Chapter Text
The Dreaming was bright with sunshine when her bare feet hit the ground. She looked around with a smile. The trees in Fiddler's Green swayed in the warm breeze and the grass danced.
"It's good to see you too old friend." She looked towards the palace and the bright blue sky surrounding it. "It would appear someone else is in a good mood as well."
Next to her the flowing stream trickled gently over rocks and sparkles of reflected sunlight hit her face.
"Yes, I have been looking forward to seeing him as well. I better not keep him waiting."
She lifted her dark flowing skirt and hopped across the stones. She followed the path through the lush grass and towards the palace.
She hadn't seen Dream in years... decades. She had missed him. When Jessamy had shown up in The Waking she had been pleasantly surprised. He wasn't one to reach out often, so for him to invite her to The Dreaming for nothing more than a visit brought a smile to her face and a swell in her heart. As she crossed over the bridge a loud sound rumbled above her. She looked up expecting the vast belly of a dragon but her heart sank as the sky rumbled again and a black cloud rolled across the blue. She cast a worried look to the building in front of her and started to run. Whatever was going on inside was not going to be good.
"... so many things that I could do. Why won't you even consider it?" The Corinthian stood in front of his brooding master.
"We have been through this before... you are a nightmare. Your purpose is in The Dreaming. You are not to step foot outside this realm."
"If I am to reflect humanity then shouldn't I...."
"ENOUGH." Dream's voice rumbled with the thunder outside. His eyes glowed as his gaze darkened. "You will stand down from this request or you will spend time in the darkness."
Dream and The Corinthian stared at each other in anger until soft footsteps at the door broke the moment.
"Of course." The Corinthian muttered. He turned and stalked out of the room past the surprised newcomer. "Maybe you can get through to him Thea." He whispered and placed his hand on her shoulder as he passed, which didn't go unnoticed by Dream.
"I should have guessed Corinthian was the cause of your frustration." She sighed and she walked towards her friend.
Dream's face lost it's hostility as his lips twitched into a soft smile. "You always have had a soft spot for the nightmares." He held his arm out and she slid under it wrapping him in a hug.
"They are like unruly teenagers. Defiant. Angry. Hostile..... and exactly as you made them." She smirked at him before letting him go to sit down on the steps. "But honestly Dream, how could I not sympathise with a creation of shadow and night? Not everyone gets to be a thing of wonder and joy."
He looked at her. “Corinthian is trying to expand his role into the waking world, if he does so, I will have to rectify it. Permanently. We do not get to decide our purpose, our only obligation is to fulfil it.” He noticed the flash of hurt that passed her face before she smiled changing the subject.
"What shall we do today?" She jumped up and placed her hands on his arm. "You said you had something to show me? Lead the way Lord Dream of The Endless."
The two of them walked over the bridge and down to the side of the river. She sighed at the warm sun against her arms and turned her face to it.
“It is always so nice to come here and visit you my friend. I feel as though all my worries fade away the moment I set foot in Fiddler’s Green.”
He sat down on the cobbled embankment that looked out over the river filled with ships and small boats. She sat next to him hanging her legs over the edge so that her feet whispered against the water.
“I always wondered why you would use the shade of Fiddler’s Green’s trees to appear in The Dreaming... there are many shadows far closer to the palace than that. But then I heard you conversing with Fiddler’s Green and I realised you come to see them just as much as you do I.”
She nudged against him and laughed.
“Do not tell me you are comparing our centuries old friendship to my friendship with Fiddler’s Green? You are the one I come to see, everything else is just a bonus.”
He looked at her wanting to say something kind in return, but his thoughts drifted to the book instead.
“I found this the other day and thought you would appreciate reading it.” He pulled a small black book from his cloak.
Taking it in her hands she turned it over, running her fingers over the cover. “What is it?”
“It is the book which contains your earliest dreams.” He looked at her kindly. “I remember you saying that it had been so long since your childhood that you had forgotten what dreams and hopes little Thea had. I asked Lucienne to look and eventually she found it.”
They sat in silence for a moment, his heart swelling with pride to have finally found a gift that could show her that he wasn’t as closed off to her emotions as she believed.
“Thank you Dream. This means... a lot.” She smiled at him genuinely happy with the gift. He was relieved as her childhood was not always a good thing to bring up. Then his eyes watched in concern as slowly her smile faded to a soft frown. “But.... why did you give it to me here? Why aren’t we up in the library?”
Ah. She had him there.
“The library was... busier than usual today. I wanted to give you this where... it was just you and I.”
She searched his face.
“Oh” her face dropped and he had to strain to hear her next words. “You mean, you gave it to me out here so if I reacted poorly I wouldn’t affect your dreamscape.”
“That was not the only...”
She cut him off.
“For years I have spent time with your dreams, the nightmares, hell even Cain and Abel and in that time how many fights have there been?” She stood up the book forgotten at her feet.
“Three.” He ground out.
“Exactly. Three!” She shook her head at him. “Yes, my mother was a Hysminae, so yes, fighting and combat is in my blood. I know that I have that influence... but you know, dammit you know that I am tired of that influence Morpheus. You know how hard I work on keeping my temper. I would never willingly start a fistfight in the middle of the library.... or anywhere in The Dreaming.”
He automatically bristled at her anger and if it had been anyone else speaking to him that way they would have been sent from The Dreaming or thrown into darkness.
“Thea, my responsibility is to The Dreaming. As much as you mean to me, it must always come first.”
Her eyes narrowed and she shook her head.
“How are you not getting this? I am not saying I expect you to put me first, I’m saying that you should know I would never hurt your world. These are my friends too.”
“I know you would never hurt them intentionally. But your purpose...”
She stepped closer to him her voice tight and muscles tense.
“I was not born to purpose as you, nor made to purpose as The Corinthian. At birth I inherited a set of skills..... ones that should not define who I am or how I live....” She visibly deflated, letting out a long sad sigh “and yet, that is ALL they seem to do.”
“I’ve angered you.”
“No. You’ve upset me. And therein lies the difference. I am not all fury and fight. I can hurt. I had hoped after all these years you would have finally realised that.” She looked at him with the hope that he could see how much his actions had hurt her.
He however was frustrated that his gift had not been accepted for the token it was. He was angry that they were spending her visit arguing, which was not his intent. This morning he had been so excited to give her his gift and it had all backfired.
“This has been a waste of time.”
Before she realised what she was doing she had swung her fist the Dream lord’s face, connecting with his ivory cheek. The crack of it sounded between them.
“Now. Now I am angry Morpheus.” She looked at his reddening cheek and the warning glow in his eyes. “You push and push and when it all boils down to it...” She sighed looking down to her balled fist. “I just prove your point.” She fought against the tears welling in her eyes. “Maybe I am nothing more than the conflict I incite. Are you happy now?” A sob escaped her and he stared at her unmoving. “I’ll leave you to your responsibilities, Dream of The Endless. I wont be taking any more of your precious time.” She brushed past him hoping he would stop her but knowing he wouldn’t. Within ten steps she had reached the shade of the bridge and her form faded away.
Dream bent down to pick up the book and ran his fingers softly over her name on it’s spine.
That had not gone well.
Dream walked into the throne room, Thea’s book held in his hand. Lucienne popped her head around the door behind him.
“How did it go my Lord?”
Dream didn’t reply. He merely lifted his hand and the door slammed shut leaving Lucienne out in the corridor and him alone with his thoughts.
Outside rain began to fall and the Corinthian smiled. Thea may not have talked the Dream Lord around to his plight, but she had created the perfect distraction.
After several days sitting in her room tearful and morose Thea felt a scratching under her skin. Her knuckles where she had hit Dream were warm and content but the rest of her was literally itching for a fight. She stepped out of her dress and into some jeans and a long sleeved top. She grabbed her keys and slid into the shadow.
Within seconds she was standing in the middle of a crowd under the shade of a large banner. She didn’t care what these people were here for. She ignored their chants for justice, for retribution, whatever the hell their pathetic minds were in such a tizz about. No she was here for one thing. If Dream wanted her to fulfil her purpose.... right now she was more than happy to do so.
She let her frustration and pain well within her. Her body vibrated with the potential energy. She stepped forward and touched the man in front of her on the shoulder. His muscles tensed and he turned throwing a fist at her. She dropped beneath his arm and the woman standing next to her was stuck down. The crowd around her gasped. The moment hung heavy in the air before fighting erupted and spread out.
Thea tried not to smile as she dodged fists and feet. One woman swung her bag at her which Thea caught in one hand. The woman looked shocked for a moment before the bag rushed back at her and smashed right into her face. Thea stepped over the woman’s bleeding form on the ground and she kicked out at the man next to her.
Fifty minutes later Thea sat under the protestors banner picking blood out from under her nails. All the people had gone, either having fled or been dragged away by police and ambulance staff. She thanked her Father’s blood for the gift of hiding in plain sight. No one could see the woman sitting in the shade, she was just a whisper out the corner of their eye, a shadow when she chose it. At least daddy dearest had given her a gift she appreciated. Mother... not so much. She glanced around at the mess left behind. Shoes, bags, blood, at least three teeth.... she felt self disgust well in her belly and she forced it down. Morpheus’ voice echoed in her mind “We do not get to decide our purpose, our only obligation is to fulfil it.” She felt the anger in her rumble again; the beast no longer sated. With a sigh she closed her eyes and shifted to her next appointment.
In the darkness. In the darkness. In the darkness. In the darkness. In the darkness. In the darkness.
The Corinthian looked at the mortal who had managed to capture his master. He almost chuckled at the frail man who had no idea the job he had ahead of him.
“You're gonna need all the help you can get. You must ensure that he never escapes.”
“The binding circle is intact.”
“The circle will not be enough. You must construct a sphere of glass inside the circle to contain Dream's physical manifestation. No one must be allowed to fall asleep in his presence, no one, or he will escape into your dreams. And you don't want that. You’re also going to want to stop another being from getting in... here is a list of herbs you’ll need. Oh and you’re going to need to construct a few other additions to your house ”
Burgess took the folded piece of paper from his guest.
“Why are you helping me? What... what is he to you?”
The Corinthian smiled. “Well, you could say that he made me what I am today. And if he ever gets free...” his smiled dropped “he could take it all back.” He looked up into the tree. “We're being observed.”
Burges looked around seeing nothing.
“What? There's nobody here.”
The Corinthian smirked “Always assume someone is there. Many things hide in the shadows.” He picked up a rock and threw it into the tree pulling a caw from the raven that had been sitting in it’s branches. “Well, you'll have to deal with that one. Her name is Jessamy. She belongs to him. Best of luck... to the both of us.”
Thea sat at the bar nursing her sixth whiskey. But who was counting. The older female bartender certainly wasn’t. Thea had made a promise never to fight where she drinks so after a bar fight earlier in town she had walked to her favourite local bar for a drink or ten. The best thing about this particular bar was that it was almost always empty. Barb was always happy for Thea to drink whatever she wanted and never questioned the bruises and grazes. The only rule was that Barb always closed up at midnight and went upstairs to her little flat above the bar. Thea had no problem with that. Looking at the clock Thea drank the last of her whiskey and placed the glass on the bar.
“Cheers Barb.”
“All good love. See ya next time.”
Barb walked the younger woman out, pulling the bar door shut behind her and locking it. Barb offered her one final smile before pulling the blinds.
Thea stepped out into the streetlight. She was exhausted from a day of fighting. Her body hummed in a satisfied ache. She would sleep well tonight. Behind her a truck pulled up, it’s motor rumbling. The headlights lit the street and Thea turned. She frowned at the truck. She hadn’t seen it when she stepped out. She moved to the side waving them on. The truck revved for a moment and Thea recognised the occupants as two men she had fought earlier in the night. Her eyes searched around for the nearest shadow. In an instant the truck was hurtling towards her and Thea started running. She felt her heart racing as she realised with the combination of the streetlight and the headlights there was no close safety. Within seconds her body made a sickening crunch against the bull bar of the truck. She flew up into the windscreen and over the roof. Her body landed with a sickening crack against the road. The truck sped off leaving her under the streetlight twisted and broken.
Thea lay face down on the ground. She groaned at the pain radiating through her body. She couldn’t feel her legs and glancing down at them she saw them bent at odd angles. Her breath wasn’t easily returning to her body and she noticed her sight darkening around the edges. She welcomed sleep, for it was her only chance of calling for help. Surely Morpheus would hear her. The Dream Lord would come.
She was encompassed in darkness. Complete and empty.
“Morpheus? Dream.... please.” Her voice echoed around her. Where was he? Surely he wouldn’t leave her like this. “Dream.... please, I need you.”
Pain hot and bright flashed through her and the darkness disappeared. She was back on the ground broken and alone. She looked up and noticed she was about ten meters from a phone booth that cast a shadow against the building. Slowly she pulled her body towards it. Her legs dragged behind as her hands clawed at the tarseal. She finally pulled her body into the shadow and with a sigh she blurred into the darkness.
Jessamy heard Thea’s cries. She knew she had to get her Lord out of his captivity and fast. She would start a fire to distract the captors and then would attempt to free him.