Chapter Text
Being the [Oldest Dream] didn’t sound as bad as it did—really it didn’t. Sure, Kim Dokja had sacrificed 49% of his memories and lied (partially) to his companions, but hey, at least he wasn’t dead…yet. He was just stuck watching his oh-so-favorite story for the rest of eternity.
Fuck, maybe it was really bad.
If his companions ever found out, they’d wring his neck and lock him away for good.
|th ey won’ t kn ow|
“You never know,” Kim Dokja commented back to The Fourth Wall, “By the way, how long are you going to keep narrating? The story is over after all.”
The Fourth Wall cackled, amused.
Kim Dokja rolled his eyes and stared outside the subway window. “Can I go outside at least? Limiting my access to this subway is boring.”
|Th ere is no con cept of acc ess her e|
The windows of the subway suddenly flashed and began playing different scenes from ‘Ways To Survive In A Ruined World’; displayed like a kaleidoscope before his eyes. Kim Dokja had to admit it looked pretty cool, even as the fear of his reality began to sink in.
|K im Dok ja was afr aid|
“Shut up.”
Kim Dokja went silent for a moment, before a thought crossed his mind.
“Hey Fourth Wall?”
|w hat?|
“Now that I’m the [Oldest Dream], can’t I act like a constellation for other world lines?”
|Ki m Dokj a is stu pid|
“So it’s impossible?”
|Not re ally..|
“Right, reviving the Star Stream would be bad.”
It would be more than bad, it would be disrespectful of all the challenges the companions had undergone to overthrow the system. Kim Dokja refused to be selfish just for a chance to be part of his companion’s lives again. Yet, his heart ached at the possibility. Just the idea…
|T oo, y ou c an’t ev en if yo u wan ted|
“Why not?”
The Fourth Wall snickered.
|Yo ur maste ry ov er th e dre am isn’t e noug h|
Seriously? Kim Dokja rolled his eyes. He was the Oldest fucking Dream, not some casual daydreamer. He created the damn world, the fuck you mean he doesn’t have enough “mastery?”
Kim Dokja sighed. “So I guess I’m stuck watching this story for all of eternity.”
It wasn’t a question, it was a statement. Kim Dokja knew this was his fate. His ███ wasn’t “Eternity” for nothing.
|Y ou do n’t ne ed to bur de n yo ur self, y ou ar e al re ady wa tching sub consci ously|
Kim Dokja frowned. “I want to see them though. Even if I can only watch from afar.”
Kim Dokja looked over the various world-lines displayed before him, each one of them holding a version of his companions. Each version was cherished by him, even if he could only dream of them. He was their reader, and he would keep reading for all of eternity and forevermore.
That was the true love a reader could show for his most favorite story.
The ache in Kim Dokja’s heart returned and he sat back on the bench of the subway. That creeping fear edged its way into the corner of his mind, waiting like a predator. Kim Dokja felt scared. He felt lost. But most of all, he felt so incredibly lonely.
|Ar e y ou r ead y?|
Kim Dokja looked up, his tired eyes meeting the thousands of images displayed before him. The story he loved the most. The story that was his very life and blood.
|O ne d ay yo u mig ht gr ow to hat e th e st ory yo u lo ve|
“If that is the price I must pay, so be it.”
Deep down in his heart, Kim Dokja knew he could never hate the story that saved him. The story that showed him what it meant to love.
Kim Dokja reached forward, letting his fingers touch the glass window, closing his eyes softly.
[The world is now recieving your gaze!]
[A world-line has received life from the power of your dream!]
As Kim Dokja’s surroundings went dark, he thought of how he wasn’t afraid of hating the words. No, he was afraid of facing the suffering he caused in his own dream. Something that could never be forgiven.
Feeling sorry wouldn’t save him though.
Kim Dokja just had to turn to the next page.