A Destination of Dreams

A / N: I'm so excited for the Sumeru update in Genshin! Unfortunately, I'm going to have to decide if I'm going to wait for Reiden Shogun's Rerun to get her C2, or if I spend it on the Sumeru's banners... And yes, the MC will look like Columbina.

----------

In a hospital in Rio de Janeiro, located in Brazil, a woman who appeared to be in her mid-thirties was hospitalized, lying under a hospital bed.

The woman was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, and after weeks in hospital, she only had a few hours to live.

In her room, the only people present to witness her last moments were the doctor in charge of her, the nurse who took care of her. and her grandmother.

No one in her family other than her grandmother came to visit her.

But none of that mattered to the woman, for she wasn't even awake. She was sleeping, in a deep sleep, and there was a small smile on his lips. She was probably having a good dream.

In her entire life, she has lived more in the dream world than in the real world. She always daydreamed when awake, and slept a lot more than a normal person.

Due to spending a lot of time in the dream world, she rarely interacted with her surroundings, including people. Nobody knew the reason for this peculiarity she had. Many speculated that she had mental problems, or some kind of disability, but after several tests, the only discovery was that she was healthy.

Unknown to them, she did have a problem. But it was neither psychological nor corporeal.

As the years went by, after becoming an adult, she never got a steady job as she was always fired for sleeping too much. Because of that, she was supported by her parents, who after so long, started to despise her and saw her as an outcast, as she did nothing but eat, watch Tv, and sleep.

Her parents, just by supporting her, didn't care about her anymore. The only person who still cared was her grandmother, who with a good chunk of retirement, took her to the doctor for a neural checkup every month.

When she turned thirty-two, a malignant brain cancer was discovered on her, which had already developed a lot.

Since it was impossible to perform surgery without killing her, her only alternatives were radiation treatments, which she rejected.

''I don't want treatment. In the end, I'm going to die, even if I hold out for a few more weeks, or months.'' She told the doctor and her grandmother. Her grandmother looked sad, and so did the doctor. But there was no sadness or fear in the woman's gaze. She didn't fear death.

What she feared most, was not being able to dream anymore.

Then, as a form of pity, so that she did not feel pain, and so that she could sleep peacefully, doses of morphine were injected into her every day, as this was her wish.

Then, in her third week in the hospital, with a smile on her face as she slept, she took her last breath.

<.>

In a completely white and infinite plane, a woman was sitting in front of a humanoid being made of light.

The enlightened being had three pairs of small wings on its head, as well as three pairs of huge wings on its back. This was the only feature the woman could make out of the glowing figure.

''...Hello?'' The woman said a little hesitantly.

The illuminated figure remained still, not moving. It looked like a statue.

After a few seconds, he shuddered and finally moved. The woman couldn't see his face, but she knew he was looking at her now.

''Haha! I'm sorry I was sleeping!'' The figure said while scratching his head in embarrassment.

''Oh...That's no problem. I know how good sleep is...'' The woman said in a sympathetic tone.

''Yes, of course you do!'' He responded with a clap. Somehow, she senses that the illuminated figure is smiling broadly at her.

''Well, let's go to the point! I know you're probably confused as you just died! But I know it doesn't matter to you!'' The figure said while gesturing to her.

The woman nodded calmly, confirming what he had said. She knew she had died, and she didn't really care.

''I brought you here because I want to offer you a proposal! But first, I must introduce myself!'' The figure said, and then stood up. The wings on his back opened and a golden aura radiated even stronger from him.

''My name is Hypnos! The God of Sleep! And...well, also God of dreams, nightmares, and so on...'' He proclaimed, a little outraged at the end.

The woman said nothing, just watched him calmly.

Hypnos, seeing that she had no reaction, was disappointed.

''Hey, aren't you a little surprised? I mean, I'm a God and all...''

The woman didn't answer, and just kept looking at him. In the next instant, she shivered, and blinked in surprise.

''I'm sorry, I kind of fell asleep. Did you say something?'' She asked with an apologetic tone.

'Sleeping with your eyes open? Hoho...she's good. I knew I wouldn't regret.' Hypnos thought with his hand on his chin, as if sizing up a Intern at a job interview.

''In short, I'm Hypnos the God of sleep, dreams, nightmares, and so on...and I called you here to make you a proposal!'' Hypnos repeated casually.

''Hypnos...? Your name is familiar to me, but I don't know where from...'' The woman muttered, completely ignoring the fact that he said he was a god.

Hypnos clapped his hands in front of the woman to get her attention, and she startled, ''Let's pay attention here, shall we? I have a serious proposal to make.''

''Oh yes...sorry.''

''Getting straight to the point. I want you to become Hypnos!'' He declared excited.

The woman, however, just tilted her head in confusion.

''Sorry, but could you elaborate better...?''

Hypnos grunted, ''Urgh! Do I really need to explain?! Explanations make me so sleepy...''

The woman said nothing, but agreed with him internally.

Hypnos then took a deep breath, ''Alright, I'll try to explain everything in one breath! See, obviously there are more gods besides me, but pretty much all of them are already 'dead', well, it's different for humans and gods, but whatever. Now it's time for me to retire, or 'die'. And falls between us, I would just die. But then I found you, the human being with the greatest connection with dreams, it's as if you were a daughter of mine! Because of this, at the last minute, I decided that I would offer everything I own to you!!''

''So... are you offering me something like an inheritance?'' The woman said, still a little confused.

''Well yes, that's basically it. If you accept, you will become the new Hypnos. Oh, just to be clear, Hypnos isn't really a name, it's more like a title or nickname, as no human would be able to hear or pronounce a god's true name.'' Hypnos explained.

''If I accept... will I be able to dream and sleep at will?'' The woman asked hopefully.

Hearing the woman's question, Hypnos bursts into laughter. ''But of course! Or rather, you will be living in the dreams most of the time!''

''So I accept!'' She said without hesitation.

Hypnos laughs again,''Perfect! That said, it's time to my retirement!''

The light covering Hypnos slowly began to leave his body, and began to enter the woman's body. The woman closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of euphoria and power that the light entering her body brought.

When almost all the light was absorbed by the woman, Hypnos said, ''Before I forget, information about your responsibilities, powers, and other things will be transferred to you along with my deity!''

With one last smile from Hypnos, all the divinity is transferred to the woman, and his body, now grey, slowly disappeared. However, he had a sincere smile on his face, happy to have found a successor, even though it wasn't necessary.

Hypnos had finally disappeared, and now only the woman remains on the empty plane, and after a few moments she opened her eyes again.