Dreamswap Oneshots

Echoes of the past

Warnings: Really heavy angst, premature death, blood, poor representation of ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia)

This is about the orphanage because I feel like there is not enough content about it and I just love the idea of the orphans looking up to Dream as a parental figure, I think it's cute.

This idea came to me while listening to Safe and Sound by Taylor Swift so feel free to have it on loop like me while reading.

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Justice Reigns.

That organization was founded by Dream Von Licht at the age of 19 a century and five years ago. It is today the most powerful and influential organization of the multiverse with the founder still at the head of it.

Justice Reigns, often nicknamed JR, had helped many people around the world and purged the multiverse of 'criminals'. Because of all these flashy heroic deeds, most people often forget about one aspect of the complex that has been created even before the justice division itself.

The orphanage.

Nowadays, the children fostered there were mostly taken care of by people designed to do that with Dream visiting them as often as possible. Whenever he was around, the caretakers pretty much had the utility of a pile of dust. He would do everything in their place, starting by cooking, playing with them, scolding them when they did something wrong, praising them when they did something good and the list just goes on.

In the beginning, Dream himself was the one taking care of the kids all day and catching criminals on the run when they would be taking a nap or busy with something else.

That story takes place in 1895, at the very beginning of the orphanage's history. One of the first children transferred there was called Silas, he was a very energetic and bubbly child who had an admiration for winged creatures. One can easily guess the funny reaction that child had when first meeting Dream. He was absolutely delighted and asked him if he could touch his wings at least a dozen times a day.

The winged man, who usually didn't like showing too much emotion, would always laugh and let him in the end, watching with a warm smile as the child petted his wings with stars lighting up his eyes.

However, Dream noticed quickly that something was wrong with him.

The child whined often about his bones hurting, he almost constantly had fevers and infections happened worryingly often. His lymph nodes were swollen, he weighed almost nothing even for a child, also refusing to eat and he would easily lose his breath.

The CEO decided to take him to a hospital for an examination not long after he noticed these little details. On the road, his soul felt like it was being crushed between his lungs because of how nervous he was.

'Please tell me this is just my imagination.'

***

"After a thorough examination," A doctor began, looking at his notes anxiously. "We have come to the conclusion that Silas is..." The man stopped to look the taller man in the eyes before hanging his head low again. "He has acute lymphoblastic leukemia."

The doctor stayed silent for a few, letting the other process the information.

"Do you know how old he is?" Dream took a shaky breath before answering.