Jaune stared at his father for several long moments while the wind of the Dream Realm swept across the black sands around them. The battle that torn apart this entire area of the Dream Realm had finally ended, leaving only silence beneath the broken crimson moon hanging overhead. The celestial object in the sky shadowed the landscape in an eerie glow that painted both father and son in shades of blood.
Gula's body was no longer frozen in a state of time any more, and had crawled back into Jaune's shadow to reside.
Finally, Jaune exhaled slowly and rubbed a hand across his face.
"So?"
Nicholas glanced toward him.
"So what?"
Jaune gave him a flat look.
"So what's the situation?"
His voice carried none of the fury that had defined most of their confrontation. If anything, it sounded tired.
"I already know that for some forsaken reason you decided to do all this not because you're evil."
Nicholas blinked once before coughing into his fist. Then, to Jaune's complete disbelief, the older man grinned.
"Not evil? You sure?"
He pointed at himself.
"Come on now. Evil's my middle name, isn't it?"
The joke died a swift death beneath Jaune's utterly unimpressed stare. Nicholas sighed dramatically.
"Tough crowd."
Then the smile faded and Nicholas Arc looked every bit as exhausted as he truly was. His gaze drifted upward toward the broken moon.
"You are correct, Jaune. Everything I've done has been for a singular purpose."
A long pause followed.
"To stop the inevitable end of the world. I've seen it, you know? The absolute end where all life turns into a godforsaken mess that to even call it life, would be an insult to the word."
Jaune studied him quietly before finally lowering himself onto the sand beside him.
At the same time he withdrew the influence of Null from the surrounding area. The strange void-like suppression that had blanketed the battlefield faded away, allowing reality to settle back into its normal state.
He wasn't worried.
His father wasn't planning to run.
His weakness sense told him that much. For all his lies and manipulations, Nicholas was being completely sincere right now. The older man then casually reversed the damage remaining in his body with Time and rolled his shoulders. Moments later both of them sat side by side staring at the crimson moon overhead.
The silence lingered uncomfortably, then Nicholas laughed quietly.
"You know... it's really quite odd. For the first time in years, I can't see this conversation happening before it happens."
Jaune looked sideways at him.
"For the longest time Foresight has been acting as a passive Rune skill. Constantly active, every second of every day."
His expression grew distant.
"I've spent years living ahead of everyone else."
A strange sadness entered his voice.
"I knew what people were going to say before they said it, knew what choices they would make and I even knew where every conversation would lead."
He chuckled softly.
"It becomes difficult to appreciate the present when you're perpetually looking seconds and minutes ahead."
Jaune remained silent but Nicholas continued.
"Foresight never used to work like that."
His fingers tapped lightly against his knee.
"It only became what it is now after I encountered Knowledge."
Nicholas smiled faintly. "Another person with Foresight could have been countered in dozens of ways but not me..."
His eyes shifted toward Jaune and a note of genuine admiration entered his voice.
"That shadow army you summoned earlier? Very impressive."
Jaune shrugged.
"I did my research."
Nicholas laughed.
"Clearly."
"I had to lobotomize a bunch of people just to get to you, dad? Though... I suppose it helped in the end."
Nicholas nodded.
"I know."
Jaune narrowed his eyes. "Was that all your planning too?"
"Yep."
The answer came instantly and Nicholas sounded almost bored as he said it. "I handle logistics, to a certain degree."
Jaune barked a short laugh.
"To a certain degree?"
Nicholas smiled.
"People fail where I need them to fail and they succeed where I need them to succeed."
"That's bloody terrifying isn't it?"
"Can't help it. Knowledge is a curse. Doubly so for me."
Nicholas shrugged and his gaze drifted toward the horizon. For several moments neither spoke until his father finally broke the silence.
"See..."
His voice lowered.
"The world as you know it is going to end. And there is almost nothing we can do to stop it."
Jaune rolled his eyes.
"There it is."
Nicholas ignored him, gaze remaining fixed on the horizon.
"Everything I've worked toward has been for the singular purpose of saving this world. So that it remains Earth and not merely a... Remnant of what it once was."
Jaune immediately frowned as frustration entered Jaune's voice.
"Enough with the riddles. Everybody already knows the world is ending. The damned Sleeper is waking up!"
His eyes narrowed as he spread his hands.
"That's not exactly breaking news."
Nicholas smiled faintly as a note of pity entered his voice.
"Ah. That's... where you're slightly mistaken."
Jaune's expression darkened.
"You think the Sleeper is the greatest threat?"
Jaune said nothing even as his father shook his head.
"No. Well... comparatively speaking, yes. The Sleeper is dangerous. But she isn't the only god capable of destroying our world."
"What?" Jaune demanded.
Nicholas looked toward him.
"You remember the story I told you, don't you? The one about how the Sleeper came to become the Sleeper?"
Jaune nodded slowly.
"The battle between the Life Creator and the Sleeper. The one where the Creator died and the Sleeper was imprisoned..."
Nicholas smiled and folded his hands on his chest.
"Yeah. Interesting story, isn't it?"
Something about his tone made Jaune uneasy. Then, his father asked him quietly, with nary more than a whisper escaping his mouth.
"Tell me, Jaune. You've felt the Sleeper's presence and you've also encountered another being on the same scale. "
Jaune's eyes widened.
"The Eye of the Sun."
Nicholas nodded.
"The very same."
The memory resurfaced immediately in Jaune's mind. The endless fissures of space consuming a part of the Shadow Realm. The heat from the shadow lave.
The impossible black sun in the sky and the vast eye that it had become, staring at him through infinity. The sensation of being observed by something so incomprehensibly enormous that his sanity had nearly fractured.
Even now the memory made his skin crawl.
Nicholas nodded.
"And it isn't alone. There are more. There are other entities comparable to both the Sleeper and the Eye."
Nicholas simply watched him.
"They exist beyond our world and they are... looking for us."
"They await. They hunger...
Jaune's pulse quickened.
"Hunger for what?"
Nicholas looked toward the sky and The answer came softly.
"Life, Jaune. They hunger for the lives of humanity. Not out of malice but out of curiosity."
Jaune felt cold.
"You're serious...?"
Nicholas nodded.
"Completely."
Jaune stood up and began pacing.
"Fuck. How? Oh shit. That's why.... that's why you did all this? But it doesn't make sense. You're still waking the Sleeper and she's going to kill everyone too. So what the hell is the damn point?"
Nicholas slowly stood.
"Not everyone."
Jaune stared at him.
"What the hell does that mean?"
Nicholas looked back toward the moon.
"The Sleeper will kill. That much is certain and most life will definitely come to an end. The Awakened will die first, naturally, as they are the people who stole her power using the Nightmare system."
His gaze remained distant.
"Yes... they will all perish first. However, the non-Awakened will survive. For the most part... at least. The world will become hell and Salem's own creations, the creatures of grimm, will roam freely. The survivors will fight endless wars with her creations and the Sleeper will watch from above, upon her throne in the sky. From the realm of dreams."
His eyes darkened.
"She enjoys suffering, you see. But humanity will survive. The people who free her, Sleepless, will become the new rulers of the world."
His voice carried no pride. Only resignation.
"They will have no joy but... they'll become kings and gods among men."
Jaune stared at him in disbelief.
"That's your plan? That's your damned solution?"
When Nicholas didn't answer, Jaune's voice rose. "To turn the world into a hell where humans become cattle? That's not living. That can't even be called survival."
Nicholas smiled sadly.
"No. You are correct. It isn't."
Then his expression darkened.
"But there are worse fates."
Jaune frowned.
"Worse?"
Nicholas nodded and something old and fearful entered his eyes. "There are beings out there whose existence cannot be perceived safely."
The air seemed to grow colder.
"Creatures so vast that reality itself struggles to contain the idea of them."
Jaune felt dread creeping up his spine.
Nicholas continued quietly.
"If a human were to even see them... or worse, gain knowledge of them... their minds would break. Their eyes would split open and appendages like mouths would grow where their eyes once were."
The imagery was horrifying yet Jaune's father continued. For he wasn't done.
"And those mouths would speak only praise and endless worship. Their flesh would twist and their bones would rearrange themselves. Their identities would dissolve and they would stop being human. They would become living prayers."
His eyes darkened.
"Monsters devoted to things older than worlds. Older than Stars."
Silence followed. Then Nicholas looked toward Jaune.
"Compared to that?"
His smile was tired.
"The Sleeper is the lesser evil."
Jaune stared at him. And for the first time since learning the truth, he realized something terrible. Nicholas genuinely believed what he was saying. The older man looked toward the moon.
"As a member of Sleepless... our family survives."
Jaune froze.
Nicholas smiled sadly.
"You, Jade. Your mother. All your sisters. I'll have saved all of you. From a fate worse than death."
Then he closed his eyes.
And beneath the broken moon of the Dream Realm, Jaune could only stare at his father, because he himself wasn't entirely certain that Nicholas Arc was wrong.
The conversation had taken so many impossible turns that part of him felt strangely detached from it all. Gods beyond reality. Eldritch entities lurking beyond the boundaries of existence. The Sleeper as humanity's supposed savior through tyranny and suffering.
Every revelation seemed more absurd than the last, yet the problem was that Nicholas was not speaking like a madman trying to justify his actions. He was speaking like someone explaining an equation he had already solved long ago.
For several moments Jaune simply rubbed his temples before letting out a long breath.
"So that's it?"
Jaune barked out a dry laugh.
"The Sleeper wakes up, the world turns into a living hell, billions suffer for eternity, and somehow that's supposed to save humanity?"
He shook his head slowly.
"What an amazing plan, Dad."
The sarcasm in his voice could have cut stone. Jaune's gaze hardened.
"If that's your solution, then I'm rejecting it. I'll stop Sleepless and I'll stop the Sleeper. And if those other gods decide they want a piece of this world too, then I'll find a way to stop them as well."
For the first time since the conversation had begun, Nicholas smiled. Not the amused smile he used when joking and not the tired smile of a man burdened by impossible knowledge.
A genuine smile.
"Good."
Jaune frowned.
Nicholas nodded slowly.
"Looks like you still have your conviction."
His gaze drifted toward the horizon where black dunes stretched endlessly beneath the crimson glow of the Dream Realm.
"Because the next part is going to be significantly more problematic to explain."
Jaune immediately disliked the sound of that. Nicholas leaned back slightly and folded his arms.
"While it is true that those other entities are approaching our world, there is a rather obvious question you haven't stopped to ask."
His eyes settled on Jaune.
"If they are truly that powerful, why haven't they arrived already?"
Jaune blinked but his father continued before he could answer.
"Think about it. According to everything I've told you, the Sleeper is imprisoned, she's asleep and she isn't actively defending anything. So why haven't these beings simply reached into our world and taken what they want?"
Jaune frowned deeply. The question struck him immediately because his father was right. If the Sleeper was trapped in eternal sleep and wasn't actively protecting reality, then why was Earth still standing?
The Eye of the Sun alone had felt powerful enough to devour entire worlds.
Slowly Jaune crossed his arms.
"Right... I didn't think about that."
His gaze drifted toward the broken moon overhead.
"If she's asleep, then this should be the most vulnerable she's ever been."
Nicholas nodded.
"Correct."
"They shouldn't have any issues reaching us."
"Again, correct."
Jaune narrowed his eyes.
"So what's stopping them?"
Nicholas's expression became thoughtful.
"Location."
The answer was so unexpected that Jaune stared blankly for several seconds.
"Location?"
"Yes."
Nicholas pointed toward the horizon. "The mistake most Awakened make is assuming dimensions are separate places."
He paused.
"They aren't. Reality, the Dream Realm, the Shadow Realm, and countless other dimensions all occupy the same existence simultaneously."
His finger tapped against his knee.
"They overlap."
Jaune's brows furrowed and Nicholas searched for the proper words. "Imagine multiple images printed on transparent sheets of glass."
He raised his hands slightly.
"If you stack them together, they all appear to occupy the exact same physical space."
Jaune nodded slowly.
"Except each sheet remains separate."
"Exactly."
Nicholas pointed at him, then he pointed toward the sky, then toward the sands.
"The gods exist in reality and they exist within their own dimensions. And both statements are true simultaneously."
The explanation settled uneasily into Jaune's mind. It wasn't entirely different from how the Dream Realm operated.
After all, awakened slept on Earth while simultaneously projecting into the Dream Realm.
The dimensions were separate yet connected.
Nicholas continued.
"The Dream Realm follows this exact principle."
His voice became quieter.
"The difference is that the Dream Realm occupies a very specific coordinate."
Jaune frowned.
"A coordinate?"
Nicholas nodded as his hand traced a sphere through the air.
"The Dream Realm surrounds Earth and it exists as a shell wrapped around the planet. It overlaps reality while remaining separate from it."
The older man paused.
"Think of it like a biometric lock. If a fingerprint scanner only recognizes two groups of people, then everyone else gets locked out."
He gestured toward himself.
"The Dream Realm works similarly. Things originating from reality can enter. And things originating from dreams can enter. However everything else is rejected."
Understanding slowly dawned within Jaune's mind. The Dream Realm wasn't merely another dimension but it was also acting as a filter.
A barrier or sorts that separated Earth from everything beyond it. Nicholas nodded as he saw realization forming in his son's expression.
"You see... the Sleeper's domain, the Dream Realm is already protecting humanity."
Jaune blinked and then his eyes widened.
"The Sleeper's domain? Domain as in Rank Three Domain?"
"Yes. Keep up, Jaune. The Dream Realm is indeed the Sleeper's Domain. Exactly like a domain of a Rank 3 individual. Just vastly stronger, bigger, greater and versatile."
The statement settled heavily between them. Because suddenly an enormous number of mysteries made sense.
The fact that it felt simultaneously alive yet was apocalyptically dead. The reason it could fix damage borne around it. It was the domain of a Sleeping God projecting her thoughts of the end of all life.
Jaune slowly looked around the Dream Realm itself.
This place.
The sky.
The moon.
The deserts.
The cities.
Everything.
It wasn't merely a dimension but her. Or at least an extension of her.
Nicholas continued.
"While the Dream Realm appears the way it does because of her subconscious influence, it is still fundamentally her realm."
Jaune immediately frowned.
"Then... that completely destroys your argument."
Nicholas blinked.
"What?"
Jaune stood and gestured broadly.
"If the Dream Realm is already protecting Earth then why the hell are you helping Sleepless?"
His frustration resurfaced.
"Why not work with LUCID?"
He spread his arms.
"Why not stop the awakening entirely instead of working towards it?"
His voice rose.
"You just explained that the Dream Realm is acting like a barrier. If it keeps these gods out, then why are you actively helping destroy the one thing protecting humanity?"
Nicholas closed his eyes and for several seconds he remained silent. Then he sighed.
"It won't work."
Jaune's eyes narrowed immediately.
"Why?"
Nicholas looked genuinely exhausted.
"Because the situation is more complicated than that."
Jaune took a step forward.
"Are they breaking through?"
"No."
Nicholas hesitated.
"Well... yes. But not exactly."
Jaune stared at him.
"What the hell does that mean?"
"The issue isn't that the barrier is failing. The issue is that the Sleeper isn't truly asleep anymore."
Everything froze.
For a moment Jaune simply stared and his father's words echoed inside his head. The Sleeper isn't truly asleep anymore.
His pulse quickened.
"What...? What do you mean she's not asleep? She already awake?"
The older man sighed heavily and the sound seemingly carried decades of exhaustion. Because whatever explanation came next clearly wasn't simple. For several moments he seemed to search for the correct words before he finally spoke.
"That brings me to the next problem. It's difficult to explain but It essentially involves a Rune, the influence of the Sleeper herself and...
Then his expression darkened.
"...A very special man."
Jaune frowned.
"What man?"
Nicholas looked directly at him. Genuine apprehension appeared within his father's eyes. The wind swept across the Dream Realm as father and son stood beneath the broken moon. Then Nicholas Arc spoke the name.
"The leader of Sleepless—a man called Tyrian."
The silence that followed seemed to deepen and even the distant winds felt quieter as Nicholas's eyes remained fixed on his son.
"Tyrian Callows."