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

Three (Draft 3) "Hello, Pretty Pretty"

They landed in Egypt, where Romans were sieging Alexandria, a pretty, Greco-Egyptian resort, which served as capital to the Ptolemys. Morpheus disguised himself as Omar Sharif, and then released the Djinn, suggesting they might take on the appearances of Sophia Loren and Tony Curtis.

Loren seemed pleased with the assigned disguise: forming one movie costume, dispersing into vaporous stuff, then condensing again in another costume. Their companion disguised as Curtis pouted a bit.

"I didn't say which costume you had to wear."

The bare-chested Djinn shifted to smoke then once again assumed the form of the actor, this time wearing a tunica and cloak.

Morpheus moved about the city, trying to get a look at the real Julius Caesar and Cleopatra. Of course, they were well guarded, but that wasn't an obstacle for one who could assume the appearance of a guard.

The Romans and Egyptians were each plagued by infighting; military commanders or royal siblings vying for control. Morpheus took advantage of their confusion to steal a tent from an officer of the army.

Theft wasn't particularly righteous, but his ability to look across time and see the probability of the owner's death or the tent's destruction convinced Morpheus that his actions were saving the belongings. Preserving historical artifacts was a good thing.

Besides, it made sense to further test his ability to take things with him when he teleported. Morpheus had managed family members, bottled Djinn, and potted plants. Why not try a war horse and wall tent complete with interior furnishings?

It worked.

With the sound of wings, Morpheus landed in the Thar Desert far to the east. Opening his vision across time, he could see the ancient flow of the Sarasvati, though the landscape before him was arid. He, a horse and two Djinn were the only ones around.

He liked the desert. It contained sand, and sand was easy to manipulate. So long as any part of him remained in contact, Morpheus could extend his ability to take on forms to the sand. Silicon and carbon were particularly easy to work with.

Morpheus walked out into the desert as the sky began to darken. With concentration, he was soon surrounded by sandcastles and sculptures of faerietale characters.

Sometimes, Morpheus envied characters in Disney movies. No matter how different one was—a wooden boy, a mermaid, a hulking beast—singing seemed to fix things. It was practically guaranteed that if one began singing about a problem someone would show up to make it a duet.

Morpheus didn't suppose he was a great singer, but all Angels could sing. He was probably a better musician than a vocalist, but it all came down to vibration.

Morpheus sensed a presence approaching. It felt similar to the electric tingle of a summons, but with opposite directionality. Not a Human. Angel. Familiar enough that they were probably one of the Children of Night. They would materialize nearby and were traveling across space-time now.

Jibril appeared in a grotto of sand-sculptures. "Nice mermaid," he said, then pucked-up his lips to blow pale-blue hair off his brow. He was dressed casually, which for him meant albino furs and skins and ivory jewelry.

"Thanks," said Morpheus, "Never seen you in the Empty World."

Jibril waved a hand as if to wave away the topic. "Got a job for ya, Murph."

Morpheus laughed. "Really?"

"Yes. If you agree. I have need of someone to run a Mirage?"

"Heat wavers?" Morpheus loosed his control of the sand. Several of the sculptures held themselves together. The Mermaid yet smiled at Jibril.