The Dream lord returns

[dream-daniel.livejournal.com]

Time: May 1st 2003, shortly before Dawn
Place: Ground floor
Status: Public
Summary: The Dream lord returns to fix the dreaming

Daniel strode across the fields towards the manor as he had a couple of months earlier when his investigations had first led him here. This time though he wasn't in the dark about what was happening. He knew what the threat to the dreaming was and thanks to his latest information he would be able to deal with it.

Up until now the dreaming in this small area had been cut off from him. He could have knocked down the barriers that kept him out as if they were paper but the dreaming was also the minds of men and he would be punching through their minds as well as through the shields.

Now though his enemy had made a mistake. He had found out that the barriers between the world of dreams and the physical world had been destroyed. His siblings would no doubt show some interest if the mess wasn't cleared up but this was the opportunity he needed.

Once past the barriers he felt confident that he would be able to deal with the problem swiftly and decisively. And now he could simply walk around the barriers. Where once they had stood as an impenetrable, now there was a large opening into the real world and there was nothing to stop him from just walking through the fields of Lower Tadfield and to the Manor which seemed to be the heart of the problem.

He felt it as he passed the threshold - a faint blurring of reality as the world gave way to dreams and illusion. This wasn't quite his dreaming but that didn't matter because he was the lord of dreams, he was Dream of the Endless.

He passed a farmhouse where he heard a scream. Inside he felt two people, awake but at the same time dreaming. He could also feel their dreams and knew at once that they were nightmares. The couple’s fears came to life - zombies pounding on their bedroom door and on the floor of their room snakes and spiders, while buzzing in the air were creepy crawlies causing the woman to scream every time one landed on her skin.

Daniel appeared next to them, conjuring light in their darkness to illuminate the room around him. He waved his hands and in a moment the creatures filling the room disappeared in an ephemeral mist. He opened the door, to the horror of the man who had been trying to barricade it. The zombies outside lunged forward unaware of who they now faced.

Daniel held up his hand and the undead nightmares stopped sharply as if they’d run into an invisible wall. “Come with me. I may need your help.” He closed his hand and as he did so the zombies were disappeared.

The couple stood staring open mouthed. “It is just a dream. Go back to sleep.” Daniel told them.

Almost as mindlessly as the zombies that had been attacking the couple got back into their beds and as Daniel left fell into a dreamless sleep.

“Time to get to the heart of this problem,” Daniel said as he stepped out of the house and onto the outskirts of the manor grounds.

Whatever controlled this place was stronger here. His control of the dreaming was opposed and he couldn’t quite do as he willed. He walked the last short distance. Passing features he knew well that had become slightly distorted in his dreamlike state. The pond outside had gone from being a few feet deep to a bottomless well that went down into a darkness that felt further away than the depth of the water would suggest.

He stepped into the foyer of the hotel, to look for his enemy or somebody that could provide a clue to where he was.

Comments

[safehouse-guest.livejournal.com]

Primoris was just about to return to the two angels on the third floor when he sensed a new arrival. Someone he hadn't seen in... a very long time.

Dream.

There was a gust of wind, and black smoke began to trickle into the foyer, coalescing into a humanoid form just behind Dream.

Strange. He was... different. This wasn't Morpheus. Still, it was Dream, and the almost tangible fear rolling off everyone in the Manor had strengthened Primoris; he felt even more powerful then ever. And he'd looked forward to this confrontation for so long.

"Hello, Dream."

[dream-daniel.livejournal.com]

Daniel felt Primoris immediately but ignored him for a second. Not literally, his senses were trained on the Nightmare, analysing his movements to make sure he was ready for anything. He didn’t want Primoris to even think he was scared though.

He took a few more steps into the center of the Foyer and turned around.

"Primoris," he said, acknowledging him for the first time.

"I don’t know what you expect to achieve here but I think you should release all the dreamers here. They are not here for your amusement."

[safehouse-guest.livejournal.com]

Primoris tilted his head, like a curious bird of prey.

"Why should I? Fear keeps them alert. It makes them run, it acts as a warning, and it's so delicious. I am stronger than you could have imagined, Dream, just from this little bubble." He left unspoken the words Imagine what I could do with the rest of the Dreaming.

[dream-daniel.livejournal.com]

"No. You have just been impotent for so long that you have forgotten what the dreaming is truly like. I will not deny you have strength but do not think that you can face me. You were banished before when you were at full strength and you are far from that now. Do you really think I will just let you spread your taint throughout the dreaming? Did you think I would just step aside and let you do as you will?"

Dream was feeling around him as he spoke. He could feel the other dreamers here but could spare little of his concentration to help them. They were all safe for now though, Primoris wouldn't want to kill them without being able to feed off of that last exquisite moment of fear.

At the edge of his senses he could sense what he was looking for though, two poor nightmares travelling into what was left of the dreaming here to make contact with his own dreaming and his forces that lay beyond. He knew that he could defeat primoris but he also knew that a direct confrontation would likely cause collateral damage for the world and for the dreamers.

[safehouse-guest.livejournal.com]

"And perhaps you have forgotten just how potent fear is, Dream. The paltry nightmares in your realm are nothing compared to the ones I can create."

[dream-daniel.livejournal.com]

"Perhaps that is true. But there was a reason why you were imprisoned. You are flawed. You're not fit for the purpose you were created for. I created you in the first place. If I wanted to I could create something like you but why would I want to.

"I am interested in what you might fear though, Primoris. You have spent an eternity imprisoned in my Amethyst. An eternity floating nowhere only existing in storage in case a reason was found for you, a purpose for which you were actually fit. Tell me, do you fear going back?"

Danied reached into his robe and without ceremony pulled out an amethyst, passing it from hand to hand without looking, paying it no attention as though he had just been looking for somethign to occupy his hands.

[safehouse-guest.livejournal.com]

If Primoris had eyes, they would have been riveted on the amethyst.

No. Not that thing in which he had been imprisoned for so long, cut off from dreamers, from fear, from everything...

"I am 'flawed' because I was stronger than you expected me to be." There was little conviction in his words, though. The amethyst had been shattered, he had done so himself. How had Dream repaired it?

[dream-daniel.livejournal.com]

Daniel allowed himself a small smile. He hadn't been able to read the nightmares fears directly but he had guessed right, now all he needed was a moment's more distraction and his own dreams would be in Primoris's reality, ready to turn the tables.

"Flawed is flawed, Primoris. You weren't stronger than expected, you were stronger than needed. You don't understand what a nightmare is for and you never will."

* * *

Far off two zombies approached a doorway. They had been created originally by Primoris but had been remade by Daniel and sent on a mission. They were loyal to the true dream lord but were less conspicuous than any dream he might have bought himself.

The door stood alone, standing out alone from a pile of rotting corpses in the nightmare realm. One of the zombies took out a key, given him by Daniel and held it up to the door. The door had no keyhole but as the key gently touched the door it swung open, revealing on the other side the true Dreaming with the soldiers of Dream. Merv Pumpkinhead stood holding a matching key, "Alright. Good job lads. We'll take it from here." and the forces of dream moved in to combat the forces of nightmare.

* * *

Daniel felt the opening. It was just a crack, not enough to let primoris's realm spill out into his own but enough to let his own dreams in. He wasn't sure if Primoris had noticed. He was sure he could tell if he tried, but it was possible that his attention was distracted enough that he would be oblivious until suddenly there were no more nightmares and no more fear.

[safehouse-guest.livejournal.com]

"Tell me then, Dream Lord," challenged Primoris. "What is a nightmare for, if not to inspire fear?"

There was something wrong somewhere, but he ignored it. One of the dreamers in his bubble was probably fighting back. They were more resilient than he had expected; he'd have to deal with that later.

[dream-daniel.livejournal.com]

"I was not meaning to say you would not understand as an insult. The nature of dreaming is not one explainable in simple words, it is as complex an answer as the universe itself. In crude terms though a nightmare is not just to inspire fear. A nightmare is a tool to shape a person or to let them shape themselves. Fear is not the end result, it is just part of the whole. I don't think you will ever accept that though, to you there is only fear. What would you be with nobody to fear you?"

The jewel slipped briefly from Daniel's hands and he quickly caught it. The action seemingly accidental but drawing attention again to the Amethyst. It didn't seem like Primoris had noticed the invasion, and Daniel wanted to keep his focus. It looked like he may be able to solve this without loss of life after all.

[safehouse-guest.livejournal.com]

"I am fear," Primoris snarled. "You have always been blind to simple truths, Dream."

The amethyst almost slipped, and he watched it, when suddenly -

- something changed. His Dreaming was changing, the fear lessening as his nightmares weakened. Primoris doubled over.

"What have you done?"

[dream-daniel.livejournal.com]

"It is as you said. You are fear. And what are you without fear? People know what you are and they know that you cannot stand against me. I give them hope enough to banish their fears and with it your powers."

If primoris stopped to look he would know it wasn't quite true. It was his dreams fighting off the nightmares that was really doing it but daniel wanted him to keep focussing here and not at the fighting.

[safehouse-guest.livejournal.com]

Primoris wanted - needed - to check his Dreaming, reinforce the barriers, but there was something pushing at him, and it took so much effort to stay there.

The fear was lessening, his nightmares were fading, he was growing weak... and the amethyst still gleamed at him from between pale hands.

"You can't destroy fear, Dream!" he threw back defiantly.

[dream-daniel.livejournal.com]

"No, there will always be fear. But it will be in the mind as it should be, not malicious, just emotion. The world has done well enough without you and will continue to do so.

Daniel suddenly sensed something else, something pulling and pushing at the same time, not at him though but at Primoris. Somebody was trying to get rid of the nightmare by banishing it. He could feel where it was going too. This dreaming was becoming more and more his as primoris weakened and he could sense a link being opened to the void where he had sent him, bound in crystal so long ago.

"It isn't just me that is fighting you though. You are being banished by a human, with the help of angels. I will give you a choice though. You can be banished from here and resume your solitary exile in the void or I can make it end for you now."

[safehouse-guest.livejournal.com]

The void! He could feel it sucking at him, calling him back to the site of his long exile, and he snarled at Dream.

"Banish me and I will return, in any form. Your fragments of hope can only temporarily banish fear; they cannot defeat it."

[dream-daniel.livejournal.com]

"You probably will. But I think perhaps that might be for the best. You will still be feared for what might happen if you return. You won't be forgotten, just gone..."

Daniel walked to Primoris and put a hand on his shoulder. The nightmare snarled in anger, but Dream's power was too great. The room around them swum and in a moment they were somewhere else...

Parallel thread.

[excunningthief.livejournal.com]

He had gathered the other two to the pond. Standing this close to it, Trilby could feel a deep sense of vertigo. How far did it go? Where did it end?

He had instructed Raphael and Baraq to stand at the east and west sides of the pond respectively, with Trilby at the south. The living tree (an ash, he noted absently) was at the north end. That seemed right. Trilby had a feeling neither of the two would have followed him half a step if they knew how much he was making up on the spot.

There was something happening at the entrance of the manor, but he ignored it. No more distractions. Aut vincere aut mori.

"In this place of deceptions and trickery," he said, "we come to this place, presided by the tree of life, Yggdrasill's shadow.

"We who have been wronged, who have suffered injuries to the body, loss to the soul, trauma to our minds, we have come here. This is a place of renewal, reflection, purification." He pointed the stave at the center of the pond. "Motion."

Feeling the ache in his head spread with every word, Trilby began the incantation.

He spoke of a place beyond the worlds, beyond any path any sane creature would walk; a place as far away as could be imagined; a place where all the roads turned in on themselves and you could hunt for a way out until mountains crumbled and still you would run in riddles for the rest of time. It was anywhere you never wanted to be.

Feeling as if the words were being dragged out of his throat with fishhooks, he spoke the final words of sending, and then,

"End this madness, so that we might heal! Be gone, Primoris!"

[halosphere.livejournal.com]

Raphael drew his dagger, clenching it in his fist as he planted his feet at the exact location he was told. The blade conflicted against his weak aura but he didn't care, somehow he knew he had to do this! People were suffering, were awakening to nightmares come alive... Gabriel and Michael and Aziraphale, oh Aziraphale... and Rose... So many livings their most horrific fears.

His crimson hair blew around his pale face as the wind swirled, feeling the energy and power in the words spoken.

[misterbkeele.livejournal.com]

Opposite of Raphael, Baraq held the lock over the rippling water. The metal was rusted so far that he might have been holding a clever latticework carved from carved red rock. The wind buffeted at his wings, but he barely registered the ache. Everything seemed very unlikely. The night, this spell, the archangel and human he had somehow thrown his lot in with.

The tip of the stave began to glow, and the waters of the pond parted.

[excunningthief.livejournal.com]

The energy of the spell thundered through his bones, almost bringing him to his knees. He stayed upright. What else could he do?

He could feel the resistance of the entity. It was far older, far more alien than he had thought at first, and yet there was a familiar twinge to it. But people live with fear all their lives, don't they? Fear of death inspires the living, fear of obscurity inspires great deeds.

Trilby wondered, dispassionately, if this would kill him. He had never done anything on this scale before. The presence of the other two was helping direct the spell, but it was still him standing in the metaphorical floodgates.

The waters parted.

If there had been vertigo before, it was nothing compared to now. The wind rushed into the void, rippling the grass and throwing loose leaves and twigs into the air. Strangely, the three of them should have been pulled into the void, but their feet were locked into place.

"Come on," he whispered.

[dream-daniel.livejournal.com]

The air above the pond shimmered and slowly and smokily Primoris coallesced in the air, the wind whipping tendrils of smoke from his form. At the same time on the northern end of the pond, next to the ash tree, Daniel appeared as if stepping out of thin air.

"I am Dream of the Endless. I came here to help but it seems that you are not entirely helpless. Finish your banishment and send this nightmare back to the void."

[excunningthief.livejournal.com]

Trilby nodded curtly at Dream. He had no more energy for words or wondering.

He pointed the stave at Primoris' heart and brought it down sharply to the center of the pond.

[safehouse-guest.livejournal.com]

"NO!" Primoris writhed, the smoke changing form - now tendrils reaching out, now some great hulking beast, now a vaguely humanoid form.

"You cannot banish me forever!"

The spell sucked at him, and he fought, but it was stronger. Dream's eyes were like twin stars, holding his gaze as the blackness of the Void finally reclaimed him.

The wind died down completely, leaves falling to the ground, and for a few moments there was absolute silence.

[halosphere.livejournal.com]

Raphael was strong against the wind, the feathers on his battered wings ruffling in every direction.

I will not...

Give up!

He's dead he has a gun he destroyed-

-should have Fallen-

Gabriel!

It was a dream... A...

"I may be weak... I may be powerless...

But I will NOT BREAK!"

He clenched his dagger, waiting...

[excunningthief.livejournal.com]

He lowered the stave to the ground, feeling the spell cut off. It had worked. Around him, the landscape had turned back into an English countryside. The sun had risen.

"Well," he said, faintly. "That wasn't so bad."

Then he folded soundlessly onto the ground.

[halosphere.livejournal.com]

Raphael launched himself at the being and caught him in his arms, jagged streams of crimson sticking to his damp face, tousseled by the wind. He give a smile, feeling... Well...

Happy...

Almost as if he... had...

Hope...

Was it possible...

he didn't need his powers to be able to help others...?

"You did good," he told the being, scooping him up amd rising to his feet. The only thing that stkrred in the almost non-existant wind was the patch of grass -where Primoris, their nightmares- once existed, now forever banished away.

He carried him back to the manor.

[dream-daniel.livejournal.com]

Daniel looked concerned as Trilby fell to the ground. He wanted to stay and help him out but he had other things that needed his attention.

"Look after him. I need to clear up the aftermath here. Thank you all for your help."

The air around Daniel rippled as if he was being seen through a strong heat hazy. The blur increased until suddenly Daniel was gone into the dreaming.

[misterbkeele.livejournal.com]

Baraq gave a small, slightly sardonic salute at the place where Daniel had been, before trudging back to the manor himself.

[safehouse-guest.livejournal.com]

Ouch! He was sitting in a thorn bush! On top of all his miseries ...

Wait, if he was hurting that meant he could feel again! A moment of joy followed the pain. His hands tightened around ... empty air. The amethyst was gone!

No, oh no, he couldn't lose it.

He searched frantically, crawling all over the bush, tearing his clothes and skin, but it wasn't there. He couldn't even feel its familiar soothing wonderful energy anywhere.

No, no, no, it couldn't be gone! He could not live without it! His junkies' weak devotion could not possibly be enough to sustain him.

Desperately he searched on, stumbling deeper into the forest, following the strongest link he could feel, even though he knew it was merely some music festival full of pathetic little junkies on ecstasy. If he didn't think too hard he could pretend that it was the amethyst ... at least until he reached it.