After a month since Dream's rescue, Captain Marvel and Dream find themselves face to face once again. The air is charged with anticipation as Billy recalls their previous encounter, still in awe of Dream's ethereal presence. This time, however, Dream has something significant to share with him.
"Champion of Magic, it is good to see you again," Dream greated Captain Marvel regally. "I trust the passing month has treated you well?"
Billy grinned with a mix of excitement and curiosity. "Dream, it's an honor to be in your presence once more. Especially, since it is in better conditions."
"You possess an uncommon depth, Billy Batson," Dream smiled faintly. "I have glimpsed your path through time, through the memories you shared with me, that is why I have sought you out again."
Billy's eyes widen with anticipation, realizing the significance of Dream's words. He braces himself for the revelations that are about to unfold.
"In your future, Billy, I have observed your endeavors to try and save the Earth from an impending doom," Dream's voice was filled with a mixture of solemnity and compassion. "Your courage and determination have not gone unnoticed. And so, as a token of gratitude, I have undertaken certain actions."
Billy leaned forward, eager to hear more. He might have seen horrors beyond words, but his childish excitement was soemthing that not even death could take from him. "What actions, Dream? What have you done?"
Dream paused momentarily, his voice carrying a weight of both melancholy and resolve. " I had learned from my mistakes, as the future me in your memories has. As such I've started fixing my mistakes. I have freed my ex-lover from the depths of Hell, releasing her from eternal torment. I have also granted my ex-wife liberation from her servitude to that abhorrent author, allowing her to find her own path once more." Billy's emotions surge with a mix of surprise, relief, and gratitude. He tries to absorb the weight of Dream's actions, knowing the impact they will have. "I've also reunited with an old friend of mine, Hob Gobling. He is quite eager to meet you. I know that you are no longer a child in mind, but your body is and human society requires you to have a home and guardian. Hob will be more than willing to take that place, as even with your future years you are still quite younger than he is. A child in his eyes and mine."
"Dream, I... I don't know what to say…" Billy was overwhelmed, his voice filled with gratitude. His family will always be Raven, Damian, and John, but he always yearned for something more… for a parental figure to call his own. Now as an adult in a child's body (Billy could not stop snickering at the irony of that), he believed it impossible. But Hob Goblin gis centuries old, Billy could behave as a child with him and allow him to pamper him. "Thank you."
Dream noded, his eyes carrying a glimmer of empathy. Empathy that Dream did not have when Billy had rescued him. It seems that the memories Billy had shared with Dream had allowed both versions, this timeline and the other timeline, Dream to fusión. "It is the least I could do, given your efforts to protect the realm of dreams and your genuine desire to make amends."
"What about the Vortex and Coracint?" Billy inquired.
"I already took care of Coracint, I will be remaking hi mone day. As for the Vortex… I cannot allow it to live," Dream shook his head with a grimace. "So, the same it happened in the other timeline will happen again. I took the Vortex powers from Rose Walker to Unity Kinkaid, not before alowing them to find Jed Walker. They had some days as a family before I had to take Unity Kinkaid from them."
"I'm glad for that," Billy sighed. "At least, Jed Walker was saved from that horrible foster family. I never met him, but I heard a lot about him from Gault. That's right! What about Gault? She is back to being a Nightmare right?"
"Do not worry, I've already allowed her to change," Dream assured the Champion of Magic. "Gault is now a Dream, just as she so desired… let's just say that my realm is wondering if I had been replaced with someone new. Though, Lucienne rationalized the change is because of my time imprisoned."
"In a way it is," Billy commented. "In the other timeline you started change because of what happened to you. My memories simply allowed you to speed up the process." Billy's smile slowly left his face. "Did I just kill Daniel Hall?"
"No, you cannot kill someone that does not exist," Dream frowned. "Daniel was never meant to exist in the first place. He was an aberration. With my Nightmares back under control and the Vortex dealt with, Daniel will never come to exist."
"He was a good kid," Billy murmured sadly.
"He was, and he would have made an excellent King of the Dreaming," Dream agreeed. "However, this time around I'll make things right."
"Do things right?" Billy repeated confused.
"Yes, in your timeline I had given up," Dream said with a faraway look in his eyes. "I had suffered and lived through so much, so when the Kindly Ones came for me I accepted my fate. Daniel Hall replaced me and tried to do his best, but his kindness and humanity were too much. He needed a firmness and control over the Dreaming that he did not have. That weakened the Dreaming and in return weakened the Endless Ones. It allowed many horros to occur because of that disharmony between the Endless Ones."
"Darkseid, Trigon, the Reach," Billy murmured, eyes widening at the realization.
"The universe will one day come to an end and my elder sister will be the last one of us. However, we are meant to keep an order and balance until then. The universe and our parents created us for that. Just like they did with the Lords of Order and Chaos, opposites that keep each other in balance. The same way each lantern light has an opposite that weakens them." Dream inclined his head, his eyes shimmering with wisdom. "There have always been wars, planets trying to conquer others and worlds coming to an end. Is part of the circle of life. However, what Darkseid did during your memories, the Blackest Night, that kind of total imbalance was never meant to happen. Even Lucifer does not try their hand on that and respects the laws of the universe. That destabilization is what allowed you to change Destiny's book without fracturing the laws of time and reality."
"So, we will need to stop them," Billy stated with determination. "We will stop them!"
"Do not worry, Lucifer is already on it and so is your beloved," Dream assured him.
"Damian? I thought he was on his way to Gotham?!" Billy exclaimed startled. "What is he doing in Akropolis? How did he even made it to the other side of the universe?!"
"He was killed by Ra's al Ghul for refusing to harm his cousin and then sumerged into the Lazarus Pits," Dream asnwered, as Billy facepalmed. "He was then transported to Hell, where he shared his memories with Lucifer. Lucifer in return teleported him to Akropolis and now your beloved is traveling through the galaxies to stop the Blackest Night… not that he knows it."
"Of course, he is," Billy shook his head, laughing hysterically. "Only a bat has that much of a bad luck! When will he be reaching Earth?"
"In a month," Dream answered. "It would have been two years on space for him."
"Well, that will make us the same age physically at least," Billy tried to see the positive side, like always. "And it will give me enough time to prepare." Billy turned to Dream with gratefulness. "Thank you for everything you've done, I owe big time!"
"You owe me nothing, Billy Batson. Our destinies intertwine, and in aiding you, I find solace in knowing that the realms of dreams and the mortal world may continue to coexist harmoniously," Dream told him enigmatically.
"I will talk to Hob about teaching you to speak like a normal person," Billy laughed, getting ready to take off. "Until next time!"
A/N: watch?v=W-TE_Ys4iwM
