A few minutes earlier...
Mordred slept, a bit uneasily, against the bars of her cell. A little golden spiral slowly emerged from her. She was dreaming. The small ripple made its way out of the prison and slowly moved across space and time and non-existence, until it reached a hand that was searching for it.
Sandman' eyes opened as he suddenly smiled.
"Rodion, Rodion!"
"What's the matter, William?"
"I found her."
"Who?"
"Mordred!"
"Really? But how?"
"Well, I figured she had to sleep too. And if she's sleeping, then she must be dreaming too."
"Good.. but what do we do now?"
"I'm going to bust her out."
"Hold on a second, isn't that dangerous?"
"Yeah, extremely. I already foresaw it through a prophetic dream. It doesn't end well for me. But hey, if it serves the purpose of rescuing Mordred, that's fine."
"Hold on... why? Why are you like this?"
"Because I already had a happy and fulfilling life and I want everyone who didn't have such luck to have a second chance. I'm sorry, Rodion, you might think I'm leaving you behind. but I'll still be with you... in your dreams."
"It's only natural that this would happen... life is-"
"A gift you have to enjoy, precisely. Now listen well, I'll have one of my dreams escort you to a place where you will be able to find other people that will help you... and you will help them."
"... fine, I'll respect your wishes. Thank you for everything, William."
"Thank you for accompanying me, Rodion. And remember... you're not a monster, you're just a man. And that's more than enough."
"I'll keep that in mind... good luck."
"Later!"
Sandy entered the dream and began moving inside it, following the path it had made to reach him. He kept walking across several visions, visions of castles, of battles, of regret, of hope. Finally, he reached his destination.
"Mordred!"
"Huh?"
"Modred! I'm here!"
"Sandy?"
"Yes, that's me."
"How did you find me?"
"In your dreams."
"Can you stop with this-"
"No, no, I mean we're literally in your dream right now."
"Oh, ok. Weird..."
"Well, I'm here to bust you out."
"How do you intend to do that?"
"You'll see. But now you have to wake up."
"How am I supposed to do t-"
Mordred suddenly wake up. She looked around. Arjuna and the other prisoners were also there, more or less asleep.
"It really was just a dream..."
"Obviously."
"Huh? San-"
"Shhh... do you think that Alaya's fine with what I'm doing? No, obviously not, she'll think that what I'm doing is going to spoil her and Gaia's fun."
"What are you talking about?"
"Not important now. Hey, everyone, wake up... it's your lucky day, I'm going to free you."
Sandman heard a noise behind himself.
"Oh dear, they already know. Quick Pilgrim, stop them."
The sound of steps could be heard.
"What's going on here?"
Pilgrim transformed into a giant T-Rex and attempted to chop down on Alaya.
"I see, a prison break, huh?"
"Quick, everyone get out! Crawl inside this golden circle!"
As all the hostages entered the yellow portal, Gaia snapped her fingers, cutting the dinosaur in half and grabbing Pilgrim, shredding him to pieces.
"What a mess, they're escaping!"
"Not for long."
"Where are you looking, Will of Humanity? I'm your opponent."
Sandy threw some dreamdust in the air and it formed a circle that surrounded himself and Alaya. There was a bright flash, and both of them were transported into a strange place.
The ground was made up of what looked like and felt like clouds, but everything was golden. A large palace could be seen far away.
"I see, so this is the Realm of Dreams... this is... Dreamland."
"Yes, this is my reign."
"Why are you so willing to risk your life for people you barely know?"
"Is this a joke? You seem to be quite intelligent, and yet you can't grasp such a simple concept... I'm a hero. No, not just that... I'm the dream of the great King of Heroes. I'm William Slummer, the oldest dream, King of Dreamland!"
"You think you can beat me because of home advantage?"
"No, I can't beat you, but you can't either. It's impossible. Without dreams, what power would humanity have? What good would humans be if they couldn't dream, if they didn't have hope?"
"..."
"Also, as I said, this is my reign... and as king... I'm not alone."
In the blink of an eye, thousand of floating orbs, some golden, some black, some pink, some with a rainbow pattern stood behind Sandman. As they morphed, a golden pirate ship appeared, then a unicorn, a giant lollipop, a bag full of spiders, a moking bully, a loving father, a tree made of banknotes.
"This will be the last stand of humanity's dreams."
A couple of minutes later...
"Oh, hey, you're back."
"Yep."
"Did you kill him?"
"Of course."
"Mm, took you long enough."
"He did have the home advantage."
"What a lousy excuse. In any case, where are our hostages?"
"I don't know. Inside a dream, most probably. He has hidden them well."
"Well, can't you find them?"
"I might be able to, but... hehe, damn you, King of Dreams... you really always have your way..."
"What are you saying, Alaya?"
"Gaia, tell me, doesn't this prospect intrigue you?"
"What prospect?"
"Not having a clue about what's going to happen, not knowing where they are, and knowing that no one else does either?"
"Mmm, now that you mentioned it, that does sound exciting..."
"Damn Sandman... you were watching our dreams too, and foresaw that you could free those guys on account of making things more interesting... well played, we'll have it your way... for now."
A few hours later...
Saber fell asleep in her bed inside the makeshift house they had built for the night. She felt exhausted, and in a way overwhelmed... despite everything they had gone through, this was not even the true beginning of their journey... her eyes closed and her mind wandered elsewhere... and inevitably ended up conjuring an image of her daughter.
"Father?"
"..."
"Is that really you?"
"... my mind can truly be cruel sometimes, making me see things I can't reach."
"Father, it's me, Mordred."
"I know, I know... but... you're just a dream... you're not really here."
"No, no, I'm literally here, look at me."
"I see you so clearly... if I didn't know I was dreaming, I would have thought it really was you..."
As Artoria looked on with a saddened look, Modred rushed to hug her.
"Father... it's really me... wait, I can prove it to you... here, take my sword. When you wake up, if you have it in your hands, it means it's really me."
Everything suddenly got wonky and wobbly. Artoria's eyes slowly opened, her cheeks slightly wetted by tears. She sighed, as the sun gently caressed her face, and got up. She massaged her head slowly, and was about to get up when she felt something hard pressed against her. She looked down and noticed a red sword.
Everyone in the building jumped up in surprise when they heard a scream.
"What the hell is going on?"
"Ugh... I was still sleeping..."
"Saber, what's happening?"
"Modred...Mordred gave this to me..."
"What are you blabbering?"
"Quick, Archer, give me something to make me fall asleep."
"Why? Why do you-"
"Come on, do it!"
"W-w"
"Fine, I'll do it myself."
Saber concluded angrily as she took Clarenth and used it to knock herself out.
"Modred... Modred! Where are you?"
"Father... you're back..."
"Mordred... it really is you..."
Artoria could barely hug her as she was overwhelmed by joy, but, after a while, she managed to regain her composure. Mordred recounted how Sandman had freed her and the other prisoners and told her about the true intentions of Alaya and Gaia.
"Those bastards... keeping you away from me for their twisted entertainment... I'll make them pay..."
"Wait, Father. I heard them talking about what's going on in the world. You have to defeat the Grand Servants, before they make reality collapse."
"I know, I'll defeat them and those two, I'll kill anyone who threatens my, your, and everyone's peace. Come on, let me pull you out of here."
"You can't, we're in a dream right now, so they can't see us, but if you pull me out, they'll see it and come back to get me. I'll keep moving between dreams and training until I'm strong enough to stand by your side, Father. I'll make you proud."
"I'm already proud of you, my daughter. You'll come visit me every now and then?"
"Of course. Don't forget to tell me all about your exploits."
"I sure will."
"I think it's better if we say goodbye now, Father, before we grow too attached to this."
"You're right. See you soon, Mordred."
"See you soon, Dad."
"*gasps for air*"
"Good Gods, Saber! What were you thinking? It was a good thing I was nearby or you would've hit your head..."
"Archer, gather everyone for breakfast, I have important news to share."