SleepWalker

Chapter 7

They sailed aimlessly in silence for some time. Morpheus stared straight ahead, not making eye contact.
"So," Darcy said, making an effort to break the uncomfortable silence. "Nice weather, huh?"
"I prefered the uncomfortable silence, thank you very much." Morph said without turning around.
"Where are we going?"
"To do what Ruth said. We're going to the Library."
Darcy raised an eyebrow. "The world is ending and you wanna read?"
"If the world is ending, that is all the more reason to read a good book," Morpheus replied.
"So we're going to a library."
"Not a library," Morpheus turned to look at her with a twinkle in his eye. "The Library."

Morpheus docked the ship back in the harbor and dismissed it with a wave of his hand. The ship faded away as if it had never existed. They walked together down the street but instead of turning left and heading to the public library, Morpheus kept walking.
"Woah, where d'you think you're going?" Darcy called. "The library's that way."
"Oh please," Morpheus scoffed. "I've been going to the Library since before your ancestors crawled out of the dirt. I think I know the way."
Darcy rolled her eyes and followed the egotistic immortal.

Morpheus abruptly halted at the junction of two avenues, right in front of an ancient looking building. The only sign of activity came from a bar in the basement. There was no sign, the cheers and shouts being the only advertisement.
"A bar," Darcy said. "Why do you keep taking me to bars? Do you have a drinking problem?"
"Why are you always so annoying?" Morpheus moaned.
"It's a gift."
Morpheus pushed the door open and entered, Darcy close behind him.
"You do know I'm underage right?" She whispered.
"Not a problem," He replied, making his way to the counter. "Not here. Hello, Chuck."
Chuck, the bartender beamed at them. He had a pleasant, smiling face and twinkling eyes. He seemed ageless, at the same time seventy and seventeen. Darcy had no idea how he pulled that off but it worked for him.
"Hello, Morph." He said. "And Darcy Jones. Your birthday's coming up, isn't it? Still underage though, eh?" He wagged a finger. "What can I do for you?"
"Darcy needs to use your Library," Morpheus replied, returning his smile.
"Ah, that can be arranged." Chuck opened a back door and beckoned them over.
The door opened on to a long corridor with an elevator at the end. They followed the old man down the hallway and into the elevator. The elevator dinged as soon as he pressed the button and they piled in. An old easy-listening song began playing.
"'Time in a bottle'," Chuck said. "I love this song. It takes me back."

The elevator opened up onto another long hallway. Right in the middle of it was a rose bush. The sweet fragrance helped calm Darcy as they walked along the corridor and into the room beyond.

To call the Library a 'room' would be a gross understatement. Darcy's mouth hung wide open as they entered the cavernous hall, large enough to hold three Grand Central stations with room for a parking lot. The entire place, wall to wall, was covered in row after row of bookshelves. A stairway led up to a balcony with even more books.
"Wow!" Darcy said, swivelling around to take it all in. The place was lit by a combination of gas lamps and candles.
"Yes, 'wow' is right." Chuck said. "Every book you would ever need. Collected it myself. Well, most of it anyway."
"Just how old are you?!" Darcy squealed in amazement. Chuck waved the question aside.
"Depends on who you ask," He said with a chuckle. Darcy looked at him more closely and realised that despite what he looked like, this man was much more than an aging bartender.
"The way I see it," He said. "The universe is like a library and our lives are the books. Some books are good, some are bad. Some are brand new and some have broken spines and torn pages. But in the end, we're all just trying to finish the book."
All she could do was gape at the old man.
"Now you'll be wanting a book on the Devil's Harvest, yes?" He said, rubbing his hands together.
"Yes," Morpheus replied. "Specifically on how to stop it."
"Ah, that might be tricky," Chuck walked over to a shelf and pulled down a large book. It looked as old as himself, that is to say, ancient. Its cover was faded green leather.
"This should be it," He dusted off the cover, making Darcy sneeze.
"Bless you," he said.
"Thanks," she replied, wiping her nose.
He handed the book to Morpheus, who gingerly set it down on a small table.
"Good luck," He said with one last smile to Darcy and a curt nod to Morpheus before turning around and heading back to the bar.

"Alright then," Darcy said as the old man disappeared down the hallway. "Let's start."
Morpheus carefully turned the pages of the ancient book. The pages were yellow and looked brittle, as if they would turn to dust at the slightest touch but Morpheus handled them perfectly.
"It's a prophecy," he said.
"'the Devil's Harvest shall be complete.
All worlds shall fall beneath his feet.
The Keeper shall light the way,
or doom us all till the end of days.'"
"Not a very good poem," Darcy gulped.
"Yes, I suppose the whole 'end of days' thing sort of kills the mood."
Morpheus closed the book and stood to his full height. In that moment, he seemed to actually look his age, lines of worry etched deep into his face.
"Darcy," he said. "There's something I need to ask you."
"What is it?"
"Remember when I told you I'm not doing any of this to help you?" Morpheus looked pained.
"Yeah," Darcy replied warily. "Why? What's wrong?"
"There is another consequence for the Devil's Harvest, other than the whole end of the world problem. When the Harvest is initiated, the dreams and minds of the infected will begin to corrupt. Their demonisation begins in their dreams."
"Why?" Darcy asked curiously. "What's so special about what they see when they sleep?"
"Oh come on!" Morpheus exclaimed. "Don't you get it? Dreams are more than just things you see in your sleep. Your dreams define you, they give you purpose. Above all, they give you hope. And when that hope is lost, then there really is no point in living."
"Oh," she said. Morpheus sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose.
"If enough dreams are corrupted, it will begin to affect me. If that happens, I want you to do something for me. Can you do that? One favour?"
"Of course," she said, beginning to get worried. Morpheus had never acted this way before.
"I want you," he said slowly. "To kill me."

Thor-Auay Note-ay: the Library 😊 so yeah I still need a cover (as your u can see). Also let me know in the comments which couple you ship so far, Darcy and Mortmalus, Darcy and Michael, Darcy and Morpheus or Darcy and the Inkblood :3 also name your ship.
Also please read RJ_TheDemigod 's work The New City. It is excellent. Also check out the work of tanvira12 . You're both great writers 👍
Stay tuned for more. Cheers XD