The Reaper that loves me

Chapter 13 - Sleep association

*Her*

After the Arch Mage left it was a little bit before dinner time. Elise raced up to her room and threw her bag onto her desk and slumped down onto the desk chair. She sighed before banging her forehead on her desk. "Argh! Probation....three months..." She began banging her head lightly in frustration but then she leant backwards on her chair looking up at the ceiling. "I guess I kinda deserve that though...those poor people..." She wiped the rogue tears that began forming in the corner of her eyes and decided that she needed a nice warm shower. 

She changed into shorts and a t-shirt and decided to study for a bit. Her mother called her for dinner and they ate at the table as they always did. Her mother served her up some pasta and she picked at it. Her mother looked at her sadly. "Honey I know it's hard but you need to learn from your mistake and move on, now eat." Elise still picked at her dinner as her stomach embarrassingly growled in protest. "Ok, fine." She stuffed a forkful of the pasta into her mouth and slurped it causing some of the pasta sauce to splatter onto her tshirt. 

She quickly finished her dinner and went back to her room to study. She was busy dabbing at the spaghetti stain when an owl began tapping at her window. As she opened the window the owl hopped over the window sill and landed on her desk. It hooted at her to take the envelope from its beak. As she took the letter the owl ruffled it's feathers and flew back out the window. She opened the letter and began to read it aloud.

To Miss Pendal,

It is in accordance with the 

Magic council,

That you promptly arrive at the 

Dream association, here in

The land of nod.

You will report to Sir Somnum.

Signed, 

Morpheus

Hoc carmen            (with this incantation

I aperire via              I will open a highway

nutu ad terram        to the land of nod 

Transport!                Transport!)

Elise landed in a pile of sand in a blindly white room. She blinked and squinted. Someone was coming in her direction dressed in a white toga but her eyes were having trouble adjusting. The figure got closer and Elise saw a man who looked to be around her dads age. He had short brown hair and neatly trimmed facial hair. He reached out his left hand and his toga sleeve slipped down his arm. 

In a polite voice he spoke up. 

"You must be Elise?" Elise dusted herself off and groaned as she realised once again what she had done and mumbled quietly to herself. "I should really learn to note read letters out loud..." 

She looked up to see that the man had a puzzled look on his face. Elise grabbed his hand and apologised. "Yes I am Elise, I'm sorry I have a bad habit of being clumsy." 

The guy laughed. "It's fine. Elise, I am Somnum, named after our lord of sleep. I was told you would be joining us." Elise was confused. "Us?" Somnum nodded and gestured for her to follow as he stepped through a white curtain and Elise gasped. The dream associations office space was not what she was expecting. Somnum smiled at her as he turned around. 

"We rarely have mortals here, so it may have shocked you about our association building." Understatement of the century, Elise thought to herself. "Come with me to my office." He gestured towards another white room behind a glass window pain. It housed a white desk and white chair, there wasn't any windows in the place just alot of dream dust glittering in the air and along the walls. Elise wasn't sure if she should touch anything for fear of leaving finger prints. 

Somnum open the glass door to his office and a breeze of fresh air glittered passed Elise and she relaxed. Somnum sat behind his desk and pushed his toga sleeve back up to his shoulder. He gestured for Elise to take a seat, so she sat down on the plush white leather chair facing Somnum. 

He shuffled some papers on his desk and then handed them to Elise. "I want you to read these and sign them. They are of course.... confidentially forms...as you must know...humans must never know of our existence." Elise slowly slid the papers towards herself, but before she started to read, Somnum cleared his throat.

"Uh hm. Tomorrow, you should come dressed in your uniform and be ready to learn." Elise nodded. 

Somnum gestured to a women who looked much older then herself. The women also dressed in a white grecian dress and sandals that were a contrast to her bronze skin, came in with a clipboard. She dusted some dream sand off her shoulder and bowed upon entry. 

"Yes Sir Somnum, what can I do for you?" Her voice was like honey. 

"Alora, this is Elise. She will be with us for three months, learning all about what we do here at the dream association. It is part of her probation, so make sure she gets alot of experience, please." 

He smiled at Alora and she nodded. "As you wish. Elise come this way..." 

Alora swung her hips as she walked and Elise felt awkward walking behind her. Alora took something from her clipboard and spoke to Elise over her shoulder. "Here is your work roster. It tells you which work spaces you'll be working in and on what days. 

They stopped in a marble foyer and Alora turned around and faced her looking her up and down with distaste. "Please wear something more appropriate tomorrow." She spoke sarcastically before returning to her professional visade. "Behind you is our associations creators. Lord Hypnos, the god of sleep, the Lady Pasithea, goddess of relaxation and rest, and their most renowned son of all their children, our Lord Morpheus, the god of sleep. His brothers...phobetor and phantasus also work with our department but on a smaller scale...moving along..."