The cafeteria of the police station was unusually quiet.
It was early, far too early for most officers to take their break, and the few that were present kept their voices low. The place smelled of warm food, actual coffee, and disinfectant—an oddly comforting combination.
Caspian sat across from his father at a metal table bolted to the floor, a good breakfast was on it, a generous one, but Caspian didn't felt like eating.
And his father noticed.
He always noticed.
"Are you feeling alright?" his father asked, trying to sound casual and failing miserably.
Caspian nodded. "I'm fine."
Alexander studied him for a long moment, amber eyes sharp but tired. Dark circles sat beneath them, poorly hidden by sheer stubbornness.
"The protocol says you're entitled to psychological counseling" he said eventually. "First Nightmare aftermath can be… rough."
Caspian stiffened slightly but didn't protest.
"They also said —" Alexander hesitated, then sighed "—that the mirror incident won't be charged to us. They'll replace it."
A weak smile tugged at Caspian's lips. "Lucky me."
Alexander didn't smile back.
Instead, his gaze dropped to the table, his jaw tightening. His hands—hands that had held weapons, saved lives, killed nightmare creatures over the years to protect his family—were trembling slightly.
Caspian noticed.
"…Father" he said softly.
Alexander looked up.
"You don't have to hold it in" Caspian continued. "I won't think any less of you."
Silence fell between them.
Alexander's breath hitched.
"You were in there for ten days" he said hoarsely. "Ten days where I didn't know if my son was to come back or not..."
His composure finally cracked.
Tears welled up in his eyes, one slipping free and trailing down his cheek. He scrubbed at his face angrily, turning away.
"I'm supposed to be your role model" he muttered. "A protector."
Caspian stood up and walked around the table.
He placed a hand on his father's shoulder.
"You already are" he said simply. "Crying won't change that."
Alexander let out a shaky laugh, half-sob, half-relief.
Then footsteps approached.
"Alex."
Caspian turned.
His mother stood there, a gentle smile on her face despite the worry in her eyes. She wore a long coat, snow still clinging faintly to the hem. Beside her was Thea.
His little sister.
She was almost fourteen now, taller than he remembered, how fast did kid their age grow when one isn't looking, her dark brown hair tied back in a messy ponytail. The moment she saw him, her eyes widened.
"BROTHER!"
She ran.
He barely had time to brace before she slammed into him even as a sleeper, or maybe he didn't wanted to, arms wrapping tightly around his waist.
"You idiot."she mumbled into his chest. "You took too long."
Caspian laughed softly, hugging her back. "Sorry. Got lost."
Their mother joined them, wrapping both her children in a warm embrace.
Only then—only then—did Caspian truly felt like he was home.
After a while, he stepped back and smiled at them.
"So" he said lightly. "Do I look different?"
His mother chuckled. "Your father already warned us."
She reached into her bag and handed him a folded set of clothes. "For the Academy. Proper size."
The awakened academy, of course, Caspian would enter, he knew even before being infected that someday he would go there.
Thea squinted at him. "You look cooler."
Caspian smirked. "I kept my promise."
She blinked. "What promise?"
"I came back" he said. "I survived my first Nightmare."
Her eyes lit up.
"Now i can use your name whenever i want?"
"Yep."
She grinned viciously. "Good."
****
The PTV hummed smoothly as it cut through the streets.
It was sleek, black, armored—far more luxurious than anything Caspian's family owned.
"Grace of fate" Alexander had called it, since it waa gifted to Alexander when he saved a kid during a gate breach and that kid was a legacy of a pretty big clan.
Caspian leaned back in his seat, watching the city blur past the window.
After a long silence, his father spoke.
"Do you want to tell me what happened in your Nightmare?"
His tone was serious, but not demanding.
"You don't have to" Alexander added. "I know it's private. But the more I understand, the better I can help if something goes wrong."
Caspian sighed.
Not because he didn't want to talk.
But because he would have to lie.
Just a bit.
He began telling the story—of the Citadel, the war, the tyrant. He shifted details, softened truths. It was Verdam who killed the tyrant. Verdam who received a memory, and Verdam was who gifted the memory to him.
When he mentioned that memory, he caught his father smiling faintly in the rearview mirror.
"What was it?"
Caspian hesitated. "…It might be a Supreme-ranked armor."
The PTV swerved violently.
Alexander barely regained control, knuckles white around the steering wheel.
"A Supreme—" He stopped, took a deep breath. "Be careful saying things like that."
Caspian continued anyway.
"I also have a Sacred aspect." He lied, still wanting fame and attention, but didn't wanted to admit that he had a divine aspect, maybe two, if that disgusting fiend counted as himself.
Silence.
"And a True Name."
Alexander didn't look back this time, but Caspian could hear it.
His heart.
Beating far too fast.
""What is it?" his father asked quietly.
"Moonlight Deliverer."
Alexander exhaled slowly. "A beautiful name."
Then, more grimly. "And a heavy one."
Caspian explained his aspect in simple terms.
Alexander nodded. "If it's Sacred… your flaw will be harsh."
Caspian met his gaze through the mirror.
"Remember when I told you I became a vampire?"
Alexander stiffened.
"That curse followed me" Caspian said calmly. "Not fully. I need blood—but not urgently. I can wait."
Alexander absorbed that in silence.
"I guess you also had an incredible appraisal, what was it?"
"Glorious."
"Of course it is." Alexander said with a smile, he got very accustomed in a really short time to his sons marvelous feats.
Then he began giving advice.
"The House of Night will want you" he said. "Your aspect, liquid based, your mark of divinity of the Storm God as you told me, and your Night blessing—perfect fit."
Caspian listened.
"Ask for blood supply access" Alexander continued. "Quality. Regulated. If they want your loyalty, they'll agree, when you are registered, you will have a good reward for sharing information about your first nightmare and your appraisal, make sure to give the impresion that you are not cheap, you are a wild card, you are worth it, but remember, give only what they want to hear, don't say too much, just enough to make you look irresistible."
He glanced at his son. "And take wilderness survival. Always, strenght means nothing if you don't survive enough to use it."
***
Walls rose.
And then—
The Awakened Academy stood before them.
A city within the city.
High alloy walls. A deep moat. Turrets positioned to create a deadly suppression dome. No Nightmare Creature—not even a titan—could breach it, at least that is what they are told.
Snow fell quietly.
Four figures stood before the gates.
Caspian stepped out.
A tall girl with silver-white hair and detached grey eyes listened to music through old headphones.
A slender black-haired boy stood nearby.
Velpam appeared beside Caspian, sniffing the air.
"This one smells like me" he whispered, smiling widely. "A shadow. A treacherous one."
Caspian didn't look at him, but took a mental note of his words.
Another girl stood to the side, hands wrapped in bandages, eyes dark and unreadable.
The gates opened. The end of the metal bridge hit the special grooves in the ground and stopped moving after a set of loud clicks.
And the four of them entered.