It was a dark sea. It had to be. His body was wrapped in a frigid and unforgiving chill that saturated him to the bone. At first, it seemed as if he could breathe, though the longer the sensation endured, so too did it become apparent that he was drowning. Each and every inhale only brought in that numbing panic and water. His chest seared, as if only fire existed in the cage formed by ivory ribs. Despite it, he opened his mouth to scream, his hands reaching upward, clawing against the formless tide, though the sensation didn't match that of swimming. There was no light. There was no sun or moon gently touching the surface to show him the way out. There was only this debilitating void, this nothingness that threatened to overwhelm him all together. All it gave him in return for his efforts was a further decent to madness. He stared, wide-eyed into the abyssal void, waiting for it to finally all end.

But it didn't. Instead, there started to be shapes in the dark. Not quite sight, more of a sensation. Simply being aware that they were present. Prisons. Warped bubbles that cradled them. Faces flashed beyond his eye lids as he clenched his lashes shut, trying to close out the disturbing happening. It was a nightmare. It was a nightmare. It was a nightmare! That's all it was! That's all it ever would be. He just had to wake up. Wake up! they were getting closer, countenances illuminated only by knowing they were in the pitch with him. Wake up! Wake UP!

He jerked free of his pillow, a frantic gasp drawing in his breath as wide, wild eyes frantically darted to and fro within the familiar span of his room. He was a mess of cold sweat and shaking hands as he ran them up over his face, through his hair as he tried to anchor himself. It took him a moment, even after he swung his legs over the edge of his bed before he would trust himself not to be sick when he stood. Gods, he hated that nightmare. He'd had it ever since he could remember from time to time, but as of late, he felt as if he endured it every night, and with each one he was chained to it longer, he saw more. But he had to shake it off. He had a job today.

The talk of a draft in the further country and the discovery of the lands to the north had spurred people to a further level of madness. More and more jobs flew into the doors, and now more times than not, only the secretary was to be found within the building, amid a seemingly always growing pile of papers. Requests, settlements, propositions. The bargaining for some shred of protection was alight for even the simplest of errands. Now, even those outside of the luxury of the capitol were beginning to seek them out, scouring coins together in an effort to protect children as they sought a safe haven for them to dwell in.

His recent task was the guard of a young noble woman as she attended her lessons. School was a place he was never fortunate enough to be able to attend. Though the building didn't make him feel as though this was an opportunity that he truly missed out on. After all, mathematics and writing lessons wouldn't help him in handling a sword. 'Folk already know where they're a goin'' his father had often said when his mother had suggested such a thing as reading could prove useful to him, 'he just has to get 'em there.' Perhaps it was just because this was a prestigious university that only the very wealthy could afford to attend, but it felt far too stuff and constraining within the halls.

He remained near the back wall, close to the public entrance of the amphitheater style assembly hall. Dark eyes only moving from his idle point of staring to the door near the stage where the instructor would enter. There was something.... compulsively familiar about the man. Umber attention narrowed, dark honey sights picking at the appearance. He was neatly dressed, his hair tidy and well cared for. Alistair couldn't ever recall crossing paths with him, in the street or otherwise, breeding confusion within the back of his cerebral prison. Perhaps the sense of deja vu emerged from a sketch or something from the general building of Reigner Security.

He crossed his arms, his weight shifting faintly as he leaned the back of his shoulders against the wall, settling in for the lecture. All the while, he ticked through his memories, trying to find where he had crossed paths with this man before.