The Empty World | The Empty World Sequence [complete | rewriting]

Deleted Scenes: Three (Draft 2.5)

One advantage of having relatives in Dream was access to the Library of Fiction. It held copies of every story, even those lost or unpublished in The Empty World. When Morpheus had exhausted his own collection of comics and anime, he branched out into Disney movies and then historical epics.

Having watched Spartacus and The Fall of the Roman Empire back-to-back, Morpheus was intent on meeting some Romans. So it was he went to Egypt and watched the Romans march on Alexandria, a pretty Greco-Egyptian resort and the capital of the Ptolemys.

Whilst the Romans were wondering which General to follow, Morpheus took advantage of their confusion to steal a tent from an officer of the army. He didn't believe theft particularly righteous, but his ability to look across time and see the probability of the owner's death or the tent's destruction made the loss seem insignificant. It might even be, Morpheus reasoned, that he was saving the belongings.

Besides, he thought, it was a good idea he tested his ability to take things with him when he teleported. He'd managed family members, bottled Djinn and flowers. Why not try a war horse and wall tent complete with interior furnishings?

It worked.

Morpheus was soon sitting in the Thar Desert, in the shade of his tent's canopy, with two Djinn and a horse for company. He asked them whether he ought to go home, or stay to see what a desert looked like by night. It was a rhetorical question, though his Djinn had the ability to speak if motivated to do so. There was no night in the Night Regions, despite its name.

They only called his home so because Leliel was ArchRegent and basically the embodiment of Night itself.

Stay until nightfall, Morpheus told himself.

He liked the desert. It was made of sand, and sand was easy for him to manipulate. So long as part of him remained in contact, Morpheus might extend his ability to shift form from his body to the sand. Silicon and carbon were easy to work with.

Morpheus walked out into the desert as the sky began to darken. He was soon surrounded by all manner of sandcastles and sculptures.

Sometimes, Morpheus envied characters in Disney movies. No matter how different you were—a wooden boy, a mermaid, a hulking beast—singing seemed to fix things. It was practically guaranteed that if you began singing about something, say being lonely, that someone would show up to make it a duet. Morpheus didn't suppose he was a great singer, but all Angels could sing.

He was probably a better musician than a vocalist, but technically, it was all strings and vibration.

Mother had given him the guitar. And though he hadn't seen it, yet, in several possible timelines, Mother was a rather famous singer. In some futures, he played on stage, too.

Morpheus sensed someone coming near. It felt similar to a summons, but with a sense of opposite directionality. Not a Human; the presence was too strong. They would materialize nearby and were traveling across space-time now.

Jibril appeared in a grotto sand-sculpted Disney characters. "Nice mermaid," he said, then puckered his lips to blow pale-blue hair off his brow.

"I have never seen you in this world, Jibril," Morpheus said.

Jibril waved a hand as if to wave away the topic. He sighed and looked about. "I talk to Humans frequently, but it rarely involves coming to The Empty World." Jibril turned his eyes skyward. "Sorta cloudy, isn't?"

"Smog's found it's way into the desert by this time," Morpheus said. Still, there were no artificial lights here to distract the eye. The stars not veiled by clouds were easily seen. "I like watching day turn to night and back again."