AUTHORS NOTE: Sorry for the delayed update, I had a procedure and it really took a lot out of me... I've also been playing far too much Overwatch lol. I want to mention to anyone reading this to read the tags carefully. Morpheus isn't cruel to Devika, he's just possessive and protective - to a very passionate degree. His personality is intense in the show, and you can tell he feels so much, even with how controlled he is. I'm tapping into that pretty heavily with Devika. She's a troublemaker, and a bit of a danger magnet.

If you're enjoying this chapter, please consider reviewing.

Anyways, as always, I hope you enjoy this chapter.


Whispering.

It was faint, and it didn't sound like one voice, it sounded like several all at once. I couldn't make out what they were saying, I wasn't even sure it was in any of the languages I had heard. What I did know, was that it seemed to be coming from somewhere to my right.

I leaned towards the voices, hoping to make out something they were saying. I expected my feet to resist the movement, but they didn't. Stumbling, I nearly knocked over the small table in the center of the room. How was it that I could move, father had given me a direct order.

Finding my balance, I took a step towards the voices, and then another. I knew I shouldn't leave the room, if father found out he would be furious, and yet.. There was this weird sort of tug in my chest. It was unlike anything I had ever felt before. It was different than the pull I felt when I used my magic.

No, this was stronger. It was like someone or something had tied invisible strings to each of my ribs and were yanking me forward. Oddly, it wasn't an unpleasant sensation.

Turning down the main hallway, I followed the whispers further. They seemed to be moving as I did, they were leading me somewhere. I wasn't sure why I was throwing all caution to the wind, after all, I had never heard voices before. What if they weren't good voices?

Still, I followed them. I had to.

The voices continued deeper into the house, their words just as intelligible as they had been from the start. Suddenly, whatever was leading me stopped in place before turning and disappearing behind a door I hadn't even noticed. The tugging in my chest grew in intensity and briefly I worried it might pull my ribcage right out of my chest.

I had barely lifted my hand when the door unlocked, as if my magic was acting of it's own accord.

Curious..

Slowly, the door creaked open, inviting me inside. The air changed as the door sat ajar, like when summer transitions into autumn. There was a familiar cool sensation brushing my senses, but for the life of me I couldn't place where I had felt it before. There was a weird sort of energy vibrating under my skin, I felt it in each individual muscle and in every single bone.

Whatever was down the stairs radiated raw power, I had never felt anything like it, not even with mama.

My hands shook the further down the stairs I went, the feeling was getting stronger. My heartbeat increased with it until it was a rapid staccato in my chest.

When I reached the bottom of the stairs I was met with a metal gate with yet another lock blocking my path. The lock clicked open on my next exhale, magic had never come easier for me.. It was like I was feeding off whatever power was down here in the basement.

The gate swung open and my heart lurched into my throat.

In the center of the room, surrounded by a square mote, was a glass sphere suspended between four pillars. The light in the room was minimal, save for the light filtering in from above the sphere, making it's occupant practically glow.

Inside the glass sat a naked man, his eyes already locked onto me. I wasn't sure what I was most shocked by, the fact that Mr. Burgess had a man locked in his basement, or the fact that I recognized him.

"Sandman." I had barely whispered the words, but I knew he had heard me. The blue of his gaze grew more intense the longer he stared at me. Did he recognize me too? I was technically a teenager now, but I hadn't changed that much had I?

Was this where he had been all this time? He didn't.. he hadn't disappeared at all. He had been trapped, trapped like me and mama.

Practically tripping over my feet, I surged forward and jumped the mote, almost overshooting it. I didn't think, I just acted, my momentum nearly sending me crashing into the glass before I managed to plant my feet.

At some point in my run to him, he had rose up on his knees to meet me. My eyes traced over his face, taking in every single detail. He looked exactly the same as the last time I had seen him, only this time I was seeing him outside of my dreams.

Reaching up, I pressed my palm to the glass, half expecting something malicious to come between me and the transparent surface. Now that I was directly in front of him, I was practically drowning in the power he exuded. My nerve endings felt like Christmas lights, all lit up and twinkling.

His gaze lowered to my hand and for the smallest of moments, he seemed frozen, his face unreadable. Slowly, he lifted his own hand, brining it up to press where mine was. His hand was much larger than my own, and I found myself tracing the lines of his palm, wondering what I could learn from it.

Lifting my eyes, I met his gaze once more. He was looking at me oddly, as if he couldn't decide if I was really there or not.

"I can't believe- I thought you left." I kept my voice at a whisper, afraid to speak louder. "Have you been down here this whole time?"

He nodded his head once.

Glancing around the sphere, I took in the metal supports as well as the chains keeping it all in place. There was no way in or out, it was just like the Witch's glass that kept my familiar locked up.

"How did this happen?" I met his eyes once more, noticing the hard set of his jaw at my question.

His gaze dragged away from me and lowered to look at something behind me. Following his eyes, I finally took note of the golden binding circle on the floor. I had been so distracted upon seeing him that I hadn't even noticed it.

It looked different than the one that was now permanently burned into the floor of father's house, the ruins were more complex. It hadn't scorched either, in fact, it looked simply drawn onto the floor.

Pulling myself free from the glass, I bent to get a better look at it. It took me a moment to focus on how the runes were laid out, to figure out how they were supposed to work. I really needed to study more runes.

The circle surrounding us was so vastly different than what had bound me, it was almost frightening the power coiled inside each etched line. Whatever this was, it was a lot stronger and was meant to contain an incredibly powerful being. It was less crude than the one that had bound me, this one was elegant and complicated.

Shooting a quick glance over my shoulder, I leveled my gaze once more on the man above me. The King of Dreams. How in the world had a mortal like Mr. Burgess gotten ahold of such a powerful binding circle?

Mama had never told me much about The Sandman, just that he was an Endless. Which hadn't been any different than what he told me. She hadn't told me what being an Endless even meant. Anytime I tried to ask more, she would tell me to be patient. That I would need to figure out the answers to my questions on my own.

All I knew in this moment, was that he had tried to save me, and I needed to save him.

"I'm going to try and break it." I nodded more at myself than at him. I didn't bother to wait for a response, for whatever reason, he hadn't spoken to me yet. Maybe he couldn't?

Reaching forward, I tried brushing my thumb against one of the lines connecting the circle together. The pain was immediate, the runes on my wrists glowing brightly as they burned.

I hissed as I fell backwards, there was smoke wafting off my wrists, the smell of burnt flesh assaulting my nose.

"Gods!" Pulling my wrists towards my chest, I focused on breathing through the pain. "O-okay, that didn't work."

Furrowing my eyebrows, I glared at the circle around me. Why had I been able to get over it if I couldn't touch it? Frowning, I scooted forward, pushing my shoe towards the circle this time.

The pain hit again, stronger than the first time and I yelped before I could stop myself.

"God dammit!"

"You're too young to be swearing like that, Devika." Mama smiled at me, not the least bit disapproving.

The memory faded with the pain as I sucked in a deep breath, calming my heart. Slowly pushing to my feet, I forced myself not to look at the man behind me.

Focus.

Raising my hand up, I moved it to hover over the circle. Nothing, no pain. Raising my foot, I repeated the motion, letting it hover over the circle for several seconds. Still, nothing happened.

I must have jumped over the circle when I made my way to him, that was the only thing I could think of.

Swiveling on my heel, I met The Sandman's eyes once more. His gaze was darker still, his eyebrows furrowed slightly in the center. It was the biggest show of emotion he had given me so far.

"I can't touch it." Why couldn't I touch it? Circles like this could be broken, I knew they could. "It must be because of what I am."

I barely saw it, the small upward tilt of his eyebrows. Did he not know what I was? He had been in my Dreams and Nightmares.. was it possible he really didn't know?

"You are shielded from me." He had said it the first time I met him. Was I as much of a mystery to him as he was to me?

"It's proximity based, I'm going to need to try something else." I needed something to break it. If I couldn't physically touch the circle, I needed something else that could.

"Devika!" I flinched as my father's voice echoed from upstairs.

How long have I been down here? Did he know where I was? Worse, did Mr. Burgess? Surely he would have come down here if he knew. I doubted he'd take kindly to me knowing the secret of his cellar.

"I'm out of time, I have to go." The look in his eyes pulled at something deep inside me, not unlike the feeling that had led me down here in the first place. I needed to protect him, and in order to do that, I needed to protect me. They couldn't know that I had found him down here.

I watched as his eyes shuttered off from me, closing off any and all semblance of emotion from them. I wanted to cry at the cold way he now regarded me, I wanted desperately to explain myself. I needed him to understand, but I didn't have the time.

"I won't leave you down here." The promise came too easy from my tongue.

"Devika, get in here!" He was angry, so very angry.

My wrists were on fire, the sigils glowing brightly against the pale expanse of my flesh. Squeezing my eyes shut, I forced my feet to stay where they were. My next intake of air was barely more than a wheeze as the internal fire of my bindings started licking up my arms.

I had never tried to resist an order like this, it was horrible. I forced myself to gulp in greedy gasps of air. I could do this, I could do this.

Blindly reaching up, I once again brought my hand to rest upon the glass, it was cool to the touch and helped calm the hellfire that was my skin.

One breath.

Two.

Opening my eyes, I looked up to catch his cold gaze. My stomach was twisting into knots, how did mama think I could do this?

"I swear that I will return. I d-don't know when, but I will be back." I didn't want to make false promises on when I could see him again. I wasn't sure how often Mr. Burgess would call on us, or if I would even get a chance like this again. A day where I could sneak off from the two of them.

Something flickered in his gaze then, something I couldn't fathom. Slowly, as if approaching a spooked animal, he lifted his hand once more to press against the glass. His eyes however, remained detached.

The burn was becoming unbearable, my vision blurring at the edges. Forcing myself to break eye contact was harder than expected. It was like my entire being was drawn to him like a magnet. Was this the effect he had on everyone?

Turning on my heel, I hopped back over the golden circle. I barely gathered the energy to cast a spell on my feet to lighten my footsteps as I jumped the mote and tripped my way up the stairs.

Please don't let father or Mr. Burgess see where I'm coming from.

And please, please let my Sandman forgive me.