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

Four (Draft 3) "Allies"

Morpheus looked down at the water below him. He couldn't let himself fall in. He couldn't drink. This want: it hurt. But he needed to remember. There was something Julien had made him promise not to forget.

"It gets better," Morpheus voiced the words aloud. He supposed, now, Julien would have agreed with Mother. Sitting alone in his room before a scrying glass wasn't the best use of the life or abilities Morpheus possessed.

He pushed himself up from the bank, took up his boxed collection, stood straight, and spread his wings.

Across the Lethe, in the face of the hillside, there was a hole. Just inside, some small white animal peered out at Morpheus then darted away.

Morpheus flew over the river and alighted on the narrow bank before the rabbit hole. He folded his wings pushed his box before him and ducked inside.

He was then within the borders of the Region of Dream, in the Cave of the Allegory, where pools of water collected on both floor and ceiling. Priapic stalagmites with phosphorescent veins cast strange shadows on rippling, mineral-stained walls.

Morpheus sought the Cave of Bird-Eating Spiders, which inherited memory indicated should lie in one of the cavernous areas of Dream.

He navigated past pools, chasms, and oubliettes.

Morpheus then came upon a door.

On the other side, Morpheus found a section of labyrinth constructed of masonry walls. Along a path paved in pale stones, a boy stooped as he spoke to several gray kittens.

"Daniel has a name now. Will cats help Daniel?"

"Hello," called Morpheus.

The boy turned about, crouched and leaning on hands and feet, and looked up at Morpheus. He had tawny skin, cheekbones rivaling those of these cats, and sleek auburn hair. Though his form appeared adult, he was unmistakably a child in spirit. And he likely was some form of spirit, as he appeared solid here, rather than translucent as visiting dreamers and sleepers did.

"Hello boy with wings. Daniel is looking for Dream." It sounded nearly American, but it might have been a form of Angel Speech.

"Nice to meet you, Daniel. I'm Morpheus. You are in Dream, now, but if you need the Regent, I can help you find him."

The boy rose with a twisting motion and smiled wide.

Morpheus continued along the paved walkway, and Daniel skipped after him. As they came to forking paths in the labyrinth, Morpheus took the way that was darker and edged with spiderwebs.

"Daniel has a name now," said Daniel.

"So I overheard."

"Joy gives name to Daniel. Joy is mother. Joy tells Daniel find Dream, tell them Daniel."

There was that name again: Joy. Steven's neighbor who died in Manhattan, a soul linked to Dream, someone known to Julien, Daniel's mother.

There hadn't been any sign of children in Joy's apartment, and Morpheus was nearly certain she couldn't have had children after receiving the blood. Had she born children in previous lifetimes?

"You're one of the Neverborn, aren't you?"

"Yes. Daniel Never! Daniel Never Fortnight is Daniel's name. Daniel is missing warm place, but Joy says no, go to Dream now."

"I've never met one of the Neverborn before. I thought you'd be smaller."

"Daniel is small and Joy says no, look as Daniel is big."