All became black and limp. Though soon Meg's blank state of mind soon brought light and colors to life within her still active mind, forming into restless dreams;

She found herself wandering aimlessly through the Villa at length, with no immediate destination in mind.
Coming to a window overlooking the terrace gardens, she gazed beyond the cool glass, admiring the new spring blossoms, shooting their multi-colored petals to the sun, expanding the estate.
As the peace of mind settled through her, a gnarled, yet haunting familiar voice whispered in her ear, prompting her to turn toward the north. Without questioning its motive, she submitted to its direction and did as it suggested. As she did so, she saw Hercules among the greenery, his back to her, the sunlight catching off his orange-colored locks. She smiled slightly and lifted her knuckles to the glass, intending to gain his attention by rapping on the window.
A new movement in the development stopped her so suddenly that her fist froze in mid-air.
Two delicately tanned arms came to surround the hero's neck possessively, curving into his hair. A doll-like face appeared above his right shoulder, settling contentedly into the bend of his neck. As if by instinct, the raven-haired beauty lifted her eyes and met Meg's astounded gaze. The intensity of her dark eyes caused her to fall back a step, in a state of shock. The girl, taking pleasure from Meg's reaction, stretched her rosy lips into a Cheshire cat grin and tilted her head to lay a light, yet lingering kiss, upon Hercules' thick neck.
Meg was certain she would be sick, her stomach rolling over with disgust.
"Stop", she heard herself whisper. Then growing in volume and fiercness. "Stop this!"

Within the confines of her bed, she wrestled fitfully, thrashing about.
"No!"
Her body jolted upright, fully awake though between two worlds. Meg looked about, gathering her thoughts as she pressed a hand to her clammy brow. Catching her breath between heartbeats, she again fell back into bed, reality setting in.
The nature of her dream totally grounded her. She shook her head, confused.
"What was that all about?"

Within the realm of the Gods, the Goddess Aphrodite straightened and smoothed out her designer gown as she returned from the land of dreams. After fluffing out her golden curls, she bid farewell to the God of dreams.

"Thank you Phantosos, for allowing my intrusion."

The brother of Morpheus bowed in respect, obviously taken by her beauty.

"Anything for the cause of love. If I can assist you again in anyway..." His cloud filled eyes, always witnessing the fondest wishes of mortals, were well focused on the figure primping before him, roaming up and down her flawless form, unable to help himself.

Being the goddess of love and beauty, males naturally worshipped and adored her. A blessing as well as a curse.
At her will, a gold handled mirror, with elegantly carved cherubs along its edges, appeared in her hand. As she continued to inspect and approve of her reflection, she noticed the dream-maker's intrusive gaze in the reflective background.

"You may as well not waste your time." She relayed into the mirror, while checking her lipstick. "As you're well aware, I've been married for quite some time now. And I don't think my husband, Hephaestus, would appreciate your devoted attention on me."

He ducked his head, his night cap drooping pathetically over his eyes, and flushed with embarrassment. He knew very well of the Smith master's jealous tiraids.
"Pardon my carelessness, lady Goddess", he apologized. "But even the divine are prone to our weaknesses."

She considered her fellow God carefully, as if deciphering whether or not he was being sincere. In the end she gave him the benefit of the doubt. After all, he was still a young Godling, and was yet to control the fullness of his powers. She gave him a killer smile that would melt the heart of any being, oblivious to her own capabilities.

"Thank you, Phantosos. I accept your apology."

After bending her knees in a slight curtsy, she dissapeared, leaving a cloud of pink dust and a melody that sent hearts on fire.

Phantosos' was no exception. He breathed in a long breath to take in the intoxicating sent of her lingering perfume, letting in settling into his golden bloodstream, becoming a part of him, and sighed as his heart raced.

"Such an angel."

Meg lay still on her bed for quite some time, after her dream so rudely chased away any desire at all to sleep, let alone becoming vulnerable to her dreams once again.
As much as it sickened her to do so, she replayed the imagery over and over in her mind, determined to uncover the source or meaning. She just couldn't imagine her subconscious conjuring up such scenes at random. It wracked her brain to even seek a reason why she would even care.
Besides, it wasn't as if the man were higly involved with anyone. So she had agreed to be his friend, recently, perhaps now she felt a certain obligation to protect his well being from those who would mean him harm.
Her weary head collapsed into the cradle of her hands, trying to keep it together without going insane in the process.
Pronounced friendships between male and female were usually a complicated issue unless the two opposites truly understood their place within the relationship.
She was so deeply buried within her thoughts and calculations, she never noticed Zebra's presence at the foot of her bed. When her eyes finally took in who was before her, in plain sight, she sucked in a breath to choke her lungs and ignite her nerves.
Zebra's reaction was very similar to that of her best friend; she staggered against the nearest wall, mirroring Meg's features upon her own face.
In her panic, Meg toppled to the floor, entangled within her blanket, a hand hovering over her heart as she heaved great breaths, eyes wide and alert.
After what seemed like ages, waiting for their blood to slow and their throats to find speech, one broke the void.

"Dang, Zebra! If I were a cat I would have lost at least 8 lives just now."

"So-rry", said Zebra, emphasizing the word. "You seemed wide awake to me. What's the matter?"

Her bravery returning, she went to sit beside Meg, who had found her way back to her bed. "You were so deep in thought, you didn't even notice me standing there for over 5 minutes."

"Really?"

Zebra nodded. "Which planet were you inhabiting?"

Meg shrugged. " I hardly know myself", she admitted truthfully. "It was just some wacko dream." She began gently massaging her temples, still fighting its grasp.

Zebra watched with concern wrinkling her features. Rarely had she seen Meg so out of sorts, she usually had things so under control.
"Do you want to talk about it?"

Meg shook her head. "No. I actually would like something to eat." Hopefully focusing on something real would make the pieces fall into place. She glanced toward the window, apprehensively, fearing what she might see, only seeing the oncoming twilight. "What time is it anyway?" There was hardly a cuckoo clock around chirping out the hours to refer to.

"That's why I came in to check on you", Zebra confirmed. "Marlena has supper all ready. And Phil is NOT the main course."

"Darn!" Meg cursed, stiffly getting out of bed. "And I was so looking forward to a tough lard of meat to coat my intestines." A heart-attack was a sure fire way to help forget her troubles.
"Oh well. You win some, you lose some." She came to a halt in the doorway, finding Zebra was not behind her. "Well...are you coming or what?"

Zebra looked on, studying her friend with true 's sudden shift in attitude troubled the young girl. She only opened up about her feelings when they became too much and bubbled up over the surface. All she could, for now, was to be there as a crutch to hold her up.

"Yeah...let's go."