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thestrangestinthisstrangeland · 2 years

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As We Lay Dreaming - chapter 7

warnings: drinking/drunken behavior in front of children. Mentions of domestic aggression

summary: When you reach that point, there's no going back. Glory begins to see a different future for herself and her children-- one without Him.

Life work balance is hard enough, now Dream has to throw love in and, well he is tying?

AO3

masterlist

The neighbors were watching.

This was the thing Glory hated most of all; making a scene, drawing attention to herself and her family. It made her skin crawl, and here she was, center stage for the neighborhood to see, or at least it felt that way.

Maybe she shouldn't have come home at all.

Trying to ignore the people she knew so well, Glory focused on the humiliating scene unfolding just across the yard and through her large front window.

He had come home too.

She'd foolishly thought they were in the clear once all the kids had their baths and she'd gotten the table set for dinner without any sign of him, but that delusion was quickly dissolved.

At first, she thought the promise of her cooking would settle him, but he wasn't having it.

As soon as he sat down to eat and got that look in his eye like he was in the mood to start trouble, she'd ushered the children out the door without a second thought, refusing to subject them to his ranting and drunken raving.

Granted, tonight wasn't the worst it's ever been; there were some moments she would never allow herself to think of again, but this evening, he was messy, sloppy— pathetic. They didn't need to see that.

"Mama, I want to eat dinner," her youngest boy said, tugging at the pale yellow dress she'd changed into.

"Hush." She pulled him close while they stood on the edge of the lawn, watching his staggered steps through the front window. Back and forth, her husband swayed like a fisherman at sea during a raging storm. She supposed he was battling some bad weather of his own making.

Glory hoisted the baby up higher on her hip and sighed.

He'll pass out soon, she reassured herself. Hopefully, in his favorite chair and not in the bed they were supposed to share.

"Miss Glory? You alright?"

The comforting voice of her neighbor from across the way, Miss Pearl, made her shut her eyes. Just that little bit of warmth nearly brought her to tears.

"Yes, ma'am," Glory answered loud enough to be heard as she opened her eyes and fixed on him again. You'd have to know the layout of the house to understand that right now, he was fumbling with the with the old t.v. It only worked if you hit it on the right side. He kept hitting the left.

"Let those babies come and eat. It's supper time." Miss Pearl said at her back. The soft touch of her small bony hand on Glory's shoulder broke the trance. She looked up at the clear evening sky to block out the sight of his silhouette stumbling away from the window. Her clenched jaw the only outward display of emotion she allowed. Damn him! She had a whole chicken on the table. There were potatoes and corn, the milk she'd just started to pour was sure to go warm, that is if he didn't drink it all.

"Please, mama," her daughter begged.

Looking down into the child's eyes, so much like hers in shape but his in spirit, she sighed and gave a little nod. "Go on, I'll come and get you when it's… when you're finished." She said and turned back to the glow of her lamps inside; even when Pearl gently plucked the baby from her arms, she did not turn. To see them go would be too much.

She shut her eyes, and while Glory never saw sense in praying, she liked the way it felt to say the words over and over.

"Sleep." She urged, her hands folded in front of her, the grip hurting but not nearly as much as the pain in her heart. "Just please, go to sleep."

When the house had gone quiet, and her legs ached from standing in that lonely spot for so long, Glory decided to finally go inside.

As she'd guessed, he was sprawled out in the big chair, snoring softly.

She stood over him for a while, staring down at his face. She didn't like the man, but when he was at peace, she could remember the charming person he used to be.

She'd ignored his advances for a while, but charm is something you're either born with or practice having in front of the mirror every day until you've got it right.

He was born with some to spare.

All that charm and not a single ounce of compassion. She shook her head, sighing softly.

A long time ago, this sleeping bastard could make her laugh like none other. They'd gone on long drives in his beautiful car and walked down the quiet country lane where her grandmother's house still stands and all the while he'd keep her smiling if not clutching her ribs from the pain of too much laughter.

Once, he'd taken her to the juke joint out in the middle of the swamp. But that was the night she gave herself to him, and nothing was the same since.

She would never forgive him for that. For acting like that part of her held some magic. She was the same girl before, during and after. It was him who changed.

Still, sometimes, she sees who he once was.

The blanket from the sofa was soft. Glory grabbed it and tossed it up high, letting it come down to lay over his big sleeping form. Even in the heat, she saw him relax and knew that it brought her husband comfort.

She'd never known anyone who deserved it less.

"Mama"

"What baby?" She asked, pulling the sheet up to tuck her girl in tight.

"Miss Pearl made chicken tonight too."

"Oh?"

"I like it more than yours."

Glory chuckled softly, kissing one cheek and then the other. "Me too."

She turned off the lamp and quietly went to the door, but not before looking back at the children, already half asleep. One bed for three kids and a crib for the baby.

"Let them rest easy tonight," she whispered to him, hoping he could hear. "Let them dream of more than this." She said, catching the pain in her voice before it could escape. She looked around the little room with its plain walls and thin curtains and the worn-out old rug in the center of the floor. "They deserve so much more than this"

Glory turned off the light and left the door open an inch or so for the youngest boy. Her children were in the care of the one who could keep them safe now and she found peace in that.

There were plenty of jobs she could do. She wasn't above hard work. As long as it paid well, she could get them out. They wouldn't be able to go very far, but she could be free.

This was his house. Let him have it.

It was 1978, after all. Times were changing; women didn't stay home and listen to men anymore, not even women stuck in forgotten country towns with one main road.

In the kitchen, sitting at the little table, Glory circled a few wanted ads and a listing for an apartment that sounded nice enough.

She didn't need it to be anything special or permanent. It didn't have to be forever. It didn't have to be perfect. Not yet; it just had to be something.

"Something more than this." She whispered, looking down at the ink that smudged under her fingers. "I'll find something."

She was good at finding things. Lost items, treasures, trinkets, the endless… She would hunt until she found the right fit and do it quickly.

The hour must have been later than she realized, though. The quiet of the house, coupled with the evening noise of frogs and insects through the screen door, was making it harder to focus. The page blurred, she yawned twice, and as she searched, the answers to questions she could not remember and ways out of places she worried she might never escape, began circling Glory like old ghost.

She fought sleep and haunted thoughts while searching for work in between looking at apartment listings, all the while, one question danced at the back of her mind, but when she tried to focus on it, the damn thing would stop moving, and she'd forget what it was, over and over until she gave up.

Glory shook her head, trying to get rid of the feeling and rubbed her eyes. For the first time in a very, very long time she did not want to sleep. But the finger that pointed to the page slid and her hand smoothed out over the page until her head rested on her arm and her breathing calmed and her heart slowed and Glory slept.

I do not have a second to spare; I don't know why but tonight feels off. I am unsettled, like I'm not in my bed and relaxed, but tense and just waiting for this dream to be disrupted.

I hadn't meant to fall asleep; I know that much. But waking in Fiddlers Green with the sun on my face and bird song filling the air does make me feel some semblance of calm.

Funny, now that I'm here, the words that had been rattling around in my head like the loose parts of a broken watch make sense. All the little screws and gear cogs lock into place.

Looking over my shoulder, I find the castle that has become more and more like home.

Now I remember! I need to tell him before the words are taken from me.

On my feet, I'm up and running over the hills and bridges and through the beautiful chaos of the dreaming, not willing to waste a second of sleep.

I am a friendly one-woman army storming the castle; my anti-weapons are determination, excitement, and joy, and I have an ally within these walls.

Inside I rush past Mervyn, wave to Mathew, and find him-- my friend-- my ally the King, who is lost in some deep contemplation. I only say his name so that I won't startle him-- as if he didn't already know I'd come.

Dream turns in time to receive my hug with an "oof" I grin against the black t-shirt.

"Hello, Glory," he says when I look up at him. He tries to smile, but it's stiff and distant. He is the bucket of water, and I am the flame extinguished. My excitement melts away, but I refuse to let him stop me from at least explaining why I've come. It's too important.

"Dream. I– I feel like I don't have much time." I say, still unsure of why. "I need your help," I tell him, only then noticing Lucien walking around with some sort of ledger. No. Wait...Lucien? "Oh!"

"Hello, Glory." She says.

She? Lucien, this Lucien, has skin as dark as mine, but her eyes are wise, her ears cute and pointed. She wears her glasses, same as always, her clothes are smart, and I think? Yes. Definitely. This is the same friend I've always known, but what an unexpected surprise. "You look… incredible. You've changed!"

"Things are always changing in the dreaming." She says with a warm smile and a small bow.

"They really do have a habit of doing that, don't they " I say, matching her expression. "I'm just happy you're still here. That's what matters."

"Well, the same can be said for you." She glances at Dream who seems slightly distracted. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a few more items to catalog. Amazing how much stuff, can accumulate over the years."

I give a little wave watching her go. Turning back to Dream, I see the way he watches too like he means to say something but doesn't. "Never took you for a packrat, I try to tease. He just does that disapproving growl that makes me smile before I remember that I don't have time for this. "Oh! As I was saying!"

Dream glances down at me but turns away. "Yes?" I stay put and watch him begin the long climb up his throne steps. They are the sort of thing you might dream of ascending but never manage to reach the top.

"Yes. I, well, it's hard to explain, but I need to speak with my grandmother."

He glances back at me, intrigued, before he continues, his bare feet silent as he goes. "Why would you need my help for that?"

Dream stops short of sitting on his throne and turns, looking down at me. I've never stood beneath him like this, and I'm not sure I know how it makes me feel. There are a wide variety of sensations, some of which are actually very nice; I'll come back to them when it's more... appropriate. I feel my face flush. Even in sleep, I get embarrassed by my distracted thoughts of him. Now is not the time. "You already know her condition. Without being able to communicate with her, I'll never be able to ask her my questions."

"Her condition? Do you mean the fact that your grandmother had a stroke and has been in a coma for the last year and a half?"

Did he have to say it that way? I hang my head. "Yes."

"I can be of no assistance."

"But you can. You can take me to her. In dreams."

He stands up there looking more like a king in his t-shirt and jeans than I've ever seen him before. Dream crosses his arm as

he looks me over and sighs. "I do not transport people in that way, Glory. The answer is no."

I must be having my first nightmare inside the dreaming. That is the only explanation. "But there is no other way!"

"That may be." Dream says all calm and cold, "But that does not change the answer."

I don't know what to do. I think I'm stunned. Did he really just... "Yes!" I blurt out, refusing to accept this as his final answer.

"No."

"But you never say no!"

He steps forward. "There are first times for everything. My answer is No."

"Morpheus!"

The stars burn bright. He is surprised that I would say his name. I am too, but I'm angry!

"Glory?" He questions.

Would I push back against the lord of this land?

He may be mighty, but I'm not giving up.

Hell yes I push back.

I stand my ground in the middle of the throne room with my arms crossed as I watch him watch me and wait.

I speak before he does; no sense in giving him the upper hand in this argument-- Is this an argument? I do not know anything but shouting and defusing and fear. This feels very different. "All I'm asking is that you help me. I have questions that need answers and this is the only way!"

He must see that I will not be giving in so easily and Dream begins to saunter down the steps towards me in his black pants and tight black t-shirt, his long arms of lean muscle swaying slightly. He looks almost sorry-- almost.

Clearing my throat to find my voice of authority, I force myself to stop looking at him, but sometimes, his black pools for eyes can be so expressive, and right now, despite disappointing me, he looks ready to take me in his arms.

"I'm sorry that I can't help you this time. I am." He says, stopping short."

He is the paint thinner, and I am the masterpiece, my momentary excitement falling to the floor in globs.

I dont' even want his finger lifting my chin but I don't pull away. "Now come and see me off." He says and moves past me with the grace of an angel.

"See you off?"

Dream is already on his way down the hall, and I have no choice but to follow, or the conversation really would end.

Practically running to keep up with his long strides, we leave the throne room for the hallways that make me uncomfortable. Lit by sconces, we traverse them easily with the master of the castle leading the way and cross paths with the things that live and work here. All of them bow to their lord, but none of it matters to me. "Dream?" I feel hesitant to go on, but he should know by now, I am persistent. "There's a part I haven't said. Will you at least listen to that?"

"I don't see why, as my mind is already made up. But you are a very determined woman, I assume you intend on continuing to talk." He says as we enter his quarters.

So he does know me-- that makes me smile, but I'm still irritated and slightly offended, and resumed my stance– arms crossed, hip jutted, head tilted. "Something happened to me the other day. Something strange, and I can't remember what it was, but I know for a fact that I'm meant to."

He hears me, but goes to a sort of wardrobe along the far wall and opens it, the door blocks my view.

"What was it?"

"I--I'm not sure. A threat? Help? It's so hard to say now..."

He stops to look at me, curious for the first time. "The two are not usually confused."

"I know. I feel like I had a bad dream or something, but I know that it was more than that."

"I would have known if your dreams were threatening you, Glory."

"Then it really happened?" I ask myself more than him.

His frown deepens. "How would entering your grandmother's dreams help you to understand?"

"I dont know but, It's the only way I can talk to her." I say, listening as he starts rummaging around in the wardrobe.

"You can talk to her, you simply don't."

That hurts. I don't say anything. I can't because he's probably right. But damn it, she's just so far. The state hospital is almost three hours away, plus, well it's very hard for me to see her that way. Once a month isn't enough. I know that. It probably makes me a terrible person, but she's been like this since the stroke. The nurses are professionals, I am not, and He says that it's better for me to let them do their job without us getting in the way...

Dream is staring at me. I can feel him in my mind and I am ashamed.

Mercifully, he goes back to his search "I think you should start with driving to see her." He says as he shuts the doors, pulling on a long-- glove?

It's distracting, strange, and hard to ignore, but what he's saying draws my attention away from the visual "I can't. My car will never make it." I say, hearing my voice sound about as confident as I am in my answer, which is to say, not very.

"And yet you circle listings two towns over for a job you'd have to drive to every day?"

"I..."

Dream looks away, saying "See" without saying a word as he shoves his hand into the other glove, his forearm flexing as his fingers slowly wave into place.

As completely stunning as he looks with his shirt that is a tank top now, his jeans slung low, and his hair a longer mess of black so thick I'd never get my fingers through it, I am surprised to only just now realize he's preparing for something...

"I have to do something to get us out of this mess, Morpheus. I got us into it." I say, trying to figure it out while staying the course of my own cause.

"Hmm"

"Do not hmm me!"

He smiles and turns away.

"What are you doing anyway? Why are you wearing those?"

"When you came to me, I was preparing to leave. Something-- urgent-- was brought to my attention, and I need to see to it. I'm sorry our time together will be short."

This feels off, like he's half here with me, half somewhere else. His mind is on whatever is taking him away already, and while I know the one I love is not a man but a being who bears the weight of great responsibility, I do wish he could just stay and argue with me, I think I was getting pretty good at it.

Dream goes to a wall of light at the other end of the room that I don't think I've ever noticed before, probably because it was never there before, and walks through it and back so quickly I do not have time to respond, only its not the endless I'm currently angry with that returns. In his place, I see a monster, a demon, a strange skeletal bug-eyed beast that would terrify me if I didn't know that underneath the strange helmet was still the black hair and eyes.

I wish I were brave enough to not take a step back, but I do. "Dream?"

"Do not be afraid." He says and comes to me.

"Why do you look like that?"

"This is my helm, made of pure dream matter and the bones of an old god. It protects me as much as it reminds me."

"Reminds you of what?"

"The day I lost." He says so softly I barely hear him. "And to never lose again." The room goes quiet and I wonder just how much danger he's really in. "Now, I told you. I must go. I have work to do. Things that can not wait. You may stay, you know you are welcome here for as long as you wish, for as long as you sleep."

His gloved hand reaches out to take mine. "Work?" I look him up and frown as I smile, "Dream, you look like you're going to exterminate someone."

I like the husky sound of his laughter beneath the mask.

"Perhaps."

"Will you be alright?"

"I am not afraid."

No, of course, he's not. His power is as old as time and night. He's beautiful, even with the helmet and gloves, no, especially with the gloves, and right now, his jeans are slung low, low enough to distract me, enough to show the subtle v-ing... what god is this part of a man named for? Adonis? I reach over, run my fingers along the waist of his pants and look up into the strange helmet that looks back at me. "I know you're doing this on purpose."

"What?" He asks calmly.

"Oh, this" I flick my eyes down at him, all of him and Dream snickers, the sound still muffled beneath the helm. "That's alright. It almost worked, and I'm enjoying the attempt." My hands lay on his hips, thumbs stroking down along his cool flesh, the definition of muscle easy to trace. His response is minimal, but minimal for Dream is everything. I smile, watching the way he lets himself enjoy my touch with a little breath in, his chest rising, stomach sinking back and away from the waist of his pants for just a second and I look up at him, tempted to slide my hand down, but I don't. "I'm not giving up. You know that." I say, holding onto his sides, feeling the bone and muscle beneath, "I need this, I need you, I need my answers. This is important to me, Dream, more than I can say, but only because I don't know how to say it. But I am patient, remember that."

Something is waking me. I knew I did not have long.

"Dream!"

His low grunt is the sound of irritation as he pulls me closer and I don't know if I want to see the bones that hang from the mask but I have no choice. "When I am back. I will help you, but only once. You can not ask this of me again. Do you understand?"

I try not to look too happy even as he starts to fade and I think that maybe I've just been holding onto myself this entire time? Or a tree? Or my husband? No, it is him. The one I love. And yes, I'm trying to be coy, but it's so satisfying to hear him say it. "Oh! Yes, of course! I only need this one chance. Thank you!" I say and dare to touch the strange– leather? "I would kiss you but…"

"Save your affection for when I return." Says the man in the gas mask and long leather trench coat in the middle of a war.

Bombs and swords and explosions over cities.

I was storming a castle.

"It's not often my kind have something to look forward to other than the promise of consistency."

I am in his arms, the arms of a foreign ally. I love him. Leaning back, I look up at this horrifying creature who I trust with my life. "Now that, I can do." I say perfectly happy to wait until the next time I come to the dreaming.

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dahswi · 2 years

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choibi · 3 years

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Sumin Boni and Lara layout

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g-attinhos · 3 years

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fr-omis · 4 years

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★ DREAMNOTE MISO MESSY ICONS 🍧

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@ f4irydodo on twitter.

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messyarchive · 4 years

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드림노트 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝘆 𝗶𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀 #_#

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jj0ngins · 4 years

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DREAMNOTE ICONS !!

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glow4eva · 4 years

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eunjo layouts @ yoorimtwt

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dreanmote · 4 years

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✰ DREAMNOTE ✰ messy icons

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catlordewrites · 4 years

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An Enigma of Broken Wings: Chapter Five

Reeling from the Time War, the Doctor finds comfort in a mysterious creature that no one has ever seen. Things get more complicated when he discovers that this kindred spirit is a member of one of the most feared species in the universe.

Chapter One, Previous Chapter, Chapter Five, Next Chapter

Chapter Five

The next time the Doctor looked out upon the town of North Swafburnfer on the little world Glocnappenspa, it was with a different face; one with soulful brown eyes and a terminally messy head of hair that somehow managed to look decent no matter what the universe threw at it. As soon as the cool breeze smacked him in the face with the promise of rain, the Doctor knew exactly where he was.

“Oi! Where are we?” Another voice complained from somewhere over his shoulder.

“Glocnppenspa!” The Time Lord proclaimed proudly, side stepping out of the doorway so his blonde companion could take a look.

“Glo… What?”

“GLOC-nappen-SPA!”

“Glocnappenspa!” Rose echoed, looking pleased with herself. “Not quite as bad a Raxacoricofallapatorious, is it?”

“Nah,” the Doctor agreed, already strolling off down the muddy street with his hands shoved in his jacket pockets. “I came here once before, y’know… oh, not all that long ago…” The Doctor trailed off thoughtfully.

“Does that mean you want to leave?” Rose asked, glancing about the relatively human-looking town.

“Nah!” The Doctor brightened up again, mind evidently made up. “I didn’t look around much last time. Helped a few locals out… and there was… Anyway, this is the lovely little town of North Swafburnfer…”

“North Swaf—“

“Swafburnfer,” The Doctor repeated patiently, not bothering to look back over his shoulder as he continued ambling off down the road. “And tell you what, it must have been a few years since I was last here… or decades. Look.” The Doctor nodded towards the holographic screens that lined the insides of the glass of the shop windows, advertising various products instead of placing the objects themselves on display.

The Doctor turned his attention upwards. “No power lines, either. Last time they had power lines. Must’ve moved on to something else; household matter-energy generators or site to site power transmission via energy beam or…”

“Doctor,” Rose interrupted, eyes flickering about skeptically. “When you were here last time, was it this quiet?”

The Doctor blinked in mild surprise and swept his eyes along the streets more critically. He was forced to admit: Rose was right. The streets, while not having been necessarily crowded during his last visit, were now virtually absent of all signs of life.

“No… it wasn’t.”

He was about to come to the conclusion that the place had been abandoned altogether when he caught sight of a middle aged man exiting one of the shops. The appearance of a life form in the practically uninhabited town did nothing to dispel his concerns. In fact, they deepened as the Time Lord’s old eyes observed the quick, slinking manner in which the man walked. Eyes darting side to side, slinking on his toes like a terminally anxious cat ready to dart at the slightest sign of danger, the man scampered down the street a bit and into another shop. The CLOSED sign was flipped with far too much energy and the blinds slid down over the storefront windows.

“What is he so frightened of?” Rose voiced the question the Doctor was turning over in his own mind.

He had his suspicions, but wasn’t sure enough in them to draw them to the attention of his companion.

“No idea.” He turned to face her with a rakish grin. “Care to find out?”

~0~0~0~

The Doctor remembered the town’s layout fairly well, especially since it had expanded exponentially since the last time he’d walked its streets, leaking into the surrounding forest like a poorly contained spill.

The walk to Saint Stonpul was a short one, full of Rose pestering the Time Lord with questions about the nature of his last visit and the latter sidestepping them as gracefully as he did the puddles scattered along their way. Persistently damp world, Glocnappenspa was.

“Well,” The Doctor mused, coming to an abrupt halt halfway up the hill to the Religious Building, “that definitely wasn’t here before.”

Rose stopped at his side and took in the sight. Down the hill, what had obviously once been dense forest was now a gutted, muddy pit. Large yellow machinery crawled around it like massive hulking insects, digging into the sludge and shoving heaps of mud three times the height of a man from one place to another. The pit itself was massive, practically expanding half of the mountain and into the valley below, surrounded by a vast quantity of chain-link fence that extended further up the mountain to encapsulate what had once been a church, now converted into a makeshift on-site office for the project.

“What are they building?” Rose asked, eyeing the workers ambling about with marginalized suspicion.

“Nothing,” the Doctor muttered, stuffing down encroaching feelings of dread. “They’re not building anything. They’re mining.”

“What for?”

“No idea,” the Doctor said gruffly. “But ‘what’ isn’t nearly as important as ‘where’.”

“Alright, then. Where?”

The Doctor didn’t answer, just responding with a, “Come on,” and starting up the hill towards the building.

They got past the guard at the gate with a flash of the psychic paper, slogging through the well-trampled mud and into what had once been the Worship Center for North Swafburnfer. Rose stopped to knock some of the mud off her boots before entering, but the Doctor strode straight in without a second thought, leaving Rose to catch up with him with a sigh.

By the time she did, the Time Lord had already introduced himself to whom Rose assumed was the Foreman.

Foreman Darrew was a round man. That was really the only word anyone really could think of to describe him physically. Round. Wide as he was tall, which wasn’t saying very much, with a thick mustache and a permanent scowl with a personality to match. Not to mention that the prospect of two State investigators turning up at his doorstep didn’t do much to improve that. Combine grouchiness with a general disposition of someone that dressed and acted like they belonged in a proper household in mid-nineteenth century England, and you had Darrew.

“I must say, a State investigation is completely unfounded,” Darrew sputtered, face turning red with blood pressure. “We’ve received all the necessary permits, and the local complaints have been looked into by the local Protective Social Services…”

“Ooh, they’ve got their own now!” The Doctor beamed. “That’s an improvement form last time.”

“...and have been disproven in entirety,” Darrew finished as if the Doctor hadn’t spoken. “So an investigation is nothing short of a inefficient waste of—”

“Mr. Darrew,” The Doctor interrupted, working hard to keep from sounding impatient, “I understand that you are a very busy man with a schedule, but maybe if you could just give us a quick rundown of these complaints, we could be on our way.”

Darrew opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by a woman poking her head in through the open door. With a bony red crest on her forehead, she was obviously not of the same species normally found on Glocnappenspa, which caused the Doctor to raise an eyebrow in mild surprise. When was ‘first contact’ for this planet, again?

“Foreman,” the woman announced in warbling tones, “Mister Actom Gravenn is here to see you.”

Darrew groaned and rugged at his mustache stressfully. “Fine, send him in.”

“Actom?” The Doctor echoed in bewilderment as a rather old man shuffled in the door.

Despite the toll time had clearly taken on him, Actom was still very clearly Actom in the Doctor’s eyes. Something about the shape of his eyes and the spring in his step gave it away.

“Mr. Darrew,” Actom huffed moodily, “in our last meeting, I left under the impression that if I did leave, I would come back to the books I requested boxed and ready for delivery. It’s been a week, and it’s obvious that no progress has been made.”

“Mr. Gravenn,” Darrew growled, “my workers have enough work to do without catering to your face whims.”

“Whims. Whims?” Actom snapped back, voice raising with indignation. “The history of this community is not a whim, sir! And if you don’t comply, I’ll just be back with a State issued warrant.”

“Fine.” Darrew waved a hand absently at the other two people in the room. “If you want to talk to the State, talk to them.”

The Doctor, sensing an opportunity to get the information he was looking for from a more pleasant source as well as catch up with an old friend, bounced over to shake Actom’s hand.

“Gladly! Books, you say? We’d be happy to help, wouldn’t we, Rose?”

“Yeah, sure,” Rose agreed with significantly less enthusiasm.

Actom squinted his old eyes at the overeager man in front of him. “Not to be rude, but you are…?”

“The Doctor,” the Time Lord answered slowly, searching the man’s wrinkled face for any sign of recognition. “You probably don’t recognize me, but we’ve met before.”

The lines on the old man’s face deepened with thought. “I did know a man that went by ‘Doctor’, but he would be very old now, and he certainly never looked anything like you.”

“Oh, that was me!” The Doctor beamed. “I’m not from this planet, I can change my face.”

It didn’t take much to convince Actom that the Doctor was who he said he was. The old man was fairly trusting as it was, so once the Doctor explained his origins a little and recounted a few details from their last meeting, Actom was overjoyed to find that he did, in fact, know the man before him had returned.

“I’d always wondered what had happened to you,” Actom admitted as he led them towards the back rooms of the old building, where they intended to box up more of Old Broodo’s book collection, which had been left to Actom upon the Reverend’s death. “Old Broodo said that you left town, but that was it.”

The Doctor rugged at his ear sheepishly. “Yeah, sorry about that. Goodbyes aren't really my strongest point.”

“The alien thing is a surprise though,” Actom admitted, pulling out a set of keys to unlock the door to the storage room they’d stopped at. “You don't look like the others.”

“Yeah, about that—” The Doctor sneezed loudly as soon as the door opened and he got a whiff of the scent of mold and dust. “—What’s the story behind the other species? I wasn’t aware you lot had had a first contact yet. How long’s it been since I was last here, anyway?”

“‘Bout sixty years.” Actom picked up a book that had been left out and placed it in a box. “The Ablerrions came about twenty years ago. It was a huge mess at first, but everything settled out in the end.” He gave an amused snort. “Bet we could rewrite the books with you, though, seeing as you were technically the first alien on this planet.”

“Mm… better not,” the Doctor hummed. “Stuff like that gets complicated quick. Right, so what’re we doing here?”

Actom sighed. “Packing and moving books. Broodo left them to me, though I never paid them much attention until a few months back, just checked on them and made sure no water made its way in…”

“And then they started the mining?” Rose ventured a guess, joining the Doctor in putting together a few pamphlets into a stack.

Actom nodded. “The State sold the land to an Ablerrion-run company after Alpherdeinianite. Supposed t’be valuable for spaceships, or somethin’.”

“It is,” the Doctor acknowledged, pausing to sneeze again when Rose managed to stir up a cloud of dust. “Alpherdeinianite is for spatial distortions. Ships that go through certain types of nebula line their hulls with it. So they’re ripping up the Labyrinth?”

“The place is riddled with the stuff.” Actom nodded.

“Makes sense,” the Doctor mused. “In large amounts, Alpherdeinianite is known interfere with electrical signals within the brain. Which would explain why people that go inside the tunnels get so disoriented. Really should’ve noticed that last time. Must be getting old.”

“Aren’t we all,” Actom sighed ruefully. “But now that they own the land, I’ve been trying to get Broodo’s collection out of the way before they destroy any of it. Hasn’t been easy, either. Darrew would rather see it burned, but it’s too much to move in any sort of hurry.”

“Well, we’ve got some of it together now,” Rose piped up when the Doctor started sneezing again. “Let’s take what we’ve got and come back for more later, eh?”

Actom agreed and the three started off towards Actom’s vehicle, each carrying a box. Actom’s vehicle could almost be called a car, bright red with five wheels instead of four or six. They made three more trips to get more boxes to fill the available space before climbing inside themselves, Actom and the Doctor in the front, and a disgruntled Rose in the back, squeezed in amongst the boxes.

The Doctor peered around at the more or less empty streets with a critical eye.

“Where is everyone?” The Time Lord asked over the sound of the engine. “Much quieter than I remember.”

“Scared,” Actom grunted.

“Of what?” Rose inquired, leaning up between the two front seats.

“There’s been a rash of murders. People going missing. The Police say they’re looking into it.” He laughed dryly. “But really, no one has a clue.”

“Darrew said something about complaints,” the Doctor pressed.

Actom hummed in acknowledgement. “That’s ‘cause it started around the time the mining started. Don’t be fooled by the lack of religious interest, a lot of the people ‘round here still believe that the Labyrinth is sacred, and that the Creature exists.”

“What creature?” Rose asked, finally more interested now that the conversation had turned away from dusty books.

“Creature of the Labyrinth,” the Doctor answered rather impatiently. “Really really old being that no one has ever seen. It lives down in the tunnels. Sometimes it leads people that get lost in there to the surface, or it doesn’t.”

“A lot of folks think that the deaths and disappearances have to do with it,”Actom confirmed dryly.

“How many?”

“Twelve. Eight disappearances. Four snapped necks.”

Rose grimaced and the Doctor looked grim.

“Does sound a bit suspicious, though, doesn’t it?” Rose mused. “And there aren’t any other leads?”

“No,” Actom sniffed curtly, turning into a long driveway. “Leave it for now through. We’re here, and I don’t want that kind of talk around my granddaughter.”

“Aww, you’ve got a granddaughter?” The Doctor beamed. “Seems like only yesterday you were a child yourself.”

“To you, maybe.”

~0~0~0~

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nathlomon · 5 years

Text

very rough concepts for apophistuck

so today ive been questioning over what planets there would be for the whole story n stuff. bc its not just hanging around but a buncha other stuff. so. yea. each so far has like 2 level varieties- the “architecture” levels w/built stuff n the “natural” ones which are just like the ecosystem around it. but there will be more.

(i accidentally turned this into somewhat of a narrative as i kept writing, sorryy)

Gaia

The “Earth” setting of the story. It has a very biology-based, natural setting. There are cave levels, eventually the player is brought to other ones where they fight prokaryotic beasts as they evolve in little-oxygen, volcanic Proto-Earth. Godzilla is available in this setting as the level progresses into the city. There they meet an enormous human congregation, panicked, in one of the final levels, where monsters flood the scenery. In the end of the world they are chased by a beast that resembles some sort of...Miasmad Jr.

Stygius

Stygius is a planet- well, not really a planet, but sort of like an underworld setting of Gaia, full of mountains and ghostly opponents. Hokmuto is unlocked upon completing the first level. Lots of large spiderlike beasts trot around shack-like structures and many slightly bigger that Miasmad Jr in Gaia. In some levels, there are no opponents though the focus is more on some sort of visual storytelling, talking about the story of many game aspects, one of the visions being of Solomon and Red fighting, as well as some sort of funeral pyre being offered to a giant monster as some sort of sacrifice. Some revelations are made about certain characters and the boss is like a giant aquatic beast dwelling inside a lake, resembling a fish-squid mix. As it dies, its body dissolves in the water into a mass of garbled graphics that resemble somewhat intelligible game glyphs.

Audacium

The entire world has a rather industrial look and organic robotics aesthetic. where horned grey abstractions of monsters climb on top of walls and attempt to attack the player, who is made incredibly small and whose attacks deal much lesser damage than usual for the first half of the planet’s levels, which are some of the hardest of the game. Upon completing them, the opposite happens and the player’s usual size doubles, as well as its attack power and health- but so do the enemies (...so the game doesn’t really change that much from normal). The colors of the assorted forms of the enemies seem to be sequential, with groups of enemies ranging from red, to orange, all the way until purple and a slightly-pinker purple, where the level layout starts to resemble more of a river platform thing more than anything. The boss resembles a large pink human/fish/salamander thing with a large rainbow-y trident for a weapon. It towered over the player and often opens its mouth to reveal a large robotic cannon that shoots lasers at the player. Upon defeat, the monster drops a small, black pixelated mass that can be picked up.

Secular

A planet that has plain-looking natural features that are like the surface of a moon, with opponents that look like half-alien lich beasts. It also contains levels that take place in what seem like space colony formations with mostly inorganic enemies, like traps that can be found around, like rockets and explosives. Every once in a while scientist-like figures with elk heads can be seen using giant syringes to take life from the player, with every wave of them being completed by a giant monster that resembles an upside-down rotting elk head which “walks” with its antlers and spits out swarms of blowflies. The final boss resembles a strange, lanky white form (somewhat like Not-Gezora) with a large featureless head, and at death it has an animation of it melting down into diminutive, spider-like animals.

Baroque

A world that is marked by nearly full darkness. What makes the natural levels even remotely visible are the impaled poles in the background, which contain horned, humanoid skulls with bright yellow lights radiating from its jaw gaps and eye sockets, like a jack-o-lantern. Enemies often resemble wormlike beasts that stay underground until they sense they player, which is when they attack. Multiple-headed bats are also other enemies seen in the natural levels, with a miniboss being eventually fought that resembles a beastly cleric. The final blows aren’t the ones that defeat it, but rather a giant sword that swings and decapitates it.

The other variety of levels involve colorful and unusually cheery church-like structures depicting stained glass art of morbid events, strangely enough. The level includes enemies such as greyish flying cherubim/seraphim and quadrupedal caprine monsters wearing what look like nun robes. The boss of that level is a large dark grey monster with messy white and black face markings and long, distorted purple horns with multi colored splotches. At death, a cutscene plays, and text that says “ORDER HAS BEEN VIOLATED BY YOUR GALL. THE MARK IN YOUR DISOBEDIENT FLESH SHOWS A PREMONITION OF YOUR DOOM.” Upon viewing this, Kaiju!Janavo becomes available as a player character.

Hiraeth

A stage where everything feels old, nostalgic, like eons ago- or was it something perhaps closer, more recent? The levels seem to resemble a castle with eagles and lizards decorating it. Worn, yellow papers with interrogation marks on them mark the walls, with enemies looking like ghostly formations made from cobwebs and tattered bags of straw, and haunted knight armor filled with what looks like a slime monster. In the end of each level there would be a chest that revealed to be a crablike mimic. After defeating it, the player receives some HP. Another level features what resembles a swamp with towering mangrove trees. The enemies resemble skeletal sea snakes and dryad-esque opossums, as well as six-winged parrots. At the end of the level, the player finds a hooded figure kneeling in the shallow water. When they notice its presence, the hood is lifted and a nearly unrecognizable face is visible, covered in wounds and a sorrowful look in its features. The screen turns black as to display text, that says “GONE FOR SO LONG. THE LOST SPAWN OF ATLAS. REUNITE.”. Upon that, the figure starts to weep, and tears begin to drop from its sprite. As it cries, the water level rises and it incentives the player to continue walking, as to end the world.

Dysphoria

A level that has its entire atmosphere drawn to a colorless and sharp aesthetic. Unlike the other levels, that contain a horizontal line as its route for the player to walk towards. one of Dysphoria’s level types involves having them climb a diagonal, upwards-facing mountain. For flying characters, the rise is relatively faster although they are vulnerable to airborne attacks like a pendulum-like mace that appears from the top of the screen and swings for a couple of seconds.

Enemies come crawling downwards the mountain and tend to resemble frozen, incredibly thin and bony wolves, which tend to every once in a while self-sacrifice by detonating themselves and sending bone shrapnel to deal gradual damage to the player. Other enemies involve vultures which open their mouths to throw spinning daggers. Upon reaching the summit, the mountain begins to break apart as something like an earthquake strikes the soil, pushing the player into platforms. There they meet one of the bosses- a beast that resembles a large dragon covered in quills, whose attacks are based off spitting a black fluid that immobilizes the player for melee offense, and also beam attacks that resemble fiery raindrops. No cutscene follows the defeat.

Another level features a scenario that resembles a courtroom, with multiple uniform, faceless entities as the jury, two horned creatures that seem covered in drapes as the parties and a judge that looked more like a strange sharklike beast. After the “trial” ends by the shark slamming a femur on the table as a gavel, the entire setting is attacked by batlike creatures with human skulls, one of the draped parties being mauled by the monsters, and a dark pink puddle of blood pooling under its dying body. One of the skullbats proceeds to impale its body with a trident coming from its mouth as a final blow. The screen, again turns to black and text saying “A MEMORY REVIVED, TO NEVER BRING JOY AGAIN”.

Lugubre

The final level. It’s almost completely natural in terms of level scenery, resembling some sort of haunted, bone-filled forest with frozen puddles of water on the ground. The enemies resemble mostly half-reptile, half-mammalian beasts with snarling teeth and drops that caused the game interface to become nearly invisible from darkness for around 30 seconds, only the player sprite being outlined white. As the level progresses, humanoid skulls with spider legs appear and use green lasers as ranged attacks. Another level features cobra-like beasts with centipede legs inside a flooded cave, which has a viperfish-mudskipper hybrid covered with spines and open wounds. When defeated, it soaks the ground in a dark red fluid, which starts to consume the level’s walls while phasing through all of the spectrum until it reaches pink, when the entire screen has become covered. Eventually black fish skeletons begin to pile up at the bottom of the level, slowly rising, and eventually the player is stuck in a mound of bones, without having an end-level route. After they get consumed by bones, the level ends.

When they move to the final level, the scenario resembles a rocky wasteland covered in inorganic parts and surrounded by glowing cyan lakes. There are barely any hostile enemies though NPCs can be viewed interacting with each other, like fishes getting snatched up by crows and carrion being consumed by bears. Eventually, the layout begins to become more aquatic, and it’s the stage where hostile characters begin to appear, which resemble intermediate stages of cetacean evolution and amphibians. They tend to attack the player with pink “acid fluid”. The level, after it becomes simply a far-away platform-jumping scene with water in between, starts to include fish. Passive, pink fish are seen jumping out in schools, only to splash back underwater again. Suddenly, a lightning bolt is seen zapping the fish mid-air and causes them to float around, with a lonely one falling back into the water.

The player finally is left to swim only, having to fight large mollusk monsters that have the average health of a miniboss. A particular one, which seems to resemble a large, plate-covered squid with lobster pincers, manages to drain away a large portion of the player character’s health, and when they find themselves trapped, the dropped fish returns as a large whale, striking itself against them and having them attach themselves to its sprite, as if somehow riding it. The two float around the air for around 8 seconds, which then is followed by the whale splashing back into the water and spraying water onto the player from its blowhole, restoring the health of all its characters. However, when it returns underwater, it dissolves into sea foam- leaving the player alone yet again.

The sprite of Warlock appears, half-turned into a shark. A black screen with text says “FROM THE WALLS YOU’VE SMASHED. THIS IS THE ONE THAT WILL BREAK YOUR NAILS”. The duel between Warlock and the player is tricky, as he moves extremely fast and is able to sacrifice local NPCS for health, as well as draining it from the player. His attacks are somewhat like a combo, managing to inflict lots of damage multiple times in a short timespan. Ranged attacks involves him glowing bright green and making a radius of boiling water around his body that deals damage. Easily he could bring half of the player’s monsters to less than 5 life bars during the fight.

And when he is finally defeated- he does not swim away or dissolve, but instead has his mouth open and from within, is revealed a much larger and intimidating marine beast, skin covered in deep wounds, blotches of pink and blue littering its hide, with two jaws, four sharp claws, and a sharp extendable fin. A black screen with text says “I’VE MANAGED TO TEAR DOWN AT YOU QUITE WELL, JANAVO. I CAN SENSE YOUR WEAKENING MUSCLES, YOUR MIND SHUTTING DOWN. NOW SOON I WILL DISPLAY YOUR CARCASS TO MY REIGN, YOUR BLOOD WILL MIX WITH MAERAH’S FOR OUR ULTIMATE FEAST!”

The player is locked to only utilize Janavo as a character, whose attacks seem to deal not a lot of damage to the scarred beast, and his move which involves lowering his damage from an attack by using his hood is rendered useless. Its attacks involve spraying dark purple ink at the player, temporarily disabling their attacks, and slashing at them with its claws. This combination of moves makes for a challenging and nearly impossible battle, together with taunting comments and imagery. The beast, once Janavo is at one life bar, makes one last comment, saying “HOW WEAK AND LAUGHABLE OF YOU TO SUCCUMB LIKE THIS. JUST LIKE YOU WERE MANY YEARS AGO, FRAIL AND SENSITIVE. HOW ABOUT YOU FINALLY RETURN TO SUCH A FORM AGAIN, AND LET’S END YOUR PATHETIC, PETTY EXISTENCE!”

And so it proceeds to charge a bright red beam and shoot it at his sprite, which was twitching, becoming thinner and smaller, until Janavo resembled nothing but a dry, shriveled husk worm contorted into a curled up shape, surrounded by a blue “mist”. A laugh comes from the killer monster, which proceeds to grow large tentacles from its scars which start to consume the screen, but when it least notices, they are all pulled back and torn from its body in a gory fashion. Then it is shown that the whale had ripped them off itself and was consuming them. It faces the screen and everything fades to black as it dialogues with the player.

“Dear. The blood of Atlas still flows through me. This is not the true fate of you. Remember the dueling behemoths that once managed to climb their way out. The two, who now offer their own lives to reverse this nightmare.”

The screen returns to the death of Janavo and the husk is devoured by the whale. On his place, appears a strange, purple tauric creature which was labeled “Mialomon”. The scarred beast went at full speed to successfully devour and kill him, but 10 health bars were taken away as its body seemingly goes limp as if broken inside. Mialomon’s attacks are a heat beam and using his tail as a whip, which both seem to deal a moderate amount of damage yet he shows to have an extremely high level of defense, with every blow received draining around only a quarter of his life bar. With every hit he gives, the beast seems to be torn to shreds, with its scars becoming screaming mouths, and its movements becoming more frantic. When nothing but its heads, spine and ribs remain, Miamolon inserts its front legs on the top jaw and pushes them apart, splitting both heads in half, ending its existence and clouding itself in dark violet blood.

The whale appears again, and says “The pain has been vanquished, at last. Salvation has been reached. Now it can all sprout back again, fill itself with life and joy”. It opens its mouth, and from it, comes the revived sprite of Janavo, large and majestic again. The other characters are again accessible and soon the whale turns into some sort of mermaid. “I’ve missed you so much. The spawn of Atlas truly did save and reunite with its ophidian cavalier. I will never allow anyone to separate us again“. A pink sigil appears, and the game returns to the Godzilla: MoM home screen.

BONUS: Password Screen and More

The glyphs that can be seen at the death of Stygius’ boss can be used as an input. It will make so that the next time you (re)play the final level of Gaia featuring the human cluster, you will receive a cutscene that features Aloisio and his relations to both Earth and Stygius, and upon that, you will gain him as a playable character. Smaller in defense and size, he compensates it with high attack speed and strength.

By replaying the courtroom Dysphoria level, without setting in any code, by leaving the scene before watching the murder of the draped entity, the screen also turns to black. But the text instead says “A familiar yet so fresh scene you had to witness. Much like the manuscripts mention. Pain so sharp and tearful, like a talon slash to the eye. Not evaporating, not even when you try to close them. May warmth be in your heart, might by your side, and you will never shed blood tears again.” After that display, the player has a new playable character in the board- Sebastian.

By typing in “ENDOGENAS” as an input after finishing Lugubre, by replaying the game, Janavo’s sprite is shown to wear the carcass of the scarred beast as a lavish cloak.

#long post #lore

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