Chapter Text
Star-crossed (but no more, since I’m watching you from afar)
Star-crossed (adj.) not favoured by the stars.
Sometimes Dream visits Five in his dreams post-apocalypse. Soon after, the Endless family joins him.
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1, Kenopsia.
Kenopsia (n.) The eerie, forlorn atmosphere of a place that’s usually bustling with people but is now abandoned and quiet.
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Morpheus notices that strange world when he’s searching for some ideas to create new dreams and nightmares. It is a lonely one, with only one person alive. Something terrible must happen in that world. But the thing that piques his interest isn’t the state that world is in, but the fact that his realm can still extend to it, as if there is still something left for dreams, solely depending on one person.
He shares the story with his older sister when she visits him. Since he got out of the cage that kept him for more than one century, Death has been visiting him more often. Dream begrudgingly accepts her way of showing affection, which usually comes in form of fruit baskets (mostly apples), or sometimes she scolds him for being stupid – If you’re lonely, just say so! or For fuck’s sake, get outta here and go meet him if you want to! – which, of course, she is right.
“I only know that his name is Five,” Dream muses. A rather strange name for a human, but as someone with a whole family named after abstract concepts, he’s no one to judge. “He talks to himself, sometimes. But he’s getting quieter day by day. I’m not sure what happened in his world, but it must be something catastrophic.”
“It was an apocalypse.”
Death replies to him, voice soft with a tinge of melancholy. That makes sense. When something so calamitous happens that can wipe out a whole population, his sister must know.
“Everyone there was dead except him,” says Morpheus contemplatingly. “But he’s restless. Doesn’t want to sleep, and only collapses due to exhaustion. There aren’t many human dreams for me there.”
There is only one human, and he refuses to get a decent sleep, henceforth almost no dreaming. There is barely a stepping stone for Dream to set foot on, not to mention a space to build up a kingdom. Post-apocalyptic worlds don’t have a place for dreams.
Death hums thoughtfully. “I see,” she pauses, slowly picking her words. “I was there, you know. It was one of the busiest days of my life.”
“The apocalypse?”
“Yeah,” Death answers him, voice as light as feathered whispers. “There have been mass extinctions before, but there are always telling signs for years before it actually happens, and the whole process is stretched long enough. An apocalypse like what happened in his world wasn’t that common. One second before, everything was still normal. One second later, the whole world crumbled and broke down into dust and ashes, as everyone died. It was devastating.”
“I’ve seen his dreams, just a handful he has,” Dream nods his head. “He had a family. Seven children, just like us.”
Death hums quietly, “He lost them all. I can’t imagine what I will feel if one day I wake up and none of you are there anymore.”
“We’re the Endless, we can’t die,” Morpheus shakes his head at her, his tone reassuring.
“We can,” Death looks away. The circumstance with Despair is on the tip of her tongue, hanging heavily in the air. Neither of them chooses to point that out. “We just don’t disappear completely. Another aspect of us will rise to replace the old one, but it won’t be the same.”
“That’s true,” Dream agrees. “And you’re Death of the Endless, my sister. If anything happens to us, you’ll be the first one who knows.”
Death lets out a soft, barely audible chuckle. “Sure,” she turns her attention back to Five. “Anything else about that boy that you’ve noticed?”
“He can time-travel,” Morpheus puts a hand on his chin, stroking it slowly. “Or at least he says so to himself,” along the line ‘You stupid son of a bitch, just do it again as how you did in the first place!’ and many other self-chastising words. “That explains why he’s alive while everyone else is dead. He arrives in that devastating future.”
“I see,” she sighs, her eyes glimpsed with sympathy. “What are you planning to do, then?”
“Just observing,” Dream shrugs. “There’s nothing much I can do. There is barely anything I can do, at all.”
“It’s still too soon to speak of that,” Death gently comments as she takes a closer look at Five, sitting alone in a convenience store. “I’m not Destiny, I can’t know everything about him just by checking a book. But I’ve seen many people, and in some, their remarkable qualities are shown to the world prominently,” she pauses to let the words sink in before she looks at her brother, eyes shining with a gentle gaze. “You two share some similar qualities, don’t you think so?”
The only reason Morpheus doesn’t scoff at her is that she’s his beloved sister. “Did you just compare me with a mortal?”
“Yes, I did. And I meant it as a compliment,” Death chuckles at her brother’s reaction. “He’s mortal, but he’s nothing short of extraordinary. I don’t think many people who can withstand the devastating effects of a post-apocalyptic world for as long as he does, especially when it all started at the tender age of thirteen. He is mentally strong, undeniably stubborn, and so prideful. Sounds like someone I know.”
Dream huffs at that but made no comments. His sister continues, “And he’s lonely, too. Even before the apocalypse happened when he wasn’t all alone both physically and mentally. You’ve seen his dreams, you know his memories. Does that boy look like an outgoing, social person to you?”
“... I suppose not.”
“Has it ever occurred to you why you still keep an eye on him? You said there’s nothing left for dreams in that world.”
“He still has hope,” Dream concludes. “And that’s the reason I want to observe him.”
“And try to help if you can,” Death chuckles at him knowingly. “Act tough and apathetic as much as you want to, deep down you’re such a softie.”
“You’re abusing your big sister privilege to tease me, my sister.”
“Because I can,” Death shrugs insouciantly. “I’ve got to go. Keep me updated if you want to. And don’t forget to eat your apples!”
Dream waves her goodbye but makes no promise at that.
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