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Dream (Morpheus) X Fem-Reader – Sleepless Prisoner - Chapter 1 - Dreams Meet

Description: As the daughter of Roderick Burgess, you find Dream locked in the cellar, but upon trying to free him, Roderick decides to lock you up with him, expecting that you will eventually die. However, influenced by rare magic, you don't die, and instead, you become Dream's only friend for 100 years.

Male Reader Version

Non-Binary Reader Version

Warnings - Physical abuse.

Rating - T

You sat at the top of the stairs, clutching the rails tightly and holding your breath as people robed in blue streamed out of the basement. At any moment, you were ready to run, though in which direction, you weren’t sure. If your father, the self-proclaimed Magus, was successful then you would run down the stairs to embrace the brother that you had lost to the war. He had been your best friend once, and the only protection from your father’s wrath and venomous hatred.

However, if the ritual had failed… Well, you would have to run far and fast to escape your father’s fury. Of course, that left your younger brother Alex alone and defenceless, but he never listened to your advice to stay away from Roderick. Instead, he forced himself to try and impress Roderick, wishing that he might be as wonderful a son as Randall had been. Well, if Alex wouldn’t listen to you, then he would have to suffer the consequences on his own.

Despite your anticipated scenarios, it seemed that nothing you had predicted had come to pass. As the Magus, Alex, and his followers emerged, Roderick was neither accompanied by Randall nor upset by the perceived loss. Instead, he was carrying a monstrous-looking helm, the likes of which you had never seen. A pouch was wrapped around his wrist, and he also held what appeared to be a ruby, though you couldn’t tell for sure, as far away as you were.

In a battle against your cautious nature and your curiosity at the strange turn of events, you went against your better nature, heading downstairs to see if you could get answers about what had occurred. However, instead of going straight to the source, you avoided your father and snuck downstairs into the cellar.

Every step felt deliberate and slow, as you tried to keep quiet on your journey. Then, on the last step, your breath caught in your throat at the sight of an unconscious, naked being, stripped of everything he once held. Seeing such a person, who looked so human yet gave off an ethereal presence, you immediately understood that you were looking at a God, or perhaps a demon.

Had you gone uninterrupted, you weren’t sure what you would have done next. Perhaps you would have tried to rouse him, or maybe you would have just run away like you always had when it came to difficult situations. As it was however, your choice was stripped away from you, much like the being had been stripped of his cloak, because a robed guard had been left behind to watch over the prisoner.

You yelped at being grabbed and pulled away, frightened at what your invasion might lead to.

“Best get yourself out of here,” The guard sneered, recognising you as the Magus’ daughter.

“Magus doesn’t want any interference with his guest.”

The implication that a prisoner, summoned by strange magic was a guest reminded you just how evil your father could be and how he could twist anything he saw to suit his vision of the world. If he heard about your snooping, he would claim that you were trying to use the prisoner’s powers for your own personal gain and he would use that as an excuse to harm you.

So, you did what you did best and ran away, however, on your way up to your room, you were unlucky enough to bump into your father, cowering away as he sneered hideously at you, as if you weren’t his child, but rather his greatest burden.

Usually, such a discourteous manner of running into your father would have earned you a severe punishment, but he was still pleased with his spell, even if it hadn’t immediately brought the desired results; after all, there was still a chance he would get what he wanted when his unwitting guest awoke.

In an attempt to make amends, you bent into a clumsy curtsey, squeaked a hurried apology, then hurried past Roderick, seeking the quiet refuge of your cramped room.

Only a year prior, you had had quite a luxurious room, filled with treasures and trinkets from your brothers, and a few which were left behind by your mother. But, after Randall had passed away, your room had been repurposed for the Magus’ magic, and your most precious treasures had been sold to fund his hunt for rare magical artefacts.

However, the smallness of your new room didn’t bother you. Instead, it made you feel safe and secure, and you had squirrelled away a few precious items before the Magus could sell them; among them was a teddy armadillo that your mother had made you upon seeing the strange creature in a book, He was old, musty, missing an eye and in need of a good wash, but you loved him greatly and had named him Daffodillo, combining your mother’s favourite flower with the creature’s name. You also had several story books which had inspired your most vivid dreams.

Although you were much too old for it now, you hugged Daffodillo to your chest, breathing in his comforting scent, and all the while thinking. You had expected that you might eventually fall asleep, but there was far too much on your mind, and sleep illuded you. You wondered what the man inside the binding circle was like and whether he could really bring Randall back. You also wondered if he might seek revenge for the manner in which he was so rudely summoned, and for the items that were stolen from him. There was so much to think about now that you knew that magic was real, and you worried about all of it.

The next morning, you were still thinking about the being in the cellar, and wondering whether you could be brave enough to speak with your father about it. You didn’t get a chance to dwell on that thought however, as you went downstairs and saw a stranger, donned in a white suit and wearing glasses the likes of which you had never seen before. Fearing the worst from the stranger who carried himself so arrogantly, you hid. Yet, feeling that he might be important, you opted to stay close by, listening to what he had to say.

Your heart beat heavily in your chest as you quietly stalked the stranger and your father, listening to their conversation. As it turned out, the being your father had summoned was Dream of the Endless, something more than a God, and now your father had plans to keep him, all while using his vestments for wealth and elongated life.

Nothing about the situation felt right. Who was your father to keep anyone prisoner, let alone the being responsible for dreams? Moreover, the Magus was not only a captor, but a thief as well, and one who planned to use Dream’s items to his advantage. Even if you believed that the Magus was doing the right thing, you didn’t trust the stranger in white. Although you hadn’t gotten very close to him, he already scared you, despite his charismatic persona; he smelled like blood and fear itself.

For once in your life, you knew that you had to do something and that if there was only one time in your life when you didn’t run away, it should be this one. Still, just because you weren’t planning to run away, you also weren’t going to act rashly; you needed a plan.

Under the pretence of taking a turn about the gardens, you thought about the conundrum that you were faced with.

You were pretty certain that you should free Dream from your father, but if you did, would he seek revenge on everyone in the house? You didn’t want him to hurt Alex; he was just a child, after all.

Then again, you were basing all of your ideals on the fact that Dream was a good person, but why would such a good person create Nightmares?

Well, good or not, you weren’t willing to let the Magus keep Dream the way he kept you. To Roderick, you weren’t his child, but rather an ill-treated pet to take the brunt of his vile hatred for the world, never free to make your own choices, and always fearing the day that he wouldn’t be able to reign in his rage before he killed you.

Restless and annoyed, you ran back to the house, only slowing when you got inside. You had missed the man in white’s exit and with it any information about Jessamy that might have helped you save Dream.

Although you had hoped to get close to Dream again, he was too heavily guarded now, with your father paying his temporary guards more than they had seen in their lifetimes.

Perturbed, you changed direction, and were soon in the Magus’ study, searching for the combination to his safe so that you might at least gain access to Dream’s 3 most valuable possessions. You weren’t very successful in your search, finding nothing but strange papers, some of which contained the instructions for real magic and others which were cheap imitations made by con artists long ago.

“Searching for something?” The Magus sneered from behind you, scaring you in a way only he could.

Your breath caught in your throat, and you stood ramrod straight, “I- I was-”

“TURN AROUND WHEN YOU’RE TALKING TO ME!” The Magus barked, transforming you from his daughter into his shivering slave.

You spun around hurriedly, staying perfectly still under his scrutinizing gaze.

“Now tell me what you’re doing rifling through my papers.”

“I- I heard you speak with your guest earlier,” You admitted haltingly, trying to keep your breathing under control.

“Eavesdropping, is it? I shouldn’t be surprised.”

“Yes Sir. Sorry, Sir. It’s just that I heard that you had captured Dream of the Endless, so I was looking for the spell that did it. I was thinking that it might be a starting point for learning to summon Death. You know… For Randall.”

Despite your fear, you managed to lie well, having learned to do so in a way of self-preservation over the years; it was a skill that Alex had never learned.

Despite the convincingness of the lie, The Magus still glared at you with hatred and a hint of revulsion.

“You were trying to improve on my spells?” He glowered at you.

You bit your tongue so you wouldn’t remind him that they were never his spells to begin with, but rather something he had found by pure chance which happened to show the way to genuine magic.

“I am the Magus here and you are but a slave meant to serve me. You do not have the right to even look upon my work, or try to improve upon the spells which have been delivered to me by the righteousness of my cause.”

You dipped your head lowly, trying to placate your father in a manner that you rarely attempted.

“You’re right, Father. But please, if I am not worthy, then let me attempt to become so. Let me be the one to guard Dream, so I can prove that I might one day be a good disciple to you.”

The Magus barked a short cruel laugh that was devoid of any real joy. The laugh ended too quickly and the Magus struck you down, with a hard slap. You didn’t cry out as much as it hurt, knowing that to do so would earn an even harsher punishment.

“My disciple,” The Magus scoffed. “You’re not even worthy of the Burgess name.”

With that, he left you, and you were as powerless as ever.

Over the following weeks, you were unable to stay focused on your goal to reach Dream, finding yourself afflicted with the inability to sleep. You weren’t the only one affected, and there were thousands of others suffering the much worse sleepy sickness, forced to sleep and unable to wake. The papers reported both illnesses as a mystery, but you were one of the few people that knew the reason for it.

Exhausted, you did everything you could to muster some energy, despite wishing only for a chance to rest. Now more than ever, when so many people were suffering, you knew that you had to pull yourself together and rescue Dream. The only problem was that you couldn’t get to him. The Magus had been keeping a close eye on you since your stint in his study, and unlike Alex, he wouldn’t even let you see his prisoner.

However, as you grew weaker, Roderick became less vigilant in watching you, assuming that you were far too frail and cowardly to get in his way again. Finally, thanks to Alex’s invasion of the prison, you were given an opportunity to see Dream.

While Roderick awaited the arrival of his guards and Alex hunted the grounds for a pesky bird that apparently bothered your father, you managed to make it to Dream’s cell.

Upon entering the room, his eyes immediately found you, tracking you like a hawk watching its prey. You hadn’t seen him since he was summoned, and seeing him awake was entirely different.

“H-Hello,” You started uncertainly. Glancing back at the stairwell, you licked your lips and began to speak hurriedly. “Look, I don’t know anything about magic, so just tell me, how do I let you out?”

Dream didn’t speak, apparently mistrusting that this human should be different from the others in the house. All the same, his eyes revealed his desires and he glanced down at the binding circle.

You followed his gaze, uncertainly moving forward to scrub at the chalk. You were robbed of the chance as a raven flew into the room, clawing at your head and making you fall to the ground. You backed away, shocked and confused until the bird attacked the glass of Dream’s orb.

You looked from the bird to Dream who finally seemed responsive, touching the glass as if he might reach his bird. Forgetting the binding circle, you looked around the cell, grabbing a discarded baton that the guards usually kept on their belts.

Joining the raven, you attacked the glass cage, though it showed no sign of breaking, having been crafted by the best workmen. It would take a lot of damage to break the glass. Fearing for lost time, you hit it harder with renewed vigour, desperate to save Dream and the millions affected by the sleepy sickness, as well as those such as yourself who were wasting away, unable to sleep.

BANG!

You screamed at the sound of a shotgun, blood coating your cheek, the remains of the Raven splattered across the glass. Turning around, you saw Alex, who looked terrified at the sight of you and his actions.

“What have you done?” You whispered, your voice faltering.

A moment later, Roderick appeared, and upon assessing the situation, he became furious, reaching for Alex and you. Although you were more afraid than you had ever been in your life, you knew this would be the last chance you ever got to rescue Dream.

Hurriedly, you resumed your attack on the glass sphere, beating harder against it, to no avail. It wasn’t long before Roderick had grabbed you, but you struggled against him as he attempted to subdue you.

Dream, as hurt as he was by the loss of his most loyal friend, watched you intently, his hands pressed against his prison as if he might somehow be able to reach you.

You had never fought against your father before, but you did now, kicking, hissing, screaming, and making things as difficult as you could. Adrenalin powered your moves, giving you more energy than you had had in weeks, but you knew it wouldn’t last long and that you would have to act soon.

“NO! WE HAVE TO FREE HIM. HE ISN’T OURS TO KEEP. ALEX!” You reached for your younger brother, desperately thrashing so you wouldn’t be carried out of the room. “ALEX, HELP ME!”

Alex shrunk away from you, too scared to act against the Magus. “ALEX! SET HIM FREE! NOW!”

Roderick held onto you tighter, bellowing into your ear, “STOP FIGHTING ME!”

“NO! I WON’T STOP. I WON’T EVER STOP. THIS IS WRONG, THIS IS ALL WRONG!”

You tried in vain to move forward, making any effort you could to scuff the chalk of the binding circle, falling just short of its reach.

The Magus let you go and your heart fluttered with renewed hope, but that too was in vain. The only reason that Roderick ever let you go was so he could grab the baton you had dropped, and with it, he clubbed your head. Although you were incapable of sleeping or fainting, the hit subdued you into a half unconsciousness wherein you were blearily aware of some of the things happening around you, but unable to move, speak, or do anything to save yourself.

One of the things you did see was Alex grab the baton from your father, running away with it before he could club you to death. You were thankful for that; just like you, your brother at least knew when to run away.

Too dazed to pay attention, you fell into a world of daydreams that spoke of a concussion, but it was nothing close to what real sleep could have been.

When you became fully aware of your surroundings again, you were still in the cellar, but in a cruel twist of fate, you were now imprisoned as well. Just like Dream, you were suspended in a glass sphere. Although you hadn’t seen the second sphere before, you shouldn’t have been surprised that Roderick had had a spare one built, just in case any damage should befall the first.

You reached up tentatively to touch the glass, and for one uncertain moment, you thought that everything leading up to this moment had been one terrible nightmare.

Yet, seeing a hand reach for you from the corner of your eye, you looked at Dream, who seemed furious at your incarceration; you were the only human who had ever tried to help him, and that brought a sense of unjust solidarity to the situation.

You reached towards him, managing to burble out a weak, “Sorry,” before the two of you were interrupted once again.

“Why apologise to him when you should be apologising to me, your own father,” Roderick said grimly, drawing your attention to him.

You looked down, taking in the rest of your surroundings before answering. Your orb was almost identical to Dream’s except for the fact that it wasn’t suspended above a binding circle, for no magic was needed to keep you contained. You took up most of the remaining space to Dream’s left side, and you were held just as securely in place as he was. The one saving grace to your predicament was that you at least were allowed to keep your clothing.

“Answer me, girl!” Roderick hissed, never raising his voice.

“You are not my father,” You spat, defiant for the first time in your life.

“Oh, how I wish that were true.”

“You’re not even a Magus,” You continued, despite the interruption. “You’re just an evil old man who lucked his way into the right books, and you have no right to keep Dream prisoner.”

“You speak so highly of him, yet you seem to have no regard for your own safety, foolish girl.”

“I don’t care what you do to me anymore.” You murmured bitterly. “Beat me? You’ve already done that for years, and I’m done being afraid of it. Kill me? That would at least be liberating. Keep me hostage? Well, I’ve lived with that all my life, why should now be any different? You want me to be your possession? Fine. But Dream isn’t yours to keep. He doesn’t belong to anyone and he won’t give you what you want.”

“He won’t?” Roderick repeated your refrain, a malevolent glint reaching his eye. “So, you have been speaking with him?”

“What? No, I-”

“LIAR. I see now that this monstrosity has poisoned you to me. Very well then-” Roderick switched his attention to Dream, ignoring you to address him. “(Y/N) here seems quite eager to serve you. Let’s see if you are as fond of her as she is of you. She will stay here, un-watered and unfed until you give me what I demand of you. Do so and you shall both be free. Ignore my wishes and you will remain trapped here while she dies.”

While you had been brave earlier in what seemed to be a moment of madness, you were afraid again now, terrified by the thought of starving to death in what was little better than a gibbet, though at least in the glass orb there would be no creatures to eat away your dead flesh.

Dream, unable and unwilling to give into Roderick’s demands did not respond. Disgusted by both his prisoners, the Magus walked menacingly away, leaving you frail, scared, and hopeless; Dream was in a similar state to yours, but he was never devoid of hope.

Although Roderick had expected you to waste away and die within a week, you were seemingly unable to die. You didn’t need to eat or drink, you were unable to sleep, and for some mysterious reason, your muscles didn’t atrophy; yet you did still wish to move around and stretch them.

Neither you nor Dream understood how a human could be so resilient in this manner, though Dream wouldn’t have spoken to you even if he did know, determined to stay mute lest his captors hear him, even though he longed to speak with you.

The fact was that you were alive because of the strongest magic of all, love. It was not romantic love or even the love of a friend. It was a very rare strain of love, reserved for those who longed for justice and freedom, but not for themselves. On the rare occasions that humans felt this for one another, it could invigorate them for short periods of time until justice was served. You however, were not feeling such love for a human, but for one of the Nine, and it was because of that that you needed for nothing, and survived your imprisonment.

Occasionally Alex would visit you, under the guards’ watchful eyes. He would try to reason with you, or to get you to give up your quest for Dream. You initially tried to get him to see things from your perspective much in the same way that he was trying to change your mind, but when it became clear that he would always be too terrified of your father to free you and Dream, you gave up on him, ignoring him when he came; under such a strained relationship, Alex quickly began to loathe you in the same complex manner that he loathed Dream.

Sometimes, you would talk to Dream, even though he never spoke back. You would thank him for the dreams you used to have, ask rhetorical questions which he didn’t have answers for, and sometimes try to come up with stories that would act like dreams to try and cheer him up, since like you, he didn’t sleep during his captivity. Now and then, you would sing a tune or hum a few bars of songs that you had forgotten, but more often than not, you would also remain silent, hating that you would never get any privacy from the guards, whom you never acknowledged or responded to.

Dream’s hope was fuelled by your words. He listened intently to everything you said and respected everything you didn’t say. Dream had always enjoyed the company of the few humans who had found him in his realm, even though they always forgot him upon waking. Now he had found a human friend; his only remaining friend in this world now that Jessamy was gone.

You weren’t sorry when the Magus died, having long since renounced him as your father. Yet, with Roderick’s death, you had expected that Alex might finally free you and Dream, but fearing Roderick even in death, Alex couldn’t bring himself to do so. He might have freed you if he wasn’t so terrified of the repercussions from Dream, but as it was, he left you both in the cellar.

A century passed, and just like Dream, you didn’t age, thanks to that same strain of rare love that had protected you during your captivity.

You suspected that the outside world must have changed greatly based on the changing guards, their clothing, weaponry, and the radio they brought in which spouted music you didn’t like and news you tried to understand.

You had never liked any of the guards, who always seemed to lack humanity, but you hated these new ones even more, as they occasionally tapped your glass, suspecting you of being a ‘Dracula’ or other such monstrosity. If they had actually read the book as you had when you were young, they might have learned that what they spoke of was a Vampire and that it wasn’t a wholly uncommon term.

It wasn’t until one fateful day when Alex claimed he was visiting for the final time that his husband Paul (whom you rarely saw and would have liked to meet under different circumstances) accidentally smudged the marks of the binding circle.

With one final look back at the circle, Paul took Alex away, performing the first act of kindness that you and Dream had seen in one hundred years.

It wasn’t long before Dream used his newly re-instated powers, gaining freedom for himself, and you in turn. Although he was weakened by the lack of his tools and his captivity, Dream still managed to take you into the realm between his and the waking world which you had come from. He planned to take you to his home, but for the moment, he left you in the in-between, invisible to the humans around you, and lacking a physical form as if you were a ghost.

Dream didn’t explain where he had gone, and you hoped that he would come back so you wouldn’t have to live like a spectre. You weren’t afraid that he would abandon you, certain that he was your friend, even if he had never said so.

You weren’t left long, as Dream returned, taking your hand in his. He thought better than to tell you the punishment he had devised for Alex as he took you from your realm to his, where he might finally speak to you for the first time since meeting you a century ago.

Weak and tired, Dream didn’t land well, finding himself in the desert beyond his castle.

“Sir? Oh my goodness, Sir!” Lucienne, the ever-loyal librarian of Dream’s realm ran to her master frantically, having waited for his safe return since he left.

She helped him up, and for the first time since leaving his realm, Dream smiled, ecstatic and relieved to see his old friend and his home.

Upon regaining his balance, Dream looked about him, seeking you out.

“Sir?” Lucienne questioned him, fearing that he had lost something important. She glanced about her, stopping short when she spotted you a few paces away. She had seen humans long ago, but never one whose full being was in Dream’s realm; it was usually just their psyche that touched upon their astral plane.

“A human?” She wondered aloud.

“Yes,” Dream informed her, noting that you were unconscious for the first time since his capture. It seemed that in his realm, you could not help but sleep. You were not afflicted with the sleepy sickness; you were merely exhausted and now able to rest thanks to Dream’s escape.

“Her name is (Y/N),” Dream explained. “She was my only friend for a century.”

Curious by nature, Lucienne’s mind filled with questions, but she knew better than to ask them when her master was in need of rest.

Instead, she asked only what needed to be known, “Should we wake her?”

“No. Let her rest for now. She is in much need of it.”

With that said, Dream scooped you into his arms, carrying you through what little remained of his home. He did not know whether he had done you a service by bringing you here, but he would have to wait to find out, for there was still much work left for him to do.

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