The Obsidian Void

Seven: Hello Darkness, My Old Friend

Moridaì woke up, quite suddenly, on the floor of the cottage, having been crudely plopped down there in a rather uncomfortable position. They made an effort not to make any noise upon realising they'd woken up, continuing to lie on the floor as if still asleep.

The cottage was nothing like it had been in the dream. Perhaps it had been once, the shape of the room was certainly the same, but the place was now a decrepit mess, with crumbling walls, overgrowing plants and no roof to speak of.

After checking to be certain they were, in fact, awake, Moridaì tried to discreetly look around them. On the floor beside them were Artemis and Quinn, both still deeply asleep and showing no sign of walking up. Standing above them all, not paying attention in the slightest, was a Somnus Mori didn't know in the middle of a spell; muttering to herself with a wide grin, before her expression quite suddenly changed to one of shock. Moridaì heard her mumble an excuse to leave the room, despite not actually moving anywhere, and quickly squeezed their eyes shut again.

"I would not bother pretending." Pandora snarled, still focused on her spell, "There is no way you could have vanished so suddenly unless you have woken up, admit it."

Moridaì opened a single eye, refusing to move from their position.

"Ah, but I was not pretending!" They said, "I was merely attempting to have a brief rest before having to deal with you. Who are you by the way?"

Pandora growled. "You could not possibly comprehend half of the things I want to do to you, you pathetic little traitor!"

"Not in front of a princess though? Surely that would be indecent..."

Pandora grabbed Moridaì by the arm and pulled them to their feet before immediately returning to maintaining the dream. Mori was caught off guard; reverting to their true form from the shock alone.

"That seemed a little over the top..."

"Silence!" Pandora paused, before smiling again. "You know, I was worried you might end up being as much of an idiot as the other two. Good to know there is some Somnus still left inside you, even if it has been smothered in traitorous fluff."

"I kept only what I needed." Moridaì said, "The rest was doing nothing but holding me back. Furthermore, Artemis and Quinn are not idiots. Perhaps they can be a touch too hot-headed or irrational at times, but they are both good, kind people, who are-"

"Oh, shut up before I get a cavity." Pandora laughed, "If I had known that my one remark would summon an entire saccharine speech out of you, I would have kept my mouth closed."

"Please do not stop talking because of me. You can do so at any time, and for any reason."

Pandora resisted the urge to continue arguing, instead adopting a different tactic.

"We have been here for all this time..." She smirked, "Yet you have yet to ask me a single question about why I happen to be here." She paused, laughing to herself. "Do you mean to tell me that does not intrigue you, Moridaì?"

Mori froze up, unable to think of any kind of clever response. Yes, they did want to know why Pandora was here, whether she had bumped into them by coincidence or not, what her plan for Artemis and Quinn might be. They also realised that actually asking any of those questions would leave them open to whatever mind games Pandora decided to answer with.

Such was the metaphorical chess match that Moridaì was faced with playing.

And they'd never understood chess. They just played with the tiny horses the whole time.

"Alright." They said, hesitantly, "Why are you here?"

Pandora grinned, glad they'd taken the bait. "Well, to keep it brief, I have been hired to keep an eye on the three of you."