What A Dream Wants

"Young ones of the prestigious Academy of the Yuanshi Empire, I am your history teacher, Mr. Tang." He proudly announced.

The little kids looked at him dully. The bear, in the corner of the room (the time-out corner), looked at Mr. Tang, but for a mere second, and continued scratching its b.u.t.t.

"As a center for learning and the arts, education is important to foster the young minds and encourage them in the right direction. It is never too early to start learning about history! History shapes our society, and you are the future of our society! It is our origins, our stories, our tales of accomplishments, yet also the serenades of tragedy!" Mr. Tang's eyes shined passionately.

A few kids raised their hands. They didn't know what serenades meant.

Mr. Tang happily waved his hand and ignored them. He was about to continue:

"Teacher! History is so boring, and you're still so young. You should wait till you are a bit more part of history before you teach it." A good intentioned kid told him.

'What?" Mr. Tang frowned sadly. "I like history."

"O-okay teacher."

Mr. Tang cleared his throat.

"Anyways as I was saying, I teach history. In this history class, we also learn about geography. So, today, I will start with some basic geography. This continent is part of a gigantic supercontinent called Pangea, or Dalu. It is surrounded by the Panthalassa Ocean. There are many small islands and territories in the vast ocean of Panthalassa. On the mainland itself, there are different climates and environments. The crescent-shaped continent is separated into many different empires."

"At the utmost north, we have the barren arctics, or the Arktikos, with many hunting and gathering tribes. There is no central power, but many powerful figures live in the north."

"On the northeast Crescent, we have our empire, the Yuanshi empire. The academy is located on the southern coast of the Sanken Sea."

Author's note: San- mountain. Ken- mountain in Daoist trigrams. The area I'm talking about is called the "Himalayan Seas", which is a mountain. It also sort of sounds like Sunken Seas. Perfect fun! Perfect pun!

Editor's note: Nobody cares. Get back to work!

Author's note: *cries*, you know I have a life, right-

"On the northwest arch of the Crescent, we have the Zerrin Empire, which juts on a peninsula.

"Right below that is the Arcene Empire, separated by the Arran Seas."

"On the central east Crescent, next to the Arran Seas, we have the Koltn Empires.

"On the southwest Crescent, we have the Ekon Empire."

"On the lowest part of the Crescent, we have the southern arctics or the Antartyk. Like the northern arctics, there is no central government."

Mr. Tang continued with his interesting lecture. "Blah blah blah blah blah! Blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah blah. Blah blah, blah blah. Blah blah blah blah blah? Blah blah! Blah blah! Blah blah! Blah! Blah blah blah blah…"

Cyril attentively listened to the lecture. No word would escape him. No fact would evade him. He would pay attention with all his might. He listened to the lecture; like a bird to flight, like a moth to light.

Half of the class already fell asleep. Jess and Max tried their best to keep their eyes open, but with each passing second, their eyes slowly… drooped… down... Their heads nodded off to the rhythm of the lecture. No! Max resisted the urge with all his might, but the urge to rest was greater than the urge to learn. Nonetheless, as the beckoning of the gravitational pull grew stronger, and his eyes grew weaker, he closed his eyes one last time. And Jess... poor Jess... had already fallen… his head on his desk, his eyes peacefully closed.

Mr. Tang looked at the collapsing students and inwardly sighed. He already had expected this. How could five-year-olds understand a curriculum meant for middle schoolers? He had met some dumb middle schoolers after all. As expected, the tempering of the mind was a difficult task. How could one follow the way if they did not have a strong mind? Those who do stupid actions should face the consequences of their actions, and face them without the protection of dumb convenience or the armor of fortuitous coincidences.

He cleared his throat.

"This is a poem from the founder and progenitor of this Empire. You might hear this format a lot now, but this… now, this is the real thing!"

"As the cherry petals fall,

And the frigid north wind blows,

And the celestial stars align,

And the heavens and earth entwine,

The river of time flows on and on,

Forever in a straight line.

While humans make the same mistakes,

While history follows the same guidelines,

While the seasons change, again and again-

Fate is limited by time,

And time is limited by life.

And life is limited by death.

And death is limited by this..."

Since we met, we'll meet again…"

Even if the fate of us isn't complete within our time."

Most of the students were asleep, but Cyril stood tall. He had tears in his eyes after listening to such a wonderful poem. Oh, how wondrous! What an engaging poem. His eyes were awoken, his face cleared, and his mind was blessed with the power of knowledge!

. . .

The bear scratched its b.u.t.t again.

Mosquitos in the fall, biting one bear b.u.t.t, making one itch itch, mosquito die die die!

See, he could make poems too! And the bear was happy.