War Mantle (Dancing with Death part 3)

"Their Rivalry Must Come to an End"

Ali's mind raced as she and Tyler walked out of Hypnos' chamber.

"What are we gonna do?" Tyler almost had to jog to keep up with her.

"The only thing I can do." She stared straight ahead. "Talk to them."

Tyler blanched. "You're going to talk them out of the biggest sibling rivalry ever?"

She strode purposefully down the hall. "Unless you have a better idea."

He didn't answer.

"That's what I thought." She quickened her pace and left Tyler behind as she made for the door.
* * *
The two brothers stood near the horned gate, glaring at each other as if they hoped the other would burst into flames.

Ali stalked over to them with Tyler close on her tail. "Idiots!"

The both whirled at the insult.

"I beg your pardon?" Phantasus met her angry gaze with confusion.

"How, in Hades, did you get so hung up on each other that you'd let Epialtes get so powerful?" Her hands shook as if they wanted to slap the dream gods across the face.

They both scrambled to defend themselves.

"I don't want to hear it." She cut them off. "It doesn't matter what you think the other did. It all boils down to the fact that you don't think you can work together because you can't trust each other." She leveled each of the brothers with an intense glare. "Newsflash: I've hardly ever gotten to work with people I trust."

Tyler shrank back a little bit behind her.

"Your job is not about the people you work with." She was on a roll now. "It's about the people you work for - your father, the people you give dreams to, but, more importantly, it's about the person you work against." She hesitated before she continued, her mind flooding with horrifying images. "Nightmares are running rampant, because you two can't get over a childish dispute."

Out of nowhere, a cat with white fur bounded over. It's coat shone with a kaleidoscope of colors and his eyes couldn't decide what color they were. The feline halted beside Ali and morphed into a scrawny man with white-blonde hair and piercing blue eyes with a twinkle of mischief in them.

"She's right, brothers." The man - Phobetor - pleaded. "Epialtes gains power with every day you neglect your duties."

Morpheus scoffed. "Look whose finally talking sense."

Phobetor struggled to keep his composure. "Thanks to your arguing, I've had to try and hold this realm together alone."

"As usual, father is of no help." Morpheus observed.

Phobetor stood his ground, fists clenched and quivering at his sides. "Maintaining the Dream Realm is not his job. It's ours; and the two of you have sorely failed that duty."

Phantasus guiltily dropped his gaze to the ground, but Mopheus only sneered. "I'll resume my duties when this one stops being a pain in my-"

"Oh!" Phantasus lost all sign of remorse. "So I'm the problem."

Morpheus chuckled. "Obviously!"

The two started yelling over each other until Ali couldn't hear herself think.

Phobetor tried his best to stop his brothers, but it was clear that his grip was slipping. According to the stories, Phobetor was a bit... crazy. Who knew how much effort he was putting into holding himself together.

Tyler stood on the sidelines, looking as if he wanted to jump in and force the gods of dreams apart. Thankfully, he held himself back.

Ali turned and noticed a dark cloud rising behind the castle. Lightening raced through the black mass, sending thunder rolling through the Realm.

Ali's heart leapt into her throat. "Epialtes." She darted over to Tyler. "We have to stop this." She glanced over her shoulder, drawing Tyler's gaze to the oncoming storm cloud.

"How?" Tyler had to yell to be heard over the wind, which tossed their hair wildly.

Ali's mind and heart were racing. She couldn't hear her many thoughts over the pounding of her heartbeat. "I don't know." She looked from the brawling brothers back to the encroaching storm. Her hands shook at her sides.

Suddenly, someone grabbed her cold, quivering hand.

She turned to meet Tyler's gaze.

He intertwined their fingers. "We're stronger together."

Ali nodded, closing her eyes and willing ghostly silver flames to ignite along her arm. Tyler did the same and a burst of power jolted through them.

In unison, they called to the dream gods. "Enough!!" The shout echoed through the valley from the palace all the way to the river.

All three gods stopped, their eyes fixed on the flaming demigods.

A massive roll of thunder shook the ground, making Tyler and Ali fall to the ground, ghostly flames flickering out.

Everyone faced the oncoming storm cloud.

Phantasus' anger immediately faded, replaced by worry. "Epialtes." His voice was barely louder than a whisper.

Ali pushed herself to her feet and faced him. "This is what your rivalry has wrought." She struggled to speak around the lump of fear in her throat. "He's coming. And there's only one way to stop him."

Morpheus and Phantasus looked at each other.

"Perhaps things did get a little out of hand." Phantasus.

"A little?" Tyler mumbled, earning an elbow to the ribs from Ali.

Morpheus drew a deep breath. "I am truly sorry, my brothers. I was misled. I never meant to harm you or father."

Phobetor grasped his brothers' shoulders. "At last, someone is talking sense."

Morpheus rolled his eyes and Phantasus gave him a sidelong glance.

Ali smiled, but a cold wind reminded her of the surging black cloud overhead. "Well, I'm glad we all made up, but..." she looked back and her breath caught in her throat. "We have bigger problems."

A/N
Yay! I got another chapter out!!!!
Full disclosure: I've sort of been making this up as I go. I mean, I had the general idea of where this story would lead, but I didn't get all the fun specifics until I looked up Phobetor's name and found out about Epialtes. 😈 That's when everything clicked together. The next couple chapters should be... fun.
Anyway, thanks for the support. 🥰
-Cheshire