In the early hours of the morning, Nero was sunk deep in sleep, his mind immersed in a nonsensical vision. His dream-self wandered Fortuna as the island had once, and yet never, been: He drifted through quaint streets lined with neat shops, past rustic cottages with pristine hedges in their gardens, and then a magnificent domed library was rising up before him. From within the structure he heard Kyrie's sweet voice, canting a familiar hymn. As he stepped through the doors the music wrapped around him, and at once he was inside the opera house, frozen in place as a blood-soaked assassin turned from his victim to survey the crowd. Hooded figures parted before him. Running. Screaming.
Nero wrenched away from the distorted memory, willing himself awake. His eyes burned with fatigue, but he forced them open, blinking in the darkness to clear the unsettling dream from his mind.
It took a few seconds for him to realize that the screams hadn't stopped.
Nero flung back the bedclothes and ran for the stairs, relying more on instinct than sight to navigate them in the darkness. There was light in the downstairs hallway, spilling out from the larger bedroom along with the sounds of horror. Nero's shoulder glanced off the doorframe as he swung into the room, but he scarcely noticed the pain.
Lady had arrived before him, and was on her knees between the two nearest bunks, reaching for one of the twins. Her lips were moving, but he couldn't hear anything but the two raw, panicked voices filling the room. Rosso was huddled in the corner at the back of his bed, just out of Lady's reach, face bloodless and frozen in an expression of abject terror. Half of the screams were his.
The other half came from the neighboring bunk, where Zaffiro was pressed back against the wall, his eyes glazed and unseeing even as they streamed tears. Julio crouched beside the bed, shaking the younger boy gently by the shoulders, but Zaffiro didn't seem to notice. His voice was already growing hoarse with screaming, and as he sank deeper into shock it faded away, leaving Rosso's panicked shrieks the only sound in the room.
Julio twisted to look at Nero as he knelt beside them. "He won't wake up," the older boy cried. His own eyes were brimming with frightened tears. "I thought he was having a bad dream, but he won't wake up…"
"It's okay. I've got him." Nero gathered Zaffiro into his arms. The small body was cold against his skin. "Bring the blanket." As Julio untucked the bedspread, Rosso's wails subsided into heaving sobs, and Nero looked over to see Lady wrapped around Rosso's quaking figure as well as she could manage on the cramped lower bunk. "Living room," he told her, and twisted to let Julio squeeze past him. "Go ahead of us, Julio. Switch on the lights."
Flavia was peering out of the door to her room when he passed, frightened by the strange sounds and nighttime disturbance just as the younger boys had been petrified in their own beds, but Nero couldn't spare them any attention just now. He sat on the couch, Zaffiro still motionless in his lap, and took the blanket from Julio. "Get the others back in bed. Tell them the twins just had a bad nightmare, and to go back to sleep. Everything's fine."
Julio hesitated. "But…"
"Go," Nero ordered. "I can't have them coming in here. Come back when they're all down."
Lady had somehow managed to wrangle Rosso out of his corner, and she carried him to the couch in an awkward tangle of limbs. At least he seemed more responsive than his brother as he clung to her, sobbing into her shoulder and calling for his mother. She kept her arms locked around him as she settled opposite Nero, looking like she herself might dissolve into tears at any moment. "What is happening?"
Rosso called for his mother again, and Nero froze. "Shit. Shit. Their memories."
"Oh, no," Lady breathed. "Trish said they were eight when it happened."
"I should have known this was coming." Nero struggled to tuck the blanket around Zaffiro with his free hand. "All along, they've been getting their memories back through dreams. I didn't even think about them having to relive that." He clutched the chilled body tighter against his chest. Zaffiro didn't react to the pressure.
Lady rubbed Rosso's back and rocked him gently from side to side. "Hush," she whispered. "You're safe now. It's just a bad dream." Rosso's heaving breaths gradually slowed, and Lady fixed her eyes on Nero, her meaning clear. "It's just a dream."
"Not when it sends him into shock, it isn't," Nero hissed. "He's freezing, and he still hasn't come out of it. It's like his body's shutting down along with his mind."
Lady would have replied, but Julio returned then, still drenched in anxiety. "They're back in bed, but I don't know if they'll sleep."
Nero hadn't really expected them to, but as long as they stayed out of the room, he could manage. "Good enough. You know where the hot water bottle is?"
"Under the bathroom sink."
"Okay, listen carefully: Go fill the kettle with water, put it on the stove to heat, then get a towel and the hot water bottle from the bathroom. As soon as the water's hot, use the tongs to hold the bottle over the sink—"
Julio nodded. "I've seen Kyrie do it. I know how."
"Good. Do not burn yourself. Once it's all sealed up, wrap it in the towel and bring it here."
The boy hurried off again, and Lady rearranged Rosso on her lap. He was sniffling now, but no longer sobbing. "I'm not saying it wasn't traumatic and frightening," she told Nero, her voice low and artificially even. "Clearly it was. But for them, at this moment in time, it's just a bad dream. That distance means everything right now."
Nero knew she was right; the memories the twins had regained were, after all, just memories, and presumably their horror would dull with time. But in order for Zaffiro to realize he hadn't just lived through… well, whatever it was he'd actually recalled in his dream, he had to be functioning normally. And right now, the fact that he wasn't was really beginning to worry Nero. "Okay, so we know whatever happened to them back then was really bad. Probably worse than the dream of it they just had. But even though it was awful, they came through it okay. So I shouldn't be worried that he's not out of this yet, right? Because if he survived it then, he should survive it now."
Lady's face softened. "In theory. I mean, he did just get a lot of trauma inserted into his memory all at once. Maybe it just… overloaded his brain."
Nero swallowed. "This isn't making me feel better."
"Indestructible, remember?"
"Also maybe a little bat-shit crazy. He did turn himself into Urizen."
"That's not a subject for young ears." Lady stroked Rosso's hair and angled her head to look down at him. "Hey, there. Can you try taking some big, deep breaths with me?" She demonstrated, and after some prompting, Rosso joined her. "Good. Isn't that better?"
"I want my mother," Rosso whimpered.
Nero saw the flash of pain in Lady's eyes that spoke of more than ordinary sympathy, but her voice remained steady. "I'm afraid you'll just have to settle for me. How are you feeling now? Can you tell me?"
Rosso sniffed before whispering, "Scared."
Lady rubbed his back. "What are you scared of? Do you want to tell me about your dream? Maybe talking about it will help."
Rosso curled a little tighter. "The house was on fire."
Lady glanced up at Nero, who shrugged. He hadn't heard this story, either. "That must have been very scary."
"Mother left me," he whispered. "She said I had to run and hide, and she left. And then she…" He began to cry again. "She screamed and screamed and… I was alone…"
Lady resumed rocking the boy as he dissolved into a fresh round of sobs. "You're safe now," she repeated. "You're not alone. We're here with you."
Julio returned with the hot water bottle and gave Rosso a curious look, but said nothing. Nero tucked the warm bundle against Zaffiro's stomach and wrapped the blanket around him more tightly. "Thanks," Nero told Julio. "You've been a big help."
Julio shrugged off his appreciation. "Are they better now?"
Nero wasn't sure how to answer that. "They will be," he tried, willing himself to believe it. "But I don't think there's anything else you can do here. You might as well go back to bed, too. School tomorrow."
The look Julio gave him plainly said that school was the last thing on his mind. "Those weren't ordinary nightmares, were they?"
Nero sighed and let his chin rest atop Zaffiro's head. The adrenaline was fading, leaving him shaken and exhausted. "I'm sorry, Julio. I really can't tell you this time."
The boy nodded, disappointed but accepting. "Okay. If you need any more help, I'll probably still be awake."
"Yeah, I'm sure you're not the only one. I'll leave the other kids to you, okay?"
"Sure." With a last look at the twins, Julio retreated down the hall.
Nero rubbed Zaffiro's arms through the blanket. The heat of the water bottle and Nero's own body were beginning to bring blood back into his limbs, but the boy still hadn't spoken or even cried since that first terrified outburst in the bedroom. "Come on, kid, come back to us," Nero whispered. "We're here for you, but you gotta let us help."
Rosso surfaced from his own misery to look over at his twin. A new layer of fear overlaid the shadows on his face. "Brother…" He lifted tear-drenched eyes to Nero. "Is he okay?"
"He had a bad dream, same as you." Nero slipped his fingers beneath Zaffiro's jaw to feel for his pulse. It fluttered against his fingertips, fast but weak. "He's just having a real hard time getting over it."
Rosso squirmed free of Lady's hold and crawled across the couch to insinuate himself within the circle of Nero's arms. He pressed his head against his brother's chest and hugged him tightly. After a minute, Zaffiro's erratic breathing began to even out.
Nero pulled the blanket around both of them. "You're safe now," he echoed Lady's words. "Whatever happens, you're not alone. I'm here. I'll protect you."
Soon Rosso's eyelids began to droop, and it wasn't long before he sank back into an uneasy sleep. But while Zaffiro's body eventually relaxed, his eyes remained wide and vacant.
Nero woke to the brush of a gentle hand over his face. He squinted against the glare of the early sun that slanted through the front window and peered up at Kyrie. "Hey. Welcome back."
She moved her hand from Nero's forehead back over his hair and looked down at the boys in his arms with concern. "What happened? Why are you all out here?"
Nero peered down at the twins. Rosso was slumped against his chest, sound asleep. At first Zaffiro appeared to have dozed off, but as Nero stirred, he jerked back to full wakefulness, eyes darting around in alarm. "The kids had bad dreams," Nero temporized. "I'll tell you the rest later." He tried to move and hissed in discomfort. "Crap. Both my legs are completely asleep."
"Here." Kyrie moved around the couch and bent to scoop Rosso into her arms. He writhed a little and whimpered in his sleep, but didn't wake. "You can bring Zaffiro once you can walk."
Lady had disappeared from the couch some time during the night, but she emerged from the room she shared with Flavia when she heard Kyrie's voice. "Morning," Nero heard her say quietly. "You missed quite an ordeal."
"So it seems. I'll meet you in the kitchen after I put Rosso to bed."
After a pause to to let blood flow resume to his lower extremities, Nero eased forward, wincing at the pins and needles it stirred in his legs, and gathered Zaffiro in his arms. The boy curled a little tighter against his chest as he was lifted, and Nero made sure to scoop up the blanket they'd taken from his bed. "Time to go back to bed, kiddo. You feeling any better now?"
Zaffiro said nothing.
He heard Kyrie tinkering in the kitchen as he passed, and by the time he'd deposited Zaffiro in his bunk and covered him with the blanket, the welcome aroma of coffee had begun to spread through the house. From his top bunk, Julio stirred and lifted his head to squint at Nero. "You need help?" the boy mumbled.
"Nope, all good," Nero whispered back. "You still have an hour before you need to get up. You can go back to sleep."
Julio flopped back into his pillow, and Nero crept out, closing the bedroom door behind him. Nero envied him the extra sleep. He'd dozed on and off for a couple of hours, but his cramped position on the couch had been far from restful.
In the kitchen, Kyrie was just pouring the coffee. "Do you want something to eat?" she asked as Nero joined them.
He shook his head. "I'll have something when I feed the kids later. How are you holding up? You get any sleep?"
"None at all. I'm still awake, but not for long." Kyrie smothered a yawn behind her hand. "But before I turn in, tell me what on earth happened here. Is everyone all right?"
"Yes, and no." In between sips of coffee, Nero briefly summarized the night's events, though he skirted around the cause of the twins' nightmares. "Rosso is definitely handling it better than Zaffiro, but I think we're going to have to keep a close eye on both of them."
"The other kids were pretty upset, too," Lady added. "Flavia was still awake when I went back to the room at four."
"From the looks of things, I don't think Julio slept much, either." Nero drained the last of his coffee. "I think it's going to take everyone a couple of days to recuperate."
"Poor boys." Kyrie glanced in the direction of the bedroom, as though she could peer through the walls to watch over them. "I wonder what sort of memory could have frightened them both so badly."
Nero and Lady exchanged glances. "We know what it was," Nero said quietly. "Not all the details, but…"
Kyrie's brow creased. "Can you tell me? Or is it something you think they wouldn't want me to know?"
Nero deferred to Lady, who shrugged. "I don't see why you shouldn't. In fact given what happened last night, I think it's best that you have at least an idea of what they're going through." She glanced toward the door and lowered her voice, just in case any of the other children were awake. "When Dante and Vergil were eight years old, their mother died." She moistened her lips. "Well… she was murdered. By enemies of their father."
"Murdered?" Kyrie gasped. "Oh, how awful."
"We're pretty sure they witnessed at least some of it," Nero added. "Apparently demons overran the whole town, looking for them. Their mother wasn't the only one who died. But whatever they saw that day—whatever they remembered last night—must have scarred them pretty deeply."
"And just so you're aware, they don't talk about it. At all. I've known Dante for twenty-five years, and I only found out what really happened when Trish told us a few weeks ago. When Rosso described his dream last night, it was the first I'd ever heard him speak of it." Lady glanced at Nero. "Did Zaffiro ever tell you anything?"
Nero shook his head. "He hasn't said a word since it happened. I don't even know if he really slept at all."
"He was probably afraid to go back to sleep, after a nightmare like that." Kyrie sighed. "Did Trish have any suggestions? Anything that would help them recover?"
"We haven't had a chance to ask. She went out last night and hasn't come back yet."
"I'm sure she'll be back for breakfast," Lady said. "Mealtimes are basically the equivalent of a summoning circle where she's concerned."
Nero turned back to Kyrie. "Hey, speaking of summoning circles, tell us about Gigi."
"There's not much more to tell. Once she realized I was staying overnight to keep her from escaping, she went right to sleep. The hospital had found a nurse to replace me by sunrise, but I'm sure it's going to be an ongoing issue."
"We were thinking maybe Trish could stay with her at night, since she's got nothing better to do until the Nilepoch shows up again."
"Oh! That's a thought. You don't think Trish will mind?"
"Given the choice between Gigi or the rest of the kids, I think she'd be thrilled to have just one person to babysit. Especially if it includes pizza delivery."
"Well, it sounds like a perfect solution to me." Kyrie yawned again. "I'm not sure I can manage another all-night session any time soon."
"Yeah, it sounds like you're pretty well beat. Why don't you go on up to bed?" Nero collected the empty mugs and carried them to the sink. "I'll get the kids ready for school."
"No, I promised I'd see them at breakfast." Kyrie rubbed her eyes. "I want to make things seem as normal as possible, especially after the scare they had last night. I'll rest after they've gone to school."
"Fine, if you insist. But I'm cooking." Nero crouched to retrieve a pan from the cupboard beside the oven.
"You don't have to do that. You were up most of the night, too. Let me." Kyrie stood and reached for the cookware.
Nero held it out of her reach. "At least I had a nap. You haven't slept at all! Go put your feet up and let me do some work for a change."
"All I did was sit in a chair all night. I'm perfectly capable of—"
"Girls, girls!" Lady's voice cut in. "You're both pretty. Now give me the pan."
Kyrie and Nero blinked at her in confusion. "What?"
Lady rolled her eyes. "It sounds like I'm the only one of us who got any sleep last night, and right now I trust myself to handle dangerously hot objects a lot more than I trust either of you. So give." She reached up and yanked the pan out of Nero's hand, then pointed to the kitchen table. "Both of you, sit."
Kyrie's mouth curved in a stubborn frown. "You're our guest! You shouldn't have to—"
"Sit," Lady repeated. "I'm twice your age and ten times as mean. Do not make me pull seniority on you."
"I think you just did." Nero's eyes slid to Kyrie. "Hey, did I tell you I found out Lady's old enough to be my mother?"
Lady's eyes narrowed, and she spun the pan by the handle. "You want to start something at this hour of the morning?"
"No, ma'am." Nero pulled out Kyrie's chair for her while Lady moved to the sink to wash her hands. "You go right ahead and make breakfast." He grinned. "Mom."
Lady's aim, as always, was excellent. The wet towel caught Nero right across the face.
