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It has been more than a year since Dream had been imprisoned. No one visited anymore. No more Tommy who was trying to kill him. No more Quackity who tortured him. No more Sam. Although Sam neglected him, he at least checked in from time to time. There was an automated farm, so Sam no longer had to visit to refill the dispenser. Dream threw his clock into the lava. In hopes that maybe Sam would notice. He called for him, hoping for a response. But there was nothing. Sam didn't even come to beat him like last time.
Time passed and seasons changed.
Dream could tell even though he was surrounded by lava and layers upon layers obsidian. Suddenly the monotony of his eat, sleep, repeat routine was interrupted by an earthshaking boom. Faint screams and sobs could be heard over the bubbling of the lava. Then there was silence. He tried to call for the warden but there was no response.
Seasons pass again. So many winters. He can feel the air that seeps in from the hairline cracks get colder and warmer as the seasons change. Water seeps into those hairline cracks. The water in the cracks freeze widen the crack. Then the water melts and more water seeps in and it freezes again. The change is so minute and it freezes and melts countless times. Vines push cracks wider with the tenacity only nature can have. Inside the depths of the prison Dream waits. And waits. And waits. And finally. The roof crumbles above his head and sunlight peeks through shyly.
He climbs out of his cell and revels in the beauty of the outside. So much green. The earth is breathing again. Gone are the parasites that suck on the mother's life blood, burrowing tunnels through her body and taking all they want without giving back. Gone is the creeping red growth that tried to replace the mother. There are craters in the ground. Gaping ones that go down to bedrock. But they will heal with time. The radiation that plagued the land is already gone with the mother's gentle breath. Some growth had already started. Saplings and trees springing from the bottom, reaching up and up towards the warm gentle sunshine. Dream had all the time in the world to wait for them to grow and flourish. He unclasped his mask to smile and breathe in the fresh air fully.
Back at the prison, a portal glowed and whispered as a person clad in a mishmash of purple and teal and pink stepped through. The figure gasped at the broken prison in front of them. They walked gingerly through the broken walls.
The strong obsidian reduced to rubble, weathered by war and the forces of nature. They walked through the prison, the halls filled with vines and cooling or hardened lava. The figure reached the entrance of the main cell. They fiddled with the levers and finally the lava dropped and the bridge extended as old rusty gears creaked and groaned. The cell did not have much lighting other than the small crack in the ceiling which made it hard to see. They wondered what they would see in there. Hopefully not bleached white bones.
They stepped forward into the cell. Nothing was there. It was empty. But then, a mechanism went off and potatoes dropped into a pool of water in the corner of the cell. Then the thought hit them, "where were all the potatoes if they were still being handed out?" Was it an animal? No there would be tracks and droppings. Then the thought hit them. How empty the cell was. No dust. No leaves.
They hurriedly climbed out of the cell through the crack in the ceiling. Then in front of him, there is a man in front of him, sitting on the ledge of the roof staring at the sunset. The color of his hoodie the most blinding green he knows. They stepped forward closer to the figure and a name made its way out of their throat, "Dream...?"
The man turns to face them.
"Oh hey Karl."
He doesn't have his mask on.
"Wow Karl, you look just as young as I remember."
"You...you don't look a day over 21..."
Dream reached up and rubbed his face with the same cheeky smirk as ever, "Raw potatoes are great face masks."
"You-I...How? It's been years since The End."
"Time flies by so quickly, huh."
"Dream you didn't answer the question."
The man stood up from the ledge and brushed off his pants casually as he walked towards the bewildered time traveler.
He threw out his arms and spun around, "Look at it. Isn't it glorious? Can you hear the joy of the land?"
Karl gazed at the vibrant vegetation, "Dream... what's going on?"
Dream sighed. "Ruining the moment aren't you. Like how all the other humans ruin the land."
"What do you mean?"
"You can't tell? I'm not human. I'm a god. I mean I thought I was just like you guys. I was born and I aged. Until I stopped. I forgot how many years ago it was, but I'd say I was around 21. And the people around me started to notice. 'Wow you don't look a day over 21,' they'd say. At first it was just a little envy. Maybe a little jealousy. But then they became suspicious. And then scared. Scared of me. So I covered my face and left. I lived many different lives as different people. The Dream SMP wasn't the first time we met, Karl. Do you remember Cornelius?"
Karl gasped, "But that was at least 200 years in the past!"
"As an immortal, friends and family don't last. Neither do items or pets. Remember what I said. No attachments? It took a while for me to realize this truth. Years of pain. Then someone would come along and grow close to my heart. Then..."
"Then?"
"Then they died again. And it was so painful. And it hurt. And then I cursed my immortality. I tried dying. I lost all three canon lives a while back, Karl. I did it myself. And as you can see...still here," he said with a dry laugh.
"That must have been hard..."
He nodded, "Yes it was. And so I gave up and I decided that I wasn't human. I decided to keep everyone at a distance. And then it all just became a role I had to play. And then it didn't hurt anymore."
"So this was all an act? George and Sapnap? Everyone? Did we mean nothing to you?"
"Well this time it was a little harder. And I found myself revealing a little more than I wanted. But then they betrayed me. As humans do. They back stabbed me and threw me in that prison. And it was so boring. I mean Quackity was a little entertaining, but it was so boring."
"Entertaining? The torture was entertaining?" Karl stared at the gruesome scars littered on Dream's face in horror.
"Oh yeah. The scars." Dream waved a hand over his face and his skin smoothed until the only blemishes were faint freckles.
"How did you do that?"
Dream snorted, "Did you forget? I'm a god."
He put his hands on Karl's shoulders and leaned forward to whisper in his ear, "You can go back in time again and tell them that it was fun playing with them. Well... if you can remember to."
He chuckled and pushed Karl into the portal that appeared behind him.
He waved goodbye with an angelic smile as Karl's vision faded as he was pulled into the Beyond.