Fated and Forgotton

Revelations

"Lucienne, I require the record of the dreams of a man named Thomas Belfort. There is a rogue dream and I believe he was the last person they visited." Morpheus said as he strode into the library.

"Right away, sir." She said, standing from her desk and disappearing between the shelves.

He picked up a book from her desk and idly flicked through the pages as he waited for her to return. As most of the time now whenever he had a free moment, he found his thoughts drifting towards Cass. He thought introducing her to the brothers would alleviate his need to constantly check in on her, but in reality, it had made it worse. He could feel whenever she entered the dreaming and she had taken to wandering, with his blessing, becoming acquainted with even more of the Dreaming's residents. He wasn't jealous. Not having to worry about her meant he had much more free time to deal with his duties. But he had enjoyed having someone to talk to who wasn't subtly afraid of him for the past half a year.

"My lord. My lord." Lucienne said, pulling him out of his thoughts. "The book you asked for."

"Thank you." He reached out to take it, only for the hard cover to slip through his fingers and thud to the floor as pain erupted across the entire left side of his face. He took a shaky breath and lifted his hand to his face, unsure what he was hoping to find when his hand ran over unblemished skin.

"Lord Morpheus, are you alright?" Lucienne asked in a worried tone, but he was so consumed in his own thoughts that he paid her no mind.

Cass's hold over the dreaming, the flares of emotion he sometimes felt deep in his soul, the soft sparks of pain, and now this phantom backhand to the face. They all pointed towards one solution, one reason for why this was all happening. But it couldn't be possible. It shouldn't be possible. Not to him, not to an endless.

Lucienne was still watching him with a worried gaze as he snapped himself out of his own mind. "There is something I must check on in the waking world."

"The rogue dream?"

"No, something more pressing." He reached into the pocket of his robe and pulled out his bag of sand. Lucienne went to press further, but he was already pouring it into his other hand, the grains beginning to swirl around him until he was no longer stood in the Dreaming.

***

Cass was laid on her side in bed, but Morpheus could tell she wasn't sleeping. The room was mostly dark, the only light being the moonlight streaming through the window. He glanced towards her door where he could feel two soldiers flanking it on either side. He reached into their minds and sent them into a deep standing sleep, so they would not have the option to interrupt.

"Cass?"

She sat bolt upright and pushed herself back on the bed until her back hit the wall, wide eyes searching the room until they landed on him. She relaxed slightly as she took him in and he took that as an invitation to move closer and perch on the edge of her bed. Their proximity gave him a better look at the blue and purple bruise covering the left side of her face.

"You're here." She whispered.

"I am." He could not take his eyes off the bruise, the pain he had felt lingering in the back of his mind.

"In the waking world." She shifted forward slightly and reached out to him.

He made no move to stop her as her fingers brushed over his cheekbone. He resisted the urge to lean into her touch, instead turning his attention back to the bruise. "Who did that to you?"

She pulled her hand back and averted her eyes from his, moving her hair to cover the bruise. "It is nothing."

"It is not nothing. Someone laid a hand on you and there are two soldiers stationed outside your door." Against his better judgement, he reached out and took her hand in his. "What happened?"