Astraea's breath caught in her throat. There was darkness all around her and a ringing in her ears. Her head throbbed with pain and she didn't know where she was.
She wasn't sure what time it was; whether she was sitting or standing. Was she even conscious? She didn't know. Something tugged at her mind - a memory of something long forgotten or repressed. A similar darkness that licked at the recesses of her mind. It licked like wild fire, spreading from her fingertips to the top of her head and engulfing her in its power. It's heat blistered her skin and yet it's icy frost froze her in place.
This was hell. She was sure of it. She didn't know how she knew it, but it most definitely was hell. Had Jacob gone to far? Left her to bleed out on her bedroom floor. It wouldn't surprise her. He had been acting so strange recently.
A light appeared in the edge of her vision. A bright, shining light that momentarily blinded her. It was warm and chased away the furious fire that had previously scorched her soul.
"Astraea, little one, raise your head." A voice called dow towards her. Her eyes flitted up to the source. A being unlike any other she had ever seen before stood above her, yet their visage tickled at a lost part of her mind. Their form was constantly shifting, never staying the same for too long. It couldn't seem to decide between two different faces and so flickered back and forth. One was an angelic face of sharp beauty and short ivory hair that gave the impression of a warrior goddess. The other, was a lythe man with slicked back, dark hair and an evil glint in his eye. Both were ethereal, and both were deadly.
The woman's voice spoke though the face continued to change.
"Little one, you should not be down here. This is not your place." A hand reached out to brush her cheek, a tear had fallen without her realising. A pearlescent drop of salty water that splashed into the darkness like it was an ocean of tears. It may very well have been.
"I don't understand." Her voice was hoarse like she hadn't used it for months. The words itched at her throat as they left her mouth and more welled up within her only to be stopped by the tears that continued to stream down her cheeks.
"Little one, do not frighten. You have gone through much and you must continue to fight." The woman's hand came to rest on her cheek, cupping her face and bringing it closer to her own. "Your memory's have been damaged by another's ruined mind. They may never heal, but I will do what I can to repair what injury there is."
"What's going on? Please, I don't understand." Astraea begged the woman as she morphed back to the man.
When next they spoke it was the voice of a man, a devilish voice that compelled you to listen and do as they say, "I need your help, Astraea. I can not do this on my own."
"What?"
"What do you desire?" Her world stopped, she was still in the pool of darkness with this man's cupping her face. But something had snapped, the whisper in the back of her head leaking the hallucinations now became a shout, an almighty roar fighting against the chains that had been latched onto it.
"My brother." She almost didn't hear the words leave her mouth. Visions of a pudgy man, dressed in cream with cheeks like roses and eyes like sugar entered her mind. His voice rattling on about some new book he had discovered echoed in her ears.
"Good. Good. What else?" The man's voice was a mere whisper in the background now.
"My best friend." A tall man, lanky in his stature now fluttered across her vision. Dark red hair framed his face, it was like fire sat upon his head and screamed at anyone who came too near. His dark eyes were caverns of secrets and horrors unknown to men and yet held pockets of love and devotion and a secret love for chocolate in them.
The hands grabbed her face more tightly, dragging her eyes to the now feminine face, "What do you truly desire?"
"Morpheus."
It was a blink. A singular blink and the person was gone. A singular blink and the pain tickling her senses gained new life and knocked her from her sitting position.
She could hear water over the rushing in her ears. A constant drip that slowly roused her from her deathly state. It was still dark. It was so dark. Too dark. An unearthly darkness that consumed everything and left nothing alive to breathe it's story.
"Astraea." A breathy voice came from beside her. A hand reached her shoulder and pulling her into a warm embrace. Lemon and ginger. The familiar scent was welcome, though she couldn't place it. A hand ran into her hair and cradled her head to a chest. A warm chest with a consistent racing heartbeat that soothed her frayed nerves.
She pulled away and looked into the sharp features of the man she has come to know fondly, "Morpheus." Her head was plunged into another wave of pain as more memories and people long forgotten began to trickle back to her.
"Astraea. Are you alright?" His voice was tender as he continued to hold her. The look in his eyes was almost pleading as he stared into her soul.
"I'm alright." She clutched at his arm, scared that if she let go, he would leave and she would forget everything again, "Where are we?"
"The dreaming." He pulled her close again, tucking her head under his own. His grip was tight, as if he was trying to tether her to him so that she couldn't disappear.
"This doesn't look like the dreaming." She whispered, glancing around at the dark expanse of nothingness where water continued to drip whilst seeming to have no identifiable source.
"It is a dark corner of it, where nothing has been created. Your mind was too weak, too out of touch with the dreaming to conjure anything more advanced." He stroked her hair, caressing it as he looked down at her. He had never felt relief like it when he felt he dreaming, it was unlike anything he had ever experienced.
"I can't seem to catch a break, can I?" She tried to laugh, to find something funny in the situation that she was in.
"I'm afraid not, Cherub." She closed her eyes, sighing as he continued to run his hands through her hair,
"I'm safe now, though, right?" She looked up to him, meeting his eyes that somehow seemed to reflect the starlight without there being any stars.
"I can only assume that your body is in an unsafe place. Where are you, Cherub? Where's your body?" He questioned, running a hand along her cheek.
"What do you mean? I'm here, with you, in the dreaming." Confusion overcame her. She was clearly with him, they were talking, he was holding her.
"Your consciousness is here, your body is elsewhere. Where did you fall asleep, Astraea?" He pleaded with her.
"L.A. I-I'm in L.A." Her voice broke.
"Okay, okay. We're coming for you. Me, Aziraphale and Crowley. We're all coming for you." He began to fade from her vision, becoming less solid.
"You're waking up, Cherub. Quickly, listen. Apollo is the one who's taken you. He's feeding you Valerian Root somehow. It's blocks me from you, don't eat it." His voice was quieting, becoming more faint. She tried to reach out for his quickly fading form, panic rising in her as she felt consciousness return to her body and her world begin to brighten.
"Wait! Don't leave me! Morpheus don't leave me!" She screamed. Begging for his return.
That was the last thing Morpheus heard as he returned to the waking world. A worried demon and angel stood over him.
"Well? Did you see her?" Aziraphale's frazzled voice spoke quickly from above him.
"Yes. She's in L.A. we didn't have any more time before she woke up. That's all I got." He sighed, placing his head in his hands and attempting to rub out the oncoming headache. He had held Astraea in the dreaming as long a she could, holding someone against their subconscious' will was always draining and left him feeling quite ill for the following days.
"Well, that's more than we had. We now know where she is." Aziraphale tried to sound optimistic, but failed in his worry.
"She'll be okay, angel. We'll find her." Morpheus was about to reply with something about how they might be able to get more information the next time she dreams when I voice cut in from behind.
"Can someone tell me why a little angel was just in Hell?"