In Elsewhere University, True Names are sacred. Most people tend to go by one or even a multitude of aliases and names with the capital N, because if their True Name gets out, it leaves them free for the Gentry, for the Fair Folk, to take.
You don't know your Name.
It's not natural, you know that. Everyone at Elsewhere always knows to keep their Names safe and secret with them, lest they forget your whole identity as well.
But you forgot yours a year ago, and nothing bad has happened since.
(Is there something you're forgetting?)
You know your basic facts at Elsewhere University. You know to carry salt and iron everywhere you go. You know to not pay attention to those that lurk. You know not to go back with boys with frog's eyes and girls with hollow backs. You know to leave offerings for the Gentry. You know beliefs hold power, and you believe in the mask you wear around your face.
You know your own basic facts as well. You know you go by Dream. Your friends are Sapnap, Bad-Boy-Halo, (or Halo for short), Ant-Frost, and Found. Your group is called the Dream Team, one of the main groups alongside Sleepy Boys, L'Manburg, and the Idots. You are majoring in Computing Sciences, and minoring in Law. You never take off your mask.
(Why don't you take it off?)
There's rumours about you. Just like how there's rumours about Technoblade's relationship with the Blood God, how there's rumours of Halo's otherworldly yet kind nature, there's rumours that you've traded your face away for power and intelligence.
It's not true, of course. You would know. You can still blink. Your lips can still smile or frown, when you lift it up to show your friends. You still breathe through your nose. You have your face. You have your identity.
(Your Name is lost, and your identity is compromised.)
You try not to think about your missing Name, but the fear doesn't disappear from your mind, and in the middle of the night, in a secluded corner of your room, you summon an Elder God.
You summon the Enderking.
You barely remember the conversation that followed, but what you do remember is the trade.
20 samplings of glitter sugar, the Enderking crooned. And part of your humanity. If you give me those, I shall give you your True Name back, and I shall not reveal it to anybody or anyone. It would be a secret, just between me and you. Will that be satisfactory for a deal, Dream?
Collecting the sugar was a blur, and so was completing the trade, but in the end, you have your Name back, even if sometimes you feel the urge to stab and kill and chase after your enemies, even if you sometimes think about trading with the Gentry to get revenge on those who dare to lay a hand on what was yours, even if you don't act quite like you used to.
You can tell your friends are worried. They know you've changed, they know you've made a trade, but for what exactly is unknown to them. And you hope they never find out. You can't lose your friends.
(You are the Dream Team. Dream, Found, Sapnap, Bad-Boy-Halo, Ant-Frost. You are the Dream Team, and you have to stick together.)
Life goes on. You stick with your friends. You tread carefully when talking to the Fair Folk and changelings. You continue studying computing sciences and law. You keep your Name close to your heart, a secret never to be spoken aloud. You stay as Dream.
You almost think you can graduate this school relatively curse-and-trauma-free.
And then he arrives. And your relatively peaceful time at Elsewhere University promptly goes to shit.