Song of the Dreaming
Chapter 10: Family Legacies and Magix
Summary: John Dee's discovery of his father's journals and grimmauld have instilled an idea that will cost him more than he bargained for.
(Warning: This piece of writing is a work meant for readers 18+. Mentions: Infidelity, spousal neglect, emotional abuse/neglect, and spousal isolation. Minors DNI!)
Previous Chapter
John took measured steps through the manor, looking around the void of life space. As he moved between the rooms, he noticed anything and everything furniture, sculpture and painting was covered by a white sheet. Surfaces void of a white sheet had dust already starting to stick, showing that whomever had been there left not too long ago.
“I wonder if they took anything with them?” John asked himself wonderingly.
He weaved through the unfamiliar space like a specter, uncertain steps moving him forward until he reached the back door leading to the cellar. Careful to not trip, John took the steps one at a time until he heard the crunch of glass on the floor. He thought it curious that there was glass on the ground until he looked further and spotted what looked like some form of contraption made from metal illuminated by a beam of light that come from the ceiling. Moving around the pieces of glass as much as he could, John noticed gold paint on the floor. He did the best he could in pushing away the dubri without disturbing the ground underneath and found the remnants of a sigil. Looking around, he noticed chairs and a table all with a clear view of the area where the metal contraption is still hanging.
“Must have been meant to keep something out…” he wondered aloud, as he kept looking around the area, “Or keep something in.”
He needed to find more viable information, if this sigil is to be of use to him he needs to see what exactly it does and how it works. Making is way back to the main floor, John decided to explore the second floor to see if the bedrooms had anything of value he could use. John went to the first room, what used to be Randall’s room, and found nothing. Two restrooms later he came to the master bedroom where he desperately hunted for something, anything, that would help him in his endeavor. Nothing popped up, claiming this room as his own; he moved to the last bedroom on the floor, what used to be Alex’s room. In there, he found all he had been looking for.
Unbeknownst to John, Alex had taken all of their father’s things, to do with magic and not, into his old room. Partly out of shame and need to hide all that brought the Dream Lord to his home in the first place. And the rest due to necessity as the new head of the family at that point in time. Alex’s attempts to bury Robert’s mistakes presented John with all he was looking for and more. To John’s benefit, Robert’s cabinet was there. And as he dug through it he found book after book on magic, magical artifacts and lastly a grimoire. John breathed a sigh of awed success as he ran his hands over the cover. He felt relief and pride run through him in waves finally bringing him a level of peace he had not felt in a long time. Grimoire in hand, he returned to the master bedroom and got in white sheet covered bed. Pulling them over, he closed his eyes and dreamed for the first time in his life. However, these dreams would not bring him comfort, only fill him with the conviction he needed to fulfill his duty.
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In the Waking, Dream nodded respectfully at Neryssa as she bid him a good day with reassurance that she would meet him wherever it is that Constantine would be. He’d not mentioned it to her but he had a visit planned to her father’s jurisdiction of the hells. Persephone would not go unpunished no matter what the rules of the Gods say. But before he could do anything, he needed to recover his sand and helm. He must not look weak before the gods, especially the father of his wife. Dream has more to prove now considering the state of his marriage and relationship with Neryssa.
He had been so deep in thought he had not seen the pair coming his way.
“Well, well,” the woman of the pair said a half-grin on her face, “Never did I consider bumping into the King of Nightmares in the waking world. Did you brother?”
The man of the two shook his head, a neutral expression on his face as he kept his gaze fixed on Dream.
“Zagreus, Melinoe,” Dream greeted quietly as he stood from the bench with a tilt of his head in greeting.
“We tried visiting in your realm only to be informed of your absence,” Melinoe said lightly, tone neutral and almost familial.
“Walk with us Lord Shaper, won’t you?” Melinoe asked, the request sounding more like a command than a suggestion or request.
Dream complied, falling into step between his siblings-in-law.
“We have been made aware of things regarding our sister we must discuss,” Zagreus said, tone dark and serious. He, though the middle child, behaves like the elder of the three siblings. Zagreus adores his sisters, he’d kill anyone who would even dare to think about harming them. And even if he did not know the full extent of what his mother’s actions have caused, he knew that things were not at all at peace nor happy between the Lord of Dreams and their sister.
Dream felt an uncharacteristic chill crawl down his spine. Bumping into his siblings-in-law in such a public domain was no coincidence, the topic that is being broached is not one he was prepared to discuss. Especially not in the open, however this might be better in the long run considering both he and Zagreus were not known for being level headed when emotions run high.
~Meanwhile~
Neryssa’s head reached the surface of the Dreaming’s ocean quietly, her nose and mouth still covered by the water. She swam to the shore and made her way out of the water steadily as she looked around. The first thing to greet her was the stench of decay as she drew breath. It was not long before she spotted what had been her home during her last years in the Dreaming. Her cottage, or what was left of it, was exactly where she’d left it at the edge of the beach on a corner of the shores of the Dreaming that were often overlooked. The planchet that once helped her go in and out of the water floated now clung to what was left of the patio of the cottage, the pieces rotten with decay. What shocked her was the state of decay of the area. She had an idea that his departure would have a lasting effect on the realm but never did it wholly occur to her how his absence would affect the realm over a long period of time of him being gone. The sand clung to her feet as she walked on the shore as she approached what had been her home before leaving the realm.
With what little she could muster, she sang a quiet, sad tune as she walked through the dilapidated building. And just like the day she’d built the cottage the sands swirled around like a cloud of smoke solidifying as she walked between rooms. The last thing for her to fix is the kitchen and back porch and attached planchard. Satisfied with her progress, Neryssa walked around her humming, filling the Dreaming once again as it had long ago. The overgrown fields slowly righted themselves, the further in she got. Not too long in, she was met with a tiny flying baby gargoyle.
“Hello little one, where did you come from?” She asked with a giggle as the tiny creature flew circles around her.
“Oh dear, Goldie, come back!” Called an anxious voice through the thicket of trees.
Neryssa looked up to find Abel looking frazzled as he looked about for the tiny creature now in her care…or maybe she was in the care of the babe?
“G–” Abel abruptly stopped when his eyes landed on her, “Oh my word, my lady!”
Neryssa froze in place, she had not been called by any in the Dreaming since the realm had expelled her. To see him still there gave her a peace she had not known she had been yearning for until now.
“Abel,” she greeted, relieved her voice quiet still from lack of use.
Abel bowed in respect once before her, his grin equally as happily relieved to see her as she is to see him.
“You have no idea how good it is to see you my Lady,” Abel said, only to be interrupted by a chirping Goldie, “And I see you’ve met our newest family member.”
“Gregory must be having quite the adjustment period with this new little one,” she said, with a grin opening her hand for the gargoyle to land on.
What she had not expected was the sadness that overtook Abel at the mention of Gregory.
“Has something happened?” She asked, now alarmed.
“My Lord,” Abel began, “Come through to our home my Lady, I shall fill you in on what all has happened since you’ve been away. Do you still favor green tea with moon-peach?”
Neryssa nodded, cradling a now sleeping Goldie as she followed the younger brother to the meadow where he and Cain live.
Along the way, he told her of Gregory and Dream’s return. She’d sensed his weakened form and knew he needed a piece of himself to even consider leaving the Dreaming. She mourned the loss of Gregory, the large gargoyle having been a companion to her during her loneliest moments in the Dreaming. A spike of anger ran through her at the unnecessary loss, what or who could have had the ability to not only summon an endless but entrap them? Whoever they may be, better be dead or she will be the one to have words with them over the world of hurt they caused in capturing Dream of the Endless.
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