[Finished] Reweave

[Kitty]

It was the dead of night and no one stirred in the halls. No one, that was exactly who he was, simply a shadow in the night avoiding the nightmare that came when he slept. How long had it been since he'd given himself to the night? Three days? No, it had to have been closer to four now, but he wasn't sure. His mind, generally sharp and quick was slow and dull and his appearance was far more haggard then it had been in years. Combined with his somewhat emaciated build it wouldn't be all that outlandish for someone to claim him as the walking dead. He certainly felt that way.

But with the brats last action and fool's pride he simply couldn't give into him any longer, but how can you live without sleep? You couldn't, and it irked him to a high degree that sometime soon he would fall asleep and then his son would have his way. It also angered him that he could not continue with his own plans either, for as much as the boy was a nuisance some maternal spark had ignited within the rat and he felt more then a little uneasy at endangering the life of his son for his own means, not to mention the action would make him no better then his own father and he really couldn't stomach that.

His ascent into the court of Diamonds, where he belonged, would be dangerous and the possibility of him being killed was very high. If he died, and Morpheus lived in his head, surely the young Queen would die as well... correct? He didn't know how that worked, and he hadn't seen Finistris in quite awhile to ask him. And thus, that was why he was here now within the library of the Court of Spades, the place he hadn't left yet... if Lysaras was even aware of him still being here was unsure, but nothing in his quarters had been bothered. But then again, Sezja was their and surely none would enter a room fiercely guarded by a bander of his temperament, would they?

He shook his head, venturing forth and closing the door behind him. with Varestes living here perhaps there was a book or some such that might be able to help him? It seemed like a good starting point to something beneficial not only for him, but the parasite living within his head that was slowly driving him out of it. He began to stalk toward the nearest shelves, not entirely sure of the layout of this particular library, when a sudden wave of exhaustion hit him.

He shook his head, willing himself to snap out of it before he moved forward once more on unsteady limbs that seemed to not really be there, or to not be touching the ground. His eyelids felt like lead, but he fought the need to sleep valiantly, but inevitably failed. He simply collapsed upon the floor only managing to catch himself slightly with his hands and the impact knocked the breath out of him momentarily as well sent a sharp feeling of pain along his ribs, which weren't protected as well as most were. Everything gathered together in a conspiracy against him and he felt his conscious state slipping from him and a familiar cackle rang in the back of his mind. Morpheus had won, and that was that.

And the little hybrid could not contain his amusement as the room began to solidify for him as it did whenever his mother succumbed to his fatigue. This room was ... different however, it wasn't the rat's quarters at all. He had many questions, and he would certainly demand they be answered!

[Greenie]

Dysthymia wasn't feeling well. It wasn't within his body, at least not today--he had no nauseousness, nothing was tingling, or anything of that sort. He didn't even have a headache, which sometimes accompanied his.. problems.. which made him happy, but at the same time the room was spinning rather oddly. Mia was used to some of the side effects of his little problem, but it was only the physical ones he could tolerate.

Whatever it did to his mind was far beyond his scope of tolerance.

When it first started, it took something very reflective like a mirror for him to see anything. He'd been very young, so young he could barely remember, and he hadn't understood it at all. He responded to their thoughts, not what they were actually saying, and it had gotten him into a few sticky situations. His mothers still didn't know, though he highly suspected Vessatha knew something was up--she was around him more than Mommy Quinn was. Mia honestly didn't know about his siblings. He was around Saethre more than his brothers because their parents often separated the four of them into manageable chunks of two, but Sae was often too bouncy and was off doing her own thing rather than bothering her brother.

By the time he'd reached his pre-teen years, he had begun seeing things in anything remotely reflective. Windows, metal, even things like puddles. It drove him crazy, always knowing what people were thinking, and what hurt the most was realizing just how often people's thoughts matched their words. Liars, they were all liars, and he despised the lot of them for it. He tolerated his family because they were his family, and honestly, his siblings didn't think much in the first place for him to notice too much of a difference. Mia tried his damned best not to see his parents reflections, because he didn't want to know what they thought. That was a line he never wanted to cross. The worst part of it all was that he couldn't get rid of it, not anymore. Dysthymia knew it was the necklace, but taking it off didn't do anything, he still saw things, too many things. When he was younger Vessatha would take it off to bathe him and it would make him feel better, but she would put it right back on.. now, not even that helped.

The ferret was getting to the point, however, where he simply stopped associating what he saw with any kind of emotion. He ignored the images when he could, or paid attention when he was interested, but they meant little to him in the grand scheme of things. So when he wandered into the library and discovered a very interesting passed-out rat on the floor, he became curious. Mia knew he saw dreams, but those were much easier to avoid--you simply didn't go into bedrooms--so hadn't seen many.

This was a perfect opportunity, though, and today Mia felt like watching some stranger's dreams. He skipped up to the desc and politely requested a magnifying glass, which he knew they kept for those silly old people, and when he had one, he sidled back over to the sleeping rat. It didn't bother him in the slightest that the man was a King--he was asleep! How would he know Mia was there?

The ferret propped the glass against a nearby table at the right angle to just barely reflect Osias's image--after all, it was intended to magnify, not reflect--and Mia idly looked into it, and was very confused.

Whomever he was looking at was definitely not the sleeping man, and he wasn't dreaming about him either.. what was going on in this man's head?

[Kitty]

Osias groaned as he found himself in a slightly off reflection of the library, he knew precisely what had happened and had been greeted by flying ball of energy hitting him square in the chest and cause him to fall all over again out of the sheer surprise of it all, damnable child. His lip twisted up into a sneer, yellowed fangs showing on one side, as he eyed the young Lowlander who made it a point to glare at him. He pushed him backward, somewhat roughly as Osias wasn't the gentlest of mothers, and sent the hybrid boy backward with an indignant squeak.

He got up, brushed himself off and made a show of himself as he adopted a defensive, but playful pose. So mother did want to play with him still? Fun! His body swayed, mimicking a prowling feline's, and he charged at his parental, tiny fangs bared. Osias simply stepped aside and whipped the boy good naturedly on the rear with his tail, turning his head back and grinning more adoringly then he had previously. He harbored some ill feelings toward the boy, but he was his son and he did love him, just not in the conventional way.

That isn't the best you've got, is it?

The whip had warranted another squeak only this one had coupled with a frustrated growl to produce and... interesting sound. That accursed rat, how'd he know when to move?! He whirled on his feet and took up an aggressive stance as his tail curled up in thought. Now, how could he properly get back his bipedal parent? Several thoughts reeled through the youth's mind and he came up with a good one. Oh yes, that was perfect.

There was no warning wiggle for his next charge, he just leapt and ran as fast as his short legs would carry him until he got a strange feeling, one that made him halt mid-charge and had all of his fur standing on end. And all Osias could do was tilt his head, a questioning look springing up.

The young Queen lashed his tail and brought his ears forward, looking around for any source of the strange feelings that made him ever so uneasy. His voice came out with a quiver, giving full view of the child's distress, and he called out for the long shot answer, the only one he could think of really ...

Father, is that you?

But he knew full and well the eyes he felt didn't fall under the familiar sensation of his father, how was someone watching them? And who?

[Greenie]

Dysthymia was so startled when the -- child? -- spoke to him that he fell backwards off of his haunches and was unable to see the vision. He stared up at the ceiling and tried to figure out what was going on, but couldn't. No vision had ever spoken directly to him. They had spoken of him, if the person happened to be thinking of him, but not to him. Thoughts, dreams, whatever, could not speak to the person watching him.

Except this one, apparantly.

He hesitantly got back onto his paws and crawled over to the magnifying glass to stare back into Osias' dreams, but little had changed. Osias was there, playing with the child, but the child seemed a little bewildered. Had he called Mia father? Mia was certainly not his father. "What.. the.." He whispered quietly to himself, afraid that he had completely lost it, though he had thought himself not yet at the brink of sanity.

[Kitty]

If he could fluff himself up anymore, the youth would have, except, well, he was already entirely bristled. There was something else there, suddenly. No, not a something, a someone. Or, rather, not really in his world were they? No, the circular shape surrounding him as well as the slight differences between his world and what he assumed was his mothers world was enough to confirm that. What in the name of all the Queens was going on? This had never happened before!

He swallowed hard, willing himself to gain some of his composure back. He was a Queen, and mother and father both had told him things about what that entailed. His ears stayed back and his fur remained bristled but he puffed out his chest and made his way to where the stranger was, almost forgetting to breathe in the process. He was also terribly, terribly curious as well... what .... what was going on?

Osias however, was completely dumbfounded and gave him a rather odd look after the boy had sent out the question of if his father was there or not. Surely Finistris had been visiting the boy without his knowledge? His own ears went back as he watched his son, an uneasy feeling welling up inside of his chest as well, or perhaps it was just because Morpheus was acting as he was? The latter thought was banished completely as he saw what his son was walking toward. That was the library, the real library, but how?

A part of him willed him to stop the boy, another, larger part held him back, but he did take up a rather defensive position, ready to charge should anything bad befall his offspring, his only son... only son that he knew of that was.

[Greenie]

Dysthymia could only stare in a mix of fascination and horror at the boy approaching him, yet not at the same time. Clearly in the background he could see Osias, but it seemed as though Osias could not see him, despite the boy's ability to. Was he not within Osias's vision, or was this strange happening limited to himself and the boy?

As the vermin slowly approached Mia, he abruptly saw what was on his chest--a Queen mark. Why was he invisioning Queens with Kings asleep and what the bloody hell was going on? The ferret struggled to wrestle with what he knew was reality and what he knew wasn't, and made no effort to hide it from coming out in his expression. (Thankfully there was no one in the area in the library short of Osias' sleeping body to see him.) Osias was real. The rat was right next to him, so much that Dysthymia could reach out and poke him if he so wished. The boy.. was not, could not. He was looking in a reflection of Osias' dreams, an image, nothing more.

But it was watching him, approaching him.

He was insane.

[Kitty]

He paused momentarily, craning his neck and peering at the edges of the circular expanse that seemed to just... be hanging it the air. It very much didn't belong here and Morpheus was determined to find out why it was. Or was it even really there? He glanced back briefly, his mother still resting where he'd left him, odd. Maybe he was seeing things, that would make far more sense then this... thing actually being here now wouldn't it?

He turned back and stalked forward a bit more confidently, nothing had made an attempt to attack him yet now had it? It didn't seem dangerous, even on the off chance that it wasn't a figment of his own imagination. If it was, well, he'd chalk it off to being locked up in this boring rat's mind far to long. Yes, that sounded about right.

He stopped rather close to it, almost close enough to touch really and, even though his paw twitched, dieing to touch the oddity, he refrained from doing so and turned those brilliant emerald visionaries back on the card on the other side. He looked him over, gaze first trailing his bindings before it fell upon the necklace and lingered a moment, and then he looked the other boy straight in the face, his voice void of the quiver it held before.

Who are you and what are you doing here?

[Greenie]

Dysthymia could only stare as Morpheus approached, closer and closer. He seemed as if he wanted to simply walk through the magnifying glass, though it was horribly apparent to the ferret that this weasel-like creature would not fit.

Neither would he, though he had the same strange urge to reach out and touch. His paw moved forward of it's on accord to the glass, but he retracted it nearly at the same time as Mo, unwilling to test his sanity any further.

He noticed Morpheus examining him, and frowned and instinctively glanced down at himself. Mommy Vessatha had always thought his bindings were an annoying nuisance (as she did for Chi and Aph's) but they were part of who he was, so why was this other boy looking at him so strange?

Who was HE and what was HE doing here? More like, "Who are you and how can you talk to me?" He asked as an indirect reply, then softly said, mostly to himself, "Or am I just.. completely insane now.."

[Kitty]

That most certainly did not answer his questions, questions were never answers. He knitted his brows and took up a defensive stance, somewhat agitated at the fact that the boy was peeking into his realm and not giving him any respect at all. It was an invasion of privacy really, but the last thing the boy said, even it had been mostly to himself, eased the young lowlander a bit. Surely if you were having an insane hallucination said vision wouldn't question it's own sanity.... right? And if it were possible for his father to move from mind to another, couldn't others? But this boy, this Jack, wasn't in here with him, where was he? He scrunched his nose eying him more closely and trying to keep his voice from carrying over the fact that he was slightly miffed.

You're invading my realm, I think it's proper you answer me first. And I believe if you're crazy, we both are because I most certainly am not a hallucination.

His shifted his nearly furless tail into a backward 'c' shape, it was still somewhat stiffened as well. He leaned in a bit more, inspecting the odd circular..... thing a bit more closely. Once the boy answered and he was certain he wasn't a figment of his own imagination, he might just take the initiative to touch it.

[Greenie]

Dysthymia nearly burst into laughter. A possible hallucination stating it was not a hallucination? He didn't believe that in the slightest, for he had no doubt that his imagination could and would lie to him if it was given the opportunity.

There was always the chance that he was real, of course.

Mia almost replied that he had invaded nothing, as he was still sitting within the library and the weasel boy was.. within the glass?.. but it would be of no use to continue arguing with his brain. "My name is Dysthymia," He started, then paused. "You may call me Mia." The ferret, despite having an oddly feminine name, did not appear to be disturbed by it in the slightest.

"I do believe I am quite crazy.." He replied, and trailed off once more. Mia was beginning to accept that he was slowly (or quickly? could you measure how fast you went off the deep end?) going insane, if only because his mind was beginning to create rather imaginitive images for him.. if he was going to talk to himself, he was going to have a damned good conversation.