"Hello, Death."
She doesn't startle – being Death means that startling doesn't come easy – but it's a close thing. At least she knows who's standing behind her. There are only two – one now, she supposes – beings in existence who could ever sneak up on her.
After all, Death waits for no man – or being, as the case may be. Death comes before people even realise she is there. Well, apart from the people she favours. But her exceptions are a long, long story, and she's not in the mood to think about them now.
"Hey, big bro!" she says cheerfully once she has caught her breath. "This is a rare surprise! You never leave the Garden – what're you doing here?"
Destiny doesn't return her smile. But then, he never has – and, she supposes, he never will. He likes to appear and serious and brooding, her big bro does. That's why she's there, after all – to break the constant seriousness her family insists on adopting.
Well. Mainly Destiny and Dream.
"There are few things in my book that can still surprise me," he murmurs in reply. "Yet this one was different indeed. Enough that I felt the need to visit you instead of calling for you."
That is enough to raise Death's eyebrow. Destiny rarely – if ever – admits to being surprised by something he sees in the Book. The only other time he seemed to – un-Destiny like – in recent history is the incident with the Fates in his garden, and they all knew how that ended up turning out.
Destiny feeling disconcerted – even if he doesn't say it in those words – is enough to make her feel disconcerted too.
"What's wrong, Destiny?" she asks, suddenly serious. They've just started to rebuild from Mor- she can't say his name yet. From his loss. Another large scale disaster like that one might just tax them further than they can handle.
"It has been a long time since you met with Dream."
It's the last thing she expects Destiny to say. He prefers to stay out of problems between his siblings – the situation with Destruction is the perfect example. None of them even allow themselves to say his name to prevent upsetting Del, but Destiny seems the least bothered of all of them.
Not for the first time, she wonders if his loss changed something in them. Made them a bit more mortal, just like he seemed to be in the end.
She doesn't say anything – but then, with Destiny, she doesn't need to.
"Of all of us, Dream has always required your advice the most, sister. Besides, you are perhaps the one being in all of creation whose advice he will almost always take. This reticence when it comes to him – you risk altering the book, Death."
She is Death. Death – the dying – she knows how to compartmentalise. If she didn't, the cries of so many mortals would have made her Delirium – or maybe Delusion – long before Delight changed. But-
"He was our brother, Destiny," she whispers, her voice ragged by an untold amount of grief, "Our baby brother. I don't care if it was only by seconds – we should have taken care of him. I should have said something to Desire – we both know she was part of it all, what with her vow to bring the Furies upon his head. I know he chose his successor – but he was ours, and I can't help but remember that he isn't anymore."
Destiny has never been in the habit of letting his feelings show on his face, but Death can read him without them. He is unmistakeably giving her chiding look in the safety of his mind.
"You, like all of us, know that our replacements are merely another aspect of us brought to independent life. Even when we do not have a successor – when we take over from ourselves – we become altered. You remember how Despair once was, do you not?"
"And yet, as you pointed out, Daniel Hall is not Mor- him. It is not him returning to us, but the child of his killer."
Destiny looks away, and for a moment, says nothing. Death does not allow herself to think she has won – her elder brother always has a trick up his sleeve.
"You have not truly met with him yet, Death. He may not be Morpheus again, but in many ways, he is still the same. He is different, yes – and altered too. But he is not changed. Morpheus lives within him, and I believe he would appreciate a visit from you."
Before she can say something – find some words to reply – he is gone as suddenly as he first came, leaving her with people to collect and her thoughts.
…
She thinks she might pay the new Dream a visit soon.
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