The space elevators were completed on the third day. Then, on the fourth day, Luna appeared before the world. With her appearance came the opening of the space elevators and the habitats above them. She explained their function, how one would be allowed to live, do business, and carry out scientific experiments up there at low costs.
Because Dream's technology was effective and he had nigh unlimited energy to power the elevators, it cost pennies to transport large amounts of weight. The elevators were totally safe, convenient, and fast. It would only take several minutes to rise to space at a safe speed. There were also magic devices onboard that provided comfort and negated forces like g-force and such. Nothing could possibly go wrong with Dream's technology and magic.
With how amazing it was, it naturally caused people to be suspicious. Wasn't it too good to be true? But regardless of what they thought, there were instantly millions that expressed their desire to use it. These people from all corners of the world were quick to travel and line up at the elevators. And Luna didn't hesitate to send people up.
Thousands could be moved at a single time in any single elevator. The first batch of people were quickly boarded. To their surprise though, there wasn't anything like strapping down in secure seats as one might on a rollercoaster.
Quite the contrary, the elevators were filled with comfortable couches and seats, as well as windows that let everyone view the outside. It was like a home, and the hesitant passengers took their seats under the directions of some friendly butler bots and maids.
Then, once the elevator was filled, it started its launching sequence. People on the outside streamed videos of the launch.
The elevator lit up, pulses of energy traveling up the shaft. Then, with a buzzing sound, it lifted off. The giant elevator holding thousands of passengers instantly shot out like a bullet from a gun. The onlookers were stunned, thinking that the people on board would be hurt under such acceleration that was worse than an actual rocket launch.
But there were also people streaming onboard, and against everyone's expectations, they were totally unaffected. People on board saw the insane acceleration and flinched, but there was no force applied to them. It was like their liftoff was a lie, but with so many perspectives, it was anything but.
They quickly discovered that this elevator was even more amazing than they thought. And several minutes later, the elevator was docking in space. The thousands of passengers, almost all of which had never been any higher than the altitude a plane would fly at, looked out the windows. They could see Earth below them, and the endless void around them. It stunned many into silence and shock.
"You may now disembark. Welcome to Habitat: Europe."
"You may now disembark. Welcome to Habitat: Asia."
"You may now disembark. Welcome to Habitat: Africa."
As the elevators across the globe docked, each one urged its passengers into the habitats. The thousands walked off slowly, while an unfortunate few fainted. Those people were taken to medical facilities while the others started to explore the habitat.
The habitat was massive, easily the size of a city. The elevator was stationed at the center of the habitat and let the people off into an area similar to a metro station, only much bigger. There were signs all over the place that pointed to different parts of the city. Not only that, but each person there had bracelets that detailed the things they were able to do. There were also bots that offered to take people on a tour through the habitat.
Luna stood in space outside of one of these habitats, watching as the thousands of people dispersed either in clusters or alone. Some were probably rushing at the opportunity to go and buy real estate, something Luna was more than happy to permit. Others were probably just going to indulge in the temporary fame they were receiving by live streaming their tour of the place.
She looked at them, then at the overall habitat. The habitat was a huge disk, and the elevator came into the bottom of the disk in the center. On top of that disk was the city. In this respect, Dream went over the top as the habitat wasn't a big metal bubble. The city stood with tall buildings as if it were on Earth. One might be worried about protection from the void of space, but he obviously had that taken care of. There was an invisible protective dome that encompassed the entire city made of nanites. These nanites contained the atmosphere within the city while filtering out things like harmful radiation. It felt no different than Earth. The only thing one would notice was the lack of a clear blue sky.
There were plants all around, fresh air that maintained perfect humidity, no pollution, and brilliant stars that shone unhindered on the city. The gravity felt the same as Earth as well. This was made possible using magic since Dream hadn't yet studied gravity enough to make gravity engines. All in all, if one disregarded the stars above them, they might mistake this place for Earth.
Luna watched as the thousands explored the city. Meanwhile, the elevator dropped back down to the planet, docking before accepting another group of passengers and bringing them up.
Hundreds of thousands could be ferried every hour across each elevator. The city was slowly but surely filled. Seeing the overwhelming success and endless possibilities, millions more queued up to enter. Countless businesses, especially governments and universities, hawked Luna and her people in an attempt to reserve and buy real estate. The money being offered to her was astronomical, which made her smile. Dream might not care about money since he was rich in actual resources, but she did. She was much more involved with global society than him, so she naturally desired to earn money and spend it. This was especially so since her country's economy had fully integrated with the world's. She was the head of a true, fully functioning nation. With a government and everything!
The elevators were sensational news for months. It only grew more popular, and Luna had to urge Dream to expand the cities and elevators. Eventually, he passed the ability to control his nanites to her, and she used them to quintuple the size of each city. Not only that, but 4 more elevators were built around each of the first 7 elevators, totaling over 20 elevators and allowing for much more through traffic.
A whole new world was built above the planet. People could travel between the habitats, and those with enough money could request special constructions, such as scientific research centers. They transported countless cargo, and all of it was made possible by Dream's abundant energy.
It caused an economic boom, affecting even the planet below it. Luna constantly expanded, and Dream had to start harvesting more material from places like Mars, Venus, and the Sun. He even constructed harvesters on top of Jupiter's atmosphere. From all these places, untold amounts of material were brought toward Earth, turned into nanites, and used to build anything that could be imagined. Cities turned into megacities, and the people prospered like never before.
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Of course, this didn't happen overnight. During this time, two more years passed, marking the 5th year since Dream returned to Earth.
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On top of his space cube, Dream reclined on a wooden rocking chair like an elderly man. To his left was Luna, on his lap was Iris in her fox form, and to his right was Alice. These four sat around comfortably as they gazed at the space habitat in the distance that had grown to the size of an island.
This was one of the few times that none of them were occupied. Dream had just recently finished an experiment, Luna decided that she could survive being away from a desk for a while, and Alice and Iris no longer galavanted across planets. Iris was now bored of tossing around asteroids, and Alice, the one in charge of watching her, no longer had anything to worry about.
They lazed around in comfort, especially Dream who tightly cuddled Iris like a pillow. She was nice and warm, even though such warmth would incinerate any normal human's skin.
By this time, Luna had opened the citizens of her Oasis empire to the world. Over time, they had become true residents of the planet, no longer the reclusive refugees they had been only a few years ago. And Luna's plan had proven effective. Much of her people had gone out to create corporate empires, have large families, found schools of magic, or become renowned persons of great ability. While there had been a rough patch early on, Luna's wide influence and Dream's support had quickly quashed any troubles they had.
Now, the world was prospering like never before. Dream's monumental constructions paved the way for untold scientific and magical advancement. Cities expanded, populations boomed, and markets were flooded with more wealth than they knew what to do with.
Luna was especially happy to be at the forefront of it all. Over time, she had matured into a real ruler. She carried with her the elegance of a queen, and this made her incredibly popular. She was perhaps the most popular ruler of any country across the planet. After all, she controlled the space elevators, the demon territories, had two of the largest cities on the planet, and wielded the greatest individual power. People had tried to challenge her, but nothing came of it. Even without Dream's support, she could conquer anything and anyone.
She had changed the world power dynamic. Of course, this made her correspondingly busy. She was constantly going to and from meetings, talking with all kinds of diplomats, going through legislation, and more. Luckily, her new intelligence skill made many things incredibly easy, so she was never truly bogged down or stressed. She had also been attempting to make her governance system more autonomous.
She was preparing the Oasis and her people to operate without her. For this, she had employed only the most trustworthy and slowly handed them more power and responsibility. She also laid down mechanical systems using Dream's technology, ensuring that certain foundational rules and regulations would never be violated. That combined with powerful rulers like the class 4's created an incredibly strong foundation that would allow her empire to last generations.
And the reason she did this was because of what she knew would inevitably come in the future.
Over these 5 years, Dream had unceasingly developed his technology and magic. He studied the most fundamental laws of physics and dimensions, building his own system of science and magic. All of this furthered his goal of understanding the demon portal. However, as he became more and more learned, he realized just how amazingly impossible the portal and its functions were.
Dream had thought that understanding the demon portal would only take a few years. He knew it was a daunting task that would push the limits of his knowledge and ability. But it proved to be even more incredible than he could've guessed. Now, 5 years later, he was barely beginning to crack its core secrets.
But as he began, he knew that he would eventually come to fully break it. Now, it was only a matter of time. Knowing this, he notified the girls, letting them know that the clock had started. One day in the future, they would be able to leave Earth for the inner universe.
This was the reason Luna had begun to prepare her empire. However, nobody was as thrilled as Iris.
Iris hated boredom. She loved combat and was a thrill seeker. It was why she would fight demons constantly on the other world. On Earth though, there were only three people who could match her, and two of them were always busy. This left her with almost nothing to do. She didn't particularly have any hobbies, and Dream taking her to explore space was only a temporary pastime. Those lifeless rocks weren't good for anything other than being thrown around.
So hearing that they would eventually leave, she was incomparably excited. She was so excited that she suddenly developed the patience of a saint. And to accelerate the arrival of that day, she entered a kind of half-conscious, hibernation state. Other than when Dream or Luna wanted to see her, she would be sleeping. All of her urges were shoved down, slowly building up inside of her until the day that she could release it.
So, with the clock ticking, this group of powerful beings continued to toil away. Of course, the present moment was an exception. For now, they all just enjoyed a rare moment of relaxation.
"...So when are we getting married?"
"Hm?"
"Huh?"
"..."
Out of nowhere, Luna dropped her question. Dream and Alice perked up while Iris continued to sleep.
Luna glanced at Dream, a small grin on her face. He stared off into space for a bit before scratching his head.
"...What's marriage?"
"You ass. It's been five years! I know people who already have families, and here I am still technically engaged. Sure, for the first few years, we had excuses. I mean, I was building an empire, and you were busy poking holes in space and destroying planets. But I'm not getting any younger, mister! I wanna get married while I'm still in my glory years!"
"Glory years?"
Dream heard her and smirked.
"Your 'glory years' are going to last for the next several hundred, if not few thousand years. Age has ceased to mean anything to any of us."
"So what, we're going to just stay engaged for the next thousand years?"
"Yea Dream, where's this hesitation coming from? Are three beautiful and powerful girls who can kick your ass not enough for you?"
Alice chimed in as she took out a knife, tracing Dream's arm with a scary grin. However, when he turned his head and looked at her, she suddenly wasn't so confident in her statement. She could feel unfathomable power within him, one that surpassed his self from a few years ago.
As Alice shirked back slightly, Dream chuckled.
"Heh, I don't think it's a matter of hesitation. I guess if you guys are ready for that, then we can make a date."
"Yes! How about in a month?"
Luna suddenly jumped, gripping Dream's hand with a surprising amount of force. He was calm as he rubbed his chin.
"A month? That depends."
"On what?"
"How amazing do you want the venue to be?"
He turned to her with a smile, throwing out an idea.
"For a wedding, we naturally have to do it somewhere extraordinary. How about the sun?"
"The sun? Seriously?"
"Yea! I can cool off a section of the surface and make it habitable. It wouldn't be too hard. We can have gardens with awesome plants, and the stars will shine down upon us. And all around the venue, the unmatched power of a blazing star will create a shining wall of radiance. I don't think it gets any better than that."
"That... doesn't sound too bad, actually."
Luna pondered. At first, because of how ridiculous it sounded and the fact that it came from Dream's crazy mind, she didn't think it was that good of an idea. However, as she started to envision the scene, she realized that it really would make for an amazing venue. Luna's expectations for all things extravagant had reached unimaginable heights with Dream's technology. Not many things could make her sigh in awe anymore. Having a wedding on the surface of the sun, however, would be one of those things.
She didn't worry about the feasibility. Dream would take care of that. She only worried about what she wanted things to look like. As the scene took shape in her mind, she became more and more excited.
She gripped Dream's hand again.
"Yes. Do that. How long will it take you?"
"I can have a safe slice of land within a couple of days. After that will come everything else like the buildings, the decorations, and the food. I'm assuming you already have ideas for that though."
"Of course! You just get me the land, and I'll take care of everything else. Alice, come with me."
"Okay!"
Luna took Alice's hand, the two sauntering off to make arrangements.
Meanwhile, Dream looked down at Iris who was laying across his chest only half conscious. Smiling, he squeezed her tightly like a housecat.