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

Eight (Draft 3 WIP) "Possessions"

"Athen is terrible to Humans?"

"We­—" Morpheus glanced to his sides, to check with River and Hepburn. "I wasn't physically there, but we interfered. And we're decided." He gestured quickly between himself and the two nearby companions. "We agree that interfering the way we did was the best we could do at the time in the circumstance, but it didn't take away what had already been done." Morpheus sighed. "I've tried that before. One can't go back in time to change a thing they know just happened."

"You didn't do anything to Joy?"

"No. But to stop it from being more, worse, we...we violated Julien in ways we shouldn't. We made him see, and, I'll have to beg his forgiveness in the future. But I don't know what else we should have done in the moment. What do we do when there are only least worst options?"

"You do your best." Mother smiled tightly.

"And it still doesn't seem good. This feels like a mess."

"Yeah, but, not how you might think." Mother's face screwed up. "Don't know if you've realized. Hate to say it, but things like this have probably happened to Joy before."

Morpheus shook his head, but even then, he caught onto what Mother was hinting, what he should have realized but hadn't allowed himself. "Just not to this Joy."

Mother nodded.

"I don't know much more than you. I know Joy isn't, like, conscious of her nature. But we have to accept that she is a being of Dream. She's like a Human, but she has some instincts and tendencies that make her suited to serving others."

"But she's a person, she gets to consent."

Mother made that tight smile.

"Except we don't ask her when we just assign her a new life every decade. Athen's only the latest."

"'Fraid so."

"She lives all these lives, a woman who can only remember a family that doesn't exist, just alone in the world? Why?"

"I don't know, but now we're involved. I must teach her my summons. She apparently teaches Steven. We give her the bottle. And then, I don't think she can change after that."

"So, we already broke the cycle."

"Yeah. And I still don't know what that does to her or people around her."

"What can we do for her now?"

Mother's brows rose and she made a slow reverse nod. "She doesn't remember."

"What?"

"I told you, her reaction does not match what you know happened. She's not hiding it. There's a gap. She was happy, Murph. She introduced Julien. He looked terrified of us; got out of here fast as he could. But Joy was happy. She just outright tells Elle and I she's met Vampyres and how they're real, and there was not a hint anything bad had happened. And I looked at her."

"Was it trauma?" River asked.

"I can't say right now," Mother said, including them both in her gaze. "Psyche would know, but we can't exactly rely on her at the moment. Are you sure none of you did it?"

"I don't have mind powers."

Morpheus glanced to River on his shoulder. "He doesn't. River and I do have a low-level link because I made his body, but it just lets me locate him. I try not to read anyone's thoughts without some permission or need. Casting dreams doesn't remove anything. I only had the most passive contact with Joy, enough to sense where she was and her state of consciousness."