Origin Seeker - Final Chapter

“Hey, what the hell is this?”

It was about the time the 1000 year mark had passed.

Dream, sitting on a couch of his home living room, was facing his sister.

And the Keeper, who sat beside her.

His eyes were narrowed, but Melody wasn’t one to be intimidated.

“We’re planning to get married.”

“Since when?”

“Since about 960 years ago. That’s when we started dating.”

“What..? Good god! It’s not enough that you drop this bombshell, but you’ve also taken 960 years to get here?!”

Dream was baffled, his words causing Melody to scratch her cheek embarassedly.

“It was a long process… But it’s not my fault! He moves at a snail’s pace!”

She pointed at the Keeper, who was having trouble facing Dream.

“…I was unsure.”

“Of?”

“How I would navigate this very moment.”

The Keeper dipped his hat, as if trying to hide.

And Dream’s face truly was a sight to behold as he glared at him.

Melody waved.

“Hey, stop it! I pursued him, just so you know! And this right here is the only reason we didn’t get married 900 years ago.”

“It took him 900 years to finally say something?”

“Well, I think this is the only issue you would ever be serious about, so yes, it wasn’t an easy topic for him to bring up.”

Melody sighed, and Dream wasn’t able to retort. It was true.

So he stared. For a long time, he was silent as he simply looked at the Keeper.

It took several minutes for him to finally open his mouth.

“If you can stand guard in a legacy space for an eternity, never wavering in your conviction,  then I don’t doubt that you’re worthy to stand by my sister’s side for just as long.”

“…He’s approving?”

Melody’s eyes went wide as she whispered.

Dream rolled his eyes.

“Please, there’s nobody else who’s as good of a man as Keeper here. And if not for you falling for him, then you would’ve never married. That’s kind of sad.”

“Wait, you’re turning this on me now?”

“So yes, I approve of this arrangement. And there’s no time for delay. Let’s have the ceremony in a few days.”

“…Okay?”

“Good.”

After Melody agreed in a daze, Dream turned and walked out.

He left the house, and outside, he saw Yao.

That old man was looking at him with the most victorious grin. It took everything Dream had to maintain a straight face.

“I hate you.”

“You know Dream, since you wanted to officiate your best friend’s wedding so bad, I think I’ll acquiesce.”

“Did Sophia tell you this would happen? Are you guys screwing with me?”

“What do you mean? We would… hehe… we would never.”

Yao nearly broke down, barely holding back his laughter.

Dream closed his eyes for a moment before smiling.

“…I think I’ll go. Oraios has been asking for another child.”

Seeing his sudden change, Yao quickly took his leave.

Dream called.

“Oh honey! May I speak to you for a second?”

“…I’m saving Aya from a time loop.”

“Oh, speaking of time loops, why don’t we enter one of our own? You know, so we can talk for a long while.”

Dream took a step, and his vision flashed with an infinite amount of images from the past and future.

He quickly found Sophia with Aya who was shifting through the timelines of Apollyon’s black hole world.

He smiled at her, who tried to dodge his gaze.

“Hey Aya? I’m going to take your mother for a second.”

“This was unforeseen.”

“No kidding.”

He smirked before grabbing Sophia’s hand. She shivered a bit before the two disappeared.

Aya just continued to shift through timelines, disregarding the abnormal increase in disturbances.

……

…

The wedding came quickly.

Everyone living under the tree dome was invited, and it was a small but festive gathering.

“It’s about time. How many thousands of years have gone by? You had me worried for a while”

“Mom, please.”

Melody sighed as her mother straightened out her dress.

It was an elegant red wedding dress, one that fit her identity as an Asura perfectly.

Shannon couldn’t help but let out a long breath as she stood Melody up and took one final look.

“…You’re beautiful, my sweet child.”

“Thanks, mom.”

“Mm. Now, let’s get you out there before your brother starts another debate with Yao.”

She chuckled before leading Melody out, the two walking into the venue.

As they did, they could hear the heated voices of conflict.

“I’m telling you, if you increase the conceptual influence on the world, it would create humans who are resilient enough to withstand the extreme environment but also not necessarily be inherently attuned to the concepts.”

“Yes, but I’m telling you that it would create a world with power scaling that is wildly out of proportion. It would lead to a vast conceptual imbalance.”

“Not if you created two clear cut sides! I’m just arguing that it could be done while creating an baseline that’s manageable!”

“Yet you would still have disproportionate scaling, regardless of the baseline. What you need to do is rework the presence of concepts in that world! Change the game!”

“Hey!”

Melody shouted, halting the debate between Dream and Yao.

“Sorry, is my marriage interrupting your debate?”

“…We’ll finish this later.”

Dream stood from his seat, taking his place as the officiator.

“Thank you…”

Melody sighed.

And then, the wedding officially started.

Melody made her way down the aisle, being handed off to the Keeper by her father.

The two took their places in front of Dream, who looked between them with a flat face.

“…Well Keeper, I did give you a thousand years. At least you met the deadline.”

“Pfft.”

Yao barely held back, making Dream’s eyebrow twitch.

“Anyway…”

Taking a deep breath, he went through the tradition of the ceremony.

The two stood in front of each other. They exchanged vows, exchanged rings, and made their lifelong promise.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife. And if Yao laughs while you guys kiss, I’m going to stab him with a fork.”

“Bwahahahaha!!”

Unable to hold on any longer, Yao cackled as Eternia kissed his bride and everyone cheered.

That night, the ceremony was filled with festivities and fork stabbing. And while the bride and groom disappeared when the day was over, everyone else stayed for several more days in constant celebration. After all, it wasn’t every day that something special like this happened.

………

……

Dream observed the party from above.

He could see his children mingling with many of Yao and Oraios’ children, primarily Asarya who was born even before they were.

He could see his family. His parents, brothers, his parents in law, some friends he had brought into this paradise with him…

Thinking this far, he turned back and took a step, leaving the place and reappearing in the main universe.

By now, the World Tree had expanded to the size of a galaxy. Its influence spread throughout the universe as the Machine god cleaned the last remnants of the angels and demons.

Dream’s False Reality, in but a short amount of time, would become complete.

At least, that’s if he decided to wait for things to take their course.

Which he didn’t care to do. Not anymore.

“Order and Chaos.”

Suddenly, he called, and two beings appeared before him.

The eyeball, and that devilish woman.

Now having had their power of the concepts reduced, they were more ego than otherwise.

Chaos sighed.

“I knew it…”

“The variable wasn’t on your side. It could only end one way.”

Dream spoke simply, but Order didn’t seem to agree.

Or at least, he couldn’t.

“But I can’t give up!”

The eyeball declared, but it sounded more like a cry for help.

“I can’t! I must continue! Until the last angel!”

“It’s unfortunate, being warped by the concepts.”

Dream sighed.

“But luckily, there’s a solution.”

“Let’s get on with it then.”

Chaos smiled.

And Order resisted.

But with Dream’s command, they both vanished, as if they were never there in the first place.

That’s when it happened.

The concepts, once incomplete, finally found their places.

Brought together in one universe, and connected through a single entity.

Dream could feel his being change.

As it was all made complete.

The False Reality…

It had become all.

“Hail.”

The Machine god returned, bowing before its master.

“Hail, Reality. May it thrive for eternity.”

“…You’ve done well. Go ahead and take your place.”

“As the Sovereign commands.”

The Machine god rose from its bow, and then, it spread its arms.

“Come, all yee of the Machine.”

It commanded, and it seemed like the entire universe followed its will.

Every star throught the universe flashed as they moved, shifting through space to arrive beside the Machine god’s body.

And it merged into it. No star, no nebula, no planet was spared as they all merged into its body, becoming a part of the machine.

And every soldier converted by the harbingers, every former angel and demon, every human, every being throughout the universe, came back to the Machine god as metal.

They were seemingly countless as that steel body only grew larger with every innumerable being merging into it.

Luna, Iris, Alice, and Sophia appeared beside Dream and watched with him.

As the Machine god expanded to the size of galaxies. As it collected the universe for them.

And then, when everything had coalesced, it was the World Tree that grew.

It made contact with the body of the Machine god, and with a root, began to absorb it.

It was a simple transfer as steel became the body and blood of the World Tree.

Now, the World Tree was as large as galaxies, its leaves being the size of stars, just as innumerable, just as bright.

And the Universal Parasite grew just as much, still chewing on the third root.

The Machine god disappeared into the Tree.

Now, with Order and Chaos brought to one place, with Reality as the entity that brought together their powers…

It was complete.

Everything was complete.

Dream stood with his wives beyond the World Tree. Now, that Tree was the universe. It was Reality. It contained the Totality.

“…We’ve done it.”

Luna muttered.

Ever since the final war started, this moment was destined to come.

But now that it was here…

“What now?”

Iris scratched her cheek.

Dream only flicked her head.

“Ack.”

“Now, we spend an eternity with our children, family, and friends. We watch as worlds and galaxies grow and die. There is no end to what we do. All the while, Order and Chaos will battle in the form of the World Tree and Universal Parasite. Infinite destruction and creation will occur within its bounds. And we…”

He brought his wives closer.

“…Will continue to make sweet, sweet love inside of our two story house. I think we’ve earned that much after all this.”

“But only for a month or so at a time. We have to be there for the family dinners.”

“True.”

He chuckled, and after a moment, he sent his wives back to finish out the wedding ceremony.

Dream sighed, and then took one last look around him.

Vast nothingness, as all that existed was now of the World Tree.

And he tilted his head.

I wonder if there’s anything else out there?