The Pause [Adopted Book]

One Last Problem

Cycle 8459:

It's been a strange couple of weeks. Reconnecting with Origin has been difficult, especially since I can't give away many details to my current life. I asked the village, and while many of the steves don't mind Origin knowing about them, it definitely wasn't unanimous. I have to respect those steves' wishes, (even if Lime doesn't spend much time in the village anyway.)

The village itself has been expanding rapidly. The new steves keep spawning in and making things interesting. Amber still wants to teach them how to prank, which doesn't help matters. Thankfully, Hypno's experience as Red Leader has really come in handy. He knows exactly how to make sure the village doesn't get overcrowded, as well as how to entertain large crowds of children.

It's kind of hilarious to see him walking around with five or six brightly-colored steves trailing after him.

A few days ago, Wish and Bright showed up at the village. Wish still seemed nervous around Blessing, but Bright was excited to meet all the new steves. It wasn't long before everyone convinced Wish to show off his illusion powers. I have to admit, they are pretty cool to watch. I hope he comes to visit more often, even if it's just to let Bright hang out with his new friends.

Overall, things are starting to calm down. I'm still struggling with the fact that the timeline is damaged beyond repair. Hypno thinks I'm silly, but I can't stop thinking about the fact that most of my old friends will never be created. I saw them for the last time and didn't even realize it.

Gotta cut this off, Ambe—____--------___

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"So... what are we doing here?" I couldn't help but scowl at the flat golden terrain. The heat was scorching, and sand was blowing into my eyes. Why did my brothers like such horrible places?

"We're trying to help Genesis." Dream explained. He looked no more comfortable than I was, but I could tell he was excited, even with his mask on. I wanted a mask now, if only to keep the sand away.

"Is this about his dragon?" I asked. "Because I'm pretty sure he'd be mad if we killed it." I knew he'd be mad. I'd offered once, and quickly decided never to bring it up again.

"It is about The Last Inferno." Dream admitted, starting the trek into the sand. "But we're not killing it." I swapped glances with Origin.

"I don't know any more about this than you do." my creator told me. "Only that Dream insisted that you be there." Some of my annoyance faded. Sure, this was the last place I wanted to be at the moment, but Dream had asked for me specifically. It had been over a year since the Aegir incident, but I still got nervous sometimes that my family didn't include me.

Even in stuff like this.

"Couldn't we have teleported closer?" I asked Dream. The dunes were proving difficult to walk through, and the colorful Desert Village seemed so far away.

"They can't teleport, Blessing." Dream reminded me. "They'll freak out."

"They aren't going to freak out." Origin huffed. He was just as tired as I was. A fine layer of sand clung on his pants, reaching up to knee height. Some was even caught in his hair.

"Well they won't be used to it. And I don't want to teleport on top of somebody by accident. It might hurt them."

So we continued through the sand, which became significantly easier when I remembered that I could fly, and no longer bothered with the shifting dunes. After that, it wasn't long before we reached the village. Thankfully, the winds had calmed down by then.