Sweet Dreams | Dream Of The Endless

23 | In The End

By the time Dream and Atia found Rose, the walls between dreams had collapsed completely. All of her friends were brought into one place, one of the meadows of the Dreaming.

There, it all went down.

At first, it didn't seem all that serious, as they just started fighting or looking around confused. However, when Rose got overwhelmed, that's when things took a serious turn.

She created a crater, that sucked in everyone, one by one, until the girl was the last one. That's when Dream finally managed to break through the barrier.

They pulled Rose away from the mess and into an empty, dead land that once was Fiddler's Green. The Dream still had yet to take his place again.

"You've caused a great deal of damage," Morpheus declared, as they slowly approached her. "Nothing that I cannot repair, at least at this stage."

"What happened to Jed? To my friends?" the girl asked.

"They're fine," Atia assured her. "They are asleep in their beds, back in the waking world."

"But they're not safe," her husband said. "No one is. Not until the vortex is dead."

Rose took a step back, her eyes widening.

She knew it had to be done, she heard it before. But it didn't change the fact she wasn't ready. She didn't want to die yet.

"Death is not always such a bad thing," Atia gave her a small comforting smile. "It can be peaceful. It won't hurt."

"How would you know?" Rose asked sceptically.

"Because I died a long time ago," the woman said, and the girl's eyes widened. "A man attacked me in my own house. He asked me all these ridiculous questions I didn't have an answer to. Finally, he slashed my throat."

Her hand ran over the thin line across her neck.

"But Dream and his siblings agreed to let me remain here," she continued. "You could stay here too."

"And Hector couldn't?"

"You friend died under normal circumstances, just like he was destined to," Morpheus declared. "Atia's death, on the other hand, was not destined. The only reason why it was possible for her to become a Dream, was because there was a higher force... another Endless complicit."

Atia frowned, as she looked towards him. He always told her there was more to her death, but he never said one of his siblings had some part in it. She gave him a look, that meant they would talk about it later and he gave her a small nod in return.

"My raven was once a mortal, too," the King of Dreams continued.

"Wait! Sir! My Lady!" Fiddler's Green called out, as he ran towards them.

"Gilbert? What are you doing here?" Rose frowned.

"This is Fiddler's Green," Morpheus said.

"You?" the girl glanced between the three. "You're a Dream?"

"I am," the man nodded. "I, I left my post here to experience life as a human being. A life which I humbly offer in exchange for yours."

"I'm afraid that's not possible," Atia shook her head.

"For the Dreaming and the waking world to live, the vortex must die," Dream added.

"Then what's the point of a vortex?" Rose asked. "Why do we even exist?"

"Honestly?" Morpheus shook his head, as he had no answer.

"I have a theory," Fiddler's Green said. "When a human is at the centre of the Dreaming, it is not to remind us that we exist because humans dream, not the other way around. The miracle of humanity itself should always be more vivid to us than any marvels of power."