“Alright, I’ve had my fun. Let’s go.” Cedric took a deep breath and pushed against thin air, causing a piece of reality to swing open like a door - the inside of Dyllan’s room on the other side. As far as he could tell, making portals out of mindscapes worked differently for every dreamwalker. He had his doors, Andie brushed aside a patch of the mindscape like it was made of clouds, and Dyllan summoned the same kind of dream smoke they all used to portal in. It said a fair bit about the three of them. Like how straightforward Dyllan could be - same way in, same way out. Come to think of it, the stars in his mindscape seemed to be pretty deliberately placed… but any secrets Cedric could glean from that weren’t his to unearth. “Hang on, wait just one moment…”

“Cedric, I swear to any and all higher powers - if you try to freak me out again I will deck you here and now.” Andie hesitated. “Would that even work? Can I hurt people in dreamwalker form? I’m pretty sure my Virtue can’t, but my fists? You know what, it doesn’t matter. I will wait until tomorrow to punch you, Cedric. I keep my promises.”

“No, I’m serious this time. Letting you freak yourself out is one thing, but I wouldn’t lie - can’t have you doubting my warnings mid… mission…” Cedric frowned. “Seriously, what is that!? Something is blowing in the… well, not the wind, the air’s pretty still. Something is blowing in the motionless air, and it’s messing with my head. What’s -”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“…It’s will to live.” Andie’s eyes were closed and her breathing slowed. She was focusing. “Lots of it. Flowing like a river. It’s thin, but it’s covering the whole mindscape. It seems to be gathering…” Andie’s eyes snapped open and she pointed underneath the central platform of Dyllan’s mindscape. “There! It’s gathering there. Should we be worried?”

“Quite the opposite.” Cedric let slip an unusually honest smile. “Do you remember my theory on what Nightmares are?”

“Our theory.” Andie’s eyes briefly flickered gray. “It was a group effort.”

“Huh. Looking back, I guess it was.” Cedric shrugged apologetically - a unique talent of his. “I take it you remember our theory, then?”

“Nightmares are created when a single negative thought gains enough traction to start feeding on other negative thoughts that would have otherwise come and gone without much fuss.” Andie gestured towards her hair. “Like how most people would just think ‘huh, I need to wash my hair better’ or something if they noticed it was kinda greasy - but someone with body issues might be really bothered, because it’s another thing they don’t like about how they look. So it’s more like a banner that all this negativity can fly under than a single entity.”

“Right, and it stands to reason a Dream - the guardian of its mindscape - would likely be to Will to Live what Nightmares are to… hate goo, was it?” Cedric glanced toward Andie expectantly. “Don’t you agree?”

“Yes, it was - and yes, I agree.”

“Right. So, if the previous theory and hypothesis are true… and Will to Live is gathering…”

Andie’s eyes lit up. “A Dream is being born, isn’t it?”