Alis L

“Name?”

“C’mon Lucienne, you know us!”

Lucienne fixed her glasses and raised her eyes from the scroll in her hands “...Name.”

“Brute and Glob.” The smaller one said. He resembled a ball with thin arms and legs  attached to the sides. Multiple layers of red skin covered what seemed to be his face. It had beady black eyes and a wide mouth full of pointy teeth. Too many teeth even for such an ample cavity, at least for Lisa’s taste.

“Occupation?” Lucienne continued. 

“Really?” The bigger one asked. This one looked more human, at least when it came to proportions, but his green skin and spikes protruding from all over his body claimed otherwise. 

Lucienne raised her gaze once more, and something in her eyes signaled them it would be the last time. “Yes.”

“We are nightmares!” The red one replied, annoyed. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“I’m conducting a census on behalf of Lord Morpheus. There has been quite an inflow of new and returning residents as of late, if you must know.” Lucienne explained, tiredly. She couldn’t remember how many times she had had to explain herself to the various dreams and nightmares she had visited on that day alone.

“Like her?” The green man said, raising an arm covered in goo at the woman standing just a few feet behind the royal librarian. 

Lucienne turned her head to look at Lisa and then turned back to Brute and Glob. “No, not like her.” She said. 

Lisa pretended not to hear the nightmare’s questions like she had done all morning. Or was it noon? she wasn’t sure. It was difficult to say the time of day in the Dreaming, or how long one had been there. Time moved differently there. Everything did. 

Just a few weeks ago Morpheus had come back for her at the beach. She knew, from her memories in the Waking world, that he had come to take her. He didn’t speak a single word as he extended his hand to her. And she took it without complain. She wondered if ‘goodbyes’ were in order, but she doubted the World Tree would miss her.

 His cold hand guided her to the heart of the Dreaming, into his palace. The entrance was guarded by three gatekeepers, a wyvern, a griffin, and a hippogriff. The white hippogriff looked more like a pegasus to her, but Dream insisted it was a hippogriff and she was in no condition to contradict him. If the Prince of Stories tells you it is a hippogriff, you take his word for it. They entered his throne room and things looked very different than what they looked when she had been there before. The columns that decorated it looked as if they had been carved anew by a completely different artist, she thought. Morpheus explained that things in the Dreaming rarely stayed the same. His palace, and everything that surrounded it, was always changing shape. Sometimes even locations. The Dreaming was not a physical place, but it had been given shape by Morpheus, as well as by all the dreamers.

Morpheus let go of her hand once they reached the library, she hadn’t realized he had been holding on to her for so long. 

He first introduced her to Lucienne and Matthew. While the librarian cordially greeted her, the raven indulged in endless one way chatting. He made it abundantly clear he had been human before, that he died in his sleep, that his wife was into witchcraft but he wasn’t sure of which sort, and that he had recently been to hell and back in a literal sense. Lisa, on her part, was fascinated to be talking to a bird, so she didn’t mind. Everything in the Dreaming was fascinating to her. She had been confined to that place for so long, only living through her waking self memories, that she felt a tiny bit grateful to Morpheus for taking her, although she would never admit it to his face. 

An unexpected effect of being removed from the shores of the world tree and reunited with the rest of the Dreaming was the merging of her dreaming and waking selves. 

She could no longer tell if she was dream Lisa visiting the Waking world or real Lisa remembering her dreams. The lines were blurring and that was good, at least according to Morpheus. 

The other side effect was that she was permanently lucid, both in her dreams and in the waking world. Losing consciousness to her was nothing but a mere blink of light as she transitioned from one world to the next. 

She had started, however, to notice the difference between dreaming and astral projecting, but she couldn’t tell when one or the other would happen. 

One of the main differences between the two was that when she astral projected, she would always pop up right in front of Morpheus by the stairs in his throne room. A theory had begun to take form in her mind. A thought she could not voice out loud. What if she wasn’t drawn to the throne room but to the Dream King himself? But she wouldn’t tell him her theory, at least not just yet. 

Regardless of how she reached the Dreaming, she would spend her time interacting with whichever dream or nightmare came her way. From extensive conversations on what the daily life of a giant rabbit in full armor was like, to climbing on top of a pegasus only to be thrown off by the flap of its wings.She would also visit the library in the palace, full of all the stories that had ever been imagined, even those that were never written. She was fascinated by all the variations of Alice in Wonderland it contained. Apparently Lewis Carrol had thought of many different paths and endings for little Alice to take, from minor alterations to the story that got published, to Alice decapitating the Red Queen in the most grotesque way and ascending the throne, to the Cheshire cat turning into a prince charming.

And all of her endeavors took place under the watchful eye of Morpheus. He liked to know  which dreams she talked to, what she discussed with them, how many books she had read, which places she had visited. He would still feign, as much as he was able to emote, surprise when she would tell her about her life in the Dreaming. She reminded him of a small child that had just learned to walk and talk and would speak of the most trivial of things as if they were the most fascinating things in the universe. 

“Did you know that there is a pack of unicorns living near the lake, right next to a family of platypuses and they all hate each other?” She asked him one day excitedly as they walked through the palace. 

“I am quite aware of that.” He replied kindly.

“Yeah, but did you know WHY they hate each other? The platypuses want to build a wooden house by the lake, and the unicorns think that’s too pedestrian and that it would ruin the view. They also don’t believe in the concept of private property.” Lisa explained. 

The tiniest of smiles formed in Morpheus lips “That I didn’t know. I’m not surprised though, the unicorns can be quite opinionated.”

“Ha! You don’t say. They have something nasty to say about almost every dream they know. I like talking to them but they can be exhausting. I never expected mythological beings to be so much into gossip.” She said, 

“Wouldn’t this be considered gossip as well?” Morpheus asked, teasingly. 

“Of course not, your Majesty!” Answered Lisa, trying to sound as stoic as possible, standing straight with her hands behind her back. “I am merely reporting to the Dream Kingon his subjects.”

“You are?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“No, not really. I do like gossip.” She laughed. “Wouldn’t mind working as your assistant though, as long as I am properly compensated. But for now, I think I will be taking my leave, I feel myself being pulled back to… you know, boring Jersey life.”

“I imagine you have your own business to attend to there.” He replied, remnants of a smile still lingering in his face. He didn’t have to imagine. He knew. He had been watching her through Matthew almost on a daily basis. 

Lisa smiled at the Dream King for the last time before vanishing and Morpheus felt heat rising in his chest, a fleeting warmth that was gone not before long.

Morpheus wondered one too many times if she longed to dream like a normal person would, and if she would choose to do so if given the chance. Perhaps if she had some sort of role, albeit a minor one, within the Dreaming, she would be content, and she wouldn’t want to leave. He shouldn’t entertain such thoughts, it had never worked out well in the past.

But perhaps it would do her good to be given her something to do other than idle games. 

After all, a planeswalker could prove useful. And while not saying it out loud, she had slid the idea now and then. Morpheus had discovered his guest had a way to circumvent her way through things she didn’t want to address head on.

And so, the next time she set foot in the Dreaming he gave her what would be her first task. To assist Lucienne in her census. He didn’t elaborate on how she should assist the royal librarian, who was more than overqualified for the job. He just gave her the order and removed himself from their presence. 

If Lucienne already knew about this or if she was as taken by surprise as Lisa was, most likely the latter, she didn’t know. But her face showed no signs of alarm or discontent. 

She kindly instructed Lisa on which inhabitants of the Dreaming they were going to visit that day, and the two of them took off from the Palace together. Lisa always stayed a few feet behind Luciene when she was conducting her work. She had tried at first to act as her scribe, but her handwriting was more than lacking. Lucienne suggested then that perhaps it was better if she just stayed by her side, paying close attention to what the dreams and nightmares said, ‘in case she forgot to take notice of something’. As condescending as the task was Lisa took it to heart and made sure to memorize every possible detail. They would discuss their findings after each creature was questioned. Their task took them to several locations that were so different from each other Lisa had trouble believing Lucienne could travel from one to the next in a matter of seconds. 

“As you know, the Dreaming is not a physical place, Miss Lisa.” She had explained as they struggled their way through a snowy mountain top  “While it might certainly look like that to you, you shouldn’t think about distances like in the waking.”

“I understand that, at least at a logical level. But the Dreaming is just so… vast. Did Morpheus create all of this?” Lisa asked. “How did he come to be the King of Dreams?”

“Lord Morpheus is Dream of the Endless, he and the Dreaming have existed since the first being able of dreaming existed. He is the Dreaming, so to speak.” 

“What are the Endless, exactly? Are they gods?”

“No, miss Lisa, they are far beyond gods. To put it bluntly, they are the personification of concepts that have existed well before deities, and will remain after all the gods die.”

Lisa didn’t speak much after that, thoughts about Morpheus and the Dreaming swarming her mind. Thoughts about her own miniscule self in the big scheme of things. The last few weeks had been the most exciting ones of her entire life, and yet they meant probably nothing to someone like Morpheus. She tried no to think too much or too often about her own insignificance, and just enjoyed her time in the world of dreams. His world. But her smile would subtly fade when she let her mind wander off for too long. 

Once they reach a leafy landscape, Lucienne announced this would be their last visit for the day. She had explained to Lisa that not all entities residing in the dreaming were dreams and nightmares. Some would make the Dreaming their safe haven under special circumstances, and others were contracted there permanently by Lord Morpheus. The ones they were going to visit now belonged to the latter. Cain and Abel, the first murderer and the first victim of human history, were next. 

As the two approached the House of Mysteries and the House of Secrets, Lisa saw a man standing by the archway, dressed in a bright purple suit that made him stand out among the green foliage of the property. He had pointy ears and a full beard. A small golden creature with wings and red eyes was sitting on his shoulder

“Good day, Abel.” Lucienne greeted him. “You seemed to have been expecting me, perhaps?”

“Cain told me you are doing some field work for Lord Morpheus” He replied casually, making Lucienne raise an eyebrow, before he shifted his eyes to Lisa. “I wasn’t expecting you to be accompanied by someone, nevertheless.”

“If you must know, this is Lisa. She has been appointed by Lord Morpheus to assist me with my task for today.” 

Lisa stepped forward and extended her hand for a shake to one of the few beings she had met that day that didn’t look like they would tear or chew any of her limbs. “Hi, I’m Lisa Malik.” She added, awkwardly. 

Abel was about to reach for her hand when something unknown to her made him recoil. He stared at her anxiously, his expression a mixture of fear and surprise. “Lisa Malik, you say?” he repeated, the words leaving his mouth almost in a whisper. “You are not a dream, or a ghost, are you?”

“No, I’m a human” She said, her arm still awkwardly extended forward. She thought her words would be reassuring to the stout man in front of her, but the effect was quite the contrary. Even though she wasn’t a ghost he certainly was looking at her like one. 

“Is there a problem or can we move forward with the task at hand?” Lucienne intervened, completely disregarding Abel’s antics.  

Abel gave Lisa a brief and unsteady handshake “No… no problem at all!” He said with a fake smile and nervousness in his voice. The creature on his shoulder chirped and flapped its wings. Lisa extended a finger in its direction, making Abel completely freeze for an instant. The golden creature took Lisa’s finger and shook it merrily, making Abel let out a sigh of relief.

 “That is Goldie, by the way. She’s happy to meet you” Abel said, avoiding all eye contact with Lisa as possible. Instead, he directed his gaze towards Lucienne.

 “By the way, have you heard about the vortex? Everyone is talking about it!”

“So, you are not worried at all about this vortex?” Lisa asked as they walked back to the palace together. She had spent a good part of the way back asking questions about the vortex, and Lucienne had kindly replied. The sun was setting in the distance and everything was covered by gold. 

“Absolutely not. Both Abel and Cain have a habit of talking too much about things they know too little about, so I wouldn’t worry. In any case, please don’t mention any of this to Lord Morpheus just yet.” Lucienne replied. 

“Right, right. You are probably right.” 

“Miss Lisa you don’t sound too convinced if you don’t mind me saying so.”

“I’m not a 100% convinced but tell me something, if I were the vortex, Morpheus would know right? He can tell who is a vortex and who is not, right?” Lisa tried to remain composed as she asked Lucienne her doubts, but she feared there was no way to ask something like that without sounding paranoid. 

Lucienne met Lisa’s frown with a smirk. She was being paranoid. “Yes, Miss Lisa. If there was a vortex standing right in front of the King of Dreams and Nightmares, I’m sure it would be within his capacity to tell.” Her tone was nothing short of condescending. 

Lisa pondered on her answer, eyes fixed on the marble stone beneath her feet that led into the palace. “I suppose you are right.”

Lucienne sighed. “If you don’t mind me asking, you fear you might be hiding something terrible, even from yourself, am I right, miss Lisa?” Lisa’s eyes widened in surprise as she found herself nodding in agreement. She wasn’t expecting Lucienne to see through her so clearly. The librarian’s expression softened in response.  “It is understandable, in your situation. Unfortunately, I can’t offer you any advice, but if there’s anything you feel I can help you with feel free to ask. Now if you excuse me, I must work on my report of the census for Lord Morpheus.”

“Wouldn’t you like me to help you with that?”

“I think you are required elsewhere” Lucienne said as she signaled with her eyes to the figure standing by a balcony overlooking the moat of the palace.“Thank you for your assistance today.”

“Thank you, Lucienne!” Lisa shouted as the Librarian walked off inside the palace. She walked to where Morpheus was waiting for her. His blue eyes were fixed on her and she felt her heart skip a beat. He was dressed in black as usual, wearing a long coat that reached all the way down to the floor. 

“Did you enjoy your time with Lucienne, today?” He asked, his voice always a low roar, like velvet. She avoided his gaze and focused instead on the clouds in the rose sky. The water below them. Anything but those eyes as she felt her cheeks blush.

“You could say so, but I doubt I was of any help, really. If anything, I was more of a hindrance than anything else with all my questions about the Dreaming and stuff.” She joked.

“Stuff?” He questioned. 

“Yeah, you know. Stuff.” She said, crossing her arms. “Stuff like you.” She thought to herself. Morpheus looked at her curiously and Lisa wondered if he could read her mind. She prayed he didn’t. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

Lisa turned around to face him, hoping her cheeks were a milder red by now. “Why did you send me with Lucienne today? I’m sure you knew I wasn’t going to do much for her.”

“It was not what you could do for Lucienne. I wanted you to get a better understanding… of the Dreaming. Beyond what you usually do.” He said as his eyes full of stars were fixed on hers again. It was difficult to hold her gaze with him, as she had the sense he was looking beyond her eyes, to her own soul. “Did you find anything interesting?”

She couldn’t really say what was really on her mind. She didn’t even dare to say it to herself. “Everything in the Dreaming is interesting, to be honest.” A half truth. “I think I could never get bored of this place, not even in a million years.”

“I have been around for far longer than that, and I still find things that amaze me.” Morpheus said. “Like a planeswalker that sleeps by the World Tree.”

Lisa laughed. “Me? Really? Regardless of, well, ‘that’ I must be the most average person I have ever met in my whole life. A house plant probably has a better story to tell than me.”

“Plants do have very interesting stories, as a matter of fact.”

“I can’t tell if you are mocking me or not, but now that we are talking about stories, I met Abel today. I didn’t expect him to be, well, real! Lucienne told me his brother still kills him from time to time.”

“They don’t have the healthiest of family relationships.” Morpheus knew how ironic that sounded, coming from him. Perhaps he would tell her about his siblings, one day. 

“He didn’t seem to like me very much,” Lisa added. “Acted kinda weird around me.”

The usual scowl appeared on Morpheus' face. “He did?”

“Yeah, no big deal. In comparison to some of the nightmares I met today he was still quite nice.” Lisa said, trying to lighten his mood. “But all in all, I’m having a great time.”

“Are you alright with this?” Morpheus asked, his frown changing into one of concern that took her by surprise. “Not dreaming like the rest? Being constantly self aware?”

Lisa looked at him as if he had the most horrendous bug crawling on his face “Are you out of your mind, Dreamlord? This is the single most exciting thing that has ever happened to me in my whole life, and I’m counting the dreaming one as well. Do you think I would change any of this just to dream I’m talking naked to a crowd back in highschool as my teeth fall off?”

Morpheus chuckled, “There’s plenty more to dreams than that, Lisa Malik.”

“I know, I know. Don’t spoil the fun for me, I’m happy like this.”

“It is not my intention to spoil your fun, but, unfortunately, you are about to wake up.” He said, as the world around her began to blur. 

“Till next time, Dream King. And stop calling me by my full name, it’s weird. You make it sound weird.”

Lisa found herself working extra time to make up for falling asleep on the job right in front of her boss. Luckily, it was a skype call and not in the flesh. Since she always met her deadlines and was a rather diligent, albeit highly unmotivated, worker she was let off easy. This time. Her boss made it abundantly clear he would not tolerate employees falling asleep on the job and that if she found it hard to play by company rules he would revoke her remote work privileges and make her come to the office. Every day. From 9 to 5. The mere thought of having to deal with other people on a daily basis sent chills down her spine. She didn’t necessarily shun human interactions but she would rather just be left to work on her own. Especially when it came to people she had little to nothing in common with.The kind of people the universe would force upon you every now and then: play dates as a kid, school mates, people you work with, extended family. In laws. Gynecologists. And so she made sure she would work extra hard that week, and give what companies like to call “Your 110%” to stay off the hook and lay low for a while. She looked out of her window longingly as the snowflakes fell. She was missing the first snowfall of the year. But now she was stuck in her apartment, still in what could be considered her pajamas, surrounded by clutter. She thought she looked remarkably like a troll living in a cave. The only thing that was missing was carcasses of consumed animals adorning the place and the transition would be complete. Thinking about that made both her hungry and doubtful of her own sanity. She ordered some Thai food. She would have to deal with sanity later.

The buzzer rang and she merrily jumped out of bed. She counted the money for the delivery boy as she answered. “Yes?” There was a moment of silence on the other side of the intercom that sent chills down her spine. A voice came through the other side, dark and cold. Husky. Barely a whisper. “Lisa Malik”. Just two words, spoken like silk but full of authority, made her back away from the intercom, speechless. Something sank deep into her abdomen.

It was him. Him. The Dream King.

She tried to come up with a reasonable explanation. Perhaps the lack of proper sleep and staring into a computer screen for god knows how many hours had taken their toll and she just misheard the delivery boy.

Her index finger shook timidly as she reached for the intercom, trying to keep her body as far away from the device as humanly possible, like someone handling a grenade.

She pressed it again.

“Hello?” She asked as her voice cracked like glass. There was no response this time around. She looked at the thing as if it was haunted, as if he would come out of the damn thing any second now. But nothing happened

She sprinted to the other side of the apartment, tripping on a pair of unwashed jeans in the process,and leaned out of the window to look outside. Her eyes searched the streets, like a hunting hawk looking for prey. But she knew he was no prey. Quite on the contrary. The air outside was freezing cold..

Was he actually there? In Jersey City? At the entrance of her building?

She heard another buzz inside that startled her, made her hit her head on the upper frame. It was different from the last time, this time it came from the doorbell right outside on the hallway.

Lisa tiptoed in her way to the door, her heart beating in her ears. There was no one outside, but one could easily stand out of the line of sight of the peephole.

She put her ear against the cold metal of the door. Nothing. Her breathing was the only thing audible.

A strange feeling inundated her. She knew without a doubt that he was on the other side of that door, even if she couldn’t see him. She knew it as surely as her own name. She could almost feel electricity running from the door, entering her through her finger tips and right into her chest. No, not electricity. Something different, that she had never experienced before.

Three knocks on the door. There was no need to ask who it was. Not anymore. She braced herself as someone who was about to be crushed by a tidal wave. It felt like that, after all. You don’t get your conception of reality shaken on a daily basis. And then, her hand reached for the door knob.

Lisa thanked God and all the angels in heaven. He wasn't wearing his long floating gown as he stood there in her hallway, just a normal black coat and black pants. His face had that same stern look as in her dreams, like someone perpetually displeased with life. His blue eyes, on the other hand, were not as effulgent as she remembered. He could pass for a normal human.

“You are real.” Were the only words that her brain could muster.

“You didn’t believe me, after all.” He said as he invited himself in.

“How?” She asked, not entirely sure what she was actually asking. There were many “how’s” and “why’s” missing in that picture.

“You should close the door.” Morpheus signaled as Lisa was still standing at the entrance of her apartment, holding the doorknob with white knuckles. She slammed the door behind her, her eyes fixed on the King of Dreams, mouth half parted.

“How are you here?” She asked, circling him around. The thought of poking him to verify if he was truly there crossed her mind. He didn’t look like the kind who appreciated uninvited physical contact. Or physical contact at all. The King of Dreams and Nightmares, Morpheus, was, as a matter of fact, right there.

“I need to speak to you.” He said, completely ignoring her question.

“Not one for introductions, are you?” She said, with a tone somewhere between worry and exasperation.

“I want you to tell me about my mother.” Morpheus continued, straight to the point.

“What, my mom?! Really? My mom? What does she have to do with…? Never mind, don’t tell me. Are you out of your mind?”

“I’m not one for jokes, human.” He said coldly.

And for as much as Lisa was astounded at the prospect of the Dream King being real she couldn’t help to feel insulted by his absolut lack of respect for her.

“Do you think you can just march into my home as if it’s nobody’s business, offer no explanation at all and ask me about my mother? Just like that?” Lisa demanded, arms flailing in the air. “Do you expect me to just make sense of all of this or do you just not give a single fuck about other people’s mental health?!”

“I wouldn’t be here in the waking world if this wasn’t a matter of importance.” he replied calmly, but with authority in his voice. “Specially for you.”

“Fuck this!”

“I won’t leave this place until I get what I came for.”

This was a fight she couldn’t win, she thought. What good would come from arguing with a moody god? If he was a god to begin with…

He was very far beyond and above from the common man to understand, or even care. She let out a sigh and brought her hands to her hips.

“Imma… going to get a shower and get dressed. Then you can ask me whatever you want.” She said, “Just take a seat and wait there.”

“This is not a casual visit, human. I do not care about your clothing, I don’t have the time to wait for you to get ready.” Morpheus replied, annoyed.

“Sorry, your Majesty but not everything revolves around what you want.” She put special attention to emphasizing the words “your majesty” in a way that could be read as nothing other than an insult. “Now you are going to stay there and wait until I finish taking a shower while I try to make some sense of… whatever the fuck this is.”

“I command you to…”

“Command me?” Lisa let out a frustrated sigh, like someone who was too tired of dealing with an unruly child. “I will cooperate with you, but you don’t get to order me around. You are not the king of Jersey City, Lord Morpheus. I’m just asking for a bit of decency here. Don’t be a dick.”

And with that Lisa stormed into the bathroom. Morpheus was suddenly alone in her one room apartment, in the space between the unmade bed and the four seating dining table. He took a seat as instructed, on the only chair that was not occupied by clothes, books or other assorted clutter. It reminded him of Constantine’s apartment, only with less occult gadgets and used ashtrays.

He could hear her curse from the other side of the door but he couldn’t make out the words. Perhaps there were no words, only incoherent growling.

He looked around the room. A picture of her and a man that was probably her father hung from the wall. A different picture, this time one with a younger Lisa, stared at him from across the table. An enormous smile crossed her face as she held a big white cat that was almost the same height as her. A calendar with many dates crossed in red and black. Post it notes as far and wide as the eye could see.

The sound of running water stopped but it still took her a few minutes to come out. She came out through a cloud of steam, her wet hair falling down on her shoulders, framing her face like a black curtain. Morpheus wasn’t sure why he felt his back stiffen as she moved all the things on top of the table to her bed, inadvertently knocking her picture over the table but he caught it before it hit the floor.

“Is this you in the picture?” He asked, already knowing the answer, his blue eyes searched for hers.

Lisa was caught off guard by his question, and felt her heart skip a beat when she locked eyes with him. “Uhm, yes. Me and my cat, Yam.He passed away when I was in college.”

“You looked very happy.” He said, handling the picture over to her.

“I guess I was.” She replied, her lips curled into a sad smile as she looked at her old self. She then put the picture back where it belonged and took a seat across from him. A hand ran down her face as she remembered the task at hand. “So do you want tea or something?” Lisa asked tiredly as she let her forehead rest on her hand.

“I would like for you to tell me what I need to know.” He retorted.

“I will take that as a no.” She said, eyes fixed on the table. “Anyways, You wanted me to tell you about my mother? Jane Leyndell?”

“If you may.” He replied. “I have reason to believe your mother has something to do with your… situation.”

“Well, I don’t mean to burst your dream bubble but my mom died when I was three. And she has been in a coma since before I was born. So I doubt she had anything to do with our little meetings.” She explained.

Lisa saw something glisten in Morpheus' eyes. “She was in a coma?”

“Yeah… She had an accident when she was about four months pregnant with me. Some drunk driver, something like that. It was a miracle she didn’t die and even more that she could carry me to term. She never woke up though, after the accident. After I was born she got one infection after the next, and then she was gone.” Lisa explained, her arms folding over herself without thinking. She felt colder as she spoke of her late mother. “I never got to actually ‘meet’ her. My dad used to take me to visit her in the hospital but I was too little so I don’t remember much. Before that she was a child psychologist and lived a normal life as far as I can tell. Is that enough information for you? Or would you like me to dwell on another family tragedy?”

“I am sorry about your loss.” Morpheus said.

“Well, it is what it is.” She shrugged. “I'm just grateful I’m even alive to begin with. I was born with a bunch of problems and I spent a good chunk of my first months of life at the NICU connected to a machine or two. There was also something wrong with my heart” She pulled the collar of her sweater down to reveal a scar crossing her chest downwards. “See? But they got it fixed. Kind of. Sorry, got carried away there for a moment. You probably don’t care about this stuff.”

“It must be difficult for any creature to know suffering so early into this world.” There was sympathy in his voice, and his eyes mellowed, if only a little.

“Some get it easier than others I guess.” She said trying to brush it off and gave him a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “So, now that you know, can you tell me what’s going on? Why am I having these dreams?”

“That’s the curious part. You, Lisa Malik, are not dreaming yourself into my throne room.” Morpheus explained in almost a whisper, making her move closer.

“I am not?” She asked, confused.

“It is not your dream self the one who comes to me uninvited. You see, dreaming is not the only way to reach the Dreaming. Spirits can reach it as well, both of the dead and of the living.” Morpheus explained. “And sometimes, when you are about to fall asleep, your soul leaves your consciousness and troubles unbound all the way to my throne room. You astral project yourself into the Dreaming. Lisa Malik, you are a planeswalker.”

Lisa scratched the back of her neck with both hands nervously, trying to make sense of his words. “Oh… Cool, I guess. Wait. Is it cool? Should I be worried?”

Morpheus' lips curled upwards, almost into a smile. “It is rare, but not unheard of. True planeswalkers might even travel in body and not only in soul, and in time. As for your safety, you will be safe in the Dreaming, as I promised. As long as you don’t cause any trouble. But other worlds might not be so welcoming, and as an uninitiated your soul will be vulnerable.”

Lisa thought for a moment. “So I can keep dropping by your place then?”

Morpheus eyebrows rose “After all I have told you, is that really your question?”

Lisa laughed “No, I’m just wondering why you came here if you already knew why I was appearing into your throne room, I’m sure it wasn’t just to tell me. And what does my mom have to do with all this?”

“There’s more than just your planeswalking, I’m afraid. I found you in the Dreaming, your real you, tucked away on the farthest reaches of the shores of dreams, next to the root of the world tree. A place no dream or nightmare is meant to visit. Let alone a mortal. I have strong reason to believe your mother took you there, intentionally.”

“Why would my mom do that?” She asked.

“I imagine that to protect you, to hide you. It takes tremendous effort for a dreaming human to reach the world tree, I can imagine a mortal could muster such strength but in the direst of situations.”

“You think my mother hid me in the Dreaming? Why? From whom?” She asked.

“Perhaps, from me.” He said nonchalantly. Lisa stiffened in her chair with concern. “I am not going to hurt you, you don’t need to fear me.” He reassured her with little success. “I have entrusted my Librarian to gather as much information about your mother as possible.”

“So, what’s the next step?”

“That would be to remove you from the proximity of the world tree.” He knew she wasn’t going to like his answer.

“Didn’t you just say that my mom took me there to protect me from something?”

“Yes.”

“And don’t you think that removing me from said place might be dangerous? For me.”

“I might get a better of idea of what your mother feared."

All the muscles in her body tensed even more. “So you want to use me as bait?”

“You have stayed there for far too long, enjoying a protection that was never meant to be your to begin with, dreamless and isolated” Morpheus stood up with a stern look. “I can’t let a human by the world tree at the end of the Dreaming any longer. I must restore order to my kingdom.”

“Right, you and your kingdom. I forgot. I guess I’ll be just collateral damage.” Lisa stood to match his measure, fire building up in her eyes.

“I don’t do this because it pleases me. I do what must be done to keep the Dreaming and this world safe.” Morpheus was offended by her words. She didn’t understand. No one could. The weight of holding the subconscious of all living creatures within himself. How there were laws and restrictions to keep everything from collapsing unto itself. But she wouldn’t relent. She was looking at him with disgust. Afterall, it was in her nature to try to preserve herself, like all humans did. Humans were dangerous creatures, they feared his sister’s gift, and they would go to unimaginable lengths to survive, and if one or too many worlds had to perish in the process, so be it. As long as they remained. Creatures of Despair.

“Yeah, I’m sure I’m a great threat. A huge threat to the Dream King and his little Kingdom. Nevermind if there’s someone or something out there to get me.” Lisa mocked.

“A single human does not amount to…”

“I have done nothing wrong, not here, not there, by that stupid tree. You said so yourself. You just don’t like me to be where I shouldn’t. And I guess a dead pawn is better than a misplaced one, right? I doubt it will trouble you much if my blood ends up on your hands, as long as I don’t break any rule of yours.”

She didn’t know just how much blood was on his hands already. He wasn’t proud of that. Morpheus looked at the woman standing in front of him, and he saw in her eyes the eyes of many before her. He had been called cold before. Ruthless. Unforgiving. Proud. He was hated by many, past and present. And many spoke his name with visceral contempt.

But there was something more in her gaze, something other than rage. Disappointment. Disgust. The difference between them was abysmal. They were close in comparison to a god and an ant. And yet, there was something about her, about her reckless defiance, that made him uneasy.

“Well? Shouldn’t you be on your way?To drag me by the hair and leave me out in the open like a sitting duck, King of Dreams?” Lisa taunted, tapping on the table.

“You will remain by the shores of the World Tree no more. That is final.” He exclaimed. “However…”

“‘However’, what?” She growled.

“I won’t undo what your mother has presumably done. Until I find out whether you are a threat or prey you will remain by my side.” He declared.

Lisa’s rage changed into confusion quickly.