Chapter 22: Memories (1)

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Dream quietly closed the wooden door behind him as he walked into the frosty tundra air. He exhaled as he looked into the sky, realizing that he could not see his breath. 

Ah, I'm dead. He thought. So I don't have a body that creates heat.

He looked to his right, towards the horizon that connected the snow clouds and the frozen earth. It glowed like gray candle light, hidden just beyond the world. Long, thin shadows stretched behind the trees and hills, while Dream glowed without one.

He looked back towards the cabin, which was dark and asleep with its inhabitants. Dream tried to imagine their breaths, soft and whispering, as they slept. He turned back towards the Overworld with a smile. 

Dream thought back to what happened the previous night.

"Ms. Kristin," He addressed the goddess. She turned around.

"𝙳𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖. 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚍 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚢 𝚖𝚢 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎. 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍?" She asked.

Dream replied with another question. "Actually–I'm sure you already know–but I had a conversation with Delusion, my counterpart, and he reminded me to go meet up with those I had a... connection to while I was still alive. You know, just to seal the deal and not leave any regrets. I was wondering if it'd be possible to leave here for a bit?"

"𝙾𝚑, 𝚢𝚎𝚜, 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗. 𝙷𝚎𝚛𝚎."

Kristin tapped Dream's forehead, and a wave of light rippled across his skin, which quickly faded slightly. 

"What's this...?" He asked, feeling a change in himself.

"𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚍𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚏𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗'𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝙼𝙿 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖, 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚍𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑, 𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜, 𝚜𝚘 𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝."

"...I see. Thank you." He looked up at her after inspecting himself.

Kristin smiled. "𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝. 𝙸 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚊 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚝 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜, 𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚞𝚙 𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏. 𝚂𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚐𝚒𝚏𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚞𝚎𝚕 𝚒𝚏 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚋𝚢𝚎𝚜, 𝚒𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝?"

Dream thought back to when he was taken away to be locked in Pandora's Prison from the disc room, which he now know was a death sentence. He remembered glancing back at the crowd that'd appeared to take him down, the tyrant he was, and turning away without a hint of emotion on his face. He remembered their eyes of anger, ambivalence, and disappointment that stared back at him, mocking, berating. He remembered the edge of Punz's hood that peeked out from the back, his face hidden, and Sapnap's fists that were clenched so hard his knuckles turned white. He must've wanted to bash my head in, Dream thought.

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