Key of Dreams

by Jebest4781

Through a chance encounter whilst sleeping within his Somebody's heart, Roxas met an entity who'll change his existence more than he realized. Rated M for language, violence, etc. Pairings hidden at current time. KHxDC Comics Cowritten by free man writer. Please leave reviews.

15. Playing House

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Disney, Square Enix or Detective Comics. They rightfully belong to their respective owners.

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Radio/TV

"Headset/Flashback"

-Scene Shift-

Chapter 15: Playing House

Within Dream's Throne Room, a bit of silence blanketed the group of individuals.

Patience was mostly present on the new arrival, which was momentarily broken upon seeing the familiar face of her present housemate.

"What are you doing here?" Rose asks Roxas.

"Me? What are you doing here?"

"I'm… dreaming. But how are you in my dream unless-"

"You are welcome here, Rose Walker." Says Morpheus, interrupting the two.

"Who are you?" Rose asked in turn.

From the side, Lucien was outright curious while overcoming his bit of shocked surprise. Of course, he makes the introductions. "You have somehow dreamed your way into an audience with Lord Morpheus." Seeing Rose Walker's added confusion, the Librarian sums it up to the best he could do. "The King of Dreams. And you must go."

"Lucien." Roxas says suddenly.

"She shouldn't be here."

"No, but I should like her to stay."

Hearing this from Morpheus, Lucien relents.

Eyes shifted about, marveling at the architecture and scenery inside of the throne room. They soon landed back to the Nobody she relatively knew. "What is this place?"

"You're in Morpheus' throne room," Roxas says simply.

"But more specifically, you're in the Dreaming," Morpheus includes, "the place where people come when they sleep."

"So, I'm asleep right now? I'm dreaming?"

"Yes, and I would like to know how you found me."

"I heard you talking about my brother. Is he here?"

Roxas blinked in bewilderment. "You heard us talking about Jed? How?"

Rose merely shrugged.

Dream walked towards the Vortex. "Unfortunately, no."

"Do you know where he is?"

"Sadly, no." Once beside Rose, he turns to the stained glass murals and prompts her to look towards them. "But I think he might be with one of my missing subjects."

Rose looked at the depictions of Brute and Glob, the Corinthian and the forested appearance of Fiddler's Green. "Why would any of them want with Jed?"

"We don't know," Morpheus answered in turn. "But I have a feeling it has something to do with you."

"Me? Why? What did I do?"

"It is not what you did. It is what you are."

This left Rose utterly confused. "I'm sorry. I don't understand any of this."

"No." Resumed the Endless. "Dream Vortexes are largely incomprehensible."

"What's a dream vortex?"

"You are."

"...That doesn't explain a thing at all." Roxas said off from the side, having Rose agree in turn.

"You see, once every few thousand years, a mortal is born with a dreaming ability so powerful, they can naturally travel through the dreams of others. Apparently, all the way to my throne room."

Roxas pondered on this as he glanced over to Rose Walker. "This a first, I take it."

Morpheus gave a brief nod.

"I was just looking for my brother."

"If you can find me in the Dreaming, you can find your brother. No matter where he's hidden."

"How? How do I do that?"

"For now, keep looking for your brother in the waking world." Morpheus then glances over. "Roxas and Matthew will watch over you."

"We'll do what we can." Says the Nobody with the raven nodding.

"Glad to be of service."

Rose's eyes widened slightly after hearing Matthew talk.

"When they're with you, I am with you… to an extent." Says Morpheus, drawing the Vortex's attention back to him. "Then tonight, when you sleep once more," he gestures towards himself and Roxas, "we will go in search of your brother together in your dreams."

Glancing back to the stained glass murals, Rose's eyes glance over to the depictions. "They're just… dreams, right? How bad could they be?"

-Somewhere, Elsewhere… In the land of Marvelous Dreams-

In a nice, sunny area, the feel in the air was quite brisk. A fact to consider as one was flying through it.

For Jed Walker, it was a pleasant feeling for him. How he felt happy and free without any issues for him.

"This sure is a fine day today, isn't it?" Says a woman holding Jed's hand on the left.

Glancing over, Jed saw a woman with long, pale blonde hair kept back by a red headpiece that looked like a stylized "M" framing part of her face. Most of her unitard was a mix of red and yellow on the fabric that was mostly skintight, except for a few places. A yellow cape fluttered in the wind, appearing gold in the sun. There were a pair of golden vambraces on her arms which matched the design of the calf-high boots. To complete her attire was the golden, ornate girdle that was around her pregnant waist.

This was Lyta Hall, also known as Fury.

"Sure is, honey." Jed looked over to the man holding his hand on the right. "Keep holding my hand, Jed. I don't wanna see you fall."

"Will do, Sandman."

The man was tall and strong. He wore a primarily yellow outfit which showed off his physique. He also wore a red cape and cowl with a pair of large goggles that were made out of yellow fiberglass. His red elbow length gloves matched his red combat boots and his red utility belt. To complete the look, a red hourglass was embroidered on his chest.

This was Hector Hall, also known as The Sandman.

Flying through the clouds, Jed was perhaps the first to see a balloon in the distance. He thought it was perhaps a normal-looking one and expected more to follow. After all, this was a great dream and it was possibly fun to fly through the balloons.

However, the balloon he saw wasn't an ordinary one, but a hot air balloon.

"Look!" Jed called out, garnering Fury and Sandman's attention.

As they drew closer, the three saw a pair of individuals were inside of the basket under the balloon. It was rather quick for them to see it was Brute and Glob.

"Look out for the spooky birds!" Says Brute.

Glob bellowed out a laugh. "For its our spooky birds!"

Looking about, Jed sees a bird all but tackle him, Lyta and Hector. It was an avian creature with multiple colored feathers and features. They were relatively dark in hue. And there was an emblem of a dark-shaped heart on it with a pair of wings jetting out of the sides.

It was a Nightmare Dream Spirit. And it wasn't alone.

Soon enough a whole flock of them appeared and began harassing the trio of fliers. So much so that Hector and Lyta were forced to let go of Jed.

"Save me!" Jed cried out, plumbetting through the sky and towards the ground below. "I'm falling!"

Next thing Jed knew…

"-back into the house."

Eyes blurred open as Jed was pried out of the car trunk and all but shoved onto the ground.

"W-What?"

"I said, get back into the house." Says Uncle Barnaby. "And into the basement for you."

The twelve-year-old complies, walking back into the foster home. The place which he despised since he was forced here.

Jed bites the inside of his cheek to keep him from sobbing aloud. He whimpers nervously, deep in his throat. He fought the urge to raise such noises or else he'll get the belt again, or worse.

Once escorting Jed into the basement, Barnaby closes and locks the door. He turns and sees Clarice sitting at the kitchen table. On her face was a bruise forming on her cheek.

"We can't just leave him down there." She says quite meekly.

"The second you open that door, he's gonna run away again." Barnaby sternly tells his wife. "He has to learn."

With Jed, he went to the bed at the corner, well if one could barely call it a bed given its condition. It was a foldout bed used for camping that was decades old and needed to be replaced.

He climbed into it, wrapping the blanket over him and curling into himself. He tries to sleep once more, in order to escape from the pain and suffering in the waking world. One which he is barely fed by his "caretakers". One which had stolen so much from him.

Soon enough, he returns to the land of marvelous dreams.

Next thing Jed knew, he was back and had landed on the hot air balloon.

"You've given us quite the fright, Jed." The twelve-year-old sees Fury fly towards him and gently hug him.

"Sorry, Lyta." He mumbles.

"It's quite alright." She says, coddling him.

Sandman swoops in with a small smile. "Alright, Jed, Lyta and I will fly back over to the Dream Dome and those scamps Brute and Glob must be put back into their cells."

The twelve-year-old smiles as he is carried by Lyta as they hear Brute and Glob cry out in misery. "We are doomed!"

-Hal's B&B-

Waking up in her bed, Rose wondered about a number of things. If what she dreamt was merely a dream or something more.

Rubbing the grime from her eyes, Rose slowly lifts herself from the bed and stretches a bit to relieve herself of some kinks. As she did, she halts in motion.

Reason why was her looking towards the nearby window and saw a black bird perched there. This has her get out of bed and walks towards the window while the avian was tapping and cawing.

"Matthew?"

The bird flies away soon after, making Rose question a few things.

Going to the nearby table of the room she was renting, she saw the last photo she had of her brother Jed. Of them standing in front of their childhood home here in Cape Kennedy.

You know those moments of having an odd dream, waking up from it and recalling bits and pieces of it? This is what Rose was feeling right now, in a manner of speaking. Instead of slowly forgetting the details, she recalls it near perfectly. Yet still questions everything.

After taking a shower to fully wake herself up, Rose decided to make a proper call to her great-grandmother over at Sussex, England.

"Unity, hi. It's Rose calling."

"How are you, darling?" Greeted Unity. "How was it with the foster agent? Was she awful?"

"Well, she wouldn't tell us where Jed is."

"Oh, no, of course not. That would have made it far too easy."

"But she did tell me one thing: Jed's foster parents were friends of my dads."

"So, she told you quite a bit. Do you remember your father's friends?"

"...No, but if that's okay with you, I thought I'd stay longer and maybe-"

"Oh, of course, love. Of course, Rose."

"May I?" Rose heard a man's voice on the other end.

"Please." Unity says in turn.

"...Unity, am I interrupting something?"

"There is a lovely young journalist here who wants to interview me about the sleepy sickness. I'm having tea with him as we speak."

This got a laugh out of Rose. She imagines the state her great-grandmother must be in right now. Despite roughly ninety years having passed, Unity was still young in mind and heart.

"I keep telling him, I slept through the entire thing."

"I'm hanging up now. Enjoy being famous."

Over in Sussex, England, Unity closes her phone and puts her attention back to the man she was having tea with. He was a handsome man with fair skin, combed blonde hair. Unity somewhat wishes to see what his eyes were, but the journalist wore a pair of sunglasses to help deal with his sensitive eyesight.

What she didn't know, she was presently seated right next to the Corinthian.

"Who was that?" Asks the Nightmare.

"That was my great-granddaughter, Rose."

"Oh. Is she in London?"

"She was. Now she's back in the United States. In Florida."

This got a small reaction from him. "Really? Whereabouts in Florida?"

"A town called Cape Kennedy." Was Unity's response. "Pardon me. You sound American to me. Have you been?"

"Cape Kennedy? No." He says with genuine honesty with a growing smile on his lips. "But now I'll have to visit."

Back in Hal's B&B, Rose was printing a rather large stack of flyers. A design she quickly made on the flight over from England for preparation on what she'll resort into doing now.

Entering the dining room, Rose's nose was assaulted with a great, pleasant smell. She could already pick up on a few scents, like some bakery goods.

On the far side of the room, she saw the blonde Nobody place a plate filled with hard boiled eggs with some diced fruit by the open window. Perched there was Matthew the Raven, who soon dug into the meal.

Turning away, Roxas spotted and greeted Rose. "Morning." He says, before handing out some omelets to Zelda and Chantel.

"Morning." The Vortex says in turn. "Smells great."

"It should. Did get up early to finish the first batches before the initial breakfast."

Hal soon gives a playful pout. "And he's gonna make me sad when he leaves." He then asks Rose a question while pouring some coffee and juice into some cups. "Did you figure out the printer?"

"I did." Rose hands one of the flyers to the landlord. "What do you think?"

Taking a look, Hal inspects it for several moments. "I think I wanna help you put these up all over town."

"Really?" Hal responds with a nod. "Can I pay you for them?"

"You already did. I overcharged you for the room."

Rose smiles, understanding the charge on the rent bill. At the very least, Unity's people will cover the expense.

"May I see?" Chantal requests. Hal complies and hands the one flier over to allow her and Zelda to look it over.

As this happens, Barbie and Ken appear in the dining room.

"Oh lord, this smells fantastic."

"Thank you." Says the Nobody. "There's plenty for everyone."

"Don't mind if I do." Says Barbie, snagging a muffin from the one basket before a croissant and biting into it. "Mmm~ So flaky buttery."

"Took some tries, but I'm getting a hang of it."

The blonde woman nods while Ken soon makes himself a plate with some of the breakfast items sprawled about.

"Oh, Rose, you have those ready?" Barbie takes a look on the fliers and gushes slightly on little Jed and younger Rose. "Oh, look at you guys. Can I have some?"

Rose smiles, handing a decent stack to her.

Ken wears a slight frown from his seat. "Uh, babe. What are you doin'?"

"Putting these up."

"Yea, but we're out all day with Sindy."

"Sindy can put some up too." Barbie saw the curious looks on Rose and Roxas. "She's our realtor. She's fabulous."

"Thanks, you guys."

As this happened, Zelda whispered into Chantal's ear before the latter voices the message. "Zelda suggests we take some as well."

Rose practically beams at this.

"We can all hit the streets after we finish having this great breakfast." Hal offers.

The Vortex nods before thinking of someone in particular. "What about Gilbert?"

"I can leave a stack by his room if he doesn't come down for breakfast." Says the Nobody. "Though I wonder if he'll miss out on it by sleeping in."

Hal snorts. "His loss, our gain."

As the group sat and ate, some light conversations went on amongst them. Of course one seemed to be nonverbal between a pair of individuals.

For Rose was mostly staring at Roxas with dozens, if not hundreds of questions roamed her mind. In turn, Roxas gave her a look which she could practically tell was him saying "later".

Later ended up being after breakfast. Where Rose ended up volunteering in helping Roxas clean up.

"So where do you plan on hanging those up?"

"All over really." Responded Rose. "Even nearby the foster agency just to let that woman know I'm not giving up."

"Given what you told us yesterday, I think she probably got that idea." Roxas comments, giving her a sideways glance from the kitchen sink. "Was it that bad?"

"I'm… not exactly sure." Rose stood there, gaze distant for a moment. "Should I go back and apologize?"

"It would seem like the right thing to do. But maybe not now." Pondering a little, Roxas voiced an idea. "How about I go about that part of town handing out flyers and talk to the foster agent?"

"You sure she'd listen to you or-"

"I'll do my best." He says, earning a look from her. "What?"

"I just find it… weird of the idea of someone like yourself talking to her about this."

"She just needs another perspective to help get the right push to make things happen."

"Thanks Roxas."

"No problem. Matthew and I are here to help." As this was said, Rose paused and gave him a more curious look which he noticed. "And yes, the dream was real like we're talking right now."

-The Dreaming-

Walking through the palace library, Lucien spots Morpheus combing through a table full of books.

"My lord, may I help?"

"Is this everything we have on Rose Walker?" Says the Dream King, not prying his gaze away from the litany of pages.

"And Jed Walker." Lucien adds in. "But I shouldn't think there's anything in those you don't already know. Except perhaps-"

"Except perhaps why she was able to wander into my throne room. Escorted is one thing, but what she accomplished was another." Morpheus soon looks directly at the librarian. "What do you think? Why did one of the missing arcana target her brother and not her?"

A look crosses Lucien's face. "Did you read about Unity Kincaid?" Seeing the response on his lord's face showed he may not have or hadn't come across the aforementioned woman yet. "The day you were imprisoned, there were people all over the Waking World who fell asleep and could not wake up." The librarian pulls up a book and flips through the pages. "Unity Kincaid is one of the hundred handfuls of survivors of what they called the 'sleepy sickness'." Coming across a certain section of the book, he turns and walks back over to Morpheus to hand it over. "The day you returned, she woke up. Rose Walker is her great-granddaughter."

"Which would seem to suggest that my absence caused the birth of a Vortex."

"Is that not a possibility?"

"Vortexes are naturally occurring phenomena. No one knows why they happen. Not even I know. But I do know they are not caused or created. They simply… happen."

After all these eons, Morpheus was never able to find a discernible pattern of when and how the Vortexes popped up. It frustrates him to no end when such predictability he metaphorically turns around and slaps him across the face to show how wrong he is. Even going so far to ask Destiny, his eldest sibling, for help with potential knowledge; only to get vague responses or none at all given the roads of life always shift and change.

"Then is this all a coincidence? And not an imminent threat?"

The Endless runs a hand through his hair. Bits of confusion and curiosity course through his body as he reads through the book a bit more. "My instinct says no, but tonight when Rose Walker sleeps, I shall see it more clearly."

"I hope so, my lord."

-Cape Kennedy, Florida-

Along the streets of a vaguely familiar neighborhood, Rose and Hal were enjoying the Florida air with a pleasant sun shining upon the land. Really good weather for them, despite what amount of coverings they presently wore.

Slipping a flier between a windshield and wiper on a car, Rose continued speaking with Hal. "I've been trying to remember my dad's friends, but I don't think he had any."

"How so?"

"He was a pretty unfriendly guy."

Her landlord hummed in thought. "Well, do you remember any golf buddies, or drinking buddies, or… anyone of the sort? They somewhat count as friends in this case." Hal sees her shrug. "What else do married straight men with kids do?"

"Well, if they're anything like my dad, they have affairs."

"Oh. So that's why your mom divorced him."

"That was just one reason."

Hal took note of that before glancing at the surrounding houses. "Maybe your dad didn't have friends. Just some people who owed him favors."

"That's why I thought we'd start with his neighbors." Says Rose before stopping in front of a particular home.

Looking at it, Hal glanced at it and the picture on the flier. "Your old house. Not too bad."

Rose nods. "The last time I saw Jed was right there, seven years ago."

"You haven't seen him since?"

She shakes her head 'no' as they walk to the front door of her childhood home. "When my mom got a job in New Jersey, my dad cut us off completely. Stopped paying alimony, child support. He wouldn't let us see or even talk to Jed." Coming up to the door, she slipped a flier into the mail slot before they left the property. "My mom sued, of course. She never gave up, but I went off to college." She sighs. "I haven't been a very good sister."

Hal hummed. "Mmm, you're making up for it now, though."

"I'm trying."

"Gotta ask, is there a reason why? Your dad, I mean."

"He just… had a hard time letting go of things he likes and would go to any lengths to keep it that way out of spite."

"Like having Jed in the foster system? I would've thought he would've come back to you and your mom after his death."

"Apparently, after dad died, Jed lived with our grandfather; our father's father." Rose brings up a few bits of details she researched on her extended side of her family. "Jed was apparently happy with him, having fun at the lighthouse. That was until a few years ago when our grandfather drowned, and this ended up having him wind up in foster care through some odd complicated issue."

Hal shook his head a little from the odd migraine on how that mess turned out to be. Complicated it was, it was perhaps Rose's father's "screw you" to the ex-wife for a whole lot of reasons.

On the other side of town, Roxas was at the foster agency. He asked for the office of Ms. Rubio, Jed's foster agent.

Coming across the office, he knocked which he soon got a "come in" right after. Opening the door, he saw Ms. Rubio was eating a salad for her lunch.

"Ms. Rubio."

"Yes, may I help you?" She says, trying to sound pleasant to the young man.

"I'm Roxas, Rose Walker's friend."

Whatever pleasantry she had somewhat been replaced with mild discomfort. "What can I do for you?"

Roxas sat down in one of the chairs by her desk. "I wanted to come over and apologize on Rose's behalf. I can understand your job is hard enough without having to deal with other people's grief. 'Cause that's what it really was. It wasn't you, ma'am. Rose wanted to come by but-"

"But she is out looking for her brother." The foster agent pulled out a flier with a torn edge.

Roxas scratched the back of his head. "I think she really just wants to know if he's okay."

"I'm sure he is."

"...Is there any way you could find out? Check up on him?" He asks. "You wouldn't have to tell us. I don't wanna get you in trouble, but do you do follow-up visits? Surely you guys do that, right?"

"We do. But I can't just-"

"No, I understand… I think. I'm sorry. That's really all I came here to say. Just me doing my part as Rose's friend, knowing it's the right thing to do." The Nobody got up from the seat. "Thank you, ma'am, for your time."

Leaving the office, Roxas exhaled a frustrated sigh. 'That was a bust.' He thought, eventually walking out of the building. 'That approach didn't work. I might have to do things another way later.'

He thought of just going into the office, knocking the foster agent out with a Sleep spell and combing through the files until finding Jed's information; regardless of the consequences. He chose not to in a civil manner, but now he'll have to figure things out after tonight.

What the Nobody didn't know was that his one attempt did work, in a manner.

Ms. Rubio thought over the conversation with the kid who was friends with Rose Walker. Looking back on the flier, she soon came to a decision after some moments of contemplation.

-Somewhere in the Waking World-

Hanging up the phone, Clarice looked at Barnaby who gave her a quizzical look.

"Who was that?"

"The woman from the foster agency wants to come by."

"For what?"

"To check on Jed."

"What?" He says, both sternly and in disbelief. "Why now, all of a sudden?"

"It's a… They do that. It's a regular thing."

Barnaby ponders for some moments, trying to think of some rational reasons. However, one question popped into his head, which he voiced. "What did you tell her?"

"Well, I couldn't tell her no."

Her husband pushes past her, going to the wall phone. "I can."

Before he could properly dial the number, Clarice halts him. "You don't think that's gonna raise a red flag?" This has Barnaby pause and digest the information and puts the phone back onto the receiver. "If you don't want him here, we can give him back."

"I'm not giving back $800 a month." He all but growls at her before nudging his head. "Get him up here."

Fearing what may happen, Clarice tries to offer a choice. "I'll talk to him. I'll make sure he doesn't run away again."

"No. I'll talk to him."

Giving a hesitating nod, Clarice unlocks the basement door and calls Jed up. Seeing as he didn't respond, she walks down the stairs and finds that he's presently sleeping.

Coming up to him, she comes up and rouses him awake.

In the meantime, in the Land of Marvelous Dreams…

Jed was standing in front of a few containment units. One of which housed Brute and Glob, due to them being captured from their latest nefarious scheme upon Dream Land.

The little boy would've looked onto the other unit, housing an assortment of Nightmare Dream Spirits that resembled bunnies and cats, but was focused on the heroic couple.

"Thank you for helping me save the World from the Toad-Dancers of Pluto, Jed."

"It was nothing, Sandman. I was just glad to help."

Lyta smiles as she rubs her belly. "When I have my baby, you'll have a new friend to play with and protect."

"I will."

Jed was never a big brother before. The idea of him watching over a little kid made him feel like he was in Rose's shoes. Of her protecting him when they grew up… before the separation.

Though it was a surprise for him, for what felt like forever ago, of him learning that Fury -the lovely wife of Sandman- was pregnant.

It made him realize that heroes -and perhaps even villains- can have families of their own. It made them feel more relatable.

"Aw, c'mon. Let us out." Moaned Brute.

"We will be good." Glob pleads.

Jed focused back at the cage containing the two and gave them a glare.

"No. I won't let you out." He says as sternly as he could. "You two are bad and need to serve the time."

For as long as he knew of them, they were the on-and-off again cohorts… frenemies of Sandman and Fury at the Dream Dome here in Dream Land.

Whatever else was going to happen next seemed to fade away with everything blurring around him. An indication of Jed slowly waking up.

Brought out of his dream, Jed saw Clarice hovering over him.

"W-What's going on?" He asks. "Is… Is it mealtime?"

"It's not that. Barnaby just wants to talk." She saw him stiffen a bit. "It's alright. Just talking, nothing more."

With what bit of reassurance there was, Jed complied, got out of bed and was brought before his foster father.

"Here's how it's gonna be. The woman from the foster agency is coming to check up on you. If you're good, you can sleep in your own bed tonight. But if you embarrass us in front of this woman, I'll take you back into the cellar. I'll wire your hands to the pipes down there, and I will break every bone in your body." Says Barnaby. "Do you understand me, Jed?" Seeing the boy nod, he ushers Clarice to take him upstairs to get him cleaned up and fed.

As the foster parents were getting things ready for the foster agent's arrival, Jed silently took a small stack of sticky notes and a little marker from the small table before hiding it underneath his shirt.

-Back in Cape Kennedy, Florida-

"-I mean, I tried to escape." Says Hal, handing out a flier to a passing rollerblader. "I went directly to New York after college to have a huge Broadway career, before moving onto film and television, of course."

"Of course."

After talking about most of her life story, Rose convinced Hal to talk about his. Something to help pass the time as they walked around town and continued passing on fliers.

"But, you know, these days, if you're not already a film or a television star, you can't even get a job on Broadway."

"That's rather backwards."

"Tell me about it. Makes it more difficult with auditions." Hal grumbled out. "So, when my grandmother died and left me the house, I came home."

"Do you miss New York?"

"Not as much as I thought I would." Hal hummed with a shrug. "I mean, New York's very hard, and this place is not so bad."

Rose nods in agreement, understanding how it is. After moving away, one would think the new home isn't great and prefer the last one. Yet as time passes by, it shifts to some capacity.

Looking about, Rose's eyes caught onto a black bird perched on a chair. It looked at her before flying away.

"I'm gonna put up a few over there." Says the Vortex, nudging her shoulder in some direction. "So if you wanna-"

"Yeah, absolutely. I'll catch up with you."

The two parted ways to hand out their fliers.

Unbeknownst to them, they were observed. His focus was towards Rose and slowly went after her from a safe distance.

Over by some sheltered area, perhaps the changing rooms from what Rose registered some moments prior, she spotted the blackbird on the ground.

Slowly, she knelt and spoke. "Matthew, is that you?"

In response, the blackbird merely flew off, leaving her annoyed.

"No, that's a crow." The Vortex turned, seeing another black bird some feet away and further into the shadowed area. "I'm a raven. Common mistake."

Walking over, Rose bore a number of emotions on her visage. "You're real?"

"Technically I'm a dream, but sure. Besides, Roxas did tell you."

"I know… but…"

"Understandable, I know. Hearing it is one thing, but witnessing is another. Same applies when you're dreaming or awake."

Slowly nodding, Rose voices the next question on her mind. "And is Morpheus watching right now?"

"He is. I can feel him in the back of my head. It's the weirdest feeling."

"Does that happen with Roxas?"

"Not really. Lucky guy." Matthew shakes his head a little. "Do you need him?"

"No, but he said he'd be there tonight when I fall asleep. He and Roxas are gonna help me find my brother."

"That's the plan. Roxas and I will be around till then."

"Thanks for letting me know."

"Was there any doubt?" Says the raven. "Well, yeah there were given circumstances."

"Right. I'll see you back at the house?"

Hearing a brief "yup" from Matthew, Rose saw him fly off.

Observing all this, the man curses under his breath and leaves moments prior so the dream raven -and by extension Morpheus- can spot him.

Walking along the sandy beach, the man spots Hal and gets closer to his position.

"...Jed Walker. If you see him or know anything about him, just text."

"Will do." Says a woman in a bikini.

"Thank you." Hal turns around and sees a handsome blonde man wearing a lot of clothing with a pair of sunglasses. What the landlord didn't know was that this was the Corinthian. "May I help you?"

"What have you got there?"

Hal was briefly taken aback of the man's appearance, feeling some bit of attraction in the process. He reeled back some urges as he wanted to do the typical business before-pleasure type of thing.

"Uh, we're looking for a kid named Jed Walker." Hal hands over a flier to the Corinthian. "He would be about twelve now."

The Nightmare takes in this bit of information. This was rather new to him, something he could use.

"How long has he been missing?"

"Well, he's not actually missing." The Corinthian gives him a look, having Hal explain. "He's in foster care. But the agency won't tell us where."

A nod was received from the Nightmare. "Would you mind if I kept this?"

Hal flashes him a smile. "No, not at all."

"Mmm. See you around."

"Yeah, I hope so."

The Corinthian walks away just as Rose reunites with her landlord.

"Friend of yours?"

Hal gives her a playful look. "No, but he took a flier, so he might be calling."

"He was rather cute."

"Cute? He was gorgeous."

Rose laughs alongside him. "I'll give him your number if he reaches out and asks. I promise."

This got a smile out of Hal. "You're a good friend, Rose Walker."

-Somewhere in the Waking World-

Barnaby was a bad man.

He had quite the talent of finding people weaker than him and taking advantage of it. Whether it was some waitress or some kid.

It was how he found his wife, overpowering her in making her obedient. It was how he eventually ended up in his current predicament.

For you see, somehow, for some reason Ms. Rubio, Jed's foster agent, called earlier today to announce her arrival for a check-up.

It made things a little difficult for Barnaby to properly prepare Jed for being presented. Something which couldn't be rescheduled for any other day.

Barnaby more or less cursed the man who made this all happen in the first place.

Burt Paulson, Jed's father, owed Barnaby a lot. Not just money. Favors, mostly in being sure Burt kept his son away from his mother, Miranda Walker.

Obviously, Barnaby wasn't going to get everything owed to him from a dead man, so he worked through the next best thing: the man's son.

It proved difficult when Jed moved in with his paternal grandfather, but the moment he heard the old lighthouse keeper died, Barnaby made lies and half-truths about his relationship with Burt so the foster agency would let Jed live with him.

One would think this was rather unorthodox and him going out of his way for such meager repayments. However, Barnaby has held an unnatural desire to get what he was owed.

When Jed ran away the first time, Barnaby had to race off to bring him back and be sure he didn't get to anyone and rat him out. Same again quite recently. If the little bastard did, then he would be in serious trouble in more ways than one.

For starters, child endangerment. Hefty fines and jail time for that. That alone pales in comparison to him essentially stealing from the government. After all, the foster agencies were part of the government and they were sending over $800 a month to help take care of Jed's food and living expenses. However, hardly any was spent towards the kid, only towards Barnaby and by extension his wife.

So Barnaby had to use his talent to be sure Jed didn't know of this. He only knew the bare minimum, but not the full extent. Thus he had to put the fear of god in the little shit so he won't ruin things for him. And that went double towards his wife.

Seated at the very small, triangular kitchen table, Ms. Rubio sat directly in front of Jed while his foster parents sat on each side of them.

"-he's doing great in school." Says Clarice with a smile, soon leaning over to the side towards Jed. "Helps out around the house. He never complains. I don't know what we'd do without him."

This had Jed "smile" softly, helping to sell off the act. As his foster parents talked with his foster agent, the twelve-year-old reached over his pants pocket and rubbed his finger where he placed the sticky note. Doing his best to not make a sound.

"-isn't that right, Barn?"

"That's right." Barnaby replies with a small smile, a facade to the lies.

"I'm so happy to hear that." Says Ms. Rubio, jotting down details on a notepad of hers. She takes another look at the boy in front of her. "You look good, Jed. You look happy."

"Thank you, ma'am."

The foster agent nods before glancing at the married couple. "I wonder if I might have a moment alone with you both." They give her a curious response. "It's just some admin updates."

Nodding, Barnaby looks towards Jed. "You wanna go to your room?"

It was at this point did Jed realize it was basically now or never to deliver his sticky note message. He needed to act quickly and discreetly.

As he makes his way to the room he was given, he slowly turns back around after withdrawing the note from his pants pocket.

"It's all pretty straightforward." Says Ms. Rubio. "I just need to update Jed's file with all his current information. His school, insurance. All the usual stuff. Is he still attending Callow Elementary?"

Before the foster parents could give a scripted answer, Jed showed up and surprised the foster agent with a hug.

"So good to see you, Ms. Rubio." Says the boy. "Thanks for everything."

Ms. Rubio was briefly startled but returned the gesture. "It's good to see you too, Jed. And you're welcome."

Jed walks away and back to his room. He finally smiles, genuinely. His plan was accomplished as he dropped the note into Ms. Rubio's purse.

Now all he had to do was wait for the results.

Sometime later, Ms. Rubio made it back to the foster agency. She was the only person left in the building as everyone already gone home for the day, except for the night-shift janitor. She would've gone home straight away, but she wanted to catalog everything about the meeting while it was fresh on her mind.

As she was opening her purse, to withdraw her notepad and Jed's case file when the door to her office opened. She looked and saw a handsome blonde stranger wearing a pair of sunglasses of all things.

"Uh… Hello. How can I help you?" Ms. Rubio glances at her watch. "Cutting it rather close, I think."

"True. So I have a question for you." The Corinthian pulls out the flier from his inner coat pocket and shows it to the foster agent. "Have you seen this boy?"

Meanwhile, back with Jed and his foster parents, they finished up supper when Barnaby finally brought up the topic on everyone's mind.

"Your Aunt Clarice and I want you to know we were very impressed. You did good." He says, earning a smile from Jed. "We were especially impressed with the way you got this note," he holds up the sticky note with the words "please help me" between his fingers, "into the lady's bag."

A fearful look came across Jed's face, stiffening in the process. "I'm sorry."

"No, you're not." Barnaby crumbles the note and tosses it into the trash bin. "But you will be."

-Hal's B&B-

"Where is everyone?" Asked Rose.

"They must have all gone to bed." Responds Hal.

"It is rather late." Roxas said as they walked into the foyer of the boarding house. "Though I'd imagine they'd at least be up socializing or something."

"There's not much to do in Cape Kennedy after dark." Comments the landlord. "Or during the day for that matter."

"That's kinda what I like about it." Says Rose, having a brief distant look. "I was thinking, maybe I should move back."

"You sure about that?" Asks the Nobody. "Didn't you say your mom got you a nice home in New Jersey? Something which she worked hard for you and Jed to have together one day?"

This got the Vortex to be briefly unsettled on the reminder.

"And why? To do what?" Hal adds on, placing some things on the one table by the printer.

"I don't know. Before my mom died, I was gonna go to grad school and try to become a writer." She looked towards Hal. "But maybe it's like you and New York." She then glances over to Roxas. "Or you with… traveling?"

She honestly didn't know the full circumstances of Roxas' predicaments, so wouldn't be so sure about how things are for him.

Hal merely scoffs. "God. I hope not."

"No, I mean, your life is here." She throws her arms up slightly to gesture to the building they were in. "You have this house. People who love you. You've got Dolly."

Hal sighs, walking over to her. "Rose, do you think I wanna be here? Cleaning up after Barbie and Ken. Zelda and Chantal." He looked into Rose's eyes. "Don't get me wrong, I love them, they're great. But if Broadway called tomorrow, I would sell this fucking house. And I would hardly think about any of these people ever again."

"But why, Hal?" Roxas couldn't help but ask, voicing Rose's thoughts as well.

Hal snorts a little. "I appreciate my grandmother giving me this house. I appreciate the company the others have given me since. But it was never my dream just staying here for the rest of my life." He gives Roxas a sad look. "I wish I still had your naive freedom. Backpacking and seeing the world with hardly any responsibilities on my shoulders." He then glances back to Rose. "Go to grad school, write a novel… about me," he says jokingly, "but do it now while I'm still cute enough to play myself in the movie."

Hal bids them goodnight and heads upstairs to his room, leaving Rose and Roxas alone in the foyer.

"He's right, you know." Rose gives Roxas a look, having him respond accordingly. "After finding Jed, continue what you wanted to do. Don't leave it before you have the chance to start." He walks away from her, momentarily leaving her to her thoughts. "See you soon in your dreams."

Rose chuckles slightly. "That is a really bad pickup line."

Roxas stared at her in confusion. "Pick up line?"

Once getting herself ready for bed in her rented room, Rose pulls out the last photo of her and Jed. She focuses on it while making the usual promise of her finding him someday as she drifts off to sleep. Hopefully someday will be soon.

-The Dreaming-

"Here she is, boys."

Eyes opened wide awake… in a manner of speaking. They blinked a bit more as their owner soon got out of bed. Looking about, Rose saw she was still in her one room, but it didn't feel like it was.

"Here she is, world."

Slipping on her shoes, Rose gets to her bedroom door and opens it.

"Here's Rose!"

Cheering and applause could be heard soon after as she entered the next room.

"Curtain up.

Light the lights.

Play it, boys."

Looking about, Rose saw she was at the nightclub Hal works at. Or at the very least the representation of it. And upon looking at the stage, the Vortex saw "Dolly" performing.

"Ya either got it or ya ain't

And boys, I got it

You like it?

Well I got it"

Before long, she glanced down and saw… Hal, naked and covered by his bedsheets?

"Yeah, I'm confused about that as well." Hearing the whisper, Rose glanced over seeing a figure all in black. With the hood drawn up, it would've been hard to see who it was. However, hearing the voice, she realized Roxas was standing beside her. "I'm no expert like Morpheus when it comes to dream details if you're wondering."

All Rose did was nod as she resumed watching the show before her.

"Okay, doll. Listen carefully. I'm only gonna say this once." Says Dolly, who soon points towards "her" face. "This is not my real face." In an odd bit of display, the performer ripped off the face, like something from a cartoon rubber mask to reveal Hal's face underneath. "And this is not my real face either." The action repeated itself as the Hal on stage pried off his "other" face to reveal the gooey, muscle underneath in a grizzly display. The music began to warp and tone down as this happened. "Hal, you're gonna have to come up here and help me. Mama's runnin' out of hands."

"What the…" Rose mutters aloud.

Suddenly a spotlight shines upon her, drawing the attention of the two Hals.

"Rose?" Asks the one in the bedsheets.

At that point, Rose panics and takes off with Roxas running right after her. The Vortex opened a door where she and her one friend stumbled into a space that was rather reminiscent of a museum, given the marble busts on display.

"I am having a relationship with a sentence." They heard Chantal speak. Coming around the corner, Rose and Roxas saw her standing behind a podium speaking to an audience. Not in her typical black, gothic attire they've seen her in, but in a business pantsuit. And on a little fold-out standee was a book graphic placed some distance from her on stage. "It was just one of those things. It was a chance meeting that grew into something more important for both of us. Everybody knows about me and the sentence."

"What's going on?" Rose whispers.

"Looks like a book reading." Was Roxas' best guess.

A nod came from the Vortex before she spotted someone hanging in the back. Roxas spotted this as well as they saw Morpheus, who soon beckoned them to follow.

"And now… I have the pleasure of reading it into the Library of Congress." Chantal says with a big smile. Before she began, she recognized someone standing in the back. "Rose?"

The moment her name was said aloud, the audience turned right towards her, making it super uncomfortable all of a sudden. She grasped the nearest door handle, opened and exited with Roxas slipping through before closing the door behind them.

Next thing they knew, they were outside of some high-end residential area. It was hard to tell where exactly. But what they did know, was it was completely barren, like a ghost town or something close with no sound being heard in the air or life all around.

There was, however, something that stood out when they looked down the street: an orange sports car. And upon taking a closer look, they saw Barbie in the driver's seat.

Before they could inspect more, they saw Ken -naked- rush out of a door and come to the car.

"Babe! Please open the door." Ken cried out in an absolute panic. "Barb, it's not funny anymore." He bangs on the door window and tries to go around the vehicle in a desperate means of getting inside it. "Honey! Just open the door!" He then bellows aloud. "Let me in the car! Barb!"

"...I think I know what this dream is about?"

"You do?" Asked Roxas.

"Ken being scared of Barbie finding out a secret or something. An affair, I guess."

"Right you are." The two turned to see Morpheus standing there.

Rose soon approaches the Dream King. "Why is this happening? I thought we were looking for Jed."

"We are."

"Then why am I in my friends' dreams?" She then turned to Roxas. "I'm even wondering how about you."

"I'm being trained and have permission." Roxas responds, having a confirming nod from Morpheus. "You… well…"

"Because you are drawing the dreams of others to you." Dream answers accordingly.

"Seriously, let me in!" Ken screams out loud, with the dream manifestation of Barbie starting the car and taking off. This had Ken run after, but briefly glancing at the trio before focusing more on the fleeing car.

"Just be careful not to lose yourself in them."

"Easy for you to say." Rose mutters, earning a brief chuckle from Roxas.

"Take a moment. Find your own path."

Taking a breath, Rose focused on her intention of being here. She was told Roxas and Morpheus will help her find Jed while asleep. Something that should seem impossible. However, she was in a realm that made it possible.

Opening her eyes, Rose saw nothing else out of the ordinary of the surroundings. All except seeing a familiar flier attached to a gated door.

Walking towards it, Rose saw the flier she designed. However, she saw the letters were all jumbled up and a complete mess. However, the photo was still the same.

"I think we found your beginning." Roxas says beside her. "Now let's find the end of the breadcrumb trail."

Nodding, Rose opened the gated door and walked through with the Nobody and Endless following after her.

The next dream they entered was surprisingly fantastical.

Looking into the sky, a few crescent moons were briefly seen. Snowy mountains were in the distance with a grand forest in the foreground. But on a closer view of some distance before the trio, a pair of individuals could be spotted.

They saw Barbie. Her blonde hair was longer than before, reaching towards her waist. An appropriate gown, some sort of adventure party dress was worn in purple fabrics. And to complete the look, she wore a pair of sunglasses.

Beside her was a large canine-like creature. It was shaggy with pointed ears. And a bunch of fur hung off from the upper jaw, appearing like a large, droopy mustache. This was her "spirit animal" companion.

Presently, they were standing inside of a giant, fossilized ribcage of some old dead beast. Something that could've been larger than the dinosaurs. And at the middle of the space was a floating, sparkling object shaped like a diamond that glinted in the light.

"I can hardly believe it." Barbie says with awe in her voice. "Here we are at last. The Arch of the Propentine."

"Our journey has indeed been long, Ms. Barbara, and many are the worthy companions we have found and lost along the way." Her animal companion voices with a wise tone.

"So many lives lost, Martin Tenbones." Barbie's voice was strained with tiredness and struggle. Her gaze was fixated on the floating object before them. "And because of what? A confection of spun silver and rose quartz. Was it just for this?"

Martin Tenbones speaks right after. "The Porpentine is more than that, lady, as you know in your soul of souls." Reaching out, Barbie grasped the Porpentine. It flashes in her hand for several moments before calming down. "Remember, if the Porpentine is destroyed by the Cuckoo, then the Heirogram will be lost to the world forever."

"I will not fear the Disciples of the Cuckoo, Martin Tenbones, as long as you walk by my side." She says with utmost conviction.

Martin smiles, which was partially hidden by his fur. "And I will never leave you on your quest, my lady. Not while I live, not ever…"

With it now in their possession, the two take off to resume whatever adventure awaits them.

From what Rose and Roxas could see, Barbie was dreaming of a poetic story of magic and wonder in which she was its central character. It was rather unexpected but quite unique.

Glancing over to Morpheus, Roxas took note of the look of familiarity and recognition on his face. Not just of him relatively knowing of the dreamer -Barbie- but of what was in her possession. Of the Porpentine.

Thinking on it now, Roxas somewhat reached out his senses and felt something quite familiar coming from the rose quartz item, having him widen his eyes in response.

Something he'll talk to Morpheus about at a later time.

Now, they had another matter to resolve.

"What is a dream vortex, exactly?" Asks Rose. "What is it for? What does it do?"

"I confess, there are some questions to which even I do not have an answer." Morpheus replies honestly. "But I can tell you that a Vortex has the power to dream entire worlds or destroy them."

There was a sudden weight placed on Rose. A lot to handle for her on this sudden revelation. She didn't see the look of worry Roxas was giving her, sympathizing with such a burden.

The group moved onwards. Rose being their essential guide on their quest to find Jed.

Before they knew it, fog encompassed them as they left Barbie's dream and entered someone else's.

With the fog lifting, the trio found themselves in a graveyard. And skipping past them was a little girl in a white dress and a black veil over her head.

"Is that…" Roxas began.

"Zelda?" Rose finishes.

"When she was your brother's age." Morpheus includes.

Looking at the child version of Zelda, Roxas and Rose saw she was happy in this place. She hummed and sang merrily without any worry in the world.

"Mommy and daddy told me to go away. So, here I am in the old bone orchards." Zelda says to no one in particular, probably to the dead. "Nobody understands me. Nobody cares. Nobody understands but Chantal." She runs on ahead, touching many tombstones, leaping off of little grave markers with such energeticness. "Chantal comes along, shows me she's my soul sister. Me and her are gothic heroines, secret brides to the faceless slaves of the nameless night of the castle of dread desire."

And it appeared Zelda was rather chatty and not shy at all.

"Is she lost?" Asks Rose.

"She's at home here. That is what most people seek when they dream."

"Home?"

"Do you know where that is for Jed?"

"There could be a number of places for all I know." Roxas adds in. "Isn't that right?"

Rose pondered for a moment, thinking of their childhood home before the separation or his time at the lighthouse with their paternal grandfather.

"Maybe."

Walking around to find a possible entryway to the next dream of their journey, Rose voiced a passing thought to Roxas. "Are we gonna enter Gilbert's dream next?"

"I wouldn't know." Roxas pondered aloud. "All I can figure, he could be awake by now with his books."

"He does love his books."

Thinking about it now, Roxas wonders about Gilbert. He was an unusual fellow, in his perspective. He had this lust for life, like he didn't wish for it to end. Not to mention, there was something about Gilbert that was familiar, in some manner.

Coming across a mausoleum on the far side of the graveyard, Rose spotted something that was quite out of place. Quick in her step, she got close to the one door and found the same flier as before. However, it was more legible this time, but with the inclusion of "please help me" written on the surface.

Curious, Rose opened the doorway and stepped through with Roxas and Morpheus some steps behind her.

The dark and dreary environment became bright as they were now in some suburban neighborhood.

Looking about in curiosity, Rose recognized it. She had just been here earlier today. In a few moments, she looked at a peculiar home.

"I know this place."

"You do?" Asks the Keybearer.

"My childhood home." Rose walked closer to the aforementioned residence. "But why… here…?" Realization hits her. "Jed. This is Jed's dream."

"You've done it." Morpheus congratulated her.

"I knew you could do it." Roxas says cheerfully, practically emanating Sora's mannerisms in that moment.

Rose gleefully smiled in turn. Happy she was one step closer to finding her brother.

Part of this celebration ended when Roxas soon voiced a small question. "But… where is Jed?"

"In here." Rose tries to open the door but surprisingly finds it not budging. "That's odd."

"What is?"

"It's… not letting me in."

A look marred on Morpheus' features, even one which Roxas had underneath his hood.

A pillar of gold and black ethereal lights emanated in Roxas' hand. As it died down, his Endless Dreams Keyblade was at the ready.

"Rose. Stand back."

The Vortex did so, more so out of surprise at what Roxas whipped out from out of nowhere.

Aiming his unique Keyblade at the door, a beam of light shot out and impacted the surface, having a metaphysical barrier shimmer before a keyhole emblem appeared on the surface with a loud clicking sound emanating from it.

"What did you do?"

"Got us better access from whatever was keeping us out."

Rose had many questions on her mind, but they were quickly shoved aside as she quickly grasped the door handle and opened the front door.

When stepping through, Rose suddenly lost balance and began plummeting into an apparent void. She screamed with utter fright as she flailed about.

"ROSE!" Cried out Roxas, jumping in and plummeting after her. Straightening himself out, he fell faster and before knowing it, he grasped Rose. "I got you!"

"Th-Thanks."

No longer falling, she was merely floating, courtesy of Roxas holding her up.

"Where are we?" The Vortex looks about, witnessing the dark swirls of an apparent void willed with dream stuff. "This place is…"

"Odd?"

"Yeah."

"They are here."

Turning over, they saw Morpheus floating beside them with the edges of his peacoat fluttering in the wind before it stretched out into a cloak. His head was covered by his helm, finishing off his present, menacing appearance.

"Who?"

"Brute and Glob." The Endless all but growled. "Brute strength and base cunning. This has their stink about it."

Being in this sealed-off place, Morpheus can now sense them.

How dare they? How dare they?

"How?"

"They severed Jed Walker from the true Dreaming. They are living in his mind." Morpheus says with growing disdain. "They know the law. My law. And they have wantonly defied it. Did they think they could hide from me?"

Dream of the Endless didn't know what game they are playing now, but he knows this…

He is angry and it is his move.

-Meanwhile; The Dreamdome, In the Land of Marvelous Dreams-

*BWAAAA* *BWAAAA* *BWAAAA* *BWAAAA*

*WREEEE* *WREEEE* *WREEEE* *WREEEE*

*WHOOP* *WHOOP* *WHOOP* *WHOOP*

The wall monitors detected a sinister new threat. One greater than what was ever encountered.

"It's a ten-alarm nightmare and it's heading this way!" Hector noted with a slight grim look, but it was betrayed by the ticking smile on his lips. "Better batten down the hatches, team- this is going to be a doozy!"

Upstairs in her private quarters and brushing her hair, Lyta is pulled from her reverie by the alarm which echoes and clangs through the Dream Dome. Presently she was wearing a lace nightgown, mostly covering up her figure.

She used to be Fury of the Justice Society of America, or JSA for short. A second-generation superheroine who went into the family business because it was expected of her.

But when she got pregnant, she decided to retire. Moreso when Hector died.

Yes, died. Not by some villainous plot or saving some civilians, but by a motor accident.

One might be wondering how he was relatively alive here and now. Well, he apparently escaped in dreams. And when she found out, she properly married him and came here into the Dream Dome in the Land of Marvelous Dreams.

She never sees any of her old friends, not even family. None of them, except for Hector. Lyta dresses pretty and has everything she wants, she supposes from what she's been told. But she never gets to do anything she really wants, only tidying up the Dream Dome and going out for walks; all the while feeling too numb to think clearly.

She tries to remember what she was thinking about, and, failing, resolves to go and talk to her husband.

'He'll know.' Thought Lyta, putting on a bathrobe to cover her modesty before walking towards the control center. 'Hector knows everything.'

Around her, the alarm system whoops and shrills. Another emergency.

Hector seems to work so much these days. And they no longer make love. She can't blame him, of course. She wouldn't welcome his advances if he made them. Not in her delicate condition. Best they could do was lovingly cuddle, and that felt good enough for them.

Still, when the child is born, things will be different, won't they?

Mummy and daddy and the baby makes three.

'Oh.' She thought in passing. 'I must ask Hector about that.'

Along the way, she momentarily bumped into Jed.

"Oh, sorry Lyta."

She gave him a small smile. "It's okay, Jed. Just try to watch where you're going."

"I will."

"What's got you so much in a hurry?"

"Wanted to get to the command center and see what's up."

Lyta hums a little. "How about you tag along with me? I won't mind the company."

Jed complies, walking beside her toward their destination.

At the command center, the Sandman tried configuring the controls to get a better reading. "Who is it this time? Johnny Sorrow? Psycho Pomp? The Phantom of the Fair? Pied Piper? Or is Doctor Death back for more?" He shakes his head at this. "No. Neither of them would've set the alarms this badly."

Before long, the image became clear when Hector saw a trio of unfamiliar figures flying through the void. An innocent young woman stood out the most while the other two individuals were dressed black as the night. But his focus was more on the one with visible features.

Looking at the monitors, Hector bore a quizzical look. "He's not a member of my rogues gallery." He turns around to see his unlikely cohorts. "Brute, Glob, either of you seen anything like this before?"

He saw the unusual uneasy look on their faces, despite them trying to put up a brave front.

"Uhh, sure, yeah." Brute gulps. "We know what dat is. Mr. Sandford, da first Sandman, he had a battle wit' dis guy wunst. He's… He's…"

"He's the most powerful foe… there is: The King of Nightmares." Rattled Glob, clearing his throat soon after. "One of your hereditary foes."

Nodding, Hector's expression became a tad more serious this time. He had to face hereditary foes alongside his former companions in the past, prior to coming to the Dream Dome.

"Then I'll have to show it what the new Sandman is made of." He makes a turn and sees Lyta and Jed standing there, hearing everything. "Isn't that right, you two?"

Jed gives an enthusiastic nod.

Lyta, however…

"Hector?"

"Yeah?"

She opened her mouth to say something in particular. Yet it began slipping away. "I'm sorry, Hector, I was thinking… thinking about something. I'm sorry…"

"It's okay, sweetie." Hector turns over to Brute and Glob. "Listen, you two- that thing will be here soon, so get me any files on it we have."

"Okay, boss." Says Glob.

"Got it." Brute adds in.

When glancing over to Jed, Hector soon recalls something, making a face in turn. "Sorry, Jed, depending on how things go we might miss attending the Circus in the Stars tonight." Hector says apologetically. "If it takes more than a couple of hours to thrash this foe, we'll have to put that off until tomorrow night."

Jed was briefly saddened but smiled all the while being understanding. "That's fine."

Getting this bit of acceptance, Hector turned to his wife. "Come on, Mrs. Sandman, I'll walk you back to our quarters."

"Um, Hector…"

"Yes, honey?"

"You won't be in any danger, will you?"

This got a chuckle out of her husband. "Honey, you're talking to the man who rescued the Tooth Fairy from the Jovian Fishmen. Who stopped the Big Bad Wolf from huffing down the Chrysler Building."

"Yeah." Jed whoops slightly. "Nobody ever beats the Sandman."

"Right you are, Jed." Says Hector. "Now run along."

The young boy takes off for his own bit of fun as Hector escorts his wife back to their quarters.

"Darling… How long have we been living in the Dream Dome?"

"Must be a couple of years now, Hon. Why?"

"Well, it just seemed to me like, maybe I ought to have had the baby by now." Lyta brings up. "I was about six months pregnant when we got here."

This has Hector to ponder as he looks towards his wife's baby bump. "You know, you could just have something there." He hums, thinking of everything he could figure out on the reason. However, he came up with nothing reasonable. "I'll have to talk to Brute and Glob about it after I've beaten this King of Nightmares. They'll know more than me."

"Thank you." She says, all before her husband brought her back to their room. "Be careful."

"Everything is going to be just fine." Hector gives her a kiss. Short and sweet, but a lot of passion behind it. "You'll see."

Lyta lives in a fancy house. With her husband, their two servants and a thousand screens. She has all the dresses she can wear and a husband who has a very important job.

Hector is the Sandman. With his two frenemy assistants, Brute and Glob, he gives all the children of the World wonderful dreams. All the children.

The only child Lyta has actually met in the Dream World is called Jed. Jed comes to visit them all the time. Nobody else.

In her dream house, in her pretty dresses, Lyta doesn't think about anything much anymore.

But sometimes… Sometimes she almost wonders why…

'Living in a dream house, with a dream husband and…' Lyta loses her train of thought, and commences absently to brush her hair.

Is this what she wants? Is this what she wanted?

She always wanted to be with Hector. Even when they were children when she was a strong rich kid and he was a hero brat… well they both were, but he was more into the hero legacy than her.

But she must have wanted more than that. Mustn't she?

But Hector's dreams came first. They always did. Lyta and Hector did so much together.

They majored in architecture back in UCLA. Finally dated then. At one point, Hector convinced her to join him in being part of the JSA to be legacy heroes after their parents retired, died or vanished.

Why did she do that? Become a cheap copy of her vanished mother?

It all seems like a dream now. So hard to hold onto. Nothing's tangible anymore.

There were the nightmare times when she thought Hector was dead. Well, to be fair, he was dead and she was pregnant with his child.

But Brute and Glob caught his soul in the Dream Dome, made him the Sandman, the Protector of Dreams…

And, after the wedding, she came to live in this house. And she was very happy. They were all so very, very happy.

Back in the control center, Hector was rather impatient. He was ready for some action. "What's keeping this fiend and his cohorts so long in getting here?" He looks towards the taller assistant. "Any ideas, Brute?"

"Duh, I dunno, boss."

"This certainly is a puzzle." The Sandman works through everything Brute and Glob could scrounge up.

As this went on…

"It is him, isn't it." Brute says nervously. "Lord Mor-"

"Shut up, Scab-brain!" Glob hisses in a whisper. "His name alone could give him immediate entry here."

"Sorry... But it is him, isn't it?"

"Who else?" The smaller dream entity of the two glared at the monitor. "So far the barriers are holding. If he breaks them, he kills the kid. And he can't do that."

"Huh, why?"

"Rules."

"Ah, forgot about that."

"So it buys us a little time while he worms his way in."

Brute scratches his head before gazing at the preoccupied Hector. "I'm beginning to think we should have stuck with the last Sandman. Hall's even dumber than Sanford was. It takes some doing, but he is."

"No arguments there. But I'm rather curious about whose tagging along with him."

"Say, guys," Hector speaks up, gaining the two dream entities' attention. "Do you think this King of Nightmares is going to be a tougher battle than the Skeleton Men from Pluto? And what do you think of his cohorts?"

Back over with Rose, Roxas and Morpheus…

The trio were flying through the dream space, going through a litany of obstacles along the way such as Nightmare Dream Spirits to some odd eldritch entities that acted like sentries. Roxas helped destroy and divert a number of them in order to give space for the Vortex and Endless to flow through easily. At one point, Roxas couldn't help but ask Morpheus why he couldn't outright destroy them all in a single stroke. All he got, in turn, was that it would've greatly harmed Jed, given where exactly they were and how this space was built around their intended destination. This had Rose worried, but thankful such an action wasn't used at all.

After some time traveling, some relative peace occurs for the Vortex.

"This is really trippy." Rose finally says after all this time.

"How so?"

"I don't know if this really counts, but I've never had a flying dream before." Rose says with barely contained glee. "Do you know what Freud says about dreams of flying? It means you're really dreaming about having sex."

"Indeed?" Morpheus says in mild humor. "Tell me, then, what does it mean when you dream about having sex?"

This had Rose quite stumped to form an answer.

Roxas, however, balked when hearing this.

"Seriously? Someone spoke about comparing flying with that?" He asked aloud. "Why?"

All Rose could do was shrug, all before voicing some thoughts. "What's our next move? How do we find him?"

Roxas shrugs a little. "Keep flying until we find something."

"Or having whatever is keeping your brother come to us." Notes the Dream King. "Or at the very least acting on it."

"You mean with all those guys coming right at us earlier?"

"Watchdogs, for some amicable comparison, Rose Walker. We will face more soon."

As they traveled, Morpheus admired the craftsmanship in the construction of this maze, admiring the traps and pitfalls Brute and Glob had wrought.

'You have learned well, my servants.' The King of Nightmares thought with a hidden frown. 'To force the child to construct these barriers inside his mind, in his effort to escape the physical world; to build an island of dream alone and untouched by the true Dreaming. This takes skills. My admiration does not lessen my anger.'

He was Dream and he was coming.

In the Dream Dome, Hector was ready to head out to confront the upcoming adversaries.

"Activate the Chute, boys."

Working through the controls, Brute and Glob saw Hector positioned above the Dream Chute, which would eject him from the Dream Dome and to the outside.

"Good luck, boss."

"Here I go."

And with a whoosh, Hector fell through and was soon shot out.

"Well, there he goes. Bye-bye bozo." Brute says lamely. "Now what?"

"Festering scabs! Pus and pox and puke on it all!" Glob curses. "We came so damned close! Just a few more years. It would have worked."

"No. No. It would never have worked."

"But it was fun to try."

"So… Do we sit and watch our old boss pull the bozo's head off? Or shall we find someplace to lose ourselves, and start the whole thing over again?"

Outside of the Dream Dome, the Sandman flew across the dreamy void to confront his "hereditary foe" and his cohorts. In the distance, he could see their forms approaching more and more by the second.

"It's defeating-the-forces-of-darkness time." He mutters to himself, all before coming to a halting stop to block their path. "Halt, King of Nightmares, or I'll send you and your lackeys to Dreamland!"

Hearing the command from Hector, the trio felt this was rather redundant given their intentions.

"Who are you supposed to be?"

"I am the Guardian of Sleepers. I am the Lord of the Dream Domain. I am the Sandman."

A curious blink came from Rose with a similar response came from Roxas underneath his hood. As for Morpheus, well, his reaction could be impossible to discern at this time.

"You're who?" Says Rose.

"You're the Sandman?" Roxas adds in.

Hector smiles proudly, posing in a heroic fashion. "I am-"

Before Hector could speak further, he heard something akin to a coughing chuckle bubbling out of the King of Nightmares. In mere moments, the bellowing laugh Morpheus emanated from his very being… was eerily haunting; especially with his helm presently worn. Something that felt unnatural to many of those who knew him personally or anything remotely close. After several moments that felt like several minutes, Dream finally calmed down.

"Oh humanity, I love you."

Hector glares at his "hereditary foe". "Is there something funny?"

"I can see what they're playing now. A pawn of their own game." Morpheus glances slightly at the Keybearer, who notices it. "Then let my knight take the pawn off the board."

As Hector sought to question this, Roxas' form glowed and rushed forward and clashed against the man via Flowmotion. The Sandman blocked the blow but was sent back some distance from the clash against the hooded teen's Keyblade.

"You two go, I'll hold him off." Roxas calls out to Rose and Morpheus.

Morpheus nods while Rose gives a reluctant one. Taking the Vortex by the hand, the Endless wooshed them across the void like a streaking star. Hector tried to stop them, but was thwarted by the Keybearer.

"So that's how you wanna play, lad? Fine." The Sandman raised his hands and launched his attack. "Let's play!"

Summoning Oathkeeper into his other hand, Roxas defended himself from his opponent's coming onslaught.

Now inside of the Dream Dome, Morpheus and Rose began traversing through the corridors. The alarms were blaring in the air with no possible end to them.

"Where do you think they all are?"

"I don't know where your brother is, Rose Walker, but I sense where Brute and Glob are." Morpheus begins to move elsewhere. "I'm sorry, but this is where we'll part ways for the time being."

Rose grumbled slightly in seeing the Endless take off, but her mind was more focused on finding her brother. With her desire being more predominant, she trudged forward as she began to run.

Within the control center, Brute and Glob were making their escape as they were discussing plans on where to go next.

"Hell?"

"No."

"Uh… Heaven?"

"Don't make me laugh." Glob spat out.

"Okay. Okay. Okay. I got it. We get out of the Dreaming, while he's busy with the bozo, cut open Barnaby and Clarice-"

"Who?"

"The kid's foster parents." Brute fills in. "We can scoop out their insides and hide inside their skins. Dream would never think of looking for us there."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"He would."

"Yeah. He would."

Before Brute and Glob can make it out of the control center, an unwelcome visitor enters the vicinity. Like a cold breeze, it swept past them and appeared before them, halting the two rogue dream entities in their place. It was Morpheus and he was not pleased to see them in the slightest.

"Brute. Glob. Hello." Morpheus greets them all so coldly.

"Ohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshit!" Brute says out of utter fear.

As for Glob, he was quaking to the point he might let loose his bowels onto the control room floor.

Rushing through the corridors, Rose was frantically looking for her brother.

If she were a little slower, she would've run into Lyta who came out of a corridor some moments later.

"Hello?" Lyta looks around frantically, seeing the alarms going off further. "Brute? Glob? Jed? Hector? What's happening? Is something happening?"

Feet quickly echoed in the metal corridors as the Vortex was looking for her little brother. After what felt like an eternity of searching for any living thing within the facility, Rose ends up nearly colliding with someone.

It was a young boy with features that seemed all so familiar to her. Someone who reminded her of… her brother.

"Jed?"

An uncertain look crossed the young boy's face. The person before him was a stranger to him. He moves back and away from her.

"S-Stay back."

"Jed, I'm not here to hurt you." She says to him as he was about to break for it. "Jed, it's me, your sister!"

The boy halts in his spot, looking back at the older woman. His mind flashes back to years ago of someone all so dear to him in his vision. It was brief, but it was enough of him seeing the overlap between the Rose of back then and now, who hardly changed at all aside from the strands of bright-colored hair on the one side of her head.

"Rose?" Jed asks, his voice suddenly cracking in disbelief. "Is it… really you?"

The Vortex hiccups with tears slowly streaming down her cheeks, rushing forward and taking her brother into her arms.

"You're so big." She says happily. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

"And you're all grown up." He says in turn, tears soon spilling down his face as well.

After what felt like forever, there were a number of quakes happening throughout the Dream Dome. It ended up knocking Rose out of her little fantasy with reality settling in.

Ending the hug, the Vortex broke away and grabbed Jed's arm. "I hate to be the one ruining this happy reunion, but we gotta leave!"

Hearing this, the boy didn't take it all that well. "What? No! I can't leave. Not now!"

Jed didn't want to leave behind the two people who actually took care of him while living through the hell he experienced for the past two years. Aunt Clarice was good, but it only went so far with Uncle Barnaby's influence.

"Jed, this is all a dream. But I am real." Rose all but pleads with him to see reason. "And I need you to tell me where you are. So I can find you in the real world."

Being in dreams for so long, Jed had a hard time trying to accept that he preferred being here to being awake.

Seeing as Jed wasn't answering, she clarified a bit more. "When you wake up, where will you be?" She then pulls out the flier she made with "please help me" written on it. "Look. Did you write this?"

Jed nods before he begins to shake. "Uncle Barnaby said he's gonna break every bone in my body."

Hearing this didn't settle her all that well. "Who's Barnaby?"

"Aunt Clarice won't be able to stop him this time."

"Where are they Jed? Where are Uncle Barnaby and Aunt Clarice?"

"They're home. They're in Homeland."

"Where is that? Where is Homeland, Jed?"

Before any clear response can be given, they hear Morpheus' echoing words in the air.

"It is time for this dream to end."

And like that, the Dream Dome began to swiftly crumble and disintegrate.

"Wait, no! Not yet!" Rose cried out. She looks back to her brother. "Jed, tell me where you are. Please!"

Before Jed could give out any attempt at a response, he woke up.

"Rose?" Jed mutters aloud, stirring from his bed. Eyes fluttered open and looked about to and fro. He was no longer in the Dream Dome but back inside of his basement room. His breathing became erratic and suddenly cried out. "ROSE!"

Upon calming himself down, he noticed something… strange in the basement. A particular light shone down onto the floor. Tracing to the source, Jed saw the basement door was open ajar.

"Hello? Is someone there?" A man's voice called out from upstairs.

The boy stiffens upon hearing the unfamiliar voice.

"Hello?" The door creaks open, revealing a figure in the doorway. Jed practically felt the person's gaze upon him. "Oh, I was wondering if there was anyone here."

"Who… Who are you?"

The person walked down the steps, revealing more of their features to the twelve-year-old. There he saw his blonde hair and decent nice attire of some jacket over a black shirt and Levi jeans while he oddly wore a pair of sunglasses.

A look of recognition crossed the man's visage. "You must be Jed." He says with a smile. "Your sister sent me."

"R-Rose?"

For some confirmation, the man pulled out a flier from his jacket pocket and unfurled it for the boy to see. It was the same one he saw in his dream, minus the written words "please help me".

"Wanted to do my part and help."

Hesitantly, Jed came up and followed him out of the basement. It was there did the little boy saw the place was ransacked. Everything was tossed over and much was wrecked.

"What happened here?"

"Heard some ruckus and went to check it out. Saw no one else here, except for you."

Jed nods and accepts the bit of information.

Though if he were to bother looking through the residence better than just the simple glance, Jed would've seen the blood and violence done upon his foster parents in the bedroom.

Before long, the Corinthian smiled as he escorted Jed out of the residence and into his car before taking off to parts unknown.

-Hal's B&B-

Swiftly coming awake, Rose all but tossed herself out of bed. Her breathing was erratic with what she just experienced. Of rushing through the Dream Dome and finding her brother, all before Morpheus suddenly ended everything.

However, while she was reunited with Jed in the Dreaming, she needed to reunite with him in the Waking World.

Rushing over to her laptop, she went onto a tracking engine and typed down "Barnaby", "Clarice" and "Homeland" in the search bar. After some moments, she saw the address of the Farrell household and smiled, more so with how close they were.

'I've found you.' She thought with glee. 'I finally found you.'

Plugging the address on her phone, she had the navigation app pop up and ready to direct her to her destination.

Rose wanted to head out immediately but held off such a desire as she wanted to check up on someone first.

Upon getting dressed, she rushed out of her room and knocked on Roxas' door.

"Roxas. Wake up." She knocks again. "Roxas. It's me, Rose. I found Jed."

She grabbed the doorknob and found it was loose, indicating it was unlocked. Opening the door, she saw no one was in there.

Looking into the space more, she saw the bed was untouched. The duffle bag Roxas had brought with him was still there, indicating he hadn't left.

'Maybe he's in the kitchen cooking breakfast.' She rationalized.

She'll see later. Food can wait. After all, she was hungry for a reunion.

Though if she were to actually stop by and check the kitchen on her way out to her car, she wouldn't find the Nobody there. In fact, he was not in the B&B at all.

If Rose were to realize that, she would've questioned herself this: where could Roxas have gone?

-The Dreaming-

Inside of Dream's Throne Room, a long-awaited confrontation took place.

By his throne, Morpheus stood before Brute and Glob, where Lyta Hall and Hector Hall were sprawled some feet away.

Nearby, Roxas was groggily getting back onto his feet.

"That… was unpleasant."

The blonde Nobody was battling against the Sandman, thwarting him from interfering with what they needed to do in the Dream Dome. All he could do until then was hold him out long enough for Morpheus and Rose to find who they were looking for. And by the looks of it, things came to an end and they perhaps succeeded.

He looked onward, seeing Hector carefully bring Lyta back onto her feet.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Hector." Lyta rubs her belly. "And so is the baby."

Her husband exhales a sigh of relief. "That's good."

"Who's he?" Lyta gestures towards Morpheus before gazing over to the hooded teen. "And him?" She then looks about in the throne room. "And what is this place?"

"The King of Nightmares and his lackey." The Sandman protectively moves in front of his wife. He notices Brute and Glob are more focused on Morpheus. "What's so important about them? I should be dealing with him."

"It's because they are in serious trouble," Roxas says, garnering a reaction from Hector and Lyta. "For breaking laws."

"Whose laws?"

"Mine." Morpheus responds from his spot as he still looks towards his two rogue servants. "I presume that this peculiar charade had some kind of purpose?" Morpheus looks at them coldly. "Well? I am waiting for an explanation."

Swallowing a lump in his throat, Glob speaks. "We-Well, you were way out of the picture, dream lord. So we thought, Hell, you'd obviously be away for a while, perhaps for a real long while, so we could maybe make our own Dream King. One we'd be running…"

Brute picks up from there. "So we hid in some kids' dreams for a while, walled it off from the rest of the Dreaming. Then we began to make a new Sandman."

"New?"

Glob was quick to answer. "First mortal we used, Garret Sanford, he cracked up, killed himself. Couldn't take the strain. And the kid back then we used died shortly after." He then jabs his thumb over to Hector. "We then thought, okay, next time we get someone who's dead to start with. So we hooked the bozo," he gestures to Hector, "told him he was the new Sandman, and he wanted his wife along to have his compliance."

"And Jed? What about him?" Roxas asks, which Morpheus had similar thoughts.

"He's special. Brother of a Vortex. Made him sturdier than most and more impressionable in the head."

"Everything was all well and good…"

"Until you played your get-out-of-jail-free card, kind of earlier than we expected. And…"

"Well… Here we all are." Glob chuckles nervously.

"Might I say something?" Asks Hector.

Lyta pulls him back. "Not now."

A nervous look crosses Brute and Glob's faces with the latter voicing "What happens now?"

"I will clean up the mess you have all created." Was Morpheus' response. "As for you two, I doubt either of you will enjoy the next few thousand years very much."

As this was said, Morpheus' shadow began to grow and lengthen. It reaches underneath the two rogue dream entities.

It didn't take long for Brute to notice as he began to get swallowed up while seemingly being disintegrated.

"No, not there!"

"Not the darkness! Anything but there!"

This was all the others heard before Brute and Glob were swallowed up by Morpehus' shadow.

"Where'd they go?"

"A prison I rarely use." Was all the response Roxas acquired, vague as it was. "That takes care of them," the Endless then focuses his attention towards Hector and Lyta. "As for you two… little ghost, do you have a name?"

"Who?" Says Hector, trying to play dumb when Morpheus said "ghost".

"You."

"Uh, sure. I'm Hector Hall and this is my wife, Lyta; short for Hippolyta." The Sandman responds with. "I don't know what this is about, but-"

"It is unseemly for the dead to walk about after so long avoiding your intended fate, Hector Hall."

Hector swallows a lump in his throat. "I mean… I can understand if I held that off for a couple of years-"

"Years?" Morpheus regards Hector and Lyta. "You have certainly been in dreams for years. In fact, from what I feel from you two, you've been in Brute and Glob's hideaway for decades."

This bit of information greatly surprised Hector, Lyta and Roxas significantly.

"Decades?" Says Roxas. "How?"

"Time is… fluid in dreams. What may feel like a short span of time may be longer in the waking world and vice versa."

Roxas nods a little, only imagining the full scope of this particular factor. He then glanced back at Hector and Lyta. "So what now? What of them?"

"Mortals cannot live in dreams. As long as they stay there, they have no life, nor the chance for one." Morpheus takes more focus on Hector. "The same applies that a ghost cannot escape his fate by hiding in the Dreaming." His gaze shifts to Lyta. "Nor can a living mortal escape her grief in being here."

"But why?" Asks Lyta.

"There will be damage if you two stay and reside here longer than you should. Brute and Glob's machinations held it off for so long, but now I cannot allow you two to stay any further."

"Is there anything we can do?" Asks Hector.

"You belong with the dead, little ghost. Go to the place appointed to you. I'm sorry, but you must say your goodbyes now."

Lyta's voice cracks upon hearing this, fear quickly overwhelming her. "No. I'm not losing you again."

Feeling defeat was inevitable, Hector turns to his wife. "I'm sorry, Hon. I love you so much."

"You're not going anywhere." Lyta kisses him before glaring at Morpheus. "Just leave us alone."

"Enough."

With a wave of his hand, Hector's form begins to shrivel up and become extremely gauntish.

"Tell… Tell the baby I-"

Before Hector could say anything else, his body began disintegrating into dust.

Lyta is horrified and Roxas isn't much better.

"Morpheus! Stop!" The Keybearer pleads. "Please!"

"Hector!" Lyta screams, reaching out for her husband.

All her hand was met was air as her husband was now gone… again.

Silence filled the throne room… well… to a degree as Lyta's sobs could be heard. She hugs herself, more specifically towards her pregnant belly.

"You… You killed him." Lyta looks on in shock before anger quickly seeps in. "You monster! You killed him!"

"Your husband died a long time ago. He was a ghost and this is not where he belonged. I would suggest that you count yourself lucky for having had two extra years with him, post mortem, instead of abusing… me." It was hard to tell if Morpheus was apologetic or not.

Rage overcame Lyta, causing her to lung at Morpheus. A means of hopefully strangling him.

However, she flew right through him and almost crashed into the steps leading up to the throne.

Roxas quickly came to her side, which she batted away his advances. "Don't touch me!"

"But I merely wanted to-"

"Shut up!"

"I will forgive you for that." Morpheus says from his placement. "Your grief has affected your judgment. But I should point out that there is an unborn child within you who might have been damaged. I would not want to see it hurt."

Lyta sobs a bit more, hugging her belly as she momentarily forgets her delicate state. "I'm dreaming. I must be dreaming."

"Technically you are. But you're here as an Awakened. What you're experiencing now is in fact real as if you're in the Waking World." Roxas points out, much to her dismay.

"He is correct."

"...The other life. The Dream Dome. My husband. That was a dream?"

"In a fashion, yes."

"What are you going to do to me?" She asks the Prince of Stories.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" She balks. "You killed Hector. You destroyed our home. I'm pregnant. You ruined my life. You call that nothing?"

"Exactly. Nothing… except sending you back where you belong in the Waking World." Morpheus tells her. "Build yourself a new life, Hippolyta Hall." His gaze shifts from Lyta's face and more towards her belly. "The baby is yours… for now."

Lyta and Roxas' heads snap towards Morpheus.

"W-What do you mean?"

"The child you have carried for so long in dreams. That child is mine. Take good care of it. One day, I will come for it."

"But, but, you can't, my baby-"

"I will discuss this no further." Morpheus raises his hand. "I will see you again, Hippolyta. Until then, farewell."

With a single motion, she was gone.

Next thing Lyta knows, she feels the muck beneath her, and she knows she was no longer in the Dreaming. After all, it's hard to not smell the urine and the dumpster filled with unspeakable filth.

She tried to think she was dreaming again and needed to wake back up in the Dream Dome. However, reality sets in as it was merely the other way around.

All she could do now was wallow in her fit of despair with anger settling in. "You take my child over my dead body, you spooky bastard… over my dead body."

But what now? What can she do? She was… back in the real world and not in her fantasy.

"Hey, ma'am, are you alright?"

Looking over, Lyta saw some pedestrians come over. "No, I'm not."

"Do you need to get in contact with someone?" They looked at her present state. "I doubt you have a phone on you."

Taking a moment to consider the offer, Lyta nodded. "...Yes. I do."

The person helped her up to her feet but kept up against the wall to stabilize herself. From there, they reached into their pocket to pull out-

"What is that?"

"This is my phone." The person looked at her oddly in response to Lyta staring at the digital device. "Have you been living under a rock?"

"Something like that."

Looking at the borrowed device again, Lyta shakes her head to focus on the matter at hand. Racking her mind, Lyta punches in the phone number before bringing it up to her ear. After some moments of waiting, someone picked up.

"Hello, Themyscira Embassy. Who is calling?"

"Hello. This is Hippolyta Hall, though I went by Hippolyta Trevor. Can… Can you get in touch with my mother?"

"And who is your mother?"

"Diana Prince."

Back inside of Dream's throne room…

"What the hell was that?"

"Whatever do you mean?"

"You know what I meant."

"They needed to return where they belonged."

"But you could've done it more delicately or something better than what happened. I mean, seriously, this is the Nada situation all over again."

"It is clearly not."

"Oh really? You sent Hector to the afterlife- rather suddenly, I might add, and stated their child was yours at some point."

"Their child was gestated in dreams for decades. It is essentially a resident of the Dreaming."

"You could've said that to her. Told her the issues of what may happen to it if it resided in the Waking World. Instead, you completely left all that out and implied you were going to take it away from her forever." Roxas releases a stressed-out sigh while rubbing his head. "Look, we'll talk about this later. I need to go see Rose if she found her brother."

Before Morpheus could get the chance to speak to the Keybearer, the hooded teen left via Dream Corridor.

Reappearing in his rented room, Roxas was feeling all sorts of emotions. So fresh and they not settling in on what he just witnessed. Everything was fine and good on the mission so far, but things took a drastic turn.

In mere moments, Roxas' Dreamphone received a number of notifications. Checking on them, he saw they were from Rose.

"At least something is good right now." He mutters, reading the few text messages of Rose having found where her brother's foster parents live at and heading there now.

With this factor in mind, Roxas was about to head downstairs to make himself some breakfast when he got another text message from Rose. Opening it up, the smile he wore soon flipped around. He thought it was going to be of Rose being happy she is with Jed again, however, it had some dire news.

"They're dead?"

A sinking suspicion soon welled up inside of the Keybearer, having him form a Dark Corridor around him and disappear from Hal's B&B. In several moments, he appeared in an alleyway near the foster agency he went to yesterday. Walking with quickened steps, he saw an ambulance parked outside of the building.

As he got closer, Roxas saw a pair of personnel carrying out a dead body on a gurney. During part of the tumble from the steps, the sheets momentarily were pulled down to reveal the gouged-out sockets of Ms. Rubio's head. Not messy at all, but particularly clean with blood oddly contained around the eye area.

Seeing this, Roxas whips out his phone and makes a call.

"Morpheus, I think I found a lead on the Corinthian. Victims are Jed Walker's foster agent and his foster parents."

-End Chapter-

AN:

Another update so soon?

Honestly this chapter and the previous one were relatively worked on at the same time during the past few months when working on them back to back with my "Nightmare Before Christmas" chapter alongside other stuff.

Hopefully with what's been done with them will do well of this double update of sorts as a final end of the year gift to you readers. Hopefully 2024 will be better than 2023. We will just have to wait and see.

Anyways, be sure to review this story guys! Would like the criticisms. Please and thank you!

R&R