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PART TWO/ ONE IS HERE !!!!!!!

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Beauty and the Dreaming

[Morpheus x Reader (Beauty and the Beast Au)]

a/n} HOLY COWS THE SUPPORT ON THIS SERIES ALREADY😭😭 you guys are seriously incredible thank you all so much oh my goodness !!!! If you want to be added to the Taglist just lmk!!

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- The cruel King of Dreams is cursed by a witch, doomed to be a beast forever and to be forgotten by humanity. But what happens when a determined woman finds herself in the abandoned halls, and happens to fall in love with the unlikeliest of people.

TW] Rat bites, arm disfigurement, dissing of the color orange, Matthew slander, Rowan

When you had fallen asleep, you expected to be greeted with the rolling fields of green. You had sweetly imagined the raven’s calling out to you as they led you back to the golden castle. It was there you could dance in the dazzling ballrooms, with wondrous chandeliers illuminating in your presence.

But, no such glittering dreams greeted you. Instead, you were in a small forest clearing, with dead hedges circling the brush. The leaves on the trees closest to the bushes were in sad heaps on the forest floor, but you could see others’ lush greenery just a few yards away. This wasn’t the first time you had a weird dream like these, and you briefly paced- wondering how you could spin a tale out of this to Jed tomorrow morning.

As you kept looking around, you noticed a large marble door hidden between two trees. A mass of prickly-ivies crawled around it, keeping the door well hidden from immediate sight. The carvings in the marble felt familiar to you, and you realized it was the same carvings in the castle you loved to explore. Jubilant whispers emanate from beyond the gate, and you once again checked your surroundings. There was now a path reading out of the clearing and in the distance you could see the twinkling lights of the village.

‘Is this real?’ You thought to yourself, excitement flowing through your veins. You put your hand on the gate and gently pushed. The vines resisted, but with a harder push, they gave way and the gate swung open. A room of black . You gingerly put your hand up to it, but not even a whisper of breeze echoed from the darkness. The energy hummed the closer you got to it, and the familiar feeling of drowsiness lapped at your subconscious. “A dream within a dream.” You laughed aloud, and with one last look at the surroundings of the forest, you charged headfirst into the void.

Then there was nothing. You felt suspended into the pull of the void for what felt like years. No breath left your lungs, your heart didn’t even beat. There was just you in the nothing, and you had to fight the urge to curl up into it. The tiredness you felt before was much stronger now, and the fatigue settled into your bones. Determined to see where it led, you took a small step and—

There was an abrupt temperature change, as the void suddenly became warm and stuffy. The sound of rats squeaking filled your ears, and you quickly opened your eyes. It didn’t do much use, as the room you were in had practically no natural light, other than a singular window with iron bars covering most of the sun’s stare. A curled up figure sat below it, their soft whimpering sound barely heard over the rats. As one of the animals scampered over to them, they let out another cry and moved away, and the little sunlight finally illuminated their features.

“Jed..?” You whispered, already running towards him. His eyes flew open and he scrambled away from you, not recognizing your voice.

“Y/n?” He cried, crumbling into your embrace as you wrapped your arms around him. “I was so scared, I thought it was a dream, but.” He broke into more sobs. You had just seen him barely a few hours ago, but it looked as though he aged for months. His shoulder was slightly disfigured, and he had many little rat bites along all of the exposed skin that you could see.

“Who did this to you?” You whispered, as though anything louder would break him. And you moved his face to look at you. “What’s wrong, where are you?”

“You need to find me,” Jed cried, his hands digging into your nightgown. “Please, the castle is real. He’s real, you need to find me.” Another sob fell out of his mouth and he met your gaze. “Please, He’s- He said he was going to kill me.”

“Who, Jed?” You whispered, your own tears filling your eyes, but you could feel your subconscious pulling away from the dream. “Jed, who did this, I need to know.” His hold on you felt distant, as though you were watching him through someone else’s eyes. His lips moved, but you could no longer hear anything. And just as suddenly as you arrived in the nightmare, you were gone.

Your sheets were damp with sweat when you finally awoke. You could still feel the warmth of the room coating your skin, and you ripped the blanket off of you. Adrenaline shot through your veins as you spirited out of the room, frantically avoiding running into the walls and making it to Jed’s room as fast as possible.

‘It had to have been a dream,’ You pleaded mentally. ‘Jed can’t dream, it can’t be real.’

There was shuffling downstairs, and you knew Rose could absolutely hear your desperation as you tried to open the locked door.

“JED?” You shouted, pounding at the door. “This isn’t funny, wake up!” He had never locked his door before, you didn’t even realize it had a lock. His door was always open, to get to you and Rose as fast as possible if necessary. You slammed at the door again, and finally it flew open, smacking against the wall as you ran inside. Your heart stopped beating at what you had seen.

Jed’s room was in perfect condition, not a single speck of dust in sight. His bed was made, something he had never done without influence, and the window was wide open. The morning winds blew lazily through the curtains. A sob escaped your throat, and you fell to the floor on weak knees.

“Y/n!” Rose called. “What the bloody hell is-” She stopped, taking in the sights you had just accustomed yourself to. “Where… Y/n where is Jed.” She grabbed your shoulders and looked into your eyes. She didn’t seem to like the answer she found, because she whipped around and started tearing apart everything he could find. “He was here last night, we put him to bed.” She suddenly ran out into the hallway, her steps creating a symphony with your sobs.

You crawled out after her, tripping on your own feet as you stood on shaky knees. Rose was running in the backyard, checking all of the places Jed could, and logically couldn’t hide. The sun seemed mockingly bright, and you wondered if it was the same sun Jed was seeing now.

“He couldn’t have run off,” She mumbled, and you wondered if she even knew you were beside her. “I know it’s been hard but he wouldn’t just run away from us, right?” Rose ran back to the shed, desperately checking everywhere she could. You remembered the gate from before you had seen Jed, and a heavy weight fell on your chest.

“Rose,” Your voice broke. She turned to you, her own tears falling down her face. “I think I know where he is,” You breathed out, slowly reaching out to grab her hand. “I had… a dream, he was there– It felt real, I can go and find him. I’ll bring him back home.” Your voice broke and she squeezed your hand, pulling you into a tight embrace.

“I can’t lose him again,” She cried, sinking into your shoulder. “Either of you, and I swear-” She inhaled sharply, and pulled away to look you in the eyes. “I need both of you, you're my sister.” Rose sobbed. “We’re a family, you have to come back to me.”

“I will, Rose,” You swore, holding her face with your hands. “I promise.” Your sister pulled away, wiping her face with the sleeves of her shirt. You could see she was trying to stay strong, whether for your sake or her own you weren’t sure.

The sun was still high in the sky when you set out to find the gate. Rose had demanded you take hunter’s gear with you, but you didn’t have to worry about protecting yourself. If you followed what you remembered, you could find Jed and make it back home safely.

A nagging thread of doubt echoed in your mind, one that questioned if you had imagined the gate entirely. It threatened to unravel your thoughts as you pushed through the brush, determined to find the decaying trees. The question of the gate's existence would be something to worry about later, for now you were looking for the path. Besides, if you failed, you could try to dream of the clearing again.

You never bothered to lucid dream, you were certain you could, but it was more fun to see what was thrown at you. The stories to tell to Jed were much better when you didn’t know the ending. You briefly stopped from moving away a tree branch.

It was your story telling that put your family into this mess. It was better that you really did stop talking about it to Jed. You gave him ideas when you thought you were giving imagination, and now he was suffering in the dreams he loved to hear about. It was then you made a promise to lock that part of yourself away, if it kept Jed safe from harm, then you would have make it.

As you moved another bush away from your path, you noticed a small first path leading to your right. With a burst of energy, you started to run alongside it, dodging hanging dead branches and vines. You pushed through one final wall of thorny bushes, and you were back in the deserted clearing; But this time, the gate was wide open.

The thrumming energy felt louder this time, and whispers of wrongness tried to lure you away from the door. You shook your body, remembered how desperate Jed had sounded, and ran through the open gate. The trip through the void was faster than in your dreams.As if it was already accustomed to your presence. While you still felt the pull of sleep, you quickly managed to run through the emptiness and emerge into a sunlit area.

You were standing in the familiar hills of the castle garden you explored when you slept. With a sigh of relief, you started heading to the path you’d walked for most of your life. The soft grass below you slowly started to fade into dirt, with some patches barely clinging to the life they held. You stopped when you encountered a lump of snow by the gate; It was always sunny in your dreams, snow was supposed to be a wistful thought in the green hills.

A feeling of dread crept up your spine, as you started to look back at the fields you appeared in. Nothing but dead grass and hedges with empty branches remained where beautiful rose bushes and thriving wildlife once lived. The beginning of tears began pooling in your eyes, and you quickly ran out of the garden. Suddenly the vast world was terrifying; For an infinite plane meant infinite places for him to be held. ‘Oh gods,’ You thought, horrified. ‘Jed, where are you?’

The grand staircase crumbled under your shoes as you ran to the front door of the castle, throwing your shoulder against the marble. Your shoulder exploded in pain, but the stone didn’t budge, and you let out a frustrated cry. With no other options, you began hitting the door with your palms.

“Please!” You cried out, the worry that no one could hear you was nonexistent to you. “Please, my brother is in there! He could be hurt!” A raven with white markings watched you from the railing, its head tilted as though listening to your cries. It flared its wings, and hopped back and forth. “Can you help me?” You whispered. It cawed at you, almost in disbelief, and flew through a cracked window on the side of the castle. Only a few moments later, the large marble doors opened before you.

You quickly ran inside, trying to remember the castle’s layout. Distant sounds of screaming sent shivers down your spine, and lights suddenly illuminated a hallway, one you had never explored before. Even though every aspect of your being demanded you run, you squared your shoulder and followed it. Eventually, the lights had led you to the same dungeon room you had dreamt about.

“Jed?” You whispered, it was hard to see if he was even breathing in the dark cell.

“You found me.” Jed cried, the sound of chains clinking as he moved around. You tried to grab onto him through the iron bars, but he was too far away.

“I’m here,” You sobbed. “I found you, you're safe now, it’s going to be okay.”

“I want to go home.” He whispered, and You took notice his shoulder seemed worse than before, and the bites and scrapes not looking any cleaner. “I miss Rosie, please take me home. Before he comes back.”

“Whose He?” Your voice shook, daring to ask. Whoever this man is would have hell to pay for doing this to your brother. “What did he do to you, Jed?”

“He trespassed into a realm not meant for mortal eyes. And attempted to steal something of mine.” A deep voice circled around you, seeping slowly into your veins and immobilizing your muscles. “Perhaps thievery and invasion run in the family.”

“My brother has been wrongfully imprisoned.” You argued. “He’s just a boy, he’s done nothing wrong!”

“Mortals are not welcome in my realm.” The voice hissed. “I am king here, and my word is law.” Out of the corner of your eye you could see a hulking figure. It was well-above your height, and the way it moved seemed almost animalistic.

“A king should not hide in the shadows.” You accused. “Come into the light, I’m not scared of you.” What sounded like a huff escaped from the darkness, and two glowing eyes illuminated from the nothingness. You let out a breath as it stepped closer to you. Black fur draped across his lithe body, and two dark wings protruded from his back, sweeping against the dusty floor. As you stared into his face, you noticed the long fangs enunciating his glare. He almost looked human-like, and there was a distant feeling of recognition as you stared into his eyes.

“You are not welcome in my kingdom.” He repeated, rising to his full height. You had to lift your head to stay in eye-contact with him. “You will leave, or suffer the same fate.”

“Not without my brother.” You defied, and a burning white rage filled his white eyes. As quick as lightning, his arm lunged out and gripped your forearm with such force you thought he would crack it. You let out a cry in alarm, the pain almost bringing you to your knees.

“You don’t get to make that decision, mortal.” He concluded. “This boy has committed a crime, and he will rot here like others have before him.” Jed let out another sob, and you fearfully glanced over at him.

“I’ll take his place.” You said. “He doesn’t deserve this punishment. Let him go.” The beast paused at this, clearly surprised at your boldness. His grip lessened,

“You would.. take his place.” He stated, glancing at you in such a way you felt as though he were examining your soul. “Even if you never see him again; You would never leave this cell.”

“If he can even have a chance, I’d take it no matter the circumstance.” You thought about your promise to Rose, and shook it off before the tears could form. She can survive without you, soon Jed can help out more and they’ll thrive. They will be okay.

“Then you are foolish.” The gruff in his voice returned, and just before your eyes you were looking at the same scene but this time, you were inside the cell. Jed crumpled to the floor outside of the room, and with no care, the beast picked him up by the wrist.

“He’s hurt,” Your heart tugged as Jed let out a weak whimper. “Please, be careful with him!” Your little brother’s body dragged horribly along the floor, and the creature reached up towards the ceiling to pull a lever. Light flooded the dingy dungeon and you fought the urge to cover your eyes.

“Y/n,” Jed cried. “We’ll find you, I’ll get-” But the door abruptly slammed shut, and darkness coated the room once again. Now, you were alone. In only a day you had lost and found, then lost your brother again, and left your sister. And you weren’t even sure you would ever be able to see them again. Tears welled in your eyes as you sank to the floor, out of anyone you thought your dreaming was a great thing. The stories you concocted were meant to make him happy, distract him from the problems you and Rose faced as adults in the provincial village. But they've caused irrevocable damage, and noe you were imprisoned in the halls you once loved to wander in.

“Excuse me, miss.” A voice intruded from the barred window, “Why are you crying?”

“Oh my gods Matthew you can’t just ask her that.” A female voice this time, added on. You looked up, and to your confusion, saw two ravens perched on the ledge, easily hopping between the bars. “It’s very insensitive, you know. Obviously she's upset.” You saw the familiar gleam of white feathers and you gasped.

“It’s you!” You exclaimed. “From outside, you let me in. But, how can you talk?” The other raven scoffed as the girl raven hopped down to the floor.

“There’s many things you don’t yet understand.” She concluded, tilting her head to stare at you with her intelligent eyes. “But you won’t learn much from inside this dingy place, come!” She flapped her wings and walked through the gate that trapped you.

“I thought the…” You hesitated on the word, “king, said that I would rot here. For all eternity.” The raven, Matthew? on the ledge cawed strangely, and you had the feeling he was laughing.

“His highness? Oh please, that mopey thing growls more empty threats out of his maw than-” The raven by your feet crooed in warning, and he shook out his feathers. “Er- What I mean is, he changed his mind! Hooray!” Matthew flew down, over to where you had seen your brother get ripped away from you. New tears began to form in your eyes and you couldn’t help but sniffle.

“Now you’ve done it.” The other raven rolled her eyes and flew up onto your shoulder. “There, there, mortal. It will be okay.” Matthew cawed in audacity and flapped his wings.

“What did I do?” He shrieked. “Did she want to stay down here with the rats? Sorry I don’t remember how to comfort mortals, Jessamy, considering it's been a long dAMN TIME SINCE I’VE-” He broke out in a series of caws and stamped angrily on the ground. Jessamy sighed and rubbed her head sympathetically against your neck.

“I’m sorry miss, it’s been a while since we’ve had guests. But since my associate is a feather-brain, I must do everything myself.” Jessamy flew over to the side of the wall and pecked at it for a few moments, the bars that caged you swung open, and you quickly stepped outside. You ran to the lever and yanked on it, another door opening and bringing light to the dungeon once again.

“You're very clever.” Jessamy complimented, flying ahead as the three of you exited the room. “And I’m sorry about your brother, Miss. We tried to help him but…” She glanced back at you and quieted upon seeing your expression.

“He can be safe now,” You sighed, wrapping your arms around yourself. “As long as he gets back home, I’ll be okay here.”

“Well this can be your home now!” Matthew crowed, flapping up to sit on your shoulder. “The whole castle is yours to explore.” Jessamy cawed and stood on the top step.

“Except, the west wing, Miss.” She glared at Matthew who squawked and joined her on the floor.

“Right! But Your room will be in the east wing and we’ll be here at your immediate disposal so no need to bother going to the old west wing. In fact I think we should pretend it doesn’t exist, I will inform Lucienne immediately that there will be no talk of a west wing…” He rambled on, and the two birds led you towards a far side of the castle you hadn’t explored in a while. You didn’t have the heart to tell them you had been here many times before, but also things had obviously changed, you were not entirely sure the castle was the same as when you had dreamt.

In your dreams, the west wing was just another hall of bedrooms, nothing dangerous. But considering you weren’t aware of a whole dungeon beneath the castle, you had the feeling you didn’t know everything just yet. You also weren’t aware of the giant fucking monstrous beast living in the castle as well, so maybe it was best if you let the birds lead you for now. You would just have to wait for them to leave you alone until you could try to escape.

The three of you were walking down a dusty hallway when Jessamy walked into one of the open rooms and flapped her wings.

“Here you are Miss, welcome to your new room!” Other than the buildup of dust, the room was actually very lovely. You assumed it was once used as a suite for the richer guests of the palace, with the gilded decorations hanging from the chandelier and incorporated all throughout the room. “Please forgive the dust, I’ll have the canaries come and clean it for you in just a moment.” Matthew flew up to a wardrobe adjacent to the bed and squawked loudly.

“Madam Constantine!” He called. “Wake up you old witch!” You were about to question what he was doing when the wardrobe suddenly came to life; The doors opened and shut, and the curtains inside the vanity moved in a circular motion. A strange sound came from it, and you realized she was yawning.

“Speak to me like that again, bird-brain, and I’ll make sure your feathers end up in my next fashion statement. Perhaps I’ll tell the king we’re having bird for dinner.” Matthew crowed and flew away from her.

“Please be civil, you two.” Jessamy sighed from the post. “We do have a guest.” Constantine’s drawers rapidly open and shut and two decorative handles reached out to grab your face.

“Oh what pretty eyes!” She exclaimed. “You hold yourself strong, this is good, you will be a perfect model for me.” Fabrics flew out in an array of colors as You stood awkwardly in front of her. “Orange isn’t popular again is it? Oh Sandy hated it when Corinthian convinced the staff to wear orange, absolutely dreadful I tell you. Lucienne was so mad when she realized what he had done.” Constantine let out a boisterous laugh and Matthew chuckled from behind you.

“I remember that!” He cawed. “It was strictly black uniforms after that, although no need to tell me twice. I believe it suits us quite well.” He wiggled his feathers and you couldn’t help but laugh a little with him.

“Your feathers are lovely.” You complimented, and a sliver of happiness entered your heart as the birds preened in delight. Another roll of fabric tumbled out of her drawers as Costantine held them up next to your face, turning you back towards her to check what matched and what didn’t.

“How about this!” She exclaimed, and pulled out a giant rococo styled dress that had far too many ruffles and bows for your liking. It was a glittering black and had white feathers adorned along the underside of the dress. Matthew let out a strangled caw and you turned to see Jessamy beating him with her wings. She gave as close as she could to a smile at you.

“Well it looks just perfect.” She rushed out. “We should be off now, I hope you find your room to your liking. The canaries should arrive soon to clean the dust away.” The birds flew away, and you could hear Matthew’s caws of laughter echo down the hallway.

“Ungrateful birds. They don’t realize what it takes to be fashionable nowadays.” She sighed, and gave you a long look. “Something ails you, and you should talk about it now or else it will eat you alive.”

“They intended to leave my brother to rot here.” You spat, but immediately regretted it. The birds had been kind to you, and while you didn’t fully trust them, you knew they’ve done nothing but treat you with kindness thus far. “A child can rot in prison but I am allowed to wander the halls and have a suite? I’m sorry, but I just don’t understand the thought process here."

“That is because, well, birds do not think.” A new voice shouted down the long hallway. You turned around to see a candle walk in the room. Well you had already spoken to talking ravens and a wardrobe, what else could possibly happen in this castle. “Hello Madam Witch, Madam…?”

“Y/n.” You answered him.

“A beautiful name for a beautiful lady!” He shouted, a wave of white canaries flew into the room behind him. As they cleaned up the dust that lingered in the room, the candle walked over to you. “You will have to forgive my intrusion; I am Hob Gadling, at your service.” He bowed low to the ground, the flames on his head and arms nearly scorching the floor. “And for the ravens, I offer my apologies in their stead, we have not dealt with mortals in a long time.”

“What do you mean by that?” You looked to Constantine, but she immediately closed her drawers and drew her curtains. Hob gave a sheepish look but did not answer you.

“Sadly, I am not here to answer that question," His metallic mouth quirked your into a smile. "However I will ask: What are you hungry for?” His candles flickered with the hum of the canaries.

“I'm not hungry.” In that exact moment, your stomach decided to betray you and rumbled ferociously. You shuffled on your feet and looked away from him.

“I shall tell the kitchen to surprise you, then.” He grinned. He raised one of his candles to his lips and whistled, and the canaries in the room cleared out. “I hope it will be to your satisfaction, Miss Y/n.”

The journey back to the waking realm was startling to say the least. Jed stumbled back into town, his shoulder hurting with a pain he had never faced before. His hands trembled as he held himself, trying to find the path back to his house; With luck though, he managed to fall into a familiar face.

“Rowan?” He reached out to grab the huntsman’s sleeves. Rowan gave him a scalding look and shook him off.

“What do you think you’re doing?” He hissed, looking him up and down. “You look like hell, kid. Where’s Y/n, or… Rose.”

“Y/n is in danger,” Jed cried, reaching out for him again. This seemed to get Rowan’s attention, and his eyes glazed over into something far more sinister.

“Who has her?” Rowan demanded, and his buddies behind him looked over curiously.

“A beast, in a castle past the woods.” The stench of the dungeon and rats sent shivers down his back just thinking about it. And now his sister was down there too.

There was a moment of silence before Rowan’s friends bursted out laughing. The huntsmen grabbed Jed’s hand and forcefully tore it off of him. A wave of disgust rolling onto his features.

“You must think you’re hilarious.” He sneered. “Did Rose put you up to this? That hag is always trying to mess everything up.”

“What..?” Jed whimpered, and Rowan grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

“You know, maybe I should really get her back, this time.” He snickered, and his friends circled around Jed; All sharing the same sickening smile. “Maybe that will finally teach her not to get in the way again.”

“Please, I’m telling the truth!” Jed cried. “You have to help me!”

“Of course I’ll help,” He teased, but then his eyes became serious. “Tie him up boys.”

—

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