The Citadel that had stood in the center of the Vanishing Lake for thousands of years was all but destroyed in a battle between Changing Star and Moonveil. Now, it resembled a blackened ruin, with only the underground chambers remaining intact.

After the war, those who refused to join the Human Domain were exiled to the charred ruins. They cleaned most of the debris away and used them to raise a makeshift rampart, then built a modest settlement inside.

The homes built by the exiles still remained, but the exiles themselves were gone. Instead, a strange mix of people populated the Citadel now — some of them were Awakened warriors of the Fire Keepers, some were mundane humans, and some had no discernible affiliation. Rain even thought that she noticed the characteristic garments of the River People among them.

The settlement had been expanded and improved, with many new structures standing between the flimsy hovels. The hovels were built from the blackened wood, but the new additions were composed of stone and alloy.

Everywhere Rain looked, strange piles of stones were laid on the ground in neat rows. The stones made her skin crawl, so she looked closer and recognized them for what they were — the shattered remains of the ancient asuras that could be found in various ruins across Godgrave.

Some were hoisted on thick chains, hanging above ground like broken giants.

Tamar studied her with a subtle frown.

“What is all this? And where are the exiles?"

Rain hesitated for a moment before answering.

"Most of the exiles are dead, and those who survived the war are not exiles anymore. As for what these guys are doing... I am not sure. None of this stuff was here when I visited a few months ago."

But it wasn't difficult to surmise that whatever was happening in the Vanishing Lake had something to do with the encroaching apocalypse... simply because almost everything was. Now more than ever, it felt like humanity was at war — it was fighting for survival on countless fronts, and all things people did were meant to sustain and develop the war machine in one way or another.

“Let me find the person in charge of the Gateway. I'll get you guys back to the waking world in no time. Right... think about where you want to establish your tethers while I am gone. You are Ascended now, after all — you will never have to see the inside of a sleeping pod ever again."

Rain went to talk to the nearest Fire Keepers. Officially, the members of the Shadow Clan were all special government envoys, so they could travel anywhere they wanted without drawing attention.

This time, too, it did not take long for them to gain access to the Gateway. Standing in front of it, Rain sighed.

"Are you ready?"

Her friends responded by nodding silently. She smiled.

"Then let's go."

Traveling between the realms was not a simple affair these days. It used to be that only two types of Awakened populated the Dream Realm — those who had entered it in their sleep, and those who were Lost.

The former returned to their physical bodies after touching a Gateway, while the latter were doomed to remain in the Dream Realm forever — or until they conquered the Second Nightmare, at least.

But things were different now. Countless people had entered the Dream Realm through the Dream Gates, crossing the realm boundary in the flesh instead of merely in spirit. So, there was no sleeping body for them to return to.

The Gateway still worked for them, though, albeit the process was more complicated. The Masters returned to the place where they had placed their tether. Awakened were not capable of leaving a mark on the world yet, however, so the Spell did it for them — it sent them across the realm boundary to the spot in the waking world where they had been last.

There were only two exceptions to that rule. The first exception were the Lost, who did not possess a true body, and therefore could not return to the waking world. The second exception was mostly a theoretical one — it was the people who had never been to the waking world at all.

Before, there had been only two humans like that. One of them was Saint Ling, Effie's child — she carried him across the realm boundary herself, allowing him to leave an imprint on Earth. The other one was the Dreamspawn, who had been born in the Dream Realm. No one knew how he crossed the realm boundary for the first time, only that Clan Valor assisted him in that undertaking. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Now, however, there were myriad humans who had never been to the waking world. They were the River People... Rain was not sure if anyone attempted to throw one of them at a Gateway and see what would happen, but believed that there wasn't.

In any case, she and her companions could use the Gateway of the Vanishing Lake to return to Earth. All of them had entered the Dream Realm in the flesh, which was why the Spell sent them to the vicinity of the Seed they destroyed instead of returning them to their sleeping bodies before fusing their Dream Realm manifestation and the original physical shell together.

But they had come from the waking world, which meant that they could return home without the help of a Saint... or a friendly Supreme... if they wished to.

In fact, the friendly Supreme in question was in a more troublesome position.

Sunny usually accompanied Rain by hiding in her shadow, and he was about to cross the realm boundary with her. However, unlike her and the members of her cohort, he wasn't welcome on Earth. The waking world rejected his presence and strained to push him out, so he could only ever visit briefly.

So, Rain had not been spending a lot of time in the waking world.

She was only planning to use it as a waypoint between Godgrave and Bastion today, though, so it was not a big problem.

"It feels odd."

Tamar's voice was uncharacteristically subdued.

Rain looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

Her friend lingered for a moment.

"Just... returning to Earth. We spent so long in the Nightmare that, at some point, it was our lives in the real world that felt like a dream."

Tamar glanced down at her hands and slowly made them into fists.

"NQSC with its enormous alloy towers, maglev trains, and PTVs suddenly seems like an odd fairy tale."

Rain studied her for a bit, then shrugged with a smile.

“Yeah, I know what you mean. I have never challenged a Nightmare, but after spending most of my adult years in the Dream Realm, my previous life in the waking world feels like a dream."

Looking into the distance, Rain let out a wistful sigh.

“A beautiful dream... one that will be dispelled soon, disappearing without a trace."

She turned to the Gateway.

“It is strange to think that the waking world will only remain in our memories one day soon, isn't it?"

But not yet.

Soon, the six of them crossed the realm boundary and returned to Earth.