The Empty World | The Empty World Sequence [complete | rewriting]

Four (Draft 3) "Allies"

Morpheus returned from his time in the mirage to find his mother in her den at the top of the tower. She was nodding toward certain mirrors, as Morpheus arrived, as if counting or making mental notes.

She must have sensed his presence, for Mother looked immediately towards Morpheus. "Something is wrong." It was not a question.

"Opium!" Morpheus flopped onto her couch.

"What's the matter?" Her voice grew shrill, and she took a breath before continuing at a whisper. "Murph?"

"I...want."

"Oh, Murphy, I'm so sorry."

Mother helped Morpheus from the couch and walked him down the hall to his own room. The slight pressure of her supportive hands was comforting, but it didn't remove his longing. For the first time, Morpheus understood "The Empty World" as a truly meaningful name. It was like he held the Void inside him, like his heartstrings had been plucked, had sung, and were now broken.

Mother stopped near the futon and Morpheus let himself drop. This was how those heroines in so many Disney movies ended up: crying in the garden or on their bed. If someone tried to turn this wretched feeling into a song, Morpheus would surely throw the nearest object at them.

"Do you—?" Mother started again. "Should we talk about it, or something?"

"I don't know."

Mother sat at the edge of the mattress. "When your father and I first conceived—"

"Mom!"

She went on talking. "It's natural. Whether we spring from someone's body or mind, we're all conceived at some point. And when we first had the idea of you and Maya, even Gabriel couldn't tell us precisely what your nature would be."

Morpheus said nothing.

"We didn't know how your Human part might show itself. Maybe, I let myself hope your being three-quarters Angel would make things easier. But I didn't know."

Morpheus didn't feel any better knowing Mother assumed her Human half must be at fault. He didn't even know if he agreed. Was she saying his feelings were mere products of some phase of development Angels didn't suffer? That his feelings couldn't be real?

Morpheus didn't feel well enough to offer argument or comfort, so, again, he said nothing.

Eventually, Mother left him alone in his room. Morpheus couldn't bear to go to sleep and risk facing his father, so he just lay awake, thinking.

Later, Maya arrived.

She appeared without any illusion or glamour, the same dark hair, deep blue coloring, and pairs of arms as Morpheus remembered, but now wearing a sari. Maya laid herself beside him and they lay on the futon together in silence for some while.

"You know, if there's anything you want, I could make it seem to be here."

Morpheus lifted his gaze to Maya, his cheek sliding over the mattress. "No. Promise you won't?"

Maya's right hands caressed his face and wing. "Do you want to tell me what it is? Did someone hurt you?"

"There was someone," Morpheus admitted. "I had him. I may have him in the future. I do not have him now."

Maya smiled. "And if there were a way to see him? Would that be any better?"

"Like Mother's mirrors?"

Maya pushed herself up from the bed. "Do you wish to find this person in her mirrors?"

"No. Not really. Then where?"