Where Will Dream Go? (Part 2)

"I don't know how you got here."

Schiller frowned at Morpheus's first words, but he could sense that Morpheus was not lying.

If someone truly doesn't want to talk about this conceptual existence, then no one can force them to. Although throwing Joker into someone's house is a bit annoying, it's far from being a threat. Since Morpheus has chosen to speak, it means he's willing to talk, so there's no need for him to lie anymore.

"But we spotted you the moment you arrived."

"You? Who else is there besides you?"

"Destiny, no one in the universe can escape the eyes of Destiny. It discovered you the moment you arrived here."

Schiller frowned; he hadn't expected Destiny to be involved here.

"Destiny" is the oldest and most unique member of the Endless. In fact, it can be said that he has transcended the Endless and is the highest being in the entire DC Multiverse.

Even before the universe was born, it was recorded on the first page of the Book of Destiny, meaning that Destiny is above everything else in the universe.

In most cases, Destiny is depicted as a hooded man who has no eyes but observes everything, holding a Soul Book Soul Book in his hands, which is chained to his arm. However, in the comics, it is also shown that he can take the book off his arm and hand it to someone else.

"The Soul Book," Morpheus uttered a term.

"That is a book that records everything in this universe—past, present, and future, everything tangible and intangible, everything that has appeared and everything that has not yet appeared—all are recorded in this book..."

"Except for you."

After Morpheus finished stating his conclusion, he paused, and Schiller remained silent, the room falling into a deep silence.

After a while, Morpheus seemed to be lost in memories as well. He said, "One day, Destiny came to me. This is something that doesn't happen often. Few people come to me."

"He told me that he had found someone, someone who was not recorded in the Soul Book. We observed you together, but found nothing."

"In the past, it wasn't that beings from other universes hadn't come to this universe, but as long as they entered this universe, their names would be engraved in the Soul Book, and their stories could be written in this book by Destiny."

"But you appeared, yet your name did not. So Destiny found me, hoping that I could observe you through my dreams and find out the reason for this situation."

"I can observe anyone's dream from the Dreamscape, and I was indeed taken aback when I saw this magnificent building in your dream." Morpheus's tone rose slightly.

"I've never seen such a building in anyone's dreams before. I'm very interested in it, but it's no use, because I haven't found your special reason here..."

"Destiny tells me that names not found in the Soul Book, people without stories, are likely to seriously affect the coherence of the universe, and it must complete your name and story."

"Destiny anchored your presence in my dreams, and then it began to write your name, but in that instant... you disappeared."

"Disappeared?" Schiller narrowed his eyes.

"That's right, in the instant that Destiny took its place, you disappeared from this universe, and even I couldn't hold onto your dream."

"I can't describe exactly what happened at that time because we have different perspectives, but the fact is that in an instant, you and your dream left this place together."

What does this refer to?

"Everywhere within the 'Origin Wall'."

"I passed through the Origin Wall?"

"We don't know if you passed through the Origin Wall; we didn't see anything."

Schiller's eyes remained narrowed; it was hard to believe that a near-supreme conceptual being in the DC Universe was telling you he hadn't seen anything.

"Believe it or not, that's the truth." Morpheus interlaced his thin fingers. "When you returned, Destiny didn't act again, as if it had tacitly approved of it all. I don't know what it was thinking..."

"Why did all this happen while I was asleep?"

"I don't know." Morpheus shook his head, then offered another guess.

"This might be related to my anchoring of your dreams, but this is just my guess... I don't know where your people went, but your dreams have always carried the beacon I left behind, right in the depths of your dreams."

Schiller understood Morpheus's theory: the dream beacon was like a rope tied to Schiller, ensuring his return to this universe when he left for Marvel.

He knew, of course, that the time travel was most likely the work of the system, but he didn't ask Morpheus about it, because he wasn't sure if Destiny and the Sandman had observed this mysterious system.

Morpheus explained everything to him, yet it seemed as if he hadn't explained anything at all. Schiller asked, "Why didn't Destiny try again to write my name in the Soul Book?"

"I don't know. He didn't tell me. From beginning to end, I just observed you in your dream for a while and then left a beacon in your deeper dream. As for the answers to the questions you want to know, you may have to ask Destiny yourself."

At this point, the Sandman suddenly gave a rather strange look and said, "No... I didn't suggest you install a doorbell at his house. You'd better not do it..."

"Since the beginning of the universe, we have each had our own role, and our work is by no means meaningless. The domain controlled by each member of the Endless is of vital importance to the universe, and so is Destiny."

"As I told you before, names that don't exist in the Soul Book can harm the universe. He wanted to write your name in it, as it was part of his job, but he eventually gave up on doing so. I don't know why, but there must be a reason."

"We are not interested in the existence of any individual. We don't care how your lives unfold or what you each do in your lives..."

"When I first saw your dream, I was quite surprised. You are the first human being to surprise me. Before that, no matter how many dreams I had, I had never felt this way."

"Perhaps this is what makes you special. You may be special to every member of the Endless, but you haven't met the other members yet..."

"The other members?" Schiller thought for a moment and said, "Leaving aside the others for now, I think I've already come into contact with Desire, haven't I?"

Morpheus shook his head and said, "Desire simply doesn't work."

"I once heard a story on the wind that blew through the Dreamscape ..." Morpheus's tone always carried a poetic beauty.

"Death is my sister, and every person she takes away every day of every century makes her understand her duty more deeply..."

"That was not a pleasant feeling. The feeling that everything would come to an end and that Destiny was the price she paid for possessing such great power. Therefore, I often think about what price I will have to pay for my abilities?"

Schiller seemed intrigued by his description as well. He had always enjoyed philosophical topics, saying, "I've always been curious about the perspective of higher-dimensional beings, and I've always wondered how you would think and what answers you would arrive at?"

Morpheus gave another strange look and said, "Only today have you made me understand that it is not I who created the dream, but the dream that created me."

"The doorbell you put in made me feel that this was the price I had to pay to control my dreams."

"He was so crazy and unreasonable. I tried many methods, but he always found a way to escape my control and make a mess of my home."

Schiller heard Morpheus seem to sigh slightly as he said, "Perhaps it's not that I'm controlling the dreams, but rather that the dreams are controlling me..."

With his sigh, the spinning globe on the table slowly came to a stop. When Schiller woke up, the figure opposite him had disappeared, as if it had never been there.

Schiller stood up, walked behind the table, picked up the globe, and started to spin it slowly. Then he said to the air, "If a dream is too real, when you wake up, you will wonder if you were still dreaming."

"And perhaps, the price the Dream God has to pay is that he will never know whether he really exists, or... is just a dream."

Schiller's sigh echoed in the room. Suddenly, Jack, who was lying on the single sofa, woke up. He rubbed his eyes, sat up from the sofa, and then sat there grinning with a big smile.

He gestured with his hands, as if trying to describe the wonderful dream he had just had that made him incredibly happy. Suddenly, his hands froze in mid-air, as if the contrast with reality made him feel dejected. The corners of his mouth slowly turned down, and then turned into a downward smirk.

He sat dejectedly on the sofa, covered his face with his hands, and said, "I'm back in this boring reality again, oh my god..."

Schiller looked at the globe that had stopped in his hand and said to Jack, "Your boring days are almost over. Batman should be back soon."

Jack stirred, lifting his face and peeking his eyes through his fingers at Schiller, saying, "What do you think? Should I prepare a big surprise for him to welcome him home?"

"Whatever you want."

Schiller placed the globe on the table, then turned back and took a book from the bookshelf.

Jack, with his hands behind his back, whistling as he approached the table, and just a second before Schiller turned back, he grabbed the globe and hugged it to his chest.

He hugged the globe like a dance partner and said to it, "Look! My little darling... I love you so much. I can imagine how much joy you will bring me. Let's dance, right now..."

In the manor's living room at dusk, Schiller sat behind the table quietly reading, while Jack twirled and danced around the room with a globe in his arms.

The sunlight streamed into the room as Jack jumped around in circles, a blissful smile on his face.

When he stopped, the globe started spinning, and Jack's smile deepened.

Meanwhile, Bruce's car sped along the highway until a large sign came into view that read, "Gotham".