Dream, once one of the endless and now a human, woke in a strange place. He did not recognize it, and all the newness quickly became overwhelming. He tried to call on the reassurance of dreams and found he could not. This was as it should be. There was no need for alarm. He was mortal and mortals could not access the power of the endless or they would go insane with the depth of it. He, Dream, was mortal and that was fine. That was expected. That was what he wanted, dammit! So why couldn't he breathe?
Focusing on deep, calming breaths as he'd been taught, Dream looked about. He was not in the place he had come to call home. It was cold and dark, and oh no the panic was starting to come back. Breathe. Just breathe.
Where was he? Dream did not have the foggiest idea. And that terrified him.
He reached out for the reassurance of the ring and called out, "Hob?"
Silence. No one replied. Worse still, the ring, most precious possession of Dream's, was missing.
All in a rush, he stood from the place he'd lain. It wasn't a bed. There wasn't so much as a blanket or pillow. There were, however, chalky lines drawn across the floor. His heart stopped. This wasn't... Was it? But it must be.
"A summoning circle..." Dream whispered in horror. Had he been summoned? Again? No... Why was such a thing still possible? He was supposed to be normal now. He was supposed to finally be free.
"The ring," he thought. It was enough to jolt him into action. He needed to find it; he was willing to die for it, need be. He searched his clothes, all the numerous pockets of his cargo pants that he so loved. Nothing. Not even a single grain of sand that still seemed to gravitate towards him. Desperate, he checked his oversized sweater too, though it had no pockets to speak of. Still, the ring was nowhere to be found.
He checked the ground, getting on his hands and knees to search every crack and crevice. There weren't any. He was on cold, hard concrete. Where did humans put concrete? He racked his brain. Sidewalks? Roads? Driveways? That couldn't be right. What would explain the darkness and the cold? A basement? Again?
Enough! It did not matter to him where he was, only that he found the ring and escaped!
Dream glared at the chalk. Something inside of him went into a blind panic at the sight of it, remembering before... But this was not like before. He was no longer endless, so archaic dark magic should hold no sway over him. Dream took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Now or never... He reached out, past the chalky circle, and immediately choked on a scream. His head spun, his heart pounded. He fell back against the ground, hand over his mouth to coax down the bile.
The wretched circle was for him. Endless or not, it had been made to keep him alone.
Dream counted his breaths and stared up at the ceiling. He needed a plan. A damn good one. Something better than find the ring and escape. Something worthy of his title! Lord... Oh, he didn't have a title anymore. He was simply...
"Dream! You're a hard one to find, aren't you?"
Dream sat up slowly, a spine chilling glaring already on his face. Before him, outside the circle, stood a man. He grinned at Dream.
"But find you we did! Oh, how rude of me! I've forgotten to introduce myself! I am Fred Miller, esteemed member of the order of the finders." He bowed almost mockingly.
Dream didn't know if he should be scared or amused. He'd never heard of the order of the finders, and if this was the man they'd sent, they were clearly a joke.
The man laughed. He had a wickedly stupid laugh that matched his grin. "Enough of this chitchate. Aren't you curious what we want with you?"
Dream said nothing. He didn't even nod.
