This chapter is a lot longer than usual because I wanted to make up for the lack of updates for yesterday and the day before!
I will cover Morpheus's imprisonment through Iris' eyes only, and it will be broken into four longer parts, which cover three days, three weeks, three months, and three years into his imprisonment.
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A deafening crack startled Iris awake. The sound reverberated through the room like a giant ice cube dropped into boiling water. Every hair on their body stood to attention. There was a faint trace of static in the air that made their heart race. Before they could search for the source, a bright, blinding light filled the room. The light was so fierce and clear that it chased away the shadows in the corners of the room, Iris could make out every detail of their chambers. They could see the edge of the wide armchair with sharp clarity.
It took a few moments for Iris to realise what was happening. They threw on their silken dressing gown and bound it, they then ran to the long curtains of the balcony. Iris wrenched them open. There had been no signs or warning for such harsh weather, but here they were, staring down a burnt sienna sky with a violent tempest swirling across it.
Rain and hail pummelled the glass of the windows like marbles dropped from a height. Iris had to step back, feeling the icy force of the blows from inside the room. Another loud crack split the sky, the unearthly rumble rippling through the palace walls.
Periwinkle cried from under their bed. The small feline was petrified, shaking in fear. Iris closed the curtains and dove for the bed, trying to coax him out of hiding. The cat shrunk further under the bed, backing away from Iris. Outside, the storm grew louder; the hail sounded as if it might shatter the glass. Iris was trying to put on a comforting voice for Periwinkle, knowing they needed to get him out of here and to a more secure room of the palace. The windows were too large, if they shattered, then both of them would be caught in the storm.
"Come here, it's alright," they cooed. The cat didn't believe them, preferring its sanctuary under the bed to the blinding light that lit the room in short successive bursts.
Periwinkle yowled and hissed at Iris' hands as they fumbled under the bed for him. They almost managed to get ahold of his leg but he scratched them away and hugged the wall under the bed.
Iris swore at him, getting frustrated. "It's not safe here, we need to leave," the cat's amber eyes reflected in the dark, his scowl glowing in the darkness. His tail flickered up and down angrily as he hunkered down under the bed.
The windows rattled, the wind getting fiercer outside. Iris covered their ears as another boom sounded overhead, it felt like the storm had already got inside. The cat wailed again, crying as he put his paws over his ears and pressed his face to the floor. Iris couldn't reach him. They flattened themselves as much as they could, letting their shoulder slip under the hard wooden frame of the bed.
"Just a little further," they groaned, feeling their ribs brush along the bedroom floor. Iris put their face against the floor and craned their neck to see the feline's furry body. They tiptoed on their fingers, hoping the animal wouldn't lash out again. "That's it," they whispered loudly, snatching hold of his back to drag him out. The cat flailed, trying to bite at them as they pulled him out of hiding. Periwinkle snarled and snapped at Iris, his fluffy paws swatting them.
"You can bite me once we're safe," they told him, clutching the cat close to their chest.
The rumbling had quietened, Iris thought about checking outside, stepping warily closer to the balcony door. As Iris neared the curtain, another boom echoed, shattering the glass of the windows. Iris turned to shield Periwinkle in their arms, feeling the stabbing shards fly towards them and cling to the folded silk of the dressing gown. Iris shouted something, the cold torrent of wind sucking the air from the room. Periwinkle kicked out at the Iris with his back legs, twisting his body side to side so he could escape. The enormous circle of his pupils swallowed his eyes.
The glass on the floor pointed upwards like knives. Iris knew if Periwinkle managed to wrangle himself free, he'd cut his feet on them. Iris stumbled for the door, their hair wrapping around their face like a shroud, obscuring their vision. Tiny needle-like shards licked their feet, making them wince. Iris stretched a hand out in front of them, patting the surface of the door for the doorknob. They brushed over the curves and divets of the wood, spluttering hair out of their mouth as they tried to get out. Periwinkle was still screeching at them, nipping and slicing through whatever bare piece of flesh he could find.
Rain drenched the room. It came down like a storm of bullets, smashing into every inch of the floor and slamming into Iris' back. They patted the door faster. The cold metal of the doorknob sent shivers down their spin as their hand connected with it. Iris triumphantly swung the door free, fighting the wind that howled around them. Periwinkle saw an opportunity and pushed off Iris with all of his strength. He flew free from their grasp and sprinted down the long corridor, gaining speed. Iris called after him, but he had already vanished to another of his hiding places to wait out the storm.
Iris fought the door, squeezing themselves out of the small gap whilst trying to push it wider. The force of the storm kept closing it on them, trapping their hips against the frame. Iris yelled in pain when it tried to slam shut on their body.
"Iris!" a voice called at the other end. Iris couldn't make out who it was. The storm drowned out their voice. They prayed it was Dream, prayed that he'd returned. Iris struggled against the door's edge, shimmying through the gap.
"Iris, hold on!" the stranger called again, running down the corridor towards them.
"Morpheus!" Iris called back, their hand reaching out to him. His hand wrapped around them, pulling them through the doorway. His hand felt strangely clammy and small. Iris heaved themselves away from the door, clutching onto Dream.
He wrestled them free and set them down, both of them panting for air. Iris moved their long locks out of the way and looked up at him, ready to scold him for making them worry, ignoring their attempt to communicate, and being an outright fool.
Iris looked disappointed when it was Lucienne standing before them. The librarian was still in their beige nightshirt and woven brown night jacket with thin tweed slippers on the bottom of her feet. Lucienne wheezed loudly.
"I thought-" Iris said, their gaze falling to the floor.
Lucienne straightened her back, putting her hands on her hips and taking long breaths, "I know," she breathed. Lucienne shared Iris' concern for Dream, he had been gone longer than they had anticipated.
"Why did you come looking for me?" Iris asked curiously. Their chambers were a long way from the throne room or any other quarters in the palace.
"Your bloody cat started scratching and crying outside the library, there was blood in his fur, I thought perhaps something had gone amiss," Iris snorted, taking a mental note to reward him after the storm, "We should head for the library, Mervyn is with some others who managed to escape the storm," Iris followed Lucienne to the library, keeping a cautious ear out in case any more windows broke.
When they reached the library, there were hundreds of lanterns hung on the shelves, illuminating small clusters of people that had sought shelter here. The storm had gathered at the edge of The Dreaming, sweeping across the realm with an unnatural speed. People had fled throughout the night to find safety, homes and houses were lost to its violent winds.
Iris settled near Lucienne's desk, sitting at one of the two chairs tucked near it. No one had any explanation for the extreme weather, it was unheard of in The Dreaming. Iris watched a family of Nymphs huddled close to their mother, silently weeping under a stack of books. The mother tried to sing and rock her youngest to sleep but their wailing was louder than the storm. Everyone glared and gave her disapproving looks as she tried to calm the babe. She tried switching arms, shuffling the child from side to side but it continued to scream, it had been screaming so long that its little throat croaked and squeaked.
"Will she shut that child up already?"
"I can't believe how badly behaved it is,"
"Can't she tell we are trying to sleep?"
Iris' nose twitched, and they scowled at the rude whispers. The mother could hear them. Her cheeks were flushed a pale green against her blue skin. She felt guilty for her child screaming. Her other children had begun to weep as the baby kept them from resting. Iris wanted to say something, to offer words of comfort to the mother or help the baby, but they were frozen in place in the chair.
Finally, it was Mervyn who approached her. His usual cigar or cigarette was nowhere to be seen. He crouched down beside the mother with a collection of soft blankets draped over his arm. "Here," he said with a gruff voice, placing the blankest over her children and offering to take the baby for a moment. The mother was flustered at such a kind gesture. She apologised profusely, saying how she would settle the baby soon and she could sleep somewhere else if it were upsetting everyone.
"Hush, you need to rest too, you're shivering," he placed a stick hand on her shoulder and offered her the final blanket from the cluster. He exchanged the blanket for the child, lifting the small baby into his arms and whistling quietly to them. The mother yawned, her exhaustion catching up to her. She settled a little, leaning back against the wall and let her eyes flutter closed. The baby quietened gradually, curiously studying the large pumpkin-headed groundskeeper that cooed at him.
"It's a shame he doesn't exercise that same patience with us," Lucienne snorted, handing Iris a warm cup of tea. She settled into her worn-in leather chair on the opposite side of the desk. The steamy tea gave off the scent of honey and citrus. Iris thanked her and took a careful sip from it.
"Is this everyone?" Iris asked, feeling the soothing warmth of the tea on their throat and chest.
"Everyone so far, I just hope others made it to safety. I haven't heard from any of the lords yet," Lucienne said sadly, staring into the pattern of ripples that swirled in her tea.
"How did this happen?" Iris asked, wondering if the librarian might have some semblance of an explanation for all of this.
Lucienne shook her head, rubbing a thumb over the edge of the ceramic teacup, "Storms are exceedingly rare here, it means..."
"Means what?" Lucienne shushed Iris, not wanting anyone to overhear their conversation.
"It means something has happened to Morpheus," the words echoed in Iris' mind, their guts swirling with anxiety. He was only meant to be gone a day, two at most but they'd had no word from him or Jessamy. If not for the storm, they wouldn't be too afraid but with bad omens like this, it was hard to ignore.
The storm battered the room, sending books hurtling in all different directions. The refugees shrieked, covering their heads with their arms as books tumbled from the highest floor towards them. Iris slammed their cup against the desk and jumped back to dodge a heavy, hardbacked volume that plummeted down. Lucienne stumbled back, her chair scraping along the wooden floor to avoid a similarly sized novel. The books hit the civilians, they all screamed as book after book broke a bone or bruised a face on contact.
Iris felt the thread around their finger tug for a moment. They clutched it, feeling Dream on the other side. He was in pain wherever he was, a searing, isolating pain that rippled along the thread. Iris clutched their chest, feeling a burning pressure tighten their chest. Dream tried to follow the thread, holding it to escape whatever was happening to him. The sensation froze Iris in place, unable to deflect or defend the attack. Dream thrashed like a rate in a cage, trying to fight off something. Iris gagged, feeling something loop around their throat. Suddenly, the thread went slack. The sensation vanished, as did Dream's presence. Iris felt empty, as though something had been torn from them.
The mother screamed, her children scrambling for shelter under her arms as more objects clattered and fell. The storm battered the windows of the library, sending shards everywhere. Iris returned to the chaos, unable to understand what had occurred. They watched as bright flashes blinded the refugees and sent them sprawling across the floor. Screams grew more desperate. Even Lucienne had scrambled under her desk to find shelter.
The ring on Iris' finger glowed, beaming at them. Iris felt it nudge at them, telling them to use it. It was like a cat bumping their hand with its head to urge them to do something. Iris stepped forward, unsure of what good they could do. Words floated into their mind, words they didn't recognise or know. They read the words aloud, the bonds of a spell forming from the strange language. The spell spiralled out of the ring, an opaque smoke that halted the falling objects in mid-air. Iris continued the spell, watching the objects float effortlessly back to their spots on the shelves. They continued chanting, moving the shards of glass away from the terrified civilians and out of the open windows. Iris continued to chant until every shard was gone and the people were safe.
They all looked at them in awe. It was like watching Dream himself. Iris changed their tone, addressing the palace itself, "We need to make the room more secure, seal all windows and barricade the doors as much as you can," the people stared open-mouthed as the palace obeyed them. The palace conjured fresh, thick slats of wood and moulded them to the windows, blending them seamlessly into the wood frames and windows sills. It made them 3 planks thick so the rain couldn't seep through and the wind couldn't threaten them any longer.
Iris looked around to see people praising them and thanking them, they panicked. They hadn't fully understood what they had done. It felt how mortals described possession, only a faint awareness of what they were doing whilst something else puppeteer'd them. Whatever part of Dream he had placed into the ring was immensely powerful and far more sentient than Iris had believed.
"What in the Endless was that?" Marvyn exclaimed, passing the baby back to his mother and looking at Iris with his mouth hanging open in disbelief.