This was truly an unexpected surprise!
Although he had long known that the Endless Family also played a role in the DC Universe, he never thought he would meet a member of the Endless Family so early.
He had previously thought that the Endless Family would not turn their gaze to this Universe.
Since Death has already appeared, is there a possibility that the Dream Lord is also in this Universe?
Perhaps even on Earth?
The Dream Lord, whose true identity is "Dream," ranks third in the Endless Family, only after "Death."
The story of the Endless Family first appeared in "The Sandman," a work from DC's subsidiary, Vertigo Comics.
So, what is the Endless Family?
They are not gods, not demons, not humans, but the embodiment of seven concepts in the World.
In order, they are: Destiny, Death, Dream, Destruction, Desire, Despair, and Delirium.
Each member represents both sides of their respective symbolic concept.
"Destiny" symbolizes both uncontrollable fate and unrestrained freedom.
He constantly holds the "Book of Destiny," which is chained to his right hand and records the past, present, and future of the DC Universe.
It's similar to the Book of Ages in "Jackie Chan Adventures," so it can be said that "Destiny" knows everything about the DC Universe.
"Death" symbolizes both Death and life; without life, there is no Death, so when life is born, "Death" follows.
Thus, it is said that a person meets her twice in a lifetime: once at birth and once at Death.
But "Death" not only symbolizes the Death of living beings but also the demise and end of all things.
Once, a DC Universe was destroyed, and "Death" waited until everything in that Universe returned to nothingness before leaving, as if closing a door.
"Dream" symbolizes both illusory dreams and reality; without dreams, reality does not exist.
It is said that all gods are born in the Dream World and eventually return to dreams, somewhat akin to the concept of "Brahma's Dream."
Therefore, "Dream" knows the origins of most deities in the World.
"Destruction" symbolizes both the ruin of things and all creation; having seen through the ways of the World, he later chose to leave and not fulfill his duties.
"Desire" symbolizes both desire and hatred, and is the force that holds all things in the Universe together.
This fellow often uses his abilities to interfere with the duties of other members of the Endless Family; he's a troublemaker.
"Despair" and "Desire" are twins; she symbolizes both despair and hope.
She is incredibly ugly and is a being who died once and then revived.
"Delirium," also known as "Dementia" or "Madness," symbolizes both chaos and order, and is the definer of all rules and the guide of all madness.
She presides over a chaotic realm filled with many irregular things; she even knows some things that "Destiny" doesn't.
She was once the concept of Joy, but a certain event caused her to transform into Madness.
According to the lore, the Endless Family's status is higher than that of God and the Angels, and their Dream World is also higher than God's Heaven.
However, status does not equate to combat power; these seven conceptual embodiments, despite their incredibly high status, are actually akin to natural laws, and they have many restrictions on the use of their powers.
Although God cannot casually descend to the mortal World, he has many ways to project his power into the human World.
And most importantly, God is the combat power ceiling in the DC Universe, almost never falling short of his status.
However, the Endless Family, whose status is even above God, are often constrained by humans.
"Dream" in particular, even experienced being imprisoned by humans for seventy years.
He eventually escaped by relying on his endless lifespan to outlive the humans who imprisoned him... So, despite how incredibly powerful the Endless Family is in terms of lore, they only possess god-like dominion within their specific spheres of responsibility, a power that even God cannot defy.
For example, can God die?
"Destiny" has a small notebook that records the past and future fates of all living beings.
It clearly states that God also has an end.
And when God inevitably approaches Death, "Death" from the Endless Family will come to greet him.
However, in everyday life, the Endless Family cannot use their powers recklessly.
For example, "Dream" cannot kill people outside the Dream World unless it is clear that the person poses a threat to the Dream World.
This is also why he, as such a powerful conceptual embodiment, could be imprisoned by mere mortals.
Nevertheless, the Endless Family is still the most supreme and special family in the entire DC Multiverse.
In the DC Worldview, there are not a few destroyed Universes, yet the destruction of those Universes cannot shake the continued existence of the Endless Family.
As long as there is one life in the infinite Multiverse, the Endless Family will continue to exist.
And only when the entire DC Multiverse returns to nothingness will "Death" disappear.
In this World, many races that once claimed to be immortal and indestructible are, when viewed over extended timelines, merely "long-lived" species.
Only "Death" is truly immortal and indestructible, coexisting with all things in the Universe until the very end of all things.
And the God of Death, to put it plainly, is essentially an employee working for her.
Because countless beings die and are destroyed in countless Universes every day; how could "Death" handle it all alone?
So she usually only personally escorts those she finds agreeable, leaving most of the work to the various Gods of Death, merely allowing these Gods of Death to "earn a commission."
The reason she came to find Dane this time was also very simple: first, to see the newly employed "newcomer" and foster some goodwill—don't doubt it, "Death" is often quite down-to-Earth...
Everyone who has met "Death" says she is a caring older sister. Dane has seen her with his own eyes; whether she's caring or not is still unknown.
But she is quite *big*, and she's his type.
Second, "Death" has countless Gods of Death under her command, but none of them earned commissions as thoroughly as Dane, leaving her not even a single coin.
She was also very curious, so she came to see, and then discovered this little fellow Dane, who didn't follow the "rules" at all.
However... a beautiful smile appeared on "Death's" lips as she returned to the Dream World. She found Dane very interesting.
Not everyone has the courage to speak to her in that tone after knowing who she is.
At this moment, the family's eldest, "Destiny," silently approached: "Tellet, who did you just go to see?"
"Death" turned her head in surprise: "You don't know who I saw?"
"Destiny" said with a somber face: "I just discovered this problem myself. The Universe you went to, its timeline is very strange."
He opened the "Book of Destiny," and the fates occurring in that Universe constantly appeared and were constantly rewritten, as if a painter was sketching on it, dissatisfied, and then erasing and redrawing.
And it wasn't just the future that was like this; both the past and the future were uncertain!
"Destiny" had never seen such a situation before!
Assuming time is a line, even a power that transcends time can only create countless branching timelines at a single point in time, but cannot change the past of that timeline itself, because it is already determined.
For example, the Flash's actions to change the past can only create countless timelines that intersect at that moment, but cannot change the fact of his mother's Death on his own timeline.
But the Universe that "Death" just visited is different; it's as if an invisible hand is making alterations to the timeline itself, changing its past's color, changing its material, and even changing its weaving method!
The past of time is no longer certain, and the future is no longer certain; it has entered a state of chaos.
A certain entity is reshaping the reality on this timeline as it wishes!
And this situation occurred just now, just before "Death" returned here.
So "Destiny" had reason to suspect that "Death" had done something to cause this phenomenon.
The reason he was so serious was because the Dream Lord was currently trapped in that Universe, and he had to figure out what was going on.
"Death" immediately realized that the key point was with Dane.
But she didn't understand; Dane was just a demigod and didn't possess the ability to affect super-reality.
"Destiny" heard her explanation and said sternly: "He may not be able to now, but what about the future?"
"You gave him something, didn't you?"
"Death" nodded: "Just a small welcome gift."
It's normal for a superior to give a welcome gift to a new subordinate, right?
But "Destiny's" face darkened; this was not normal at all!