"This is our daughter, Hazel! Isn't she beautiful, Akina?" the voice of the man holding the camera said, pointing it at a newborn baby, her mother still in the hospital bed.

Hazel's mother stroked her head, singing a soft lullaby quietly.

"I know she'll grow up to be a lovely young lady," she said, holding baby Hazel close to her chest.

The tape buzzed out in black and white before starting up again.

"Hazel is one month old today!" the voice behind the camera said again. He pointed the camera towards Hazel's mother, who was giggling softly at Hazel smiling in her seat.

"She looks just like you, you two even have the same birthmark on your foreheads!" she said, pointing at Hazel's face.

"Wh- oh, yeah, I almost forgot about it with me being married to the most beautiful woman in the multiverse."

Something about the man's voice, presumably Hazel's father's, sounded as if he were hiding something.

"You're always so funny, with your conspiracy theories."

"Yeah, conspiracy theories..."

Hazel paused the video, already in tears. She hit fast forward until she got to the final section of it.

"Hazel, I'm so sorry I have to leave, but I'm not even supposed to be in this universe. We have more advanced technologies and different elements that take your laws of physics and burn them to dust. If I stay here for much longer, I may cause an imbalance, especially with my ship. I'm all of those different elements. You're only half, so you won't be too out of place. An alarm reached Vasion that someone crossed into the First Universe, and now it has reached Aphos, and, well, if I stay here, I'll probably be killed. I don't want you to think that I'm abandoning you. I'm not. If I had the choice, I would take you with me, but you're too young to go on a SuperNova. I have this feeling you'll eventually find this, so I'm bringing this disk with me. Hazel Von Brandt, daughter of the stars, I love you. If you ever see this, come back to me. I miss you already, and I haven't even left the country. My human form is shaky too, my third eye keeps wanting to come out. I can only hope that yours will never emerge. Goodbye, my sweet girl. Happy birthday, I guess."

Hazel reached out to touch the screen as the clip buzzed out and the television turned black, tears streaming down her face. She ran a finger down her forehead, over the strange scar. She felt something move underneath the skin, like an eye turning to see something in its peripheral. Hazel felt a short rush of panic, unsure how or why she never noticed it. Perhaps because of the fact that it was brought up, she was paying extra attention to every detail surrounding it. Her heart raced with all the many emotions flooding her mind. Homesickness, yearning, fear, a strange happiness, they all worked quite hard to make sure Hazel was overwhelmed.

She took the disc out of the DVD player, wrapping it in a small towel and putting it in a bowl on the table to keep it safe. Something made Hazel not want to put it in any old disc case, but instead protect it in her own way, even though that could backfire. Hazel didn't think that something that special to her should be put in a simple cell of plastic.

"There are now nine hours remaining until the destination is reached."

Excitement filled Hazel's tired heart, making every second feel like ten. She stretched out on one of the chaise lounges, grabbing a fluffy purple blanket and laying her head on the closest pillow she could find. Taking out her hologram, she mumbled to it to play some calming music so she could force herself to take a nap. Although she didn't ever need to sleep, it was still refreshing to her, and above all else, had become a habit. It was a way to let hours slip by unnoticed and, in a way, skip dealing with the crushing force of anticipation that pushed on her forehead, underneath her skin.

Binaural overtone pads and slow tempos brought Hazel into the realm of dreams relatively fast. Her Halo rested on her chest, the glow fading but the color staying put. She was brought into a world of swirling color, a psychedelic nightmare, inspiring a formidable fear, but at the same time, Hazel found it calming. Nothing that made any attempt to scare her into waking up did its job.

Hazel found herself able to move at will, not letting the dream pull her around like a marionette. She walked aimlessly, her surroundings unchanging. As she walked, the idea to try to change where she was hit her. She brought herself back to Earth, with TJ and her mother. She went to hug them both, but she walked right through them. Hazel focused hard on making them physical within the dream and attempted to hug her mother once again. This time, it worked. She felt a connection between her and her mother build until their minds were one.

"Can you understand me, or are you just a figment of my imagination?" her mother asked, squeezing Hazel tightly.

Hazel gasped. She felt her Halo pulse with heat on her chest in the physical realm. Were she and her mother actually speaking through a dream?

"I can, I really can. Are you asleep?"

"Yeah, I'm just confused as to how this is happening."

"It's a long story, but I think our minds connected through a sphere from another univer-"

"He wasn't joking, was he?" her mother said, emotion dropping from her face.

"Who?"

"Your father. I always assumed that his talk of the multiverse was all claptrap and a big conspiracy theory," she said, her voice wavering.

"Well, I can guarantee that it's true. I'm in the Sixth Universe right now, where he's from."

"Is that where he went?"

Hazel's mother could barely speak clearly through confused tears. Hazel had no idea how to help, so she hugged her mother with all the force she could come up with.

"What the- Hazel! That hurts!"

"Sorry, ma."

Hazel's mother stepped back, holding her daughter's hands. She blinked slowly and smiled softly.

"I've been so worried about you, I thought you might have been abducted or something. I'm glad you're safe, though. I know you can't exactly control when you dream like this, but if it happens again, pull me in, and maybe your brother too."

Hazel let go of her mother's hands, and the connection dropped. She ran over to TJ, focusing on his mind and making him physical in the dream.

"Huh? Hazel?" he asked, whipping around, obviously disoriented by being thrown from one dream to lucid dreaming.

"It's me, you're actually talking to me. Just ask mom when you wake up," Hazel said, hugging her younger brother tightly.

"You butt! I thought you were dead!" he shouted, slapping Hazel across the face.

"Well, I'm not. I'm glad you're okay too. Is everything okay on Earth? How's school?"

"We had a memorial hoping you'd come home soon since everyone thought you died a while ago. The other kids in my class are being mean to me because you're gone. It makes me sad."

"Well, you tell them to stop being mean because your sister is strong and she will come home safe. Don't say I'm in outer space, though. That will make things worse."

"Okay."

"Is everything going well on Earth? Like, has there been anything weird on the news?"

"I saw something about a dangerous metal that's crashed in Nunavut, if that's what you mean."

Hazel stopped breathing.

"What do you mean?"

"Everyone who's gone near it has gotten really sick. It's bright pink and glowy. People want to take some of it to understand it better too."

"If you see anyone who wants to, tell them to not do it."

"What if they do it anyway? I'm only eight."

"Then don't worry about it. It's at least worth it to try."

"Okay."

Hazel moved back, her hands still in her brother's.

"I have to go now. This will make your brain tired because you're basically awake, and you don't want that, do you? I know I don't say it because you are a total butthead, but I do love you. Be safe."

It was TJ's turn to cry this time. He hugged his sister closer and tighter than he ever had in his life.

"Please don't go, I miss you!"

"I miss you too, but if I stay here for too long, you won't be able to wake up. I'm controlling your sleep from here."

"But what if you're not safe?"

"Then I'll find a way to tell you."

"Fine. But I'm going to punch you when you get home."

Hazel chuckled at this. She missed her- would it be half-brother? He would have had another father or would be adopted. The label didn't matter to Hazel, though, since no matter what, he was her brother.

"Okay, I'll remember that. Good night, TJ."

With that, Hazel let go of her brother's hands, and the dream faded out and back into reality.