Thanks for reading and reviewing folks. With regards to the Patty x Dante relationship, I have to say that I already have the fic planned out and I can't really change anything that much without messing it all up.

I would hope however that nobody expects me to turn Dante into a pedophile. I try my best to keep characters canon and in character, and I don't think for a second that Dante would enter into a serious romantic relationship with a little girl like Patty. I don't think it's unrealistic though for a young girl like Patty to develop a crush on Dante. She's just conflicted about it, because of the reasons she mentions in the previous chapter.

I'm a yuri fan anyway, so if I was going to seriously ship Patty with someone, it'd be with another girl. The only reason I haven't already is because people complain a lot when I write yuri. Really a lot.

DMC: Sweet Dreams

Chapter 3: The Sandman

"Mom!"

Patty's cry was a borderline shriek, as she burst into her mother's bedroom and ran over to the slumbering woman. Allen Lowell floated in after her, moving at a more sedate pace. It was difficult to become frantic about things when you happen to be a thousand year old dead wizard bound to a grimoire. Life just seems less urgent.

"Mom! Wake up mom, wake up! Ohhh!" Patty growled in frustration as her attempts to shake Nina Lowell awake failed to net a positive result. Allen peered down at the sleeping figure with ... well, not an expression of mild interest, because he didn't have the means to express such things in his current form, but he at least gave off a sort of air that suggested the same.

"Another of my descendants?" he observed, "It is somewhat gratifying to see that my lineage has not completely died out."

"Ohh, mom ..." Patty wailed, ignoring the floating tome. She couldn't wake her mother up, which meant that she was under the influence of that damned demon. According to the text about Morpheus, he had the power to inflict any dreams upon his victims he so chose. Her mother could be living a nightmare right now for all she knew. She had to do something!

"You're wasting your time," Allen pointed out with a somewhat bored tone, "Morpheus has her now. There's nothing you can do I'm afraid."

Patty spun to face the floating book, biting back angry tears. "There must be something!" she snapped bitterly, "You're Allen Lowell! You're supposed to be a legend! A sorcerer that had the power to control demons!"

"When I was alive, that was certainly true," Allen conceded patiently, "Now however I am afraid I am little more than a magical aid. A floating encyclopedia if you will."

Patty gave another frustrated growl and turned back to her sleeping mother. Her face did not seem troubled at least. Patty took some comfort from that. Yet if what Allen said was true then the entire city would be the same way. Everyone trapped in their dreams. What would happen to them if left like that? Would they starve?

Allen gave what might have been a cough, if he still had a throat to clear. "I suppose it goes without saying, but if you were able to track down and slay Morpheus then naturally everyone under his spell would awaken. I hesitate to suggest such a course of action however, given that you do not seem the demon slaying type ..."

No, she wasn't, not really. She had repelled demons in the past with the help of her pendant, and performed a few other magical feats, but those were mostly one-off's. Then again, she did happen to know one of the best devil hunters in the business.

"Dante!" Patty blurted out suddenly. Of course! If she told Dante everything she knew then he would be able to hunt down this demon and kill it easily. It was so simple. But ... wouldn't Dante be asleep now? Would Morpheus' spell affect him? He was part demon himself, maybe she could wake him up? It had to be worth trying.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Dante!" Patty repeated, facing Allen once more, this time her face lighting up with sudden enthusiasm, "We have to go to Dante! If anyone could kill this demon, he could!"

Allen seemed dubious however. "The hour is quite late young lady. Isn't it just as likely that this Dante fellow will be asleep?"

Patty clenched her hands tightly before her, as if willing this plan to work. "Maybe, but Dante is half demon. He's the son of the legendary Sparda! If anyone could fight off this Morpheus creep, I bet Dante could!"

"Sparda?" Allen Lowell suddenly shot back from her and then proceeded to dart around the room like a ping pong ball, all the while laughing hysterically.

"What?" Patty snapped, "What's so funny?"

It took a few seconds for him to calm down, and when he did Patty almost felt as if he were wiping a tear away from an eye, despite having neither eyes, tears or hands. He chuckled for a few seconds more. "Sparda had a son? You mean to tell me that old goat actually took the time to procreate? Ha! What an absurd notion."

Patty frowned at his words, somewhat puzzled by them. "Huh? Why? You sound like you knew him."

"Oh, I did my dear, very much so. We were ... how shall I put it? Old war buddies you might say. The man owes me a hundred gold sovereigns for one thing."

"Owed," Patty corrected, "I'm pretty sure he's dead now."

"Ha!" Allen laughed again, "Don't you believe it my dear. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if the old coot faked his death just to avoid all the debts he accrued, which were many, take it from me. I wasn't the only one he owed money to."

"Wow," Patty murmured, surprised by this. Like father like son, she guessed. Who would have thought Dante and his dad had that in common? And her ancestor was an old friend of Dante's father! She couldn't wait to tell him that. After they dealt with Morpheus of course.

"Right," she said, stomping her foot once to show her determination, "I'm going to the Devil May Cry office to find Dante. If he isn't awake when I do, then I'm going to do whatever it takes to get him awake ..."

The city was eerily quiet. Spooky even. There was not a soul in sight as Patty hurried down a fog shrouded street, which was perhaps just as well, given that she must be a very odd sight indeed. A young girl running through the city at night, accompanied only by a magical floating book.

You could feel it. Feel the fact that everyone was asleep, trapped, unable to awaken. It was almost like walking through a ghost town. Everything felt strangely silent and lifeless, like a graveyard. Even the dogs and cats were sound asleep. Creepy.

Patty decided to take a shortcut through the park, which would shave ten minutes off her journey. Normally she could get a ride to the Devil May Cry office, but on a good day she would often walk for the fresh air and exercise. She knew the way, and knew how to get there quicker than sticking to the main roads and streets.

"Whatever are you doing running around?" a voice called out from the darkness. Patty stopped abruptly, her heart leaping into her throat with fright. She stood in the middle of the park, which was lit by several lamp posts. The voice had come from the roundabout to her right. As she glanced over at it, it rotated, bringing the speaker into sight.

"Shouldn't you be tucked away like a good little girl?" said the stranger, "It must surely be past your bedtime ..." he added, his voice mocking. Patty stared at him. It looked like a young boy, no older than she was, wearing an expensive black suit and overcoat that matched his equally dark hair and glittering eyes.

"You're one to talk," Patty shot back, irritated by his leering tone and amused expression, "Who the heck are you anyway?"

"Oh him?" Allen announced in a bored fashion, "That would be Morpheus."

! thought Patty. That kid was the demon who had caused all of this? Well ... huh. She knew demons could take human form, but still ...

"Oh, I'm recognized am I?" said the boy, giving a short chuckle, "And by a talking book no less. And here I thought I was strange."

"You are strange," Allen pointed out, "You're the only demon I know of that likes to play with humans the way you do. I never really understood you myself."

Morpheus frowned now, seemingly troubled by Allen's comments. He fixed his dark and sinister gaze on the book hovering beside Patty as if trying to discern its true nature. "That voice sounds terribly familiar ... have we met before?"

"1518 I believe," answered Allen matter-of-factly, "I froze you into a block of ice and deposited you in Siberia to keep you out of trouble. I probably should have killed you instead, but you were annoyingly durable."

Realization dawned on the demon's face and it showed in an astonished expression for a brief moment, before being replaced with a faintly bemused look. "Allen Lowell. Will wonders never cease. Aren't you supposed to be dead?"

Patty leaned forwards and narrowed her eyes, hands resting defiantly on her hips in what she presumably hoped was an intimidating stance. "I woke him up. Same thing I'm going to do to everyone else. Far too much sleeping going around if you ask me."

"No one did," Morpheus countered, not remotely impressed, "But by all means, go right ahead and try, for all the good it will do you. And oh yes," he glanced at his wristwatch in an exaggerated fashion, "it's quite late, aren't you even a little bit tired?"

Patty leaned back and ground her teeth in annoyance. She was more than a little tired. Only the excitement of recent events had kept her going this long, but her eyelids were already starting to feel heavy, her head as foggy as the city now was. Morpheus saw all of this and smirked.

"Quite. Well, I shall be off for now; countless dreams to twist and shape however I want. So much fun to be had. I look forward to adding you to my collection when you-" he made a fake pillow with his hands and teasingly leaned his head against it, "-nod off."

Before Patty or Allen could answer, he vanished, leaving behind a light dusting of sand particles in his wake. Patty glared at the roundabout he'd been standing on, more determined than ever to see this demon get what he deserved. But first she had to find Dante, and if necessary wake him up.

Preferably before she fell asleep herself.