He hated alarms. He didn't even need them to wake up on time, but Dieze kept sneaking an alarm on his phone when he wasn't looking. Not just any alarms, no, but the loudest ones that could wake mummies from their slumber.

He woke up with a jolt, wanting to smash the alarms around the room, only to realize that the room was already smashed. A total disaster zone. The desk was broken, and the walls were covered with a huge mess of food like a baby had gone in here and upturned everything.

How'd that happen? (Kind of a long story.)

At least his phone and laptop were untouched.

Steven sighed. He supposed that he had to fix all that today. Groaning, his bones creaked as he picked up what he could.

Someone knocked on his door. He peeked through the peephole, realizing that it was Mayo.

"Hey," She greeted him, "What happened to your clothes-"

Mayo paused and said in a small voice, "...oh."

Her eyebrows creased, but then she brought up a piece of advice, "Let's get the super here."

Bob frowned as he got there. He managed to fix the room with a snap and asked Steven how it happened, but Steven didn't give him an answer. The superintendent let out a breath and said that if this happened again, there would be disciplinary action.

"Wait, what about my clothes?" Steven shouted. The clothes, uh… rags Steven had on were still ripped though.

Man, couldn't Bob have at least fixed his rags? Dang it! He needed clothes.

Mayo, realizing the problem, rushed to Zero's room to ask for help.

When Zero came over, he handed Steven a pair of clothes. For a second, Zero's red eyes seemed to darken into something uncertain, but it blinked away.

"Come on," The white-haired boy gently nudged him. "After you change, let's eat breakfast."

At the cafeteria, they met, chatted and ate with a couple of students from their class. It was a light morning, heavy breakfast kind of deal. When the early bell rang, the trio walked into the class, noticing that some of his classmates had yet to settle down. As the students poured in, Ms. Happi addressed them.

"Alright class, settle down!" Ms. Happi smiled. She hoped that this cliche phrase made her sound like a true teacher. But for some reason, it didn't work as well in real life as it did in the movies.

She coughed and decided to take attendance.

But before she could do so, some stragglers walked in late.

"I'm so sorry! I got lost on the campus." One of them told her while the others told her the same. They made an excuse about not hearing the bell, while two mentioned that they had forgotten to check the time.

Ms. Happi told them that since it was the second day, she wouldn't mark them late. Then, she looked directly at the rest of the class, "Anyway, it's a pleasure to see you all again. So… I'm one of the amazing history teachers at this prestigious school."

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She waved her jazz hands to unimpressed stares.

"Ms. Happi," A girl asked in a pleasant accent.

"Yes... Tasnim?" Ms. Happi asked.

"What are we learning today?" Tasnim said.

Ms. Happi told them that she had forgotten to make a lesson plan. That was their history lesson: to plan ahead.

The period ended after a makeshift lecture from her.

At his next class, Steven tried staying awake, but fell asleep faster than ever. A moment later, he felt his dreams come in and out as something pulled him away from them once more.

Now, he blinked and looked again at his surroundings. He was standing on the waters, near a coral reef. The waves glistened in different colors as the sea foam bubbled happily. He had never seen water so clear in real life before. It almost seemed like a dream.

Wait…

"Like this place?" A voice beside him whispered.

Steven turned his neck so fast he almost snapped it.

"This was one of my favorite places on earth," The Bell-figure softly reminisced. "But by your time, the reefs are not as happy as they once were. I suppose there are always other places, other times, but what is more important than now?"

"The sea nymphs, you know what they are, right?" It continued, "They do not like your kind very much. They hope you cannot swim."

"Why am I here?" Steven asked bluntly, looking in the water. Below, there were some underwater folks carrying pitchforks.

"I want you to do something for me." The Waker faced him.

"What?"

"I need you to find what is mine before someone else can take it for themselves." Its voice rang out.

"Why do I have to get it for you?" Steven asked, baffled. "Can't you get it yourself?"

"No," The Waker answered, his figure flashing. His figure seemed to grow larger into something less humanoid, before calming down. "A while back, someone stole it from me."

"How?"

"I am not omnipotent." The Waker answered. "The gods who live here prevent that from being the case. After all, no God comes into another God's world without restrictions on their own power. Perhaps I am telling you too much. You do not need to know this."

"..."

"You just need to know that the person who stole it from me placed a curse on it. I would never find it if I searched for it… directly, at least. But in the wrong hands, the world you know would be destroyed."

"You said you're an Outer God, right? This world isn't yours." Steven uttered, "Why do you care if it's destroyed?"

The Waker looked at him, "That item… I created it on a whim. With a wave of my hand, I can create many more like it. It is a gong. When it is hit, the sound announces the start of the apocalypse. And I do not wish for the gods to have fun again…"

Then it waved his hand again. The scenery shifted once more.

Steven tried to speak but realized he couldn't breathe. Or see… anything. It felt like nothing was there. He heard a voice but there wasn't any sound here. You're wrong, it spoke to him: Everything is here.

Find my gong.

As he gradually passed out, he juddered awake, his breaths shallow and weak. He coughed and felt something in his pockets. Reaching in, he took out the gift that Waker had given him earlier that day. They were jingle bells threaded through a piece of woven yarn. He had found them just lying in his hand as he awoke this morning, but was sure he had left it in his old clothes.

What were they doing there?

He looked at them closely. The bells jingled as he picked it up, and his hand seemed to trail behind. He blinked. The bells were trippy, like the frame rate of his hand motion didn't match with the perception of his eyes. However, the charm itself didn't appear to be anything special. It looked like something that could be found at any festival stand.

Mayo leaned over, as she saw it, asking if she could see it. Steven handed it over to her, and noticed that for her, it was normal as she shook it.

She nodded and then explained: "It's an enchanted item. Only you can use it."

Steven asked her if she knew what it did.

"I have a slight idea of what it can do." She answered, "But not now."

She pointed to Mr. Matika, who was lecturing ahead of them and then looked back at Steven. Maybe it shouldn't have been a surprise that Steven's head was down again.

Nearby, a laugh rang out from a white-haired boy.

| Subject: Room Getting Trashed Recording!

Attachment: xx_xx_xx.mp4

Duration: 9:37

Message: Graciously provided by Dieze. |

0:00…

Wait… you didn't think I was going to give you that video so easily now, did you?