Chapter 18: Dissonance

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Two figures, side by side, walked along an invisible path made of flowers and soft, fresh grass. They had nowhere particular to go, and they didn't particularly care either. It was just peaceful, and that was all that mattered.

Dream, now finally standing up straight, breathed in the warm air. The sun shined on his skin, but it did not burn, unlike lava and fire. He felt like he could finally relax underneath the wide, blue sky, dotted with wisps of clouds that gently floated across it.

It had been so long, too long, since he had felt so serene.

"𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕, 𝙳𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖?" Kristin hummed, clearly enjoying their stroll. Who wouldn't when they see such a deprived man finally look alive?

"I...can't describe it." Dream replied. "I feel...at peace, I suppose. And happy...?"

"𝙳𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚞𝚋𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚋𝚒𝚛𝚍. 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗."

"Ah, okay."

They continued to walk for a little bit.

"So, uh," Dream speaks up. "What did you want to discuss with me?"

"𝙰 𝚕𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚝'𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝." The goddess replied. "𝚃𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚎, 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚙𝚞𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚕 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎?

The man was at a lost of words. 

"I...suppose I just...gave up? I didn't want...to suffer anymore."

"𝙼𝚑𝚖." The goddess hummed in acknowledgement. Dream continued.

"It'd hurt so much at the time... There was no one on my side and everyone wanted me dead, which I know is my fault and I had planned all that but still...it hurts so much to be alone, you know?"

"𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎?" She asked.

"...Yeah. I thought it'd be better if I just let go. And," Dream chuckled, "This might seem ridiculous, but I thought maybe I'd feel a little warmer if I were in the lava, because even though that box was suffocating, I couldn't feel even a sliver of warmth inside me."

"𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚔 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚝𝚑, 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎. 𝚂𝚘 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚒𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚢. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑." She looked into Dream's eyes, which stared back at her with surprise and disbelief. "𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍, 𝚜𝚘 𝚒𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑?"

It was as if a gust of wind blew over Dream, like an invisible curtain that shielded his eyes had been removed. That's enough...Her words continued to ring in his head.

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