Her eyes opened in shock. "Isn't that-"

"Not so loudly, please." Steven reprimanded.

"Sorry, sir," she said, "Alright, I'll check the files right now." She started scrolling through her computer. "Well, actually, we don't really have an important job for you."

"Hmm...?" Stevens's eyes darkened.

"We still have a job for you though, it's just more mundane than usual." The receptionist said. "The current job for your team is to recruit students for the academy. However, I don't know what HQ was thinking when assigning you this job. It's rarely done by an S-"

Steven gave her a look.

"I mean people of your caliber," She sweated nervously.

"Alright, I'll go inform my group members," Steven responded softly. "What's your name, Miss?"

"My name is Clairette," She introduced herself. "It's a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too." He answered.

. . .

Flushed, orchid pillows billowed and rosy, puffy clouds lolled under him. Like blankets wrapped in pomegranate gradients to passion fruit delights, all dr.a.p.ed in the colors of a mixing palette. Soft as the couches after a long day of work, inviting them to let go.

"You're back," Olivia grumbled.

"You're in a worse mood than usual. What's the matter?" Steven asked, a bit worriedly.

She sighed, twirling her finger in her hair.

"It's fine, I'm not in the mood to talk about it. Lukas still isn't here, if you're wondering."

"Okay." He replied.

. . .

Within the lilac landscape, Lukas finally graced them with their presence.

"Sorry, I'm late..." Lukas apologized.

"Late...?" Olivia deadpanned.

"Sorry Olive, I had urgent business to attend to," He yawned. "Hey, Steven."

"Hey."

"Heard you got into the orc.h.e.s.tra,"

"A friend forced me, too." He dismissed nonchalantly. "Lukas, I already picked up our mission."

"What is it?" Olivia asked, bored.

"To recruit disciples."

Olivia scowled. "Doesn't that mean they basically ask us to disregard our work for a few weeks?" She combed through her hair in annoyance. "Two low-level missions in a week, seriously."

"We have to do as the headquarters say," Lukas stated calmly. "For now, should we work together?"

"Fine," Olivia said, jumping off her cloud. "So, where should we start?"

"Hm... I have an idea." Steven recounted.

"Your ideas are always bad," Olivia jested, a twinkle of mischievousness in her eyes.

"Jeeh, glad you're feeling better..." He replied back.