Explanations
Summary: Morpheus finds out why Kacy didn't sleep the previous night and is displeased with Desire. He decides to explain himself to the girl after having Lucienne talk to her. A few nights later, he tells her about Orpheus.
Morpheus knew he shouldn't have worried about why Kacy wasn't in the Dreaming last night. After all, people could just decide not to sleep on their own and rarely, if ever, was something supernatural keeping someone out of his realm. He couldn't help it anyway and thus most if not all of the dreamers had nightmares based on anxieties that they dealt with. As he sat on his throne, he talked with Matthew about the situation.
"So, let me get this straight; everyone's dreams are effected if you feel a really strong emotion and you want me to check on Kacy to see if she's all right just because you were so worried about her." Matthew had said in response.
"That is precisely what I am saying, Matthew. Observe her throughout today to see if you can find out any information about why she did not come to the Dreaming last night. Then I will figure out if I need to do anything else about that issue." Morpheus was not sure if Desire or someone else might have been meddling in his affairs again, but he could not rule out any other possibilities yet.
"All right boss; I've got this." Mathew flew into the library and then the painting on the ceiling, emerging in the clear skies of the waking world above Kacy's hometown. He landed on a bush in the Nelson family front yard and looked in to see the family eating breakfast. Since the central air conditioning inside the house was not on and the window screens were the only parts of the windows down due it not being hot, he could hear Anita, Joseph, and Seth talk about their dreams.
"I don't know why I dreamed about taking the SAT and being nervous seeing as I haven't been in high school for years." Anita had said.
"I dreamed that someone broke into our house and tried to take Kacy away because of her being autistic." Seth was clearly still shaken by that.
"My dream was about not being able to find any of you after a disaster." Joseph added. Waking up from that nightmare had caused him to immediately turn over and see that Anita was still in bed beside him and they had spent a few minutes comforting each other before going downstairs.
"Did you sleep at all last night, Kacy?" Seth asked.
"No; would you believe me if I told you the reason?" The preteen girl wanted to know, worried about what her parents would say and still feeling a little tired as she looked down at her bowl of cereal.
"We would." Anita said, recalling how Kacy had mentioned her two dream meetings with Morpheus and deciding to give her the benefit of the doubt.
"Well, Dream's younger sibling showed up in my room…" Kacy explained what had happened yesterday during her brief conversation with Desire. At the end of it, she said "I don't know if I was just imagining that or even if I wasn't, whether Desire was just saying that to make me upset because they don't get along with Dream or not."
"I think you should ask Dream about it and get the full stories from him." Seth suggested. "You can't just believe everything you hear."
No wonder the kid didn't sleep, Mathew thought to himself. He felt bad for her to say the least.
In his throne room, Morpheus was seeing this whole thing through Matthew's eyes. Storm clouds brewed outside, reflecting his anger.
"My Lord?" Lucienne had come to the throne room to check on him.
"I need to speak to a certain sibling of mine. Leave me be, Lucienne." Morpheus ordered her as he headed to his gallery. He stood in front of the glass heart that was Desire's sigil and held it. "Desire, I stand in my gallery and I hold your sigil. I wish to speak with you immediately."
"Very well, brother." Desire replied. This was going to be an interesting conversation.
As had been the case after the dream vortex incident, Morpheus appeared in the Threshold and asked, "Why the lack of being subtle this time over a human that got my attention, sibling?"
"I don't care about that, Dream. Kacy Nelson is too naïve for her own good and she would eventually have found out some of that information anyway." They replied.
"And yet you thought that you had the right to upset her by revealing some of my past to her without my consent." Morpheus glared while saying that.
"Why do you think other relationships will work out any better than your romances, brother? It would lead to heartbreak sooner or later." Desire pointed out, the way they were saying it making it obvious that they were enjoying getting under his skin.
"If I want to be a mentor to a young mortal, that is my choice. Kacy could very well be a great writer given the confidence and inspiration to do so despite her difficulties." Morpheus pointedly tried to ignore the comment regarding his 5 ex-lovers by saying that. He may have been being more calm than expected, but that did not mean that his anger wasn't obvious. "I will explain myself to her and hope for the best. Farewell." He returned to his realm, not surprised that any of his younger siblings would be playing games with mortals again. Perhaps he shouldn't have spoken to Kacy again after that first conversation that they had in her dreams, but what is done can not be undone. He sat on his throne once more and hoped that Kacy would try to sleep tonight; otherwise, he would go into the waking world to make her do so and then hope that she still would listen to him explain that his kind did not have a black and white way of thinking.
Throughout the rest of the day, Kacy was trying to focus on her schoolwork while sitting in her room at her desk, unaware of Dream's conversation with Desire. She was not allowed to have Pepsi to keep herself awake and so had opted for tea instead. Joseph had left for work, Anita was working in her home office downstairs, and Seth was in his room doing his own schoolwork. The girl was now aware of Mathew being present though as she briefly looked to see him on the roof outside her window. "Hello little bird." She said softly before continuing her assignment.
When Kacy had left the room to make herself lunch, Matthew was called back to the Dreaming. He had returned to the library and then the throne room to find that Morpheus was there again. The Lord of Dreams then explained what had been said when he talked to his younger sibling.
"Why am I not surprised that your sibling's messing with you again?" Mathew commented.
"It is not a surprise, but that does not make the fact that Kacy found out that information from them any less problematic." Morpheus replied firmly, taking a deep breath despite not needing to.
"Is it going to be painful to explain any of those things that you did if she's willing to listen at all?" Matthew wanted to know as he perched on his lord's left shoulder.
"Perhaps. I will have Lucienne confirm to Kacy that what she has heard is true tonight and then help her calm down before I speak with her." Morpheus hoped that by doing this, it would help Kacy be able to listen to him explain himself to her. He was much calmer now as the storm clouds outside started lightening up from black to gray.
A few hours later, Kacy had fallen asleep, and her dream self was now in the library, wearing the same red pajamas she usually wore in the waking world. "Why am I here early? It hasn't been two weeks yet." She asked as she saw Lucienne walk up to her.
"Lord Morpheus wished for me to talk to you. He found out about your conversation with Desire courtesy of Matthew's investigation into why you were absent from the Dreaming last night." The librarian explained. "Come this way."
"I should have figured that he would find out sooner or later" Kacy followed the librarian to a small dark blue sofa in a reading alcove and sat next to her. "Is anything about what Desire said about Morpheus true? Who's Mathew?"
"Lord Morpheus can be cruel, usually when his pride has been wounded." Lucienne was not sure how to continue at first. She did manage to do so after a few moments. "Matthew is the most recent raven to serve Lord Morpheus. He was outside your home for most of today and can travel back and forth between the Dreaming and the waking world."
"I didn't think that Morpheus would have noticed that I wasn't there considering how many people there are living. I also can't believe I was stupid enough to want to assume that the eternal sleep he gave to his captor's son was the only cruel thing he had done to someone." Kacy buried his face in her hands as she started to cry, the realization that Dream had been cruel numerous times in the past despite having been nothing but nice to her so far finally sinking in. It was devastating to say the least.
Lucienne had never been a parent when she was a human. Yet she wanted to try to ease Kacy's heartbreak even if it was seemingly impossible right now. She placed a hand on the brunette girl's shoulder, causing the latter to bury her face in the former's chest and wrap her arms around her, desperately needing a hug after having such an awful truth confirmed to her. The librarian returned the hug and held the young dreamer close. The two had stayed like that for about 10 minutes before Kacy had finished crying.
That was when Morpheus came in. "Kacy Nelson, I am sorry that I did not foresee a certain sibling's actions. Will you come with me elsewhere and listen to me explain myself?"
"Yes." Kacy got up from the sofa, not sure what to expect. She grabbed his right hand though. Moments later, they were both on a bench in one of the gardens outside and the girl was wondering if Morpheus would be upset with her for what she had found out about him.
Morpheus started his explanation, knowing that if he did not say this now, there likely would not be a chance to say it again. "Kacy, I can not fault you for being curious or for being upset at the information that was given to you. You are not the first human to learn to be careful what you wish for nor will you be the last. Did you think that I would harm you for that?"
"I was under that impression hence why I didn't sleep last night." Kacy answered honestly. "You're not going to though, or you would have done it already."
"That is correct. What has been done can not be undone and I was worried that something that would be considered out of the ordinary had kept you out of the Dreaming. It was thanks to Matthew that I was able to realize that this was not the case." Morpheus explained.
"I'm sorry for making you worry." Kacy had been crying again when Morpheus used a black handkerchief to wipe the tear that was running down her face.
"You do not need to apologize, Kacy. I would however want you to do something if you wish for explanations as to why events I was involved with happened the way they did." He said to her gently.
"What would that be?" The girl asked.
"On the Friday nights when you are not in the library while in the Dreaming, I would want to have meetings with you to talk about whatever subjects you wish to discuss in exchange for hearing of the stories that I was involved in." The dream king answered her. "I am sure that you would be able to come up with something to talk about since it is near impossible to bore me. You are not unintelligent just because of having to learn an important lesson the hard way."
"I suppose I could do that. It's just going to take me a while to completely accept the blue and orange morality you and your family seem to run on." Kacy decided after briefly thinking about it.
"Mortals will never be able to understand my kind entirely, Kacy Nelson. I think you will be able to truly accept that sooner than you think. For now, you must wake. I will speak to you soon." Morpheus assured her. "This dream is over."
Kacy awoke at that moment with mixed emotions. While she was still upset, she did feel a little bit better than she had yesterday and she decided to get herself dressed. After doing that and getting her glasses on, she ate breakfast with her family, brushed her teeth, and then started working on her schoolwork once more. She wasn't sure what to think about Dream now, but she had a feeling that he would be honest about why he had or had not done certain things in the past. That was something that the girl would appreciate if that was the case.
A few days passed, the week going relatively well. Kacy had pleasant dreams that she couldn't remember much of. She took that as Morpheus trying to help her feel better after her encounter with Desire. It was now Friday, September 9th, 2022 and this weekend her cousins Evelyn and Miles, who were 5 years old and 2 years old respectively, were coming to visit while Aunt Leah and Uncle Brad went on a short trip to celebrate their anniversary. It was something that excited both Kacy and Seth as they finished up the assignments for their first week of homeschooling, including the tests they had to take. They loved seeing their younger cousins even though they did not get to do so very often.
At the moment, Kacy had helped Anita make the two beds in the guest room upstairs and plug in a nightlight by the door. One of the beds had a guard rail on it to keep Miles from accidentally rolling off of it in his sleep. The next thing the teenage girl did was go with her mother to the grocery store to buy Evelyn and Miles' favorite foods for meals this weekend. In the meanwhile, Joseph and Seth had gone to pick up the two younger children as they lived only an hour away. On their way back, they got food from KFC.
When she and her brother arrived at the home of her aunt, uncle, and big cousins, brown-haired, blue-eyed Evelyn Nelson (who was wearing a white shirt with a pink butterfly on it, red shorts, white socks, and blue sneakers) was excited as her uncle Joseph turned off and parked his car in the garage and opened the back door. She climbed out of her booster seat while Seth got Miles (who had the same kind of hair and eyes as his sister, but was wearing blue shorts, a yellow t-shirt, white socks, and black and white striped Velcro sneakers) out of his car seat. As they went into the house, Joseph got out the bags of Evelyn and Miles' clothing and the food. Anita came out to get Miles' plastic potty as he was still being toilet trained but hopefully would grow out of needing training pants soon.
Once everything had been brought inside and put where it needed to be, Evelyn gave Kacy a hug, squeezing her tightly. "I'm so happy to be here again so soon, cousin Kacy!"
"I know. Can you please stop squeezing me?" Kacy asked.
"Sorry." Evelyn let go and then Miles toddled over to his big cousin, giving her a gentler hug. The two younger children then hugged Seth and then their aunt and uncle before washing their hands.
After having dinner, and getting ready for bed, Evelyn was sitting in the living room next to Kacy as the latter told her about that first conversation with Dream. Both girls were in their pajamas, Kacy wearing red ones and Evelyn wearing yellow ones.
"He seems interesting." Evelyn wasn't sure whether to be scared of him or not.
"He is; I don't think he's entirely good or entirely bad. He just has a big job to do and is dedicated to doing it to the best of his abilities." Kacy replied, trying to reassure the younger girl.
"You would be correct in that assumption, Kacy Nelson." Morpheus appeared in the living room, causing both girls to turn to look at him.
"Good evening, Morpheus." Kacy greeted him after getting over the initial surprise of seeing him there. Miles, Seth, Anita, and Joseph were all asleep by now.
"Hi." Evelyn said softly.
"Hello, Evelyn Nelson." Morpheus replied. He briefly knelt down on the floor in front of the younger girl to appear less intimidating.
"How do you know my name?" The younger girl asked.
"I know the names of everyone who has ever dreamed. My siblings also know everyone very well even though few get to see myself or them in person so to speak." The third eldest of the Endless answered.
"Oh." Evelyn seemed to understand this as she yawned.
"I think we both should be getting to bed now since Morpheus has to speak with me tonight." Kacy yawned as well. "I'll be there soon. Good night." She went upstairs and then into her room, turning off the light and putting her glasses away before falling asleep on her own.
In the meantime, Morpheus was leading Evelyn up to the guest room and opened the door for her. "You need to sleep as well, Evelyn. Not just because I have a pleasant dream to take you away in, but because you need energy to function in your waking life." The ceiling light in the room was off and the blue curtains were closed, leaving only the nightlight on.
"Okay." The young girl got into the bed closest to the door and wrapped her arms around her pink teddy bear Bubblegum after pulling the sheets over herself. "Will my parents sleep well tonight?"
"All of your family will sleep well tonight, little dreamer, and so will you. I promise." Morpheus assured her. He then lifted a small amount of sand out of the pouch he always carried with him and blew it towards Evelyn, resulting in her falling into a peaceful sleep; she would dream of being a great chef due to her love of cooking.
Morpheus then traveled into Miles' dream of being a firefighter, briefly riding alongside him in a firetruck, in order to return to his kingdom. He knew that Kacy would probably be somewhat familiar with the story she would hear tonight due to her love of mythology.
In her dream, Kacy was sitting on a white and pink striped beach towel on a seashore and Morpheus had soon appeared beside her, sitting on a black beach towel. Neither of them had on any different outfits.
"Hey Dream, why are we here? Is Evelyn asleep now too?" Kacy asked softly.
"Evelyn is having a pleasant dream at the moment as are the other members of your family." Morpheus answered the second question first. Then he went back to the first one. "I thought that being on the beach would be to your liking. That is not the only reason though."
"You're right; what's the other reason?" Kacy asked.
"Long ago, I was married to Calliope, one of the Greek muses, and we had a son together…" Morpheus began explaining about Orpheus and his story, including the details that most mortals did not know about it. Once again, he was using his sand to visually show the young dreamer what had happened during that time, including the disownment.
By the end of it, Kacy was crying, and Morpheus had given her a handkerchief to wipe her tears.
"Thank you for being completely honest, Dream. That's not the only time you did something out of hurt pride, was it?" She asked, once she was calm enough to do so.
"No; those other stories are for other times though." He answered.
Kacy changed the subject. "So, if Greek mythology stories actually happened in a sense, does that mean other mythologies are true to some extent?"
"Yes. My siblings and I have been mistaken for specific gods; unlike them, my family and I do not need to be worshiped or believed in to exist." Morpheus explained.
The young girl seemed to understand although she was not sure what to say now. Actually, scratch that. She wanted to be in another location but was too shy to ask.
"Perhaps a change of scenery will do us both some good so that you do not have to wake up in a terrible mood." Morpheus knew exactly what Kacy had been thinking at this moment. He simply waved his hand, making it so that he and Kacy were on the bench in the garden that they had sat on a few nights ago.
"Thank you, Morpheus." Kacy said, feeling a little bit better.
"You are welcome, Kacy." He replied. "I am curious as to what your younger cousins will be doing with you during their visit to you, your brother, and your parents."
"Evelyn and Miles are coming with me, Seth, and my mom and dad to a fair tomorrow and then on Sunday, we're just going to relax before my mom brings them back home." Kacy explained. She then proceeded to talk about what rides she wanted to ride at the fair in question, the deep-fried foods she wanted to try, and the games that she wanted to play as she wanted to win plush toy animals for her cousins and little brother.
Morpheus was genuinely interested in what she had to say. "Fascinating; it sounds like something my older sister might like."
"It's a lot of fun; I think it helps that we're not going to be there all day so that I won't get overwhelmed." Kacy added. She was smiling and noticed that the scene had changed to that of a fairground and that she and Morpheus were now standing. She looked around at the rides, food stands, and games. There was a crowd of dream entities, some of which were participating in various activities. "Did all of this come from my imagination?" She asked.
"Some of it did, Kacy Nelson; you have a vivid imagination even if most of your peers refuse to believe that. I would be honored if you led the way." Morpheus offered the girl his right hand.
Kacy took his hand and then dragged him over to a swing ride to go on there first. Then they rode a carousel, a scrambler, a small rollercoaster, and more. Then the girl and the dream king sampled foods and then tried some of the games. Morpheus had wound up winning a ring toss game, with the prize being a light pink colored weighted blanket. "I have heard that something like this can help you and others who deal with similar issues to calm down."
"Thank you, Morpheus. That is actually true." She then realized that she had to wake soon.
"You are welcome, Kacy Nelson. I will see you in two weeks. This dream is over." Morpheus replied.
Kacy awoke and saw that the weighted blanket was on top of her regular sheets. "So that definitely wasn't just a dream in this case." She said to herself. What would happen next to her wasn't something she knew yet, but she was determined to have fun today.