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man-i-need-my-fics · 2 years

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As If It Might Turn Out This Time (I Learned That From A Friend Of Mine)

MASTERLIST

Continuation of Death of a Dream

An epilogue to The Sins of The Waking Hours.

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MINORS DO NOT INTERACT. IF ANY OF YOU TAG NEIL GAIMAN I SWEAR TO G-D.

Her brow is furrowed in confusion at the familiar sight before her, but she doesn’t speak till he enters.

“You know, I wouldn’t think a BDSM club would even serve food.” Kasey remarks, watching a man choke to death as Desire looms in the background.

Morpheus hums apathetically. “You would be surprised at the… creativity of human sexuality.”

“I mean I’m not surprised.” She lets out a little hmm sound as the vision loops. “I guess this one didn’t really have anything to do with the war. But I don’t know why The Fates would show it to me a 3rd time?”

“Perhaps you have unfinished business?” He suggests softly.

Kasey shrugs, letting the vision fade into nothingness. “War’s done. To what my I owe this visit, Dream Lord?” She asks wryly.

Morpheus rolls his eyes. “We are far beyond such formalities, Kasey Faidh.” She eyes him, and he continues. “Is it so unbelievable that I might want to visit a friend?”

Kasey laughs to herself. “Maybe. Still don’t believe I’m not wasting away in some eternal nightmare. And you look like you need something.” He opens his mouth to speak, but she beats him to it. “Yes, need, Morpheus. Believe it or not you do indeed need people.”

He purses his lips, gives her a warning look, but relents after a moment. “Will you walk with me?” He asks softly.

Kasey nods, takes his arm in hers as the hollow dreams vibrates into luscious woods. “You must really need something if you’re making it this nice.”

“I only drew from your memory.” He assures in a voice that’d put her to sleep if she wasn’t already. They just walk, the two of them, together in silence for a while. Sunlight peaks through the canopy of old oak and birches around them. Songbirds sing from their branches. A creek gurgles in the distance. “Have you seen or heard from Nada since Lucifer left?” Morpheus finally asks.

Kasey frowns, shakes her head. “No.” She answers simply, grasping his arm a bit tighter. “I don’t think she liked me. I can’t imagine she’d seek me out. Why?”

“I cannot find her in The Dreaming.” He admits solemnly. “I had hoped, perhaps, you’d given her the ring.”

“Hoped?”

“Having not done so means she’s still there. Lucifer fell through on her end of the bargain. It is disappointing. She is, despite everything, usually so good about her deals.” Morpheus sighs, glances up through the treetops to the light above. “This place is beautiful.”

“It is.” She agrees, smiling at his subtle sense of wonder. “I suppose you’ll be paying her a visit, then?”

“I suppose I’ll have to.” He looks back to her, all starry eyes and regret. “Though, I do admire your attempt to circumvent me in her freedom.”

“Oh you admire me, do you?” Kasey laughs.

“I do.” He insists. “Humans are easy to harm. Easy to kill. And though you may believe the choices you’ve made to be easy ones, because you think little of yourself, and you were the one to make them, they were not.”

Kasey laughs, but doesn’t have it in her to make it convincing. “My choices weren’t easy or hard. They weren’t choices at all. What else was I supposed to do? Leave her there?”

“I did.” He pauses as a deer crosses their path. “I had the choice to free her and did not make it. Freeing her myself now would mean I was always capable of doing so. Was always capable of not imprisoning her in the first place. And I was not strong enough to face that part of myself.”

Kasey squeezes his arm reassuringly. “Yeah, well… don’t get all in your head about it now. Or else she’ll be struck there forever. I’m not seeing Hell till I die. And even then, I suspect I won’t have the kind of sway I had going in before.”

“Hell only exists for those who believe in it.” He offers.

“Well I’ve been there. Can’t exactly not believe in it anymore. That’s like not believing in the moon, isn’t it?” She questions, shoving against him playfully.

He shoves back, but only a little. “How very human of you to think knowing something is the same as believing it.”

“How very human, that an insult Dream Lord?”

“I have learned, quite recently, that to be human is no insult indeed.” He admits, smiling at her. Yes, actually smiling. “Thank you for that.”

Kasey smiles back, holds onto him as tight as she can. “Don’t go thanking me, Morpheus. Makes it sound like you’re dying.”

“You have seen it.”

“Knowing something and believing it are very different things, are they not?” She wraps an arm around his waist, and he lets her. “And belief has power. Dreams have power. Maybe if I— no, we, dream harder enough we can change the ending. Maybe you won’t be so ready for Death by the time she comes to take you. Or— or maybe seeing the paved trail beforehand will help you look for footpaths to diverge from. If there is anything I know about the future, it’s that the possibilities are endless.”

“You have such… hope, don’t you? Despite everything.” Morpheus admires her for that bit, at least. Among other things.

“Maybe your story is told.” Kasey sniffles, resting her head on his shoulder. “Maybe I’m a fool to hope otherwise for its ending. But there’s some value in that, isn’t there? In telling a story and hoping this time, somehow, everything falls into place and it turns out okay? I can bear endings, I think. As long as they’re happy.”

“I think, perhaps, that is the most human thing of all: tragedies on loop again and again and again and again until they end well. Your kind rage against injustice, no matter how cosmic. You do not so easily accept Fate, Destiny.”

Kasey pulls away, faces him entirely. “Of course we don’t! What kind of sad sack looks some schlob like Destiny in the eye and just says Yeah, okay. That’s how it ends. I’ll take what I can get.”

“That is my brother you’re insulting.” Morpheus warns playfully.

Kasey shrugs. “Even so, Dream Lord. I say you take the book of Destiny. Get yourself some white out and a real, real good pen. And rewrite your story a bit. Maybe you can’t change the past, but there’s no time like the present. Live like a human, for once.”

“Perhaps. Death does it once a year. I could afford myself some hubris, for a day.” He’s not sure if he means it. He had seen himself in the vision, somehow even more exhausted than he was now. But it pleased Kasey to think he’d change his path. Change at all, really. And human lives were so fleeting, he could give her this. This hope. This lie. This truth. He wouldn’t know which until the time came.

“That’s the spirit!” She cheers, smile so wide it crinkles her eyes. “You got time to stick around?”

He shakes his head. “No. I’m sorry, but no. I think Nada has waited long enough for her freedom.

“Yeah… Yeah, I think so too.” Kasey agrees, taking his hand and squeezing it. “Don’t be a stranger, okay? And send her my best. Tell her I can help her get set up in the waking world, if she wants. And, by fucking god, apologize?”

“I will.” He assures, squeezing her hand back.

“Good.” She sniffles, though barring disaster, they’d meet again. “Till we meet again, then?”

“Till we meet again.” He agrees.

Kasey awakes peacefully to a phone call. In her grogginess, she barely manages to answer before it goes to voicemail. “Hello?” She groans.

“Hey babes,” Laura, her agent, replies in that rushed manner she always spoke. “Don’t ask me how, you know I’ve been sending your demo everywhere and no one will sign you, but how’d you like to write a song for a movie?”

“A movie?” Kasey questions, sitting up and rubbing at her eyes.

“Yeah, a movie. A film. Heard of ‘em? They’ve been around longer than your or I have and that’s saying something on my end.” She pops her gum as she speaks. “You in or not?”

“I mean… yeah. Obviously I’m in. Kind of need the money. But what movie?” She asks, rising to make herself a pot of tea.

“What’s it matter? No one’s hiring you!” Laura scoffs. “But anyways it’s this great little studio feature. Based off a book by this cute kid, she’s younger than you are. Into The Night, you ever heard of it?”

“It’s been selling like crazy at the bookshop. But I haven’t read it, no. Should I?” She sets her kettle on the flame.

Laura scoffs. “Oh, you wouldn’t believe. That Rose Walker had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. And you should be glad, she practically begged for you from what I heard.”

Dream lingers at the gates of Hell. Someone should have greeted him by now. Someone should have let him in.

“You sure this is a good idea, boss?” Matthew chirps.

“No.” Dream admits, pushing the gates open himself. “But it must be done.”

Hell is eerily empty as they retrace their path from before.

It was surprisingly easy to get into kink clubs you weren’t a member of, Kasey found. When the man chokes, she steps before the crowd from her hiding place, shoves her fingers down his throat, pulls the infernal hors d’ouevre from lips and tosses it aside.

Desire looks almost scared to see her. Shocked, for certain. But Kasey traces them down regardless.

“I suppose Dream sent you?” They try to say it haughtily, but Kasey knows fear when she sees it.

“Oh no.” Kasey assures with a Cheshire grin to match theirs. Though, hers was significantly more authentic. “I don’t do the Dream Lord’s dirty work. Only my own.”

“You can’t kill me.” They scoff.

“I don’t want to. I just thought, perhaps, I should warn you of what happens when you finally manage to draw that blood you’re so desperate to.” Kasey reaches out, takes their hand before they can object. “And remind you that The Fates have chosen me as their vessel.”

She takes a breath, and in an instant they both see it. It’s not the way it’s fated to be, by any means. But in seeing every possibility, Kasey found herself able to spin the future into a web of her creation. In her mind, at least. There were too many moving pieces to make it so herself, but if she clips together a few scenes. The Furies coming in their rage. Leave out the part where it’s for Dream. Desire striking Dream. Start after Dream hits first. This one isn’t very likely anyways. Most importantly, the utter emptiness within Desire when Dream finally does die. That bit was important. If Kasey Faidh was not powerful enough to change the Dream Lord herself, she’d outsource. Make Desire do it on the vague threat of either destruction or, worse, boredom.

“…Why?” Desire gasps after a moment.

Kasey shrugs. “Kill Dream or let him kill himself, and there will be consequences. That’s all.”

“Oh. Dream Lord.” Lucifer sighs, back against the wall as she sits upon the floor of her throne room. Her white dress is stained crimson red from where she tried to cut off her wings. But she couldn’t get the angle right. Only made a mess of the whole affair. Blood abound in the empty, hollow throne room. “You’re here.”

“Where are your demons?” Morpheus asks softly, approaching cautiously.

“I’ve sent them away.” Lucifer answers simply. As though it were simple. “Every demon and damned soul gone.”

“Why?” He glances to the knife on the rugged tile. Gore and viscera and feathers cover it. He can’t help but pity her a bit.

“I’m giving up.” She shrugs. “Tried to cut off my wings. Didn’t get far.”

Morpheus watches her carefully. “And Nada?”

“Nada?” She wracks her memory. It’s hard to focus with all the blood. At least, when it’s hers. “Oh. Yes. Nada. I released her quite a while ago. Once I returned from The Dreaming. Why? Is she not there.”

“She is not.” He affirms.

“The demons knew of her importance to you. You may have to fight one of them for her.” Her head makes a thud against the wall when she relaxes against it. “I kept to my end of the bargain. Thought maybe I shouldn’t for a moment. But, then again, your Prophet did save me a good deal of heart ache, didn’t she?”

“She has a habit of trying, at least.”

“Will you cut off my wings?”

“Yes.” His answer comes quick, but the Morningstar had kept to her word. And he would not deny her such a comfort. He picks up the knife, ruby droplets against his pale skin. Lucifer rises. Turns her back to him. She doesn’t gasp when he cuts through the hollow bone of her wings. Kind of sighs in satisfaction. As though he were a mouse plucking a thorn from a lion’s paw.

“Thank you, Dream.” She says pleasantly. Turns and faces him with a smile that was miles away from the arrogant one she had displayed him before. “The Lord of Dreams is honorable indeed.” She takes his hand, presses something in it, closes his fingers around it.

“You are welcome, Morningstar.” He says in turn, glancing to what she had given him. Keys, he realizes. But when he glances back to her, she’s already gone.

“So I guess that means you’re the ruler of Hell now?” Matthew chirps, eyeing the dark, rusted metal.

He’s numb for a moment, Dream. Numb before he realizes what must be done. “Return to The Dreaming for me, Matthew—“

“And leave you here in Hell, alone?” He flaps a wing. “No way.”

“Return to The Dreaming and tell Lucienne what has happened.” Morpheus slides the keys into the pocket of his robe. “After that, find Kasey and tell her I’m looking for Nada. That I will find her, free her— make amends. But for now, Hell must have a ruler. I cannot leave it unattended.”

“Right, boss. And then back here?”

Morpheus nods. “You will be vital in the coming days, Matthew. Vital in my communications with Lucienne and my siblings and… Kasey.”

#dream x reader #dream of the endless #lord morpheus #the sandman netflix #dream x oc #morpheus x oc #morpheus x reader

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man-i-need-my-fics · 2 years

Text

Death of a Dream

MASTERLIST

Continuation of Dreams of Loneliness

Hell stands at the gates of The Dreaming, but perhaps The Fates have other plans for The Nightmare King and his Prophet.

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Dream x OC Mature 9.1k

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MINORS DO NOT INTERACT. IF ANY OF YOU TAG NEIL GAIMAN I SWEAR TO G-D.

“Lucienne!” The Corinthian calls out, half-limping from the extra weight as he drags Dream through the sands of The Dreaming. “Lucienne!” He calls again, readjusting his grasp on Dream. “You better hope she hears me, I ain’t staying here much longer either way.”

“My lord?” Lucienne calls back, running through the dark sands of The Dreaming with a frightened expression. “My lord!” Her eyes widen when she finally sees the state of him. “The Corinthian? What did you do!”

“I didn’t do anything. He sent me after that mortal girl and surprise-surprise, she bested him.” He shoves Dream off into Lucienne’s arms. “Not that I didn’t help, of course. But all that damage is her.”

Lucienne almost cries at the damage done to Dream’s frail body, struggles to hold him up. “You helped her hurt him?” She chokes, glaring at The Corinthian. “My lord, are you alright?”

Dream tries to stand on his own, take some of his weight off Lucienne at least, but fails. “I’m… fine.” He assures with a weak cough. “But we must—“ He coughs again, almost violently this time. “We must…” Dream starts to fall again, Lucienne almost coming down with him.

The Corinthian sucks at his teeth and sighs. He tosses his jacket to the side, rolls up his sleeves, and takes Dream’s other side. “May as well.” He mutters, solely to himself.

“What are you doing?” Lucienne questions skeptically.

The Corinthian lets out a kind of hmm noise. “Helping you get him back to the castle?” He answers, as though it were a question itself. Lucienne is halfway through a why before he speaks again. “I don’t know either, Lucienne. But I’m not here to stay. So, let’s get back so I can go.”

She watches him for a moment more before finally just accepting the help and dragging Dream through the sands in tandem with The Corinthian.

“What happened to you?” Desire asks, stepping around a broken lamp.

Kasey glances to them, bone tired and pissed as all hell. “Dream sent The fucking Corinthian after me.”

“You might be starved of sleep, but he’s absolutely losing it.” Desire stretches themself over Kasey’s sofa, smiling. “Can’t believe all it took was a mortal woman and some light dream magic.”

Kasey wraps a cardigan around her, grabs her messenger bag. Hell was cold enough on its own, but there was something about sleep deprivation that robbed her body of its natural warmth. “Let’s just go. I’ve some changes to the plan I want to make.”

“Whatever you say, Prophet.” They take her hand, and the two are gone in a cloud of peachy mist.

Hell feels colder than before, its fires brighter. The sunglasses aren’t enough. Not for Kasey, at least.

“Kassandra Faidh, how glad I am you could make it.” The Morningstar greets with a pleasant smile. “Mazikeen is ready to take you to Nada.”

“Thank you, my sovereign. I will always remember the kindness with which you’ve regarded me in this time.” Kasey bows a bit, and The Corinthian’s words echo through her mind. I ain’t kind, Kasey. Nice, maybe. But nice is different than kind. And perhaps that was true of The Morningstar too. Though, she was considerably less honest about it. Perfectly willing to let Kasey believe her to be something she simply was not. Kasey would like to think she appreciated honesty. In the very least, she appreciated that Desire was willing to tell her what the hell was going on. But there’s a part of her. A very big, very loud part of her that prefers nice lies to kind truths. Perhaps that’s what Dream was, a being of infinite cruel kindness. Infinite honesty. His refusal of her. Of her affection. Of her desire for friendship then an extension of that. Like the fae kings of old, incapable of lying. Even if it would benefit them. Even if it would benefit her. Because, yes. Even as much as Kasey likes to pretend to be the kind of person that prioritizes honesty above all, she too knows herself as the desperate creature willing to hang onto a nice lie for all it’s worth. Dream could have crafted that, a nice lie for her to live in. The lie of his regret. The lie of his affection. The lie of his apology.

But alas, Dream was not the kind of creature to craft such intricacies. And beyond that, Kasey was not the kind of creature to believe them if he did. As much as she wanted to.

Kasey lingers in Nada’s room. Bag full of gifts. No, offerings. She doesn’t speak. Doesn’t want to ruin it.

“I do not like this book you have brought me.” Nada finally says, tossing it at her feet. “This Gaiman of yours is very ignorant of women, do you not agree?”

Kasey can’t help but laugh. “Rocky love life, that one.” She agrees, picking the novel up and stuffing it in her bag. “I’ve also got some Beverly Jenkins, if you want.” She offers. Yes, offers. Sets it upon Nada’s vanity as though she were a god herself worthy of worship. For all intents and purposes, to Kasey at least, she was.

“Why do you come?” Nada asks, eyeing the paperback. “You know I do not like you. You know I do not like this war.”

Kasey shrugs, setting the other things she brought next to the novel. “Just want to make sure you’re okay. Make sure they’re not torturing you, or anything.”

Nada nears, steps soft against the stone floor. She purses her lips, takes Kasey’s hands in hers. “You are kind. Why are you so intent upon cruelty?”

Kasey flinches at that, almost yanks her hands from Nada’s, but doesn’t. “I guess I’m just not capable of being anything else.”

“You are.” Nada frowns, but doesn’t release her. “Do you think I am not still angry with him? Do you think me so weak-willed and foolish as to not hold great resentment in my heart?” Kasey shakes her head, and Nada squeezes her hands reassuringly. “It is the fate of women, I am afraid, to so often swallow our pride for the greater good. You do not have to be wrong for this to be the wrong course of action.”

“He should bend, not us.” Kasey swallows at nothing, and the warmth of Nada’s hands almost makes her cry. “He’s Endless for fuck’s sake! He should sacrifice for the greater good. He should suffer and cry and thrash against the aching apathy of the universe, not us.”

“Even so.” Nada cups Kasey’s cheek and gives her a knowing smile. “I know it’s hard. And I know what it’s like to be punished for doing the right thing. But I know if I can bear 10,000 years in hell, you can bear his nightmares.”

Kasey shivers, chokes on her words. “Oh, Nada. I—“ Her eyes trail from Nada then, tracking some unknown moving object as she begins to mutter. She releases Nada’s hand, whipping around with clouded eyes. “No!” She exclaims mournfully, falling to her knees on the stone. Her chest is tight as the visions flood her mind. “Stars, no!”

“I take it The Corinthian has gone?” Dream asks, limping into the library.

Lucienne turns, rushing to her feet to help him move about. “Just as soon as he helped me get you in. Sit.”

Dream waves her off, but follows her advice. “I had figured as much.”

“Should I send someone or something after him?”

Dream shakes his head. “No. Not now, at least.”

“I must say… the old him would never have done such a thing, you know. I would by no means assume him a safe addition to the waking world, but he has changed.” Lucienne pulls up a chair, sitting across from her king.

“No. No, he wouldn’t have.” His mind lingers then on his betrayal. On the conversation his creation and the Prophet had while he twitched in pain on the floor. I just wanted him to like me, you know? Just wanted to be his friend… I don’t get why it had to be me.

“I take it this plan of yours failed, then?” Lucienne broaches carefully.

Dream nods. “I’m afraid there is nothing more I can do to prevent this war. We must win it when they arrive.” Why would you choose someone who wasn’t strong enough? They know him. They must have known how much of a fucking twat he is. How cruel he is. Why would they choose me knowing I couldn’t bear it?

“I’ll inform our citizens.” Lucienne frowns.

Dream rises then, despite his weakness. “Please do. I have some things to attend to in the waking world.” Why make someone if you could not love them? Everything I am. Everything I have ever been was ‘cause of him… I used to try to rebel against it. Against my purpose. Against him. But I was nothing special. Just what he made me.

“My lord—“ Lucienne interjects, rising with him. “Are you certain now is the best time to be… running errands?”

Dream turns. A bit slow, but determined. “I may very well be in my final days, Lucienne. I have some affairs to attend to, should it come to that.” They make us in one way or another. But they don’t make us well. Not well enough to do what they need us to do without so much fucking grief.

“Don’t say that, my lord.” Lucienne insists, trailing after him. “This mortal woman will not get the better of you!”

Dream pauses, not wanting to tire Lucienne. “Even so. I should like to be prepared for the worst.” He’s a special kind of fucked up. He’s flawed, but he don’t see it. Sees it in everybody else, though.

He hates me.

“Kasey!” Nada calls distantly.

Vaguely, Kasey can feel Mazikeen’s grip on her arms as she hauls her up. “I…”

“Good, she’s alive.” Mazikeen remarks, setting her in a chair. “What happened, little Prophet?”

Kasey rubs at her temples. “I had a vision. A vision of the Dream Lord’s death.” She glances to Nada then, giving her a small, assuring nod. “Help me to the war room? The Morningstar must change her plans.”

“Oh she must, must she?” Mazikeen questions.

Kasey nods. “She will, when she hears what I’ve to say.”

“Well, this is a surprise! Wasn’t expecting this for another 99 years.” Hob exclaims, rushing from his table to embrace his friend. “Though, you look like hell.”

Dream smiles with an amused sort of sorrow. “It is good to see you, old friend.” He sits at Hob’s table, glancing over the ungraded papers scattered across.

“Any occasion I can attribute this to?” Hob asks, flagging a waitress down. “Birthdays, funerals, christenings? Don’t tell me you figured things out with the American girl!”

“Who told you of her?” Dream asks solemnly.

“A mutual friend.” Hob teases, sipping at his pint. “Or, well… my friend, your sister.”

Any other day and Dream would let that ruin the visit. Storm out angry or hurl accusations. But not now. He forces a soft smile. “I need no occasion to visit an old friend, do I?”

“I suppose not.” Hob agrees, tipping the waitress who drops off their drinks. “But it’s not quite like you.”

“No. I suppose it is not.” Dream still didn’t like the taste of beer, but he sips at his. “How are you, Hob Gadling?"

“No worse than a year ago.” Hob straightens the papers on the table, shoving them in a folder. “Got this cushy professor job. Easy, with a memory like mine. Though, the whole citations thing is a bit tedious. Can’t exactly tell them I lived through it, can I?”

Dream lets out a ghost of a laugh. Puts in the effort to be amenable. To be nice. “I don’t think that would go well for you, no.”

“They’re not exactly burning witches anymore, as much as some of my colleagues like claim witch hunt! If only they knew what a real witch hunt was like, they wouldn’t cry wolf every time someone calls out one of their papers.” Hob laughs at his own joke, but notices Dream’s unusual demeanor. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“No, what’s wrong?” Hob insists with a frown. “Look, you came back. Obviously we’re friends. You’re nearly a hundred years early. Something is obviously going on.”

“It is not anything you can do to prevent.” Dream explains softly. “But I wanted to see you one last time in case it…”

Hob sits back, eyes watering instantly. “That isn’t right.” He insists, sniffling. “Dreams can’t die, I know that much. And anyways, can’t your sister refuse? Like she did for me?”

Dream shakes his head. “It’s not as simple as that.”

“You saw the Dream Lord’s death?” Lucifer asks incredulously. “Oh, The Three have spectacular timing indeed.”

“I know the plan is to ambush The Dreaming with all we have, but I’ve an idea.” Kasey smiles, circling the table to near the Morningstar. “Just as you are about to enter, I take off the ring—“

“No!” Desire interjects immediately. “No, I don’t like it.”

Kasey eyes them, and they fall silent. “I take off the ring, fall asleep. He’ll, undoubtedly, be waiting for me as he has for the last month or so. I’ll give him this vision. One last vision, as a gift. A vision of his death. If that doesn’t convince him to surrender, it will have distracted him long enough for you to get a foothold on The Dreaming.”

“And how do we know you won’t just be warning him?” Mazikeen doubts.

Kasey smiles. “There are many ways to kill a dream. I’ll only be warning him of one.”

Lucifer hesitates, eyes the mortal woman and tries to assess her for any signs of deception and can’t find any. “You really want him dead, don’t you?”

“In one way or another.” Kasey agrees. “Not literally, of course. You know my conditions.”

“I do.” Lucifer smiles.

Kasey takes the Morningstar’s hand then. A million possibilities run through her at once, but with the glasses it’s hardly noticeable. She doesn’t fall, not this time. The only thing that gives it away is a minor nosebleed. “Then it’s a plan?” She wipes at her nose.

“Have you foreseen our victory?” Lucifer asks, voice angelic as ever.

Kasey nods. “I’ve foreseen every victory.” What she leaves out, is she’s foreseen every failure too. “Now, may I be away? I’ve someone I want to visit before we begin our war.”

“We shall see you tonight, then?” Lucifer smiles. “At the stroke of midnight, you shall enter The Dreaming and distract Lord Morpheus as Hell conquers his very land?”

Kasey steps out into the road, and a car comes to a screeching halt. The driver puts it in park, gets out to yell at her. Mouth gaping in rage, she shuts it as a work truck speeds through a red light. Her life flashes before her eyes as she realizes how very close she had come to being t-boned, but Kasey is gone before she can thank her.

“Still at it, then?” Death asks with a soft smile as Kasey approaches her.

Kasey shrugs. “When The Fates send you a gift, you don’t let it go to waste.”

“You alright, Kasey?” Death asks as Kasey loops their arms together.

“Just wanted to see a friend one last time.” Kasey isn’t quite encased in sorrow, but there’s a sapping kind of melancholy about her. Like honey slipping between fingers: Still escaping, but leaving a residue behind.

“Oh, you’ll see me again.” Death assures. “They all do, in the end.”

“There are many a specter in my nightmares, but Death never was one.” Kasey sighs. “Almost wish you were, now. It’d be nice to see a friend.”

“I take it you are siding with Hell, then?” It’s not an accusation, not from her. Not from Death.

Kasey lets out an apathetic kind of hum. “Doesn’t matter if I do or not, anymore. It’s Dream, Death. He’s the same man now as he was when he cast Nada to hell for defying him. He’s so fucking petty and cruel, you can try and do the right thing and still be punished.”

“Kasey—“

“But alas, the right thing is still the right thing. Even when it’s hard. Especially when it’s hard. I suppose you think I’m foolish.” That bit makes her laugh, but only a little.

“I don’t.” Death insists, holding her arm just a bit tighter. “You’re not foolish. You’re just human.”

“To Dream, that’s worse.” Kasey holds Death tighter too. She’d be all but glad to be marching to her death. But Morpheus was not so kind.

“So you’re really dying then?” Hob asks, entirety dripping in sorrow.

Dream nods. “Possibly. I do not know for sure. The Fates will not aid me, and Destiny himself is uncertain.”

“If Destiny himself doesn’t know, that means it’s not certain?” Hob asks, just a sliver of hope within him.

“I anticipate it will be very likely.” Dream admits. “I confess, I think I might be ready for it.”

Hob shakes his head. “No. No, I’m not drinking here alone in a hundred years’ time!”

“Hob—“

Hob waves Dream off. “And what about Kasey? You’ve hardly sorted your situation out with her, you can’t die yet! Have you even told her?”

Dream squints in confusion. “Kasey?” He parrots. “She is to be the one to do it. She did this.” He gestures to the black marks upon his pale flesh.

“You did that to yourself.” Kasey swallows at nothing, lips pursed and mind foggy. Whether from exhaustion, or visions, she couldn’t tell. “Hob.” She waves.

“Get out.” Dream spits.

“I just came to say goodbye to a friend.” Kasey insists, lingering. “I hadn’t thought you’d be here, Dream Lord.”

“Wait, you’re the one doing this!” Hob exclaims in disgust.

Kasey flinches. “I assure you it is not as simple as he’s made it out to be.” She digs through her bag, finds the CD she made for him. “I’m sure you hate me, but I beg that you take this anyways.” She sets it on the table. “You have been infinitely kind to me, I will not forget that.” She tries to back away, but Dream grabs her wrist.

“I may not be able to stop you now, but mark my words Kassandra Faidh: There will be consequences for this.” His voice seems to echo, the room darkens, but no one else notices.

Kasey yanks her wrist from his grasp. “I know.” She says simply, glancing to the clock. Just past 11. She turns to leave, pausing when he speaks.

“I take it your invasion will be soon?” Dream calls out.

“Go home, Morpheus.” Kasey calls back.

Dream nearly sprints through his castle, and Lucienne almost misses him.

“My lord?” She calls out, following. “Have you finished your errands in the waking world?”

“It is to be tonight!” Dream announces, digging out armor. “Ready The Dreaming, I anticipate—“ He pauses, sensing something.

“My lord?” Lucienne places a hand on his arm. “Are you well?”

“She’s here.” He mutters simply, disappearing in a vortex of sand.

“I still don’t like this.” Desire tsks as Kasey climbs under her covers.

“It’s too good of a plan to give up.” She glances to her clock to be sure of the time. “Just make sure nothing attacks my body in the waking world, okay?”

Desire rolls their eyes. “Wouldn’t dream of it. Besides, it’s probably better if I’m not at the actual battle. All bets are off if I spill family blood. The Kindly Ones didn’t say anything about having you do it, though.”

“I’ll be back soon, promise.” Kasey takes a deep breath, watches the clock turn midnight, and takes the ring off.

She can tell she’s in The Dreaming because she’s not bone-tired for once. Wherever she is in The Dreaming, though, is strange. A single, but endless room where every sound echoes and every movement is mirrored before her as though she had stepped through the looking glass itself. Each footstep seems to make ripples around her, but she moves forward still.

I know what it’s like to be punished for doing the right thing. But I know if I can bear 10,000 years in hell, you can bear his nightmares.

“You.” Dream curses. If words could kill, he’d have shot her dead.

Kasey turns, trying and he towards before her. “I greet you, Morpheus. And have come to offer a gift.” She takes a deep breath, nears despite her terror. “A vision, of your death.” She reaches for him, but he disappears into a cloud of fog.

No. The air says in his absence.

Kasey spins, trying to find him again. “We don’t have much time!” She calls out, spotting just the edges of the flames of his robe and chasing them.

No. No we do not.

Kasey rounds the corner of his maze of mirrors, but still can’t seem to find him. She tries to run, catch up to him, but smacks face first into a mirror. There’s a faintness about her, and her nose bleeds freely, but she continues. The halls grow narrower and narrower, less and less turns as she tries to find him.

It’s only when she finally stops to look behind her that she finds she’s boxed in. The box grows smaller and smaller. The Nightmare King appears in her reflection then, and she jumps. But when she looks behind her, he isn’t there. She glances back, and he remains a perfect reflection of her. Mirrors every movement, every expression.

She reaches forward timidly, fingertips just barely against the glass. When she meets his gaze, the stars within it burn a fiery, near crimson red. His skin pale as parchment. Hair black and gothic. Altogether, a striking and terrifying image in one. Kasey presses her palm against the mirror, but he does not.

His hand reaches beyond the glass, grasping her wrist and yanking her through violently.

She lands on her hands and knees, shoulder damn-near dislocated. Her blood mixes with tears as the pain from her landing really hits her. As sleep deprived as she had been, her body hadn’t seemed to properly process pain in ages. But it all hit her now. And at once.

You have aided Hell in their war.

He’s behind her, she thinks, but his voice booms from everywhere.

Endangered The Dreaming and the waking world.

She wipes at her noses, pushing herself backwards with bruised hands as he nears.

For this, Kassandra Faidh, you shall have…

He leans down, palm full of coal-black sand.

“Kasey!” A woman calls out.

Dream turns then, head tilted in confusion.

She feels small, suddenly. Somehow smaller than she felt quivering before him. The words erupt from her lips like so many volcanic disasters before her. All the apathetic damage and rage of a geothermal explosion. All the bubbling from within. All helplessness as it takes over.

“Don’t!” Kasey calls back, and strange mirror maze of terror Dream had constructed melts into a scene of a public park late at night. “Don’t you even try!”

Kasey is 17, and Morgana Kohl is breaking her heart.

“It’s just not worth it!” Morgana cries, chasing after her.

“Why?” Kasey spits, finally pausing. “Because your mom threw a fit because of me?”

“You know your mom! She’ll do far worse and for what? I know what it’s like to lose so, so much for a love like this, Kasey.” Morgana takes her hands, her breath clouding the bitter Missouri winter air.

“I don’t care.” The tears feel hot on her face for a moment, but cool rapidly.

Morpheus recognizes that feeling. The way it boils within you. It’s strange, to see it so intense in a human. He’d thought passion that intense would kill a mortal.

“I do.” Morgana sighs, pushing a stray hair from Kasey’s face. “And I don’t want you to lose your entire life like I did. Please, please don’t punish me for that. I only want what’s best for you.”

“Don’t punish you?” Kasey scoffs, yanking her hands away. “Don’t punish you?” She mocks with a bitter laugh. “You’re the one breaking up with me, and you wanna talk punishments?”

“Don’t do that, Kasey. Okay? I know you’re angry. I know you feel upset and betrayed—“

“Oh, I’m not upset.” Kasey sniffles. “I wanted you, you didn’t want me—“

“That is not what is happening and you know it.” Morgana insists. “Your whole life is here. Your whole world is here. If I ruin that? You have nothing.”

“Go to hell.” Kasey wipes at her eyes almost violently. And there it is. There’s the anger and betrayal. So extreme it claws its way out of her chest and into her throat. Puppets her. He knows that feeling too, Morpheus. Only difference is Kasey isn’t Endless. Had she the same power as he had, she’d have fucking meant it.

“Kasey—“

“No.” Kasey swallows whatever remaining tears she had left. “I hope you burn.”

“Kasey, please—“

“I hope you fucking die and I hope you burn.” Kasey nears her then, each step a threat. “Do you honestly think you can get away with this? Think you can betray me and there not be consequences?”

Consequences?

Kasey winces at her own memory, almost incapable of watching it at all. But when she glances to Morpheus, his eyes are locked on the scene before them.

“I still love you, we just can’t be together anymore.” Morgana sobs.

Kasey is no comfort, though. “Oh don’t worry, Morg, ‘cause I don’t love you.” It’s a lie, and she knows it. She knew it then, and she knows it now. Even Morpheus seems to sense the insincerity, but Morgana didn’t. “You could die tomorrow, and I wouldn’t even bother to spit on your grave.” She turns then, her teen self, leaves her like that.

The scene starts to loop, and she can’t watch it a second time. Morpheus can, though.

Tears evolve into daggers in an instant. “What are you looking at?”

“You were so… timid, when we met.” He sounds almost haughty about the whole affair.

Kasey scoffs, arms crossed and entirety tense as she nears him. “You wanna know why I used to be so meek and fucking pathetic around you, Dream?”

“I did not say—“

“Because I don’t have power, like you do!” She snaps, jaw tight. “God, I don’t even know why I try with you. I don’t get to push people around and say no, you move. I don’t get to be a petty ass and get away with it because people are either scared of me or incapable of truly fighting back. You have so, SO much power and not an ounce of humanity in you.”

“I find it amusing humans think the defining feature of their existence is some kind of kindness they think so rare they named it after themselves.” Morpheus mutters.

“I suppose everything is amusing to a god who can do as he pleases without any consequences to himself.”

“You think I am free to do as I please?”

“You’re immortal and damn-near all powerful.” And despite all he had to power to do. All he had done with his power. It was damn-near. Especially now, knowing what she knows. Seeing what she had seen. What she had come to tell him.

Morpheus frowns, his entirety darkening. “And that power would madden any human who wielded it. It already has.”

“Maybe the reason you hate humans so much is because you don’t have any fucking humanity!” Kasey dares, standing tall as he nears.

If it’s a threat, she isn’t scared. “The very same humans that imprisoned me? Perhaps you know less about humanity than you’d like to think.”

“Oh, I know humanity quite well.” She bites. He breathes like he’s going to speak, but doesn’t. His attention, instead, drawn to the scene before them. “She was dying already.” Kasey explains after a moment, eyes focused on Morpheus as she tries to drown out the wicked memory. “She didn’t want me to ruin my life for a dead girl. Her dad begged me to visit her in the hospital and I wouldn’t. That was the last thing I ever said to her.”

“Do you think you can invoke pity from me to avoid your punishment?” Morpheus questions, eyes still fiery in their rage.

Kasey sniffles, looking to him curiously. “You think I’m doing this?” She questions, nearing him timidly. “Was this not your punishment?”

“No…” He trails off, looking about the scene. “If you’re not doing this…”He spots a dove then, and follows it.

Kasey follows in turn as it flies through her home town. It winds through the streets with the same expertise as Morpheus had his labyrinth. The streets begin to morph, fading from small-town Americana to London roads she recognized, though barely.

A man storms out of his house in a rush, bound pages beneath his arm as he rushes to his car. The door remains open, and Kasey follows the dove as it flies in.

Morpheus recognizes the townhouse immediately and runs after. “Kassandra, wait!” He calls out. By the time he’s inside, she’s already up the stairs.

“Calliope—“ Kasey gasps as the scene begins.

“You called.” His voice is dripping with such warmth. Such love, Morpheus.

“They told me you had been imprisoned, just like me?” Calliope nears.

He’s angry. Sullen. “Not like you.” He insists, barely containing himself. “My suffering was nothing compared to yours.”

“Don’t say that.” Calliope insists softly. “Comparing our suffering only compounds it. It pained me to hear of your misfortune. I’m glad that you are free.”

“I thought you hated her?” Kasey asks, glancing to Morpheus as he watches the memory.

He shake his head. “Like love, hate is a passion. One can so easily flit between the two.” He mutters mindlessly.

“…but perhaps you might inspire him? To let me go?” Calliope suggests.

His eyes are wet are wet as he speaks. “I will do all that… and more.”

“Dream—“

“He must be punished.” His voice almost shakes in his rage.

“How?” Calliope questions. “What punishment could be enough? Even his death would not bring back what he has taken from me. He’s nothing. He’s just a man.”

“I cannot allow him to go free.”

“Why? Because I was once yours?” Even now, in the dark circumstances of their reunion, Calliope questions him.

“Because he hurt you.” Dream’s voice echoes violently within the hollow place in her ribs Kasey houses instead of a heart these days.

“So you are capable of it…” Kasey doesn’t mean to say it, not out loud at least.

Morpheus glares at her. “Do not compare your circumstances to hers.” He growls.

The version of him in the memory is much kinder, though. “When I heard you call to me, even after all this time…” He trails off, eyes locked on Calliope’s lips. “Let me help you. Please. I owe you that much.”

The memory starts to loop, and Morpheus all but runs from the room.

Kasey follows. “I wasn’t comparing myself, you know!” She calls out, winding down the stairs. Morpheus spots the dove, and follows it further. It descends down stairs he didn’t remember Richard Madoc having. “I just find it strange you’re capable of freeing Calliope, but not Nada!”

He stops, turning towards her. Had they still been in The Dreaming, he wasn’t sure what he’d have done to her for such a statement. “You would be wise to keep such revelations to yourself, Kassandra Faidh. Not even The Three themselves could make me forget the punishment I have in store for you.”

The doves ducks into a long, narrow hall, and they recognize it tandem.

“You did not do this.” Morpheus realizes.

“No.” Kasey mutters, almost in a trance as she follows the dove into her apartment.

Morpheus sighs. “This is the work of The Fates.”

“You’re a very weird creature.” The Kasey from the memory mutters to herself as she pets the black tom cat.

The real Kasey sighs, covering her face in embarrassment. “I don’t know why The Fates are so intent upon embarrassing me.”

“What?” Morpheus questions, nearing her as the scene plays.

“I just like cats, is all.” She explains, watching her past-self coo over the tom cat. “And I was lonely.”

“If you’re not going to eat it, I’ll throw it away!” The memory Kasey calls back. The cat follows, rubbing itself against her legs.

“You never figured it out?” Morpheus winces as the scene continues. And Kasey almost can’t believe the way his entirety tenses as she begins to collapse in the memory.

The tom cat transforms in an instant, and Dream catches her before she can fall properly.

“You were the cat!” Kasey exclaims half anger, half confusion. “Why didn’t you tell me?” She stomps towards him, smacking his arm.

Morpheus flinches, eyeing her with an anger of his own. “You weren’t sleeping. To avoid me. Why would you have allowed me in your company as a cat?”

Kasey rolls her eyes, huffing in frustration. “You idiot, I was avoiding you because you’re a cunt! If I knew you were going to be nice to me, I’d have come back!”

“I was kind to you, Kassandra.” Morpheus sighs, watching as his memory self holds her shaking form. “I limited your exposure to this war as much as I could. Those visions in The Dreaming were nothing but dreams. In the waking world, they wrack your entire, fragile, human body.”

“You never said any of that, though!” Kasey smacks his arm again, and Morpheus gives her a warning look. “You never said I’m not telling you what’s going on because it could endanger you. I don’t want you involved in this war for your sake. I don’t want you getting these visions in the waking world they’ll destroy your body. All you said was that it was none of my concern! You said you needed foresight not friendship—“

“I did. I was honest. This war is far more important than anything between us could have had even the potential to be.” His eyes flit back the memory version of him, and Kasey’s follows suit.

The memory Morpheus calls out her name as he kneels at her side. Holds her shaking form. Keeps her head upright. Wipes cold sweat from her hairline. But more than that. Yes, more than all of that, he looks frightened. So terribly, terribly frightened for her. And powerless to stop any of it.

“To be Endless is to prioritize the wellbeing of the universe over your own wants. Needs, even. Terrible things befall mortals who love us. You have seen every possible future, Kassandra. Is there one where we fall together without disaster?” Morpheus asks softly. Sadly, even.

Her jaws tightens. “That’s not your choice to make.”

“It is, though. It is the only choice I have ever been allowed to make.”

Kasey scoffs. “Nada rejected you to save The Dreaming and you punished her for it. Don’t act all high and noble and self-sacrificial now. You might be self-destructive, but you’re not sacrificial.”

There’s a bitterness to him when she says it, but he doesn’t let it linger. “Do you think people can change, Kasey?”

She recalls, then, the vision she had come to give him. “The most human thing you can do is change. You think you’re so above the rest of us. So unlike us. That’s why you rail against it.”

The dove pecks at their feet, the two of them, breaks up the skirmish, and they follow it out of her apartment and down a winding staircase that seems to go on and on and on until they arrive. The dove stops, landing on an old avocado green sofa in the damp basement it had led them to. Morpheus looks around, searching for whatever vision The Fates were intent upon showing them.

“I know this one.” Kasey whispers fearfully.

Morpheus glances to her, almost says something before his attention is drawn away.

“You don’t want to wear your party dress? Fine!” Her mother scolds, a vice grip on her tiny wrist. She’s half her current height, can’t be more than seven here. “But I won’t have you messing up my perfectly clean house!” Her mother opens a closet. Bare, concrete floor and not a single light bulb for light. The door, the inside of it at least, has scratch marks embedded deep into the wood. She throws Kasey, tiny little seven year-old Kasey, in and locks the door before she can even manage to rise to her feet. Her mother stomps back up the stairs.

It’s like being in the closet again, hearing her past self cry.

Morpheus winces, despite himself. Despite his anger. Despite the betrayal he still felt.

Kasey’s frozen at the scene. It’s identical to a hundred others, and yet so very distinct. She still remembers the feeling of the corduroy pants she had wanted to wear instead. Still remembers how cold and damp that closet was. When she was smaller, there was enough room. But she was a tall kid, and had outgrown the cramped space by the time this one happened. It loops and she can’t move. Her limbs feel weighted with lead. She wishes they were. Perhaps the poison would help it all go down better. The third time she watches it, she hears the way her little elbow crunches on the pavement when she lands. For the life of her, she can’t recall getting a cast for the break. Must have been minor enough not to worry to teachers. The memory starts to loop a fourth time.

It’s suffocating, he finds, to watch someone else trapped as he was. Makes him want to claw at his own chest. Makes him want to cast the perpetrator into an eternal nightmare of their own. It wasn’t that he forgave Kasey, necessarily, but it was such a horrific crime to commit against any being. Against a human, especially. Against a child.

“Let’s go.” Morpheus whispers. Kasey doesn’t start. Can feel his breath on her neck, but it isn’t a threat. Not this time. “The Fates will not be done with us until we’ve seen them all.” He takes her hand and his is warm. He’s never warm, Morpheus. Not naturally, at least.

She’s too lost in the memory to recognize the effort.

He’s gentle as he tugs her along. The dove pulls a drop cloth off an antique mirror her father had kept down there. It pecks at the glass once before it warbles and lets it through. Morpheus enters next, glancing back to make sure Kasey follows.

It’s not a memory, this next one, but a vision.

One she had seen before.

Kasey kneels desperately before Dream. The legions of Hell fallen.

“Please!” Kasey begs in the vision as Dream stomps towards her. “Morpheus, don’t…”

The Dream in the vision looms above her. “You have defied me for the last time.” His voice is dark.

“Why are The Fates showing you this again?” Morpheus asks softly.

“Don’t send me back there, please.” The vision Kasey clasps her hands together, sobbing.

Kasey glances to Morpheus, eyes still red from before. “Maybe you weren’t paying attention the first time?”

“Kill me, beat me, anything! Just don’t send me back there!”

“You have brought this upon yourself.”

The sand whisks Kasey away into her eternal nightmare, and Dream rises from his kneeling position unbothered. His eyes are nearly all black, save for the few spots of red within them.

The vision doesn’t stop there, though.

“Kai’chul?” Nada calls out, stepping over fallen demons as she enters The Dreaming. “Dream Lord?”

“Nada?” Dream sputters “I don’t understand.” He confesses, eyes brightening.

Nada smiles as she approaches him, a hand upon his cold cheek. “She has done as she has promised, then?”

“Who?”

“Kassandra?” Nada looks around then. “She has freed me. Made the Morningstar herself promise my freedom the moment she stepped foot in The Dreaming. As you planned.”

“As I…”

Nada backs away, eyeing him skeptically. “You did not mean to free me?”

“Nada, I—“

“After all this time?” She spits in disgust. “Where is she? Where is Kassandra? What have you done to her?”

“Nothing she didn’t deserve.” Dream answers darkly.

Nada shudders. “And so she has taken my advice, then… Sacrificed herself for the sake of The Dreaming.”

Dream laughs bitterly. “Sacrifice—“

“Tell me, Dream Lord, how many women will you punish for the sin of defying you? How much blood to be shed for your pride? When will the King of Dreams be the one to sacrifice for The Dreaming?” Nada stands tall. Proud, even. 10,000 years in hell incapable of shaking her, much less a petty Dream Lord.

The vision loops before he can find the words to speak.

“You made the Morningstar promise to free Nada?” Morpheus finally asks, glancing to Kasey.

Kasey nods. “It’s not right, her being there. It’s not fair. You weren’t right to do it. And you aren’t right to keep her there.” She takes her hand back from him, wandering away from him as she watches the vision loop. Watches herself cower before him. “We’ve all been prisoners of some kind, Dream. You should know by now how violently destructive being trapped is.”

Any other day, and he’d accuse her of being incapable of understanding it. Understanding him or his rage or that sickly sweet satisfaction of betrayal. Hell, he’d have accused her of it a few hours ago. But he could not. Not now. Not knowing what he knew. Not seeing what he has seen.

He pities her, then. Only a bit. Only because they were so alike. And what a terrible thing to experience the world as he so often had.

The dove lands at their feet, bobbing its head back towards The Dreaming. Kasey follows with an exhausted eye roll, but Morpheus almost smiles. He recognizes this dream.

“You’re really fucking weird.” She remarks, straddling him and holding his face, but not quite kissing him yet.

“Likewise.” The memory Dream agrees wryly.

“Oh, why the fuck are they showing us this!” Kasey exclaims, covering her face in embarrassment. She peaks at the scene between fingers and frowns. “God, you look almost happy here.”

“I was.” Morpheus confesses, and it is a confession.

“You were putting up with me.” Kasey scoffs.

Morpheus shakes his head, watching as they fall together. “I never hated you, you know.”

“You had a weird way of showing it.” She folds her arms, turning away from the memory? dream?

“I’m sorry.” Morpheus offers.

“What?” Kasey mumbles, glancing to him in disbelief.

Morpheus nears and takes her hands in his. “I am sorry I didn’t treat you with the care you deserved.” He takes a deep, contemplative breath before speaking again. “You keep asking why The Fates chose you if you were not strong enough to bear it, but you were. You are.”

“The ring’s off, Morpheus. You don’t have to butter me up anymore.” Kasey takes her hands back, wiping at her eyes.

“I’m not.” He insists. Firm, but kind. Yes, kind. “I know why The Fates chose you, now. Because you are strong enough to bear it. Because I do not change unless forced, and you are a force to be reckoned with. I’m sorry I didn’t see it sooner. I could have saved us both so much grief. So much time.”

Kasey huffs in frustration. “I just… why are you so fucking hostile to even the implication that you might need or— or want people as much as they need and want you?”

“I think…” It doesn’t quite pain him, but it’s not easy. Converting the vast sea of agony and delight and anger and fear and love within him into mere words was an internal journey to rival The Odyssey itself. Similar, too, in that there’s a kind of going home in opening that part of himself to anyone. “People are not often so bold with me. They aren’t in the position to be. Most people understand and respect my position. Or they fear me, perhaps. You have always seemed to understand what I am. The power I wield and yet… yet, you do not falter. Or perhaps you do. But you make demands of me. Demands of my time and attention and affection and usually I can just walk away. But somehow, and perhaps it was The Fates or Desire’s doing, you wouldn’t let me.”

“So it’s my fault, then?”

“No. It’s only… I needed you, your visions. I think The Fates gave them to you because they knew you would not be so easily ignored.” He explains, perhaps poorly. It wasn’t coming out quite as well as he hoped.

“By you, you mean? Ignored by you?” Kasey scoffs.

“Yes.” He admits, and it is an admission. Of guilt. Of cruelty. Of everything. “I had thought that the terms of our deal were fair. And, perhaps they were. To me. But they weren’t to you and I should have realized that instead of demanding your visions while trying to reject everything else.”

Silence stretches between them as though time there in the will of The Fates were made of rubber. “One more vision, then? For old time’s sake?” Kasey begs timidly, tugging him towards the floor-length mirror in her dream-apartment’s bathroom. “A vision, of your death?”

Morpheus nods, following. They step through the looking glass together, and the vision is not a threat, but a favor.

“You kill yourself, Morpheus.” Despite everything, the idea frightens her. Kasey Faidh was ready to be his very end, and yet… “Daniel Hall takes your position. Your memories. But you? You fucking die.”

It’s an infinite kindness, he recognizes, that he’s vexed her as much as he has, and yet his fated death chokes her. “This is the vision you came to show me, and I tried to drag you into a nightmare.” He almost cries when he spots Orpheus. To spill family blood is to invite the violence of The Kindly Ones. When Orpheus begs for his death after all this time, Dream delivers. He’s so tired here. More tired than he is now. Ready to die, and Kassandra Faidh is terrified of that reality. “Death is not always a bad thing.” He comforts. Comforts her, not him. Because he knows. He feels it deep within him, that he’s ready when it comes.

“No!” She snaps, tearing him away from the pleasant specter of his death. “You don’t get to do that, Morpheus. You’re not going to die. In the very least, you’re not going to kill yourself. You are going to develop some goddamn humanity and get better and stay better.” She grasps his shoulders, shaking him. “Do you hear me? Even when I wanted Hell to conquer The Dreaming, I wanted you alive for it. You’re supposed to learn from all this and be better and be nice! Death is a mug’s game, you hear me? And I’m not just saying that because that’s what Hob told me.”

“It is kind. That in all of this… That with everything, you still came here to warn me.” He steps away, watching the scene once more before looking back to her.

Lucienne rushes in then. “My lord, they’re at the gates!” She warns, spotting Kasey and pausing. “You—“

“I know.” Kasey sighs. “I told them I was a distraction while they invade. That you wouldn’t be able to resist doling out your punishment if I came.”

“You distracted him while they invade!” Lucienne gasps in anger.

“She told them that’s what she was doing.” Morpheus corrects with a ghost of a smile. “But that’s not what you came here to do, is it?”

Kasey shakes her head, looking at anything but him. “My goal, in all of this, if you must know was never to kill you. Nor The Dreaming. I only wanted to see you—“

“Humbled? Groveling?”

She meets his eye then. “But I’ll take the apology.”

“You’ve seen how this all ends. Is there anything we can do to stop this war before it really starts?” Morpheus asks softly.

“Are you asking for my help?”

“I am.”

“My personal advice?”

“Yes.”

Kasey thinks for a moment. She’d seen thousands of versions of this play out. To her. To a mortal mind like hers, they all tend to sort of melt together into a cacophony of light and sound. But if she thinks hard enough, she can pick out pieces of it. Smash them together. Craft her own narrative. Her own ending. Where this is no tragedy and no one is fated to die.

At least not today.

She smiles when she sees it.

“Dream of The Endless.” Lucifer greets, her army of demons behind her. “As is common courtesy in these things, I feel I must give you the chance to surrender before there is too much bloodshed.”

“You have already invaded The Dreaming.” Morpheus stands tall, armored and battered still.

“Even so, I still felt it polite to offer.” She smiles, every image of the cherub she once was. “Do you have your armies at the ready?”

Lucienne had completed the preparations he asked her. Most of which involved getting the citizens of The Dreaming to safety. Or, the closest one could get to safety when Hell invades. “I stand here alone.”

“I can see that.” Lucifer mocks.

“To attack The Dreaming is to attack the realms of Death and Destiny.” Morpheus warns.

Lucifer laughs. “And where are they now?” Morpheus opens his mouth to speak, but spots Matthew as he approaches.

“Are you not short an ally, Morningstar?” Morpheus dares.

Lucifer sighs mockingly. “The ally that foresaw your death?”

“The very same.” Morpheus agrees

“My liege!” Kasey calls out, sprinting from behind the castle walls. “Before we begin, may I give you just one last vision?”

Lucifer eyes her suspiciously, but relents. “Why of course, my Prophet.” Lucifer hums.

Mazikeen watches Kasey as she approaches, but remains silently “If you wouldn’t mind, my lord.” Kasey reaches up to cup Lucifer’s face, and she bends down to comply. A hand upon each cheek, Kasey takes a long, deep breath and shares with the Morningstar nothing but the truth.

When the vision ends, Lucifer rises to her full height. She is neither angry, nor pleased. A kind of numbness takes over her and she wills herself back to Hell. Her demons, equally confused and pissed at the lack of action, mill about for a moment before slowly following.

It takes them all a few minutes to believe it.

“What… vision did you show her that just made her… leave?” Matthew asks.

Kasey shrugs. “Only the truth: She will not be happy conquering The Dreaming. Nor the waking world. Nor heaven. No matter how much power she consolidates, she’s miserable. That’s why she wanted to do any of this, to finally be happy.” She spots Morpheus, all suited to fight, and grins. “You were ready to fight, though.”

“I appreciate not having to.” Morpheus smiles. Truly smiles. “Though, I suspect some of her demon lords may be back.”

“Oh, most certainly. But it’s nothing you can’t handle. I’ve seen it.” Kasey assures softly. She lets herself be happy for a moment, then. Just a moment. “I guess it’s back to the waking world for me, then?”

“Your physical body, yes.” Morpheus agrees. “But no harm shall find you here in your dreams.”

“I suppose that’s good.” She says absentmindedly. “And I know, even though you apologized and know you were wrong, we can’t exactly get together because it will end in tragedy, but—“

“If Hob’s history is anything to go by, I don’t think that applies to friends.” He speaks like it pains him to say. The vulnerability, not the words themselves.

Kasey hugs him. Can’t help herself, not really. “Thank you, Morpheus.”

“Though, you should keep in mind I am the ruler of an entire realm and am often busy.” He strains, patting her on the back until she lets go.

“You’ll say hi to Nada for me, won’t you?” She asks as she pulls away.

“Nada?”

“Lucifer and I had a deal. I didn’t technically break my half of it. And the devil loves technicalities. She stepped foot in The Dreaming, she has to let Nada go.” Kasey explains simply. As though it were simple. “And you will be helping Nada once she gets out of Hell, right?”

Perhaps the simplicity of the situation remains to be seen. “I will see to it that the Morningstar keeps to her end of the bargain.”

“Good. I’d hate to have to drag Death and Desire into this, but I will.” Kasey hums, satisfied with herself for the first time in a while. “I should wake up soon. Will you be there? As a thank you for everything?”

Morpheus takes her hand, and waking feels like a dream itself. When she rises, Desire has fled her side. Alone in Kasey’s apartment, Morpheus lingers longer than needed. “Thank you, Kassandra.” Kasey climbs out of bed, all but chases him. Not ready to give this blossoming something up quite yet. “I’m not going to go to sleep tonight and find myself in an eternal nightmare, am I? Because if you’re harboring any anger towards me, I wanna know beforehand.”

He shakes his head. “No.” He assures tiredly. “I’m not angry anymore. I don’t think I ever had a right to be in the first place. Though, it still doesn’t feel like it.”

“Yeah, well. Feelings can be deceptive.” Kasey muses, tugging at the collar of his robe. “Don’t take it personally. You’re human. It happens.”

“I—“ He pauses, understanding her joke. “Perhaps you did succeed in your plans, then.”

“Oh yeah, are you certifiably humbled?”

He shrugs. “Perhaps a bit.”

“Only a bit?” She questions wryly.

Morpheus hums. “Well, you are only human.”

“And a foolish one at that, if I remember correctly.” She cups his cheek, her thumb running over its high point.

“Very foolish, indeed.” He agrees, leaning into her touch.

Kasey kisses him, standing on her toes to meet his lips despite their usually similar height. Dreams were malleable, though. Especially him. She pulls away after a moment, eyes closed as she savors a kiss that very well may be her last. “Sorry. I know, friends only.”

Morpheus grasps her chin, looking down to her with bright, starry eyes. “If it didn’t kill Hob, I doubt it will kill you.” He assures, kissing her again.

AN: there will be an epilogue

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