...keep the scars that strengthen...
...mend the scars that condemn...
...heal the scars that can be healed...
...live with the scars that cannot be removed...
...keep the trench scar from opening...
...save... me... from... myself... mommy...
...stop... the monster... from ever existing...
Judy awoke with a start, sitting upright in her bed. It had been the fourth time in the last week that she had the nightmare. Thankfully for her, Nick was too tired to really take notice. And she slinked into the kitchen to try to calm her nerves.
"Night terrors again?" Her brother Davies said, switching on a light.
Judy stuttered for a moment before rallying. "What are you doing up?"
"I got held up at work. Andrew was being his usual annoying self, there were shenanigans in the accounting department, and Anna spent pretty much the entire day looking over a corkboard she made regarding Draco and Delphine's whereabouts. So I've been busy... but you didn't answer my question." Davies said.
"Yes... yes I did have a nightmare." Judy said.
"You need water?" Davies asked as Judy sat down. Judy just nodded, and Davies got her a glass.
"It was... it was a weird thing. I was on some sort of... grey sea. And there was a figure in the middle. I couldn't make out much. But I was hearing a voice... it was cryptically rambling about scars." Judy said.
"Anything else?" Davies asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well... the voice called me mommy, and said something about stopping some kind of monster from existing." Judy said. "And... all throughout it the figure was turning to ash... and the thing that wakes me up." Judy said as he voice was shaking. "Is that... that the figure had Pandora's face!"
"Well... that is messed up." Davies said. "And speaking as someone who has no 'official' education in psychology, that sounds FAR too specific to just be a random dream.
"I know... I mean I know that Pandora is... WILL be a time traveler. But... seeing my baby girl turn to ash like that... what could it mean?" Judy said as she downed the glass.
"Again, I'm a writer not a therapist. On the subject you should see one about-"
"No!... I mean, I don't want to worry anyone." Judy said, cutting off her brother.
"Judy I'm already worried! At the very least you should tell Nick." Davies said.
"No... no he doesn't need to know." Judy said anxiously.
"Judy... if this affects your work in anyway, I will say 'I told you so'." Davies said in frustration.
Then, Olaf, Nick and Judy's Spirit Guardian son leapt into his adoptive mothers lap. "It's alright Olaf... mommy has just been having scary dreams." She said as she petted the scarred looking Spirit Guardian.
XXXX
Nick and Judy were sitting in the Chief's office at Precinct 1. Since the incident where Harry Carrotson had corralled chickens in the Precinct, Bogo had officially resigned and took up the offer to head the Zootopia Vigilante Registration Program. His replacement was a pig named Ham-Hawk.
"So... it seems as if our star cops are slipping a bit." Ham-Hawk said, seething with anger.
"Ham-Hawk, it isn't-"
"Let's look over your record over the past week shall we?" Ham-Hawk said as he took out a file. "Oh you're conduct is going down the toity Hopps... falling asleep at your desk, disruptions during staff meetings. Failure to properly submit paperwork. And the most recent addition to this cavalcade of screw-ups... Hopps fell asleep at the wheel of your cruiser, and CRASHED IT INTO MY OFFICE!" Ham-Hawk roared, gesturing to the cruiser in question.
"Listen Curley! I don't know why this is happening. Carrots why are you... and she's finally asleep." Nick noted as indeed, his wife had curled up.
"If you can't keep her awake, I'm going to have to put you both on parking duty!" Ham-Hawk yelled.
"Good to know!" Nick said as he picked up his wife, and left the office. "Don't worry Judy... I'm going to find a way to get you out of this." He said determinedly. "And I think I know the right guy to talk to about this."
XXXX
Meanwhile in Forest-Vale, Sierra Ultima was peacefully tending a flower garden. Calmly humming to herself... right up until she heard a strange whistling sound. She looked up, and the robotic bunny was shocked by what she saw. She ducked out of the way just in time... only for Nick, while wearing the Mask of Loki landed on her anyway.
"WHERE IS HE?!" Nick shouted in a goofy, gravely sounding voice to the bewildered robot.
"I'm right here Nickolas." Loki said as he opened the sliding glass door. "And whatever reason you have for being here. Get, off, of my daughter."
"Oh..." Nick said, noticing his wife's doppelganger in clear pain. "Sorry." Nick said as Sierra Ultima threw him off of her.
"Oaf." Sierra Ultima said as she stood up and brushed herself off.
"I'm going to make this simple. Judy's hasn't been sleeping well, and it's been affecting her work." Nick said seriously.
"And you came to the god of mischief for this?" Loki said in disbelief.
Judy then woke with a gasp. "Nick!... why are we... oh no!" Judy said looking around her.
"Unpleasant dreams?" Loki said.
"Please Judy... you don't have to keep secrets from us. We're friends... well sort of." Sierra Ultima said awkwardly to the women she had been created to possess and replace.
"Oh... who am I kidding? Yes, I have been having nightmares all week... or rather the one nightmare. I didn't tell you Nick because I was too proud of myself to just admit that I had trouble sleeping." Judy admitted.
"Judy!" Nick said as he removed the Mask. "You can't keep secrets like this... you shouldn't keep them from me at the very least!"
"And I assume you came here to seek my direct aid in these dreams?" Loki asked.
"Well I figured that a god would know more about dreams then me." Nick said. "That... and I wasn't really thinking."
"Indeed... well I have been researching dreams in my time. But almost all of them are strictly penned by mortals so they'd be less then useless to you. But I do know of one who would be more then valuable to this matter." Loki said.
"And there's a catch to this, isn't there?" Nick asked.
"When isn't there? But... well he's a severed head in Middengard." Loki said.
XXXX
"Okay... when I came here to try to keep my wife off of parking detail. I did not expect to be doing this!" Nick said as he and Loki carried an ox's head into Loki's living room. The wise god, Mimir.
"Fate often has a weird and whimsical sense of humor young Nickolas. You should know that better than most mortals." Mimir said.
"Oh... hi..." Judy said, trying her hardest not to lose her lunch at the sight of the severed head. "You must be Mimir... I'm Judy."
"The pleasure is all mine! Now, your husband and Loki told me you've been having a recurring nightmare." Mimir said.
"Yes... the same nightmare every time I manage to get into REM sleep. Can you help?" Judy said.
"Aye... now just hold still. This will be weird for everyone involved." Mimir said, then a strange golden mist seeped out of his ears, and everyone except for Sierra Ultima fell asleep.
XXXX
"Lady and gentlemen... welcome to the Dreamscape." Mimir said to the party, as they stood atop a grey sea, and the headless god regrew his body.
"It's been awhile since I've walked through a mortals Dreamscape... but I'm fairly certain they typically look more colorful then this." Loki noted.
"So... what exactly is happening?" Nick asked.
"Well... there's this figure." Judy said, she then pointed at the figure in question. "And it's over there!"
"But that's miles away!" Nick said.
"Lad, we're in a dream." Mimir said, the party then rapidly approached the figure. "Now... let's see what we have here." Mimir said as he used his magic to look through the figure. "There is... regret for sins, both small and great... a great rage that had burned itself out... a sadness deeper than any chasm known to mortal or god... the bitter cold of vindictiveness... a madness that has consumed much... oh..."
"What... what is it?" Judy asked.
"I had assumed this was a mere nightmare. Fears regarding your eldest daughter... but this is so much worse than a bad dream." Mimir said in concern. "This is a vision of the future... but what does any of this mean?"
"You mean you don't know what's causing this?!" Nick said in frustration.
"Nickolas, there are things even we of Middengard do not fully understand... but Mimir. Your ignorance of the further meaning here is troubling." Loki said.
"Perhaps... perhaps I can figure this out." Mimir said as he further used his magic... this resulted in a shockwave of fire from the image of Pandora, as it turned into a great fiery beast. A feral parody of the hybridized mammal.
"ALL... WHO DEFY ME... SHALL... BURN!"
XXXX
"W-What just happened?!" Judy said after she and the party returned from the Dreamscape.
"That... that is not an easy question to answer, it was anger I had not born witness to since Ragnarok. But I know of some folks who can make sense of it." Mimir said as a magic golden mist went between the two of them. "Now your vision is mine to bear."
"Wait... you just said Ragnarok has already happened." Nick said inquisitively.
"Yes... and I'd very much like to NOT be reminded." Loki said, he then made a lame impression of a phone ringing, and answered his smart phone. "Oh, Angela! You say you want to go for a walk? Well it's rather sudden but I'll be there momentarily!" Loki said as he shot out of the door.
"I haven't heard the true story of Ragnarok myself. As I'm sure you just saw, Loki does not like to speak of it." Seirra Ultima said.
"So I'm to play story teller... fair enough." Mimir said in disbelief. "Gather round where I can see you while I regale you with the War against the Ruinous Ones."