Enter...Morpheus
Reggie and Death stood inside a massive library. There were large windows and the shelves were made of dark oak wood. On the right and left was a staircase, leading to a second, third and fourth floor. Reggie had the feeling there were more floors than she could see now. The room bathed in soft golden light, giving the place a warm, welcoming feeling.
‘Wow,’ said Reggie, completely in awe of the place. She used to hide in the library in Surrey, if her cousin and his band of misfits chased her in Reggie Hunting. Books were amazing. She spend many hours sitting in a large chair, losing herself in tales of old. She was an avid reader and suddenly wondered if she could still read. She voices her concern hesitantly.
‘Sure you can, little raven. After all, how are you supposed to learn magic?’ Death gave her a wink and walked in further. ‘Lucienne!’ From the left side, a dark-skinned woman approached. She had glasses pinched on the edge of her nose, dressed in black clothes with a white shirt and she was bald. She smiled broadly at Death. She had a somewhat stern impression, but her smile let that fade away.
‘It has been a while since you came over. How have you been?’ Death smiled back and the woman chatted away for a few minutes. Reggie was still perched on Death’s shoulder, listening to the two women. She ruffled her feathers and used her beak to put some back into place. Huh…must be instinct, she thought.
‘I need to talk to you about this beauty on my shoulder,’ Death said to Lucienne. ‘But first, introductions are in order. Lucienne, meet Regina Lilian Potter, Regina, meet Lucienne, the librarian, and keeper of knowledge of the Dreamlands.’
After hearing the raven’s name Lucienne looked sharply at Death. Death shook her head in a gesture that meant she would explain later. ‘Pleased to meet you, ma’am.’ Reggie wanted to shake to woman’s hand, so she stuck out her wing…realized what she did, and pulled her wing back.
‘I am very pleased to meet you too Regina.’ Lucienne decided to ignore the obviously human gesture the raven just made. ‘Please call me Reggie ma’am.’
Since Death had some explaining to do she picked Reggie up, and put her down on one of the tables. ‘I have to talk to Lucienne for a bit. Why don’t you try to fly a little bit? Be careful okay?’ Reggie gave an excited squeak and hopped around. Lucienne and Death walked away, but Death kept her eyes on the little bird.
‘So, you have been busy,’ Lucienne spoke softly. ‘Is it really her? What happened’ So Death explained everything. Reggie’s death, her proposition, what she had done, and why they were in the Kingdom. Lucienne listened without interrupting and looked over at the little bird who was frantically flapping her wings. It looked adorable and her heart melted. She felt very protective of the little bird and promised Death she would be there for Reggie.
They walked back and Reggie managed to fly a little bit. ‘Very good!’ Death was proud. Normally she never turned children into ravens, because they had trouble adjusting. Adults picked it up faster. But Reggie proved her wrong, by all accounts.
‘I have to go find my brother and explain everything. After that, I will come to say goodbye to you.’
Reggie understood. Death had an important job. And Lucienne seemed really nice. She was a bit apprehensive about Death’s brother…the men in her life so far had done nothing but hurt her…what if he was like them? She kept her thoughts to herself, not wanting to insult Death or Lucienne.
Death patted Reggie on her head and walked out, leaving Reggie and Lucienne to get acquainted. Lucienne sat down in one of the chairs and held out her hand. Reggie looked confused until she understood she was meant to come over. She hopped very carefully onto Lucienne’s hand and tried not to grip her too tightly.
‘Are you hungry Reggie?’ At that point, Reggie hadn’t really thought about food, but she was no longer a ghost and yes, she was ravenous. ‘Yes ma’am.’ Lucienne smiled, and with Reggie in her hands, she walked over to a cabinet. She opened the door and picked up a bowl with some fruit in it. She walked back to the table and offered the bird the food. Reggie munched happily at the fruit. She could get used to this.
‘When you are done eating, I will show you around. You can try to fly along with me, or you can sit on my shoulder. When Death returns, you will meet Lord Morpheus.’
‘Who is Lord Morpheus ma’am?’ Lucienne chuckled. ‘That is another name of Dream of the Endless. Just like Death of the Endless is sometimes called Sister Death, of Azrael.’
They chatted away until Reggie was done. Lucienne told her about her job and about the books. Reggie couldn’t wait to start reading them, but maybe the king had other things he needed her to do. Lucienne found Reggie to be very polite and sweet. ‘Can I really fly around in here ma’am?’ ‘Sure thing sweetie. But be careful you don’t crash into the shelves though…that will be painful and I don’t want you to get hurt.’
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Death walked around her brother’s Kingdom, but there was no sign of him. Not in the throne room, not in the rooms adjacent to the throne room…and he was not in the library, for she had just come from there. She decided to go back to the library and see if she missed him by any chance.
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In the library, Reggie, very carefully and not very confident, flew beside Lucienne. She had bumped into her a few times. She apologized every time, but Lucienne seem to think nothing of it and waved her apologies away. Lucienne explained the library, while Reggie tried very hard not to bump into the books or crash into the ground. Flying was hard…
‘Ah, wait a minute please Reggie, I have to speak to Merv about one of the books,’ Lucienne said when they came upon a figure with a pumpkin for a head. Startled by his appearance, Reggie flapped her wings frantically and took off…and flew beak first into a solid wall of black fabric. She squeaked in terror as she felt herself falling down.
The hard landing never came, for she was caught by two large pale hands, who plucked her from the air. Her wings were pressed against her body and she panicked. She did not like this at all, but she could only get away if she were to use her beak to bite…and that she did not dare to do. She completely froze as she was brought up higher and stared into the pale face of a slender man. Dark, messy hair that would have given aunt Petunia a hissy fit. Eyes that resembled the night sky stared back.
‘Who do we have here?’