Skylar walks home after an unexpected encounter with a phantom. Questions still linger in her mind, asking herself how she got transported into the nightmare realm and what happened to her throughout the course of that encounter. 

While walking by the magazine stand, she sees a familiar face on the cover of Business Monthly, a business-themed magazine. She picks up the magazine to take a closer look.  It was her father on the cover where he was named one of the most influential businessmen of the decade. The headline reads “Reinigen, the man of the future.” Skylar looked on expressionless. But inside, she felt as though there was a piercing pain in her chest. 

She places the magazine back in the stand and continues on her way home. Distracted by the emotions she had been pondering about, she hits a woman talking on her phone while carrying paper bags along with a toddler walking beside. The contents of the bags were scattered on the floor and Skylar helped to pick them back up. 

The woman was too busy to even react. Skylar apologizes but the woman just picks up her things and brushes Skylar off. The child with her was crying but she just tugged the kid and crossed the street.  

“People in this city are too occupied,” Skylar tells herself. 

She reaches her apartment and unlocks the door. As usual, everything is in their place even without her consent. 

“So much for living by myself...” Skylar says with a sigh. 

She throws her things all over the couch and starts changing her clothes. She grabs the food at the usual place, countertop left of the microwave. She sits on the floor, places her food on the coffee table and opens the television. 

She starts eating as a news headline ran. The headline says: “A recent survey shows that 3% of the city’s population is suffering from lack of sleep.”  

“Huh... Probably too absorbed in work, I suppose,” Skylar says to herself as she remembers the woman from earlier.

After dinner, she lies down on her bed and browses through her phone. She sees that Rainbow had posted a new picture of her in a bar on her social page. Skylar likes the post and drops her phone to the side. 

“Maybe I should go out with her sometime,” Skylar thought. 

She closes her eyes and falls asleep. She starts to feel the dry wind and striking sunlight touching her skin. She knew exactly where she was. She feels a weight on her shoulder, and she hears a low screeching sound. She opens her eyes and sees Pego on her shoulder and starts to pet it with her finger. 

“Welcome back, young Skylar!” Sandman’s voice echoes across the realm.  sa

“We need to talk,” Skylar said; her face showing a serious expression. 

Sandman once again takes his sand form, appearing before Skylar more human-like. 

“What is it you want to tell me?” Sandman says while he creates a construct of tables and chairs in front of them. 

They both sit and Skylar starts to tell Sandman about what had happened back in the library. Sandman starts to wonder and is suddenly surprised by the events that took place. 

“This has never happened before,” Sandman says. 

Sandman, engrossed in deep thought, turns silent and closes his eyes. The lines on his sandy forehead start to show. 

“We must focus further on your training. The situation has become unexpectedly alarming,” Sandman said with a concerned expression. 

Skylar nods, agreeing with what Sandman has said. But she knows she has a lot of learning to do in such a small amount of time. She understands that, apart from her lack of skill, she also lacks knowledge of her abilities and the powers that the scythe itself holds. 

“What actually took over my body? I don’t understand it. I could see what was happening and what I was doing, but I wasn’t actually the one doing it,” Skylar asks Sandman. 

“That was the Bloodrage trait developed by the previous reaper. It was a contingency plan if the time ever came that the reaper falls or is at the brink of death,” Sandman replied. 

“Death, you meant to say that I almost died back then?” Skylar says, her eyes wide open, she realized that she might have met her demise.

Sandman nods silently as he sees Skylar starting to tremble. He approaches her and places his hands on her shoulders. 

“My child, I know that you’re scared. It is all right. This is why I am here. I shall train you with all my knowledge and prepare you to become who you are. To help you reach your destiny,” Sandman says to her. 

“I don’t think I can. I’m a coward. I don’t even know how to properly take care of myself. I lack in so many aspects of life that I feel like I’m just starting to learn how to live,” Skylar replied, her knees giving out and her eyes starting to water. 

Skylar had just started to live on her own. She was kept inside a large house her whole life. She never got the chance to interact with other children, she was home-schooled with her toys as her only friends in her life.  

She can go wherever she wanted. To the mall or watch movies in theaters but as long as she is with her nanny and her personal driver, granted that her father had allowed her to. She once watched the showing of her favorite actress; the whole cinema was closed for her personal use. 

Her father, the great Marcus Reinigen, was one of the top businessmen in all the city. To put it into perspective, her father had connections with about 70% of the businesses in the entirety of Marina City. Being the influential man that he is, he knew that he had to keep his only daughter in the shadows. He treated Skylar as a secret to protect her, knowing that she would be the sole heir to his legacy.  

When Skylar turned 18, she knew she had to change. She had to learn how to live her life her own way. That was when she decided to leave home and rent an apartment on her own, away from the protection of her father.  

But after a while, she starts to realize that she had no way of freeing herself from his clutches. Each day, she notices small nuances that remind her of her father’s ways. Apart from the housekeeping they send to her apartment, she noticed that she was being followed by people wherever she went; the lingering feeling of someone staring at her from behind.  

It all started a day after that incident with Rainbow and the two guys from her college. After the incident, the two males that they had trouble with also disappeared from their campus while Rainbow had suddenly been distant to Skylar. 

Skylar kept her emotions to herself, her frustration, her anger, knowing that anything she says and does wouldn’t change the fact that her father has been controlling every detail of her life, even away from home. 

“You must stand. Compose yourself,” Sandman says, reaching his hand out to Skylar. 

Skylar continues to weep. She started breaking down as deep inside, she felt that her life had fallen apart. A year ago, she had planned out everything. She wanted to go to parties, to have a variety of friends, to learn to live on her own, and be able to do things that she had not yet done. 

She thought that her father would respect her decision, her only wish for her 18th birthday. But it wasn’t meant to be. Now, she finds herself tangled in an unworldly situation, one of which she had not thought the slightest to even be possible. 

She even used the nightmares that haunted her for over a year as a reason; being unable to sleep in the confines of their home as she told her father that being in a new environment might help her sleep better at night. 

She feels lost and confused about what to do. She once again feels helpless, clueless about which direction to take. She only wanted to have a chance at a normal life, a chance to make her own decisions and live out her dreams before she had to take over her father’s legacy. 

“Why can’t I catch a break? I just wanted to live, even for a brief moment in my life,” Skylar uttered as her voice starts to crack. 

“My child, that only means that your purpose far outweighs your aspirations. I understand that you have your personal goals, your dreams. I in fact know exactly what they are. But understand that you are where you need to be,” Sandman replied, sitting beside Skylar.  

“Where I need to be? What if all of this is just a coincidence, what if all these things happening are just some sick and twisted joke so that the world has someone to laugh at? Someone who has everything but still can’t be contented with what she has?” Skylar replied, clutching a handful of sand in her fists. 

“There is no coincidence, there is only purpose. Be it that you are here to learn or you are here to fulfil your duty. You are here, in this situation, because you have the strength to overcome these adversities. Always remember, you are not to face this challenge alone. I am here to guide you, to help you when you are in need,” Sandman replied with a smile. 

Pego starts to fly on Skylar’s head, sand starts piling up on Skylar’s head. 

“And of course, Pego is here to help as well,” Sandman added as Pego starts to screech happily. 

This makes Skylar smile. She felt comforted by the wisdom Sandman imparted to her. She grabs Pego and holds it in her hands. 

“And I believe, in the waking world, you have someone that cares for you as well. You should reconnect with her when you can,” Sandman said to Skylar while creating a mirror that showed an image of Rainbow drinking alone at a bar. 

“Yeah, I should probably talk to her again,” Skylar said, even though in the back of her mind, she knew that her father’s people might have warned Rainbow to keep her distance. 

“When do I start my training?” Skylar asked. 

“Tomorrow. For now, rest. Sleep well and relax your mind. You will have to absorb and comprehend a lot of details. I believe I must tell you everything all at once, we do not have much time to dilly-dally now,” Sandman tells her. 

Sandman grabs a handful of sand and blows it toward Skylar, making her fall asleep.