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

One and a Half (Draft 3) "Degrees of Separation"

Morpheus landed with Maya in their father's bedchamber, which in Sleep's way served as much as audience chamber. Only their father and Metro remained; the prophetess was shrouded on her bed in the corner, while Sleep reclined upon his couch.

Maya was tangible again. Morpheus felt her presence as well as her touch.

Morpheus had a lot of questions. He had not yet assimilated his inherited memory and his own memory was short. He didn't quite understand his place in the Children of Night, and even less understood what the meeting with Steven, Helen, and Joy meant.

"You can shift back," Maya said.

Morpheus took a step away from his sister. He had instinctively sprouted wings again to travel, but he hadn't fully let go of his disguise. He stopped holding the Human attire and coloring copied from Steven and reverted to his natural form.

Mother stepped out of her portrait above the mantel and hopped down to the floor. Morpheus hadn't seen Mother travel by image before, yet it seemed normal and familiar. Probably an effect of inherited memory.

Sleep sat, yawned, and swung his legs from bed. Mother approached him and they stood together near the arrangements of peacock feathers and water clocks flanking the couch. Their brows touched and their hands clasped.

Morpheus sensed something pass between them. He supposed it was telepathic conversation, though he could not capture their specific thoughts.

Afterward, Mother came to Morpheus and Maya. "You're always welcome in your father's house, but you're to stay with me, for now."

"You do not live together?" Morpheus spoke with the tone of question, but even as he formed the words he knew the answer.

Mother glanced back to Sleep before answering. "I'm his Love," she said, "and, yeah, I love him, and we made you, but the way here is to live where our duty lies. You understand?"

"Some part of our memories are from the Empty World," Morpheus said. He looked to Maya.

"Right. I trained there, with my mentor, and my duty took me there," Mother said. "Even your father lived in the Empty World, once upon a time."

Maya looked as if she might speak, looking down at a pair of her hands, but she didn't.

Morpheus made a small bow to his father who smiled back at him. Morpheus then followed Mother from the house of Sleep.

The fields of Sleep looked different now that Morpheus wasn't disoriented by the process of his creation. The sky remained violet, but Morpheus now saw that the silvery light came from a great structure suspended above. Some part of the horizon was yet shrouded in an orange haze, but through it, Morpheus could see the silhouette of a tower, and to one side a city in the distance.

The field of poppies no longer overwhelmed his newly-sung senses. Morpheus could hear the soft noise of water over rock, and the colors and features of the field were visible. There were flowers in whites, pinks, purples, and reds and paved paths.

Morpheus stooped to pick a poppy and his knuckles touched the fur of a small animal that had been sleeping there. The white rabbit sprang up and rushed towards the nearest path in several bounding leaps. The rabbit ran downhill toward a river and the mouth of a cave in the hill across the water.

"Don't linger too near the flowers," Mother called.

Morpheus had already lifted the poppy to his face, while nearby Maya stretched a pair of her arms and yawned.

"C'mon," Mother called and beckoned with a wave of her arm.

Morpheus took one of Maya's hands and drew her toward the path paved in pale yellow clay brick.