A/N: It's been a very long time since I updated this story... but I recently remembered it and wanted to complete it. So enjoy the confusing chapter, everyone!
The master of dreams sat at the table, slowly turning the wine glass in his hand. He determined the best way to solve this problem would be, as he feared, would be to interfere. Gainel sighed silently to himself to release tension. He did not mind helping the mortals out whenever he had the opportunity to do so, but his help was so often disregarded as 'merely dreams'. His ingenious and his unconventional ways to send messages to those sleeping were often shaken away from the mortal's mind upon waking. He frowned at his wine glass. How would he make such an unimaginative and skeptical mortal to take his godsend dreams seriously?
Alanna could not remember the last time she had such an odd dream.
She was up in a high, secure place, watching a scene through a window slit no bigger than her palm. Below, there was a large, open, nondescript space with all the gods gathered in a circle, the Great Mother Goddess and Mithros placed a little higher on a raised platform, seating in gilded thrones, signifying their superiority as head god and goddess over the other deities. Alanna recognized all of the gods through their descriptions and the statues she had seen in the past, but her eyes were immediately drawn to her patron Goddess , the only one she had met face-to-face. She was speaking, her voice low and deep, like a hundred wolves baying at the moon. She was so beautiful, even in her dream state Alanna almost felt pain.
"Look, they are discussing whether they should let Father Universe and Mother Flame get involved," a voice whispered from beside her.
Alanna's arm reached instinctively for her sword, but swiftly finding that her scabbard and her daggers were missing she put up her fists in a defensive position and spun around to face the voice.
"Attempting to fight me, sister?" Thom said sardonically. "Might be a little unfair since I'm already dead."
"Thom!" Alanna cried. She flung her arms around him and felt tears prickling at her eyes, but she didn't care. She hadn't had a proper dream about him in years, and she forgot how much she missed him.
He shushed her and pulled away, drawing her attention back to the gods below. "Pay attention," he told her quietly. "We've got to continue to protect the king. I'll try to help you understand what they're saying."
"But why? Jon's in danger?" Thom just shushed her and leaned forward greedily to hear the gods. Annoyed that her brother was ignoring her, Alanna felt tempted to threaten to duck in him a pond – she was sure to find one in this place, according to Daine and Numair there had been a lake so surely there was a pond as well – but her annoyance slowly dissipated as the gods' words reached her ears.
"I do not believe that this is a concern worthy of our great Father and Mother; we can contain it." Mithros' deep voice boomed, filling the seemingly endless area with sound like the inside of a cave.
"I disagree, she is not using the Seer Child like a normal mortal vessel," a surprisingly light voice issued from the Black God's mouth. Alanna was sure until this moment that no
mortal before her had ever heard him speak. "Shakith should not possess such a strong mortal, it leaves the rest of us at a disadvantage. We should claim the child as our own."
"But we all have used the child in the past," snapped Mithros. "She is not only Shakith's, but we all use her to deliver our messages."
"Exactly, we're giving Shakith an incredible amount of power over us!" said the Great Mother. "She controls the child and the prophecies, and she can and has turned that power against us! Not to mention she has broken the basic laws of our universe –"
"We don't know that yet. Calm yourself, Sister."
"Very well then, we will not discuss my suspicions. What matters is that we must fix the damage that our dear sister has done with that prophecy," the Great Mother Goddess said firmly.
The Graveyard Hag cackled. "Oh no," she shook her finger at the Goddess in a way that was less than polite befitting her rank. "You're forgetting the ancient rules. Once a prophecy is given to a mortal, we cannot interpret it for them."
"That is not the same! Shakith has meddled…"
But the Black God was nodding his head in agreement with the Graveyard Hag. "That is why we should take this to Father and Mother. She has manipulated the task given to her, and she has forced the child into giving a prophecy that has a high possibility of being misconstrued."
"My country –" the Goddess tried to speak again, only to be cut off by the Graveyard Hag.
"You already tried to fix the situation, deary," she said with a slight cackle. "It's not our fault or problem that you used an unreliable method. You can't break the ancient rules now and interfere again." The Graveyard Hag looked horribly pleased at the Goddess' distress.
"Shakith is meddling with the prophecies, she cannot be trusted anymore," the Black God interrupted. "The Seer Child should be given to me as a result of Shakith's betrayal."
"Thom," Alanna whispered. "I have no idea what they are talking about. I thought you were helping me understand?"
"Oh yes," Thom said suddenly, looking up at her surprised. He had the look on his face that he thought it was all self-explanatory. Alanna felt a twinge of annoyance; dream Thom was no different than the real Thom had been. "King Jonathan received a prophecy. You need to contact the king about what you've heard here and help him determine what the prophecy states. You understand the basics of the conversation, don't you?"
"No, I don't!"
Thom shook his head slowly. He suddenly changed, no longer acting or even moving like himself. – I thought to get you here sooner, Lioness –" the voice said her head. "— But unfortunately, you cannot stay and listen any longer. I cannot tell you exactly what was discussed this night, but I can tell you this: the prophecy is true, but it cannot be trusted. Tell the Tortallan King to take his time.—"
And with that the dream was over. Alanna had never woken up feeling so confused.