#dream!reader

[beady-eyed-munson]

Childhood bestfriends to lovers! Eddie but you met in your dreams

[the-enchanted-archivist]

When Belos first laid eyes on you, he felt he already knew you. You weren't a reincarnation of an old love or someone he met along his travels.

He couldn't blame witchcraft. He met you long before that. One night, when he was a boy, you just... appeared in his dreams and grew alongside him. You were there when Caleb couldn't be. When he went running through the woods, he was never alone. In his mind, you were there, playing the games he created.

He didn't understand who or what you were, but your appearance always brought him comfort. You were there when he went to find Caleb, when he was stranded in a strange land, when he became a crusader, and then again when he became Emperor. He noticed though, at one point, you stopped aging. He has a theory about why that was, but he didn't want to admit the possibility that Philip Wittebane had truly died.

For the longest time, he thought he invented you. You were the product of a lonely child's mind. You had to be. An imaginary friend he needed.

But then, that fateful day, he realized you were real.

[the-enchanted-archivist]

We've talked about Belos and Starling and Belos forcing his way into your cage but I thought of something else.

The first time he barged into your cage, he didn't think anything of it. He was sure you remembered him. He's sure it was all a fluke that you ran from him. Right? Right?!

He ignored the way you scrambled away from him as he spoke, frantically reminiscing about when he last saw you, backing you into the far side of the cage near the bed. It wouldn't be until you screamed and hit him across the face when he took you lightly by the arms that he snapped out of his somewhat unhinged demeanor, that he noticed how fearful you were of him in contrast to the smiling memories he had of you. He never heard you scream before in his memories. Seeing you like this was one of the few things that he found terrifying. You were the only friend he had, besides Caleb.

It had been a long time since he felt fear and at that moment, he felt like a child who had done something unforgivable. Belos backed away from you, his eyes widened in shock and his cheek reddened where you hit him. With a soft apology, he turned and stormed out, slamming the cage door behind him. Once the door was shut, a cloth billowed down on either side of the cage, blocking your view of the rest of the room.

Belos stormed off to his room and paced, trying to make sense of it all. He gripped his head and ran his hand through his hair in thought while muttering. He didn't understand. You should have remembered him. The minutes turned to hours and he still had no answers, not until he heard Kikimora's voice through the door, reminding him of a case of Wild Magic where a witch was being accused of using an illegal love potion on another that he was to oversee with the possibility of being a petrification punishment.

That's when it hit him. How did he not see it before?! He should have known something was off when he found you wandering the Boiling Isles alone! Those damn witches made you forget him! Anyone who was able to manipulate memories had to have known your connection to him and suppressed them so you didn't remember him...!

Hearing him say "I'm going to make them pay for this!" through the door made the small demon back away, not for what he said, but how he said it in a maniacal tone. On the rare occasions when he sounded like that, people got hurt and Kikimora was not about to be one of those people. He was known for being merciless, after all.

"Ah, I see you're in a mood so I'm... ah... going to go check on the Coven Heads..."

They already took someone dear away from him. He won't allow them to take another!

Upon calming down, he realized he had to somehow get you to remember him first. From there, he could find out everyone you had interacted with before he found you so he can enact revenge on that particular person before the denizens of the Isles themselves. If you remembered the people you interacted with now, there was no way they were the ones who did this to you. They wouldn't be that careless...

The next time you see the man, he did not touch the door of the cage. Instead, he brought you gifts as well as your meals. He apologized for his actions, not about the caging you part, and wanted to start over. Belos lets you know that he forgives you. It wasn't your fault you forgot him and he was willing to do anything to retrieve your memories.

Over the course of a couple short weeks, after bringing you a plethora of gifts and sitting by the cage to talk to you, he charmed his way into your cage. He made sure you did not see him as a threat. He slowly dropped your guards one by one to where you started to believe him about being this person he kept talking about. Belos was thrilled to see this change in you, especially when you started to seek him out for protection against some monster you kept seeing in your dreams. It made him feel powerful in a way magic couldn't.

"Not much longer now... You'll remember me soon, Starling..."

[the-enchanted-archivist]

He liked to see his colors on you. White and gold, with delicate embroidery and lace, tastefully covering your body while proving that you were his, being provided by him, wearing the finest things in the world. Everything around you was a mixture of comfort and luxury, just so Philip could have the satisfaction of knowing that only he could provide you with such.

You spent much time alone while he worked, trapped inside of yor gilded cage, occupying yourself with books and knitting. He often felt the need to check on you with his magic, looking in to see what you were doing, if you were alright, if you missed him.

At night, after work was done, Kikimora sent away, Hunter thrown a bit of Philip's sparse affection for the boy, he would enter his rooms, take off his heavy regalia, and lay next to you, kissing you, touching you.

You would fight at first, but after a while you'd let yourself enjoy it. Your memories must be returning, then. If he keeps this up, he'll surely have you entirely back.

The first couple of nights, you refused to share the same bed as him. You didn't know what his intentions were and you didn't want to find out. His persistence started to wear you down after a while and you just gave up. He was going to get what he wanted whether you liked it or not. You could only hope that he listened to you if it ever came down to him pushing it too far.

For now, you put up with him. You weren't going to lie, the attention he gave you was starting to grow on you and you were beginning to crave it. You were still using him as a shield any time you had those nightmares of a monster stalking you.

However, the longer you were alone with him, the more you felt like maybe he was right, you were someone he knew and vice versa and you may have forgotten. You weren't sure if this was the loneliness or the fact he had the charisma of a cult leader that pushed the idea you were something more than you thought you were.

[the-enchanted-archivist]

Posted this to my art account but when reading about how Dream!reader's outfit would be like Princess Serenity's dress but with sleeves I had to draw it out!

The reason there's two is cause I wanna see if silver works too :P

[the-enchanted-archivist]

With dream reader I can imagine them first appearing to little Philip while the brothers slept, just a few miles away from Gravesfield.

He's greeted by this person who appears bright and translucent like an angel (he probably thought they were one tbh) who smiles at him softly with a voice that reminds him of bells (little Philip would imagine this tbh)

(Also also, with a romantic aspect: little Philip telling dream reader that when they grow up he'll marry them, with dream reader probably agreeing. Not that future dream reader knew about that >.>

Oh yes. He could start connecting you to the idea of a guardian angel. He's drawn pictures of you and shown Caleb but Caleb thinks he's just being a kid. (he may even tell Philip to keep it to himself to keep the townsfolk from thinking the boy is being haunted or possessed by magic)

Dream!you will only respond positively to anything he tells them so he'll be ecstatic when you agree to it. This also means he'll refuse to look at any other prospect as he's focused on something that may not be real.

OH. When he finally meets you in person, he's not going to see you as a living being. He's going to see you as something ethereal... and his possession.

[the-enchanted-archivist]

I just thought of the most twisted au combo ever that would put dark!beloved to Medea's level of anger:

Dark!Beloved au with Living nightmare.

Philip still wants to find and marry his Starling, hopeful that one day they would appear and marry. But say one paper about starling falls out and there would be suspicion about Philip and Starling. So Caleb tells Philip about this and in order for Philip to not be tried as a witch, he courts and shortly marries Beloved, a friend from their youth. To be honest, it was more like work buddies.

This saves Philip from suspicion, and while he and beloved get along, he can't really forget Starling. Even in his dreams, he stills sees them, who wholeheartedly forgives him for marrying another to protect himself. But Philip swears he will find them someday, and if he's lucky and finds them within like a few years, he could try to divorce Beloved and go on their separate ways. Beloved had some suspicions about their husband still pining for this mystery person, but with no proof they can't really claim he's unfaithful. then the case with Caleb and Evelyn happens and Philip runs off to save Caleb.

Fast forward and reincarnated reader meets real dream!reader and they become friends, though beloved beneath gets mega suspicious about them since they look identical to Starling. Then dream! reader disappears, and when reincarnted reader finds their way to find luz, they also discover Belos announcing his marriage to a starled Starling, and his mannerism and words make reincarnted reader/dark beloved realize... that man is Philip.

Who abandoned them and now had married the one person he truly wanted, no longer considering beloved as his spouse.

And so, Beloved becomes enraged at the thought that not only had Philip willingly abandoned her to chase after Caleb, who left willingly, but now he discards them now that he found his "starling?'

He was going to make him pay,

They will take everything from him.

So how's that? :3

Oh. Oh no. We can make it worse and make it where Beloved didn't see it as the two being "work buddies". Only Philip did since he had his mind elsewhere. Or it was that way at first before Beloved found that they actually fell hard for Philip.

Not only did he abandon Beloved, but Beloved was killed for being accused of his disappearance.

Remember too, Dark Beloved became a powerful necromancer out of revenge for being falsely accused so Belos/Philip will realize in a very short time that shit is about to hit the fan. If they're in the Boiling Isles... Which is a dead creature... Um... Yeah...

Dream!Reader, however, has no freaking clue what is going on and doesn't seem to realize that reaching out to R!Reader might be the last thing they do.

Of course, in Belos/Philip fashion, he'd try to justify what he did but would be constantly shut down by Beloved who harshly tells him that D!Reader doesn't love him, they never will and any affection they display is either done out of fear or Stockholm Syndrome. The people who actually gave a damn about him were long dead. He spent his life chasing a figment and only NOW found someone who even remotely looked like that figment.

"Did you ever think that they tried to stay away for as long as possible because they didn't have any interest in an unfaithful dog like you?"

Beloved would be SAVAGE enough to have him outwardly attack them because what they were saying was getting under his skin and nothing he said back fazed Beloved. They were already numb from finding out they died for someone who didn't have the common decency to be truthful with them.

Poor Dream!Reader is just going "???????????????" watching all of this BUT if they do end up buying into what Belos/Philip was telling them, they signed their own death warrant if they tried to defend him. They don't have magic to defend themselves.

Belos/Philip would be put in a very tough position of choosing between them once he finds out what Beloved is planning back in the human realm with the threat of them killing Dream!Reader on sight. His rejection of them had already added fuel to the fire since it gave Beloved more of a reason to commit genocide against the very thing he was trying to save.

God help him if he tries convincing Beloved that he could have both of them since Beloved would scream in his face that "They don't share".

[the-enchanted-archivist]

You stumble through the woods, trying your best to not fall when you trip on rocks. The lower hanging branches hit against you as you run past them, leaving superficial gashes on your arms and face.

Behind you, something breathes.

You run more, trying to keep your distance from it. It walks heavily, each step echoing inside your head, as it follows you.

Your chest tightens when you realize you're too slow.

It grabs you, mud and decay imprisoning you in its grasp, as it brings you to face it.

You gasp awake, sitting up from the mattress you'd been sleeping in. The little moonlight that peeks through the window shines against the golden bars of your cage, and the sheer curtains that hang from the window flutter in pair with your breathing.

The man in the bed is still asleep, thankfully. The last time you had a nightmare, he'd entered your cage and pestered you about it, all while making you sit in his lap.

Glancing around the cage, you were half expecting the monster to emerge out of nowhere. Your anxiety and fear getting the best of you, you looked down at the man as he slept. Sure, he had kidnapped you and locked you in the cage, spouted nonsense about how the two of you knew each other, and so on, but given the circumstances, you'd take him any day. Being in a strange world, you couldn't nix the idea that this monster wasn't real. Half of the stuff you saw while in the Boiling Isles shouldn't have been real but was.

You felt vulnerable and exposed to the point you were shaking. Against your better judgment, you moved closer to him, pressing yourself in a way as if you were trying to get under him to use him to hide you from whatever was in the room. Even if he didn't swear to protect you, at least the monster would be preoccupied with killing him and giving you a fighting chance to escape.

This, of course, wakes the man you know as Belos up and he seems confused while half asleep as to what you are doing but lifts himself to let you finish what you were trying to achieve before settling back down. A hand ran through your hair as you watched vigilantly over his shoulder at the room and he let out a sleepy sigh.

"Starling? What is it? You're safe. I made sure of it."

You didn't answer but continued to watch. He chuckled softly, adjusting himself to where he completely covered you, blankets and all, and pressed his lips against the side of your head with his eyes closed.

"Better?"

Hesitatingly, you nodded.

"Good..."

Moments later, he fell quiet, indicating he had fallen back to sleep. His weight coupled with the warmth of his body started to cause you to drift off, making you feel secure for the first time in a long while. The nightmare didn't return that night.