Rachel Andric and The Editor

Chapter 1: Missing

Rachel woke, gasping, clutching her chest. It took her a moment to realize she wasn't falling to her doom or in Nottingham. Reassured, she swung her legs out of bed, feeling the cold marble on her bare feet. She pondered what she had seen in the dream.

The problem was, as Morpheus, Rachel no longer dreamed her own dreams. She absorbed the dreams of others in The Story, mostly in Athens but occasionally extending to others she had met; Will, Guy, Red, and many more.

It was the first time since Rachel had been written into The Story that she had dreamed her own dream. She touched her bedside table, unconsciously seeking the letter from the Editor she had kept there before remembering she had burned it about a month ago, tired of it lurking over her head like some sort of terrible omen.

Rachel rubbed her forehead, her curly blonde hair sticking to her face from the sweat. Whatever that had been, it was certainly frightening. It had felt so real...Get ahold of yourself, Rachel. You're no coward; the Editor can't frighten you this way! She knew where she needed to go, what she had to do.

Rachel dressed quickly, deciding against the black cloak after recalling she had put that on in her dream. Coward or not, she was not following that dream. She didn't eat breakfast; she wasn't hungry. Rachel did grab her sword off the dining room table as she went out the door into the temple beyond.

Several people slept in the temple. She had them to thank for a lot of their nightly dreams. She prevented their nightmares by dreaming them for the people, which was not exactly fun. Some people had extremely vivid imaginations.

Despite that, Rachel honestly didn't mind being a part of The Story, especially since having been written in had saved her life. It was a little odd playing the part of a god—not a goddess—but her friend, Will Scarlet, had been rushed and bleeding to death as he wrote her in. She couldn't really complain about that.

Rachel emerged from the temple onto the streets of Athens as the sun rose in the distance. An overly cheerful voice greeted her with a "Hello, Rachel!"

The first week in Athens, Hermes had scared Rachel out of her wits every morning he greeted her like that. Four months later, she was completely used to it. Rachel turned and looked up at Hermes. He was average height, but compared to Rachel he may as well have been a giant. "Good morning, Hermes," Rachel answered.

"It's the big day today, isn't it?" Hermes asked, his umber eyes dancing in excitement. The wings on his sandals fluttered frantically. Rachel wondered if he was going to take flight.

"Big day?"

"Your wedding, silly!" Hermes said, grinning. His curly cherry-blond hair bounced up and down. "I am invited, right?"

"Of course." Hermes really wasn't Rachel's ideal friend, but the god of messengers had been best friends with her brother Ewan. Somehow, that had made Hermes her official assistant in all things Athens; that was something she really could have done without but had little choice in. "If you'll excuse me..."

Hermes had the uncanny ability to know when something was amiss. "Is everything alright, Rachel? You seem nervous."

"I'm fine," Rachel said, crossing her arms.

"Are you sure? You don't normally carry your sword to Nottingham," Hermes pointed out, indicating the sword at Rachel's hip.

Rachel's hand instinctively fell to her sword before she realized what she was doing. She scowled. "I had a bad dream, that's all. It made me nervous. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to see my husband-to-be before getting ready for tonight."