By the time Dream and Atia found Rose, the walls between dreams had collapsed completely. All of her friends were brought into one place, one of the meadows of the Dreaming.

There, it all went down.

At first, it didn't seem all that serious, as they just started fighting or looking around confused. However, when Rose got overwhelmed, that's when things took a serious turn.

She created a crater, that sucked in everyone, one by one, until the girl was the last one. That's when Dream finally managed to break through the barrier.

They pulled Rose away from the mess and into an empty, dead land that once was Fiddler's Green. The Dream still had yet to take his place again.

"You've caused a great deal of damage," Morpheus declared, as they slowly approached her. "Nothing that I cannot repair, at least at this stage."

"What happened to Jed? To my friends?" the girl asked.

"They're fine," Atia assured her. "They are asleep in their beds, back in the waking world."

"But they're not safe," her husband said. "No one is. Not until the vortex is dead."

Rose took a step back, her eyes widening.

She knew it had to be done, she heard it before. But it didn't change the fact she wasn't ready. She didn't want to die yet.

"Death is not always such a bad thing," Atia gave her a small comforting smile. "It can be peaceful. It won't hurt."

"How would you know?" Rose asked sceptically.

"Because I died a long time ago," the woman said, and the girl's eyes widened. "A man attacked me in my own house. He asked me all these ridiculous questions I didn't have an answer to. Finally, he slashed my throat."

Her hand ran over the thin line across her neck.

"But Dream and his siblings agreed to let me remain here," she continued. "You could stay here too."

"And Hector couldn't?"

"You friend died under normal circumstances, just like he was destined to," Morpheus declared. "Atia's death, on the other hand, was not destined. The only reason why it was possible for her to become a Dream, was because there was a higher force... another Endless complicit."

Atia frowned, as she looked towards him. He always told her there was more to her death, but he never said one of his siblings had some part in it. She gave him a look, that meant they would talk about it later and he gave her a small nod in return.

"My raven was once a mortal, too," the King of Dreams continued.

"Wait! Sir! My Lady!" Fiddler's Green called out, as he ran towards them.

"Gilbert? What are you doing here?" Rose frowned.

"This is Fiddler's Green," Morpheus said.

"You?" the girl glanced between the three. "You're a Dream?"

"I am," the man nodded. "I, I left my post here to experience life as a human being. A life which I humbly offer in exchange for yours."

"I'm afraid that's not possible," Atia shook her head.

"For the Dreaming and the waking world to live, the vortex must die," Dream added.

"Then what's the point of a vortex?" Rose asked. "Why do we even exist?"

"Honestly?" Morpheus shook his head, as he had no answer.

"I have a theory," Fiddler's Green said. "When a human is at the centre of the Dreaming, it is not to remind us that we exist because humans dream, not the other way around. The miracle of humanity itself should always be more vivid to us than any marvels of power."

"I cannot find it in my heart to punish you for leaving, Fiddler's Green," Morpheus said with a small, soft smile. "But it is time you took up your appointed position once more."

"It would be my honour, sir. It was never my intention to abandon my role."

"What was your role?" Rose asked. "Who were you?"

The older man chuckled and gave her a kind smile.

"Oh, my dear, Fiddler's Green is not a 'who', it is where. I was not a person. I was a place."

"A beautiful one, at that," Atia added.

"And, after your death, if you stay in the Dreaming, visit me. Walk in my meadows and green glades. Rest beneath my trees. Farewell, Rose Walker. It was a privilege being a human with you," the man said, then turned to his Queen. "And you too are welcome, my Lady. I always loved to hear you sing."

"I sure will, my friend," Atia gave him a firm nod.

The dream smiled, before opening his arms and closing his eyes. Within seconds, he changed into the beautiful meadow, just like Atia remembered. She smiled, taking a deep breath.

"I do not wish to take your life. But we all have responsibilities and this is one of mine," Dream declared.

Then, a thunder rumbled in the distance and dark clouds came over the sky. They all looked at it with worried frowns.

"I am sorry."

"Just do it," Rose nodded. "Whatever it takes to save my brother and my friends. I'm ready."

"You're not," Atia sighed and walked over to her, putting her hands over the girl's shoulders. "But I admire your bravery. I was much more scared when I faced death."

She gave her a light squeeze, before moving out of the way. Morpheus clenched his jaw and slowly raised his arm.

Atia could feel the shift in the energy, as he slowly started absorbing Rose's existence, starting with her powers that clouded around her, almost like a shield.

"My lord, stop," Lucienne called out, as she and an older woman ran towards them.

He stopped at once and looked towards his librarian. Rose frowned when she noticed the second woman.

"Unity?" she asked.

"This is Unity Kincaid," Lucienne introduced, making Atia's eyes widen as she recognized the name immediately.

"I'm Rose's great-grandmother."

She held up a book, with her name on it. The book about how her life would have been, if she didn't wasn't asleep for such a long time.

"And according to this book, I was meant to be the vortex of this age. But because you were imprisoned and locked out of the Dreaming, that fate was handed down to my descendants."

"I don't understand," Dream said, looking between the two mortals.

"You're not very bright, are you?" Unity scoffed and Atia bit her lip to stop herself from laughing.

So far, only she and very few others were brave enough to just simply call him out like this.

"Come here, Rose, the woman turned to her great-granddaughter. "I want you to reach down inside yourself and give me whatever it is that makes you the vortex."

The girl frowned and shook her head.

"But h-how?" she asked.

"You're dreaming, darling. Anything is possible."

They all watched as Rose listened to the older woman and thought over it for a moment, letting her words sink in. Then, slowly, she reached into her chest and pulled out a crystal shaped like a heart. It was glowing and seemed to absorb the power from around the girl. It reminded Atia of her husband's Ruby.

"This?" she asked.

Morpheus looked towards his wife, looking for any help in understanding what was going on. Even he had no idea this was possible, much less a mere mortal would come up with this idea.

Once again, he underestimated the mortals' minds and their creativity.

"Oh, thank you, Rose, love," the older woman said, taking the glass-shaped crystal into her hands, before she turned towards the two rulers, that stood side by side, watching the exchange. "I'm the Vortex now, Dream King and Queen, as I should have been long ago. So leave my great-granddaughter alone."

As she said that, the heart started cracking. Soon enough, it broke, releasing the power inside of it. The woman fell forward, but before she could fall to the ground, Morpheus and Atia assisted her.

"Unity?" Rose asked, taking a step towards her.

The older woman groaned, standing back up.

"What happened?" she asked.

"You died," Atia gave her a sad smile. "So that Rose might live."

The girl's face twisted, as a chocked-up breath passed her lips.

"I'm so sorry," she said.

"No, don't be. I'm not," Unity told her. "I was meant to have died a long time ago, Rose. But if I had, I would never have met my golden-eyed man and we would never have had our beautiful baby girl, and you would not have been born."

At the mention of golden-eyed man, all of the Dreaming's inhabitants blood turned cold. There was only one creature in this universe, who could have such eyes. They were their identification mark.

Atia and Morpheus shared a look, before turning towards the woman.

"Wait, the father of your child had golden eyes?" Dream made sure they all heard it right.

"I've never seen anything like them," Unity nodded with a small smile.

"We have," Atia clenched her jaw.

"Goodbye, Rose, darling," the older woman turned back to her great-granddaughter, pulling her in for a hug. "Mr. Holdaway will see to it that you and Jed have everything you need."

Then she vanished, leaving only the all-too-familiar sound of wings in her wake. Rose turned towards the two rulers.

"I am glad you survived all of this, even if you lost someone dear," Atia told her. "But I hope you will give you at least a bit of peace of mind to hear she was ready. Our sister waited for as long as she could, so Unity could meet you and your brother."

Sadly, the woman never got a chance to meet the boy. But at least she got to meet one of her great-grandchildren. And she was content with that. She left that plane with no regrets.

The girl gave her a small nod, before turning towards the King of Dreaming.

"You and your brother are children of the Endless," Dream declared. "You have suffered enough. You may leave this place. Goodbye, Rose."

As the girl disappeared from the Dreaming, Atia turned towards her husband.

"I assume you want to talk with your sibling, now?" she raised a brow.

"It has to be done," he nodded. "But you cannot come with me."

"This time, I will listen," she nodded.

Desire was one of the few beings she didn't want to be anywhere near unless absolutely necessary.

"But there's a reason for this, is there not?" she continued.

The Endless remained silent for a moment, before turning to Lucienne and giving her a signal that she's dismissed. The librarian nodded and started making her way back to the palace. Then, he turned back to his wife.

"You always told me there was something about my death, that made it possible for you to break the rules and make me a Dream," she went on. "And you never let me anywhere near Desire, also keeping a very careful eye on them anytime we're on a family dinner. Today, you said there was another Endless complicit to it. Had they something to do with it?"

Slowly, Dream nodded.

"How?"

Letting out a long breath, the Endless started explaining.

"The day you died, the man who killed you... Desire was the one to set him on it. They broke the man's mind, bending and twisting it until he only had one purpose – to get you. They whispered all these things in his ear, all beautiful and untrue."

He made a small pause.

"After he got you, we acted quickly. You may not remember that, but when you died you did go to the Sunless Lands. And normally, there would be no return from there. But me and Death went to see our eldest brother, Destiny. After a long discussion, he finally agreed that your death wasn't written anywhere. Not yet. You were supposed to live long, happy life."

Atia listened to his explanation with batted breath. This was what was hidden from her, all these years. She never saw anything about it, in any of the books they had in the library.

At the mention of how her life would be, she gave a small, painted smile.

"That was when I asked for you to be brought to my realm," Dream revealed. "I was selfish, so asked for a permission to turn you into a Dream, so you could remain with me. And Destiny agreed. And from there, you know the rest of it."

She was reborn as a Dream and for a few hundreds of years, she served as a regular subject to the King of Dreams.

It almost seemed as if he was avoiding her, then. But then, they started to get close again, until they eventually became lovers. Then, after another a hundred or so years, he asked her to become his Queen. And she accepted.

They got married, she went through the change that gave her more power and made her even stronger.

And ever since, her life had been nothing but a course of sweet dreams, every once in a while twined with a nightmare, that passed almost as soon as it started.