Chapter Three

Chapter Summary: After reuniting with Niko, the group find themselves in the realm of a nightmare...and learn a bit more about the Endless whose realm this is
Warning(s): Spoilers for season one of the Dead Boy Detectives; spoilers for season one of The Sandman; AU; references to violence and canon character death; references to torture; slightly heavier D/s

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For the briefest moment, after the frozen wasteland had fallen away, they'd hung in midair...suspended in nothingness. It wasn't for long, but it was long enough for Edwin to wonder if that was what floating in space felt like.

And then they were dropped into the middle of a dark basement.

"This looks familiar," Charles muttered, taking a tighter grip on his baseball bat.

It wasn't exactly the same as the house that had held the ghosts trapped in a loop of their own deaths, but it felt as stifling as that house had. Almost without thinking, Edwin took half a step closer to Charles.

Charles glanced at him. "How likely do you think the Dreaming is to pluck things out of our own minds and force us to see them?"

"Maybe it will work if we all think of a happy, nice memory?" Niko suggested. "Like...." She hesitated, biting her lip, and looked at each of them in turn. "Every happy memory I can think of has a sad memory attached to it," she said mournfully.

"That's not how it works here anyway," Monty said shortly. "None of us are asleep, so the Dreaming isn't able to take images from our head."

"Is the Dreaming alive?" Charles asked.

Monty hesitated. "Not in the way you mean, but it is sentient. In a way. There might be a reason we've been brought here."

"Is it possible Thomas was brought here?" Edwin couldn't keep the note of hope out of his voice. He hated the idea of the Cat King, of his lover, being held captive in a place like this, but if he was, they'd be able to find him.

"It's possible." Monty's tone very clearly said he thought he was unlikely...even though he didn't say the words out loud.

"What's the plan?" Charles looked sideways at Edwin. "Wait and see if reality changes around us again? Or go and see if we can find answers to his location?"

Edwin took a few seconds to make his decision. He looked at Niko, who smiled brightly at him, still clutching her soapstone bear in her hand. He looked at Monty, whose gaze was focused on the ceiling above them, his mouth set in a thin, hard line...and then, finally, Edwin focused on Charles' face; his best friend, who'd already followed him into Hell, and Edwin knew would do it again in a moment.

"I think we should leave this place," he decided. "Maybe we can find someone who can help us. Or at least find a path to where Thomas could be being held."

"Okay." Charles pointed towards the stairs several feet in front of them. "That way?"

"Unless there's a door somewhere else down here." Edwin glanced around, but when he didn't see any other way out of the basement, he looked at Charles and nodded.

Charles bared his teeth in what was less of a smile and more of a grimace, then started up the stairs, towards the door at the top.

Edwin followed his best friend, grimacing at the sound of wooden steps creaking underfoot. If there was anyone on the other side of the door, they would be able to tell that there were people in their house. Then again, it wasn't as if this was a normal house in the dimension of the living.

"Stay behind me," Charles whispered, even as he reached out and pulled the door open.

There was light coming through the now open door, though it wasn't much brighter than the basement was. Still, Edwin had to squint and rub at his eyes to get rid of the bright spots that appeared in his vision.

Once the spots cleared and he could see properly again, Edwin realised Charles had already stepped through the door...without waiting for Edwin to join him, which meant he'd probably not waited for his own eyesight to return to normal before heading into the main house.

Shaking his head and resolving to talk with Charles about his impetuous behaviour...again...Edwin stepped through the door as well, able to hear both Niko and Monty following him.

The new room they found themselves in looked like a generic front room in a house. The carpet was a deep red, appearing to be almost black, and there was a couch resting in front of a large window looking out onto a lake. There was a man sitting on the couch; a man with short blond hair, wearing dark sunglasses...in spite of the fact they were inside, and his back was to the window.

"Is this your house?" Edwin couldn't tell if the man was conscious or not, unable to see his eyes, but since they were in the Dreaming, he decided to treat the other man like he would any of the other people he knew in the world of the living.

The man was still and silent for so long, it was almost as if he were a statue. When he finally spoke, his tone was calm and almost serene...at odds with the words that left his lips. "This is my prison."

"You're a prisoner here?" Niko took a step forward, coming to Edwin's side. Eyes narrowed with concern, she asked, "Who holds you prisoner?"

"And how?" Charles asked. "You're not bound in any way. At least not that I can see."

"There is more than one type of prison." The man rose to his feet. "My master has left me here as punishment for my crimes. He believes it's possible to rehabilitate me." He shrugged; a casual, elegant movement. "Time will reveal whether he's right or not."

"Who are you?" Monty asked.

"And who's your master?" Charles voiced his question at almost the same time.

"I'm called the Corinthian," the man said.

Niko's eyes widened. "I've heard of you!" she exclaimed. "You're not a good man."

"He's not a man at all," Monty said shortly, moving to stand next to Edwin. "We need to leave here. Now."

"Why?" Charles looked at Monty. "Who is he?"

"He's a nightmare who came into the world of the living after Dream of the Endless was imprisoned for so long." Monty's eyes narrowed slightly. "I know because Esther wanted to meet him and join forces with him."

"That's why you look familiar." The Corinthian took half a step closer to Monty. "You're a witch's familiar. I remember you being a crow before." He smiled, but it was somehow creepy and unsettling.

Edwin stepped between him and Monty. "We didn't mean to come into your territory. I'm looking for the Cat King. Thomas. We believe he's imprisoned here, and we're trying to rescue him."

The Corinthian looked towards Edwin...or, at least, Edwin assumed he did, given that his face moved towards him. "As I said. My master has imprisoned me here. I don't know why you've come here, but if you entered the Dreaming of your own free will, one of you is responsible for you coming here."

"Why would any of us want to come here?" Charles asked.

Once again, the Corinthian smiled his creepy, unsettling smile. He sat back down on his couch and said, "You have a witch's familiar with you. A witch who, if I'm not very much mistaken, has been taken away. You know that the loyalty of a witch's familiar doesn't die with her. Don't you?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Edwin saw Charles' grip tighten on his bat. Edwin had never heard of the Corinthian, even after he'd managed to escape Hell. But it was immediately obvious to him that the Corinthian was trying to sow seeds of distrust among them. He didn't know why...but despite what Charles suspected, he didn't think Monty was going to betray them. Maybe Monty was acting strangely, but Edwin couldn't believe that he was going to betray them. Not again.

"The door's locked." 

Edwin looked up, over at the front door, where Niko was standing, her hand on the handle. He frowned. "What?"

"It won't open," she reiterated.

"What the fuck?!" Charles moved over to her and began pulling on the handle. When that didn't work, he pressed his shoulder against the door and began pushing.

"I told you," the Corinthian said calmly. "I'm trapped here. Now that you're in the house with me...you're trapped as well."

Monty moved to stand closer to Edwin, who glanced sideways at him. "Do you have any ideas?" he asked in a low voice. Out of the three of them, Monty seemed to know the most about the Dreaming. He'd recognised the Corinthian as a nightmare...and even though the Corinthian was trying to make it seem like Monty couldn't be trusted, Edwin had already made the decision to trust him even before they'd come into the Dreaming.

"I don't know about this area of the Dreaming. But I think he's right," Monty admitted quietly. "I think someone was responsible for bringing us here."

That was a surprise. Edwin frowned, shifting so that he could look at Monty while keeping his attention on the Corinthian as well. "You're telling me you think one of us is responsible for bringing us to this place?"

"No," Monty answered, his voice low enough that it wouldn't carry to Niko or Charles. "But the Dreaming is coloured by the perceptions of those who enter it. We were brough to Niko, I'm going to assume because either you or Charles were thinking about her. She was here, in the Dreaming. So we were brought to her."

"But that doesn't make any sense." Edwin glanced towards the Corinthian. The nightmare gave no sign that he could hear their conversation, but he suspected that every word carried to the Corinthian's ears. Even though he wasn't sure it would do any good, he dropped his voice even further as he said, "I've been thinking about nothing but getting to Thomas, of saving him, since before we came into the Dreaming. If our own perceptions, our own needs and desires, colour our path here, why wouldn't we be brought straight to where Thomas is being held?"

"That's exactly what I mean," Monty said. "There's some kind of outside force exerting its influence over us. More than likely, it's the same person who took the Cat King in the first place."

"Is the Corinthian working with them, do you think?" Edwin glanced towards the nightmare.

"I told you." A tiny smile touched the Corinthian's lips. "I'm a prisoner here."

"You don't seem like a prisoner." Charles left the front door, apparently having given up on trying to force it open, and walked over to stand in front of the Corinthian. "You seem like you're pretty comfortable here. Have you even tried to escape?" he demanded.

The Corinthian looked up at Charles. He didn't stand, he didn't leave the couch, but he appeared entirely unconcerned by Charles looming over him. "I escaped once before. I made it out of the Dreaming. After my Master found me again, he took me apart and then remade me. I'm not the same as I once was. But I'm not entirely different, either." His smile grew a fraction as he added, "If I wasn't held a prisoner here, I would wander the Dreaming at will, free to wreak havoc wherever I go." The smile abruptly faded from his face, and he looked towards Edwin. Tilting his head slightly, he said, "My master is due to come and speak with me. Perhaps he'll let you go free."

"Or maybe he'll hand us straight to his sister," Charles muttered, taking a step closer to Edwin.

Edwin knew Charles' worry. He knew and understood, because it was a worry he shared as well. Unfortunately, they didn't have a choice. "We can't just break free of this place," he said out loud. "Death doesn't seem entirely unreasonable, from what little I've seen of her. Perhaps her brother is someone who can be reasoned with."

"Could we bargain with him?" Niko spoke up. "Is there something we could offer him, in return for letting us go?"

"What would you offer him?" There was the faintest trace of amusement in the Corinthian's voice. "What do you have that you think he could need or want?"

Niko glanced down at her clenched fist and then up again, focusing on Edwin. "Maybe it can be what something represents?" she suggested. "A gift that was given to me, with meaning behind it."

Edwin didn't know what kind of meaning there was behind Tragic Mick's gift to Niko. He didn't even know if the soapstone bear had really been responsible for bringing her to the Dreaming, or if it was something else that had been responsible for saving her spirit. He didn't say anything, though. The bear had meaning to Niko, even if there was nothing magical about it.

Charles was pacing along the floor. Finally, he focused on Edwin and put voice to what had clearly been going through his mind. "What if he forces us to go with her? What if he doesn't give us another choice?" He shook his head. "Pretty sure he won't accept a carving in exchange for our freedom, no matter how much it means to you."

"Maybe he won't," Edwin admitted. "But we don't have another choice. You can't get the door open using brute force. You've already tried."

"Lockpicks." Charles dropped his pack to the ground and began rifling through it. "I know I've got them in here somewhere."

"Why do you have lockpicks?" Niko peered over his shoulder. "Are they magic ones that can open any lock?"

"Not any lock. Just most supernatural ones." Charles pulled out his set of lockpicks and gave Edwin a cocky grin. "Knew they'd come in handy." He all but ran to the door and set to work.

"It's not going to work," the Corinthian said.

Edwin had to agree, since he didn't think the Dreaming played by the same rules as the world of the living, or even the world of the supernatural. Still, Charles needed to feel like he was doing something useful, otherwise he'd end up doing something dangerous or thoughtless. So Edwin didn't say anything to the Corinthian's comment, and he didn't tell Charles to stop trying to pick the lock. Instead, he moved a bit closer to Monty and Niko and asked Monty in a soft voice, "How much do you know about Dream? Is he someone easy to bargain with? Will he be angry with us for coming into his realm?"

"It's been a long time since I've seen him," Monty admitted. "But I don't remember him being unreasonable. We can talk to him. Maybe. If he isn't aware that the Cat King is a prisoner here, he might not be happy about this dimension being used as a prison."

If he isn't aware.... Meaning, of course, that Dream could be aware that Thomas was a prisoner here; could even be helping keep the being a prisoner. But they didn't have another choice but to wait for Dream to appear. Charles wasn't going to be able to unlock the door, no matter how hard he tried.

As if on cue, Charles kicked the door hard. "Damnit."

Edwin looked towards his best friend. "Charles. We need to wait."

"Screw waiting." Charles' face twisted and he stormed over to the couch, standing in front of the Corinthian and glaring at him. "You're going to tell us how to get out of this place. And you're going to tell us how to do it now!" he snapped.

"Charles. You need to be careful," Monty warned. "The Corinthian is highly dangerous. He was a serial killer when he came into the world of the living."

"Shut up," Charles ground out, glaring at Monty, his hands curling into fists. "I don't even trust you're actually willing to help us. You're probably looking for some way of resurrecting your witch. If that's even possible."

This wasn't normal. Charles had always had a temper. He'd always been impatient and impulsive, and a whole lot of other words Edwin could use to describe his best friend. But this wasn't normal behaviour for him.

When Edwin reached out to place a hand on Charles' shoulder, he felt it. A cloying darkness rolling beneath the surface; like a sticky, oily thing that tried to pull him into its orbit.

Edwin ignored the darkness radiating from Charles. Only some of it actually belonged to his best friend; he was fairly sure the rest of it was coming from the Corinthian. They were in his territory...his domain. And now that Edwin had opened himself to what was lurking below the surface, he could feel the tendrils of darkness that permeated the whole house; that had reached for all of them the moment they'd appeared here. Edwin hadn't noticed; hadn't noticed the darkness, because he was so used to dealing with it in himself.

But this wasn't coming from inside him. It was coming from outside. It was coming from the nightmare who sat on the couch, looking calm and at ease...as if he didn't have four strangers in his home.

"Charles." Edwin's voice was soft as he gripped his best friend's shoulder a fraction tighter. "You're angry, but that doesn't belong to you. What you're feeling is coming from him." He gestured towards the Corinthian. "This isn't you."

"Interesting." The Corinthian reached up and removed his dark glasses, revealing that instead of eyes, he had teeth where they should have been. "I assumed you were merely a spirit who refused to go to his rightful place. What are you?"

"Human." At least, he'd been human once. Now, he was a spirit. And he had no idea why he was so interesting to these beings that were about as far from human as one could be. At least the darkness reaching like tendrils from the nightmare had dissipated now...no longer coming from the Corinthian.

Charles blinked a few times, stumbling slightly and then turning to Edwin. "We need to get out of here," he muttered.

"I agree." Now that he knew the Corinthian had been exerting his influence over them, Edwin focused his full attention on Monty and Niko. He reached out and touched each of them in turn, only relaxing slightly when he couldn't feel any tendrils affecting them.

Niko blinked a few times, frowning before she looked at the door. "How?" she asked. "You've already tried to pick the lock and break the door down. What other way is there to get out of here?"

"Summon Dream?" Charles raised his eyebrows, looking at Edwin.

"Summon Dream." It probably wasn't a good idea to summon a being like Dream, who was perhaps the closest thing to a god that they'd ever meet. But the alternative was waiting around here until Dream came to see the Corinthian. And given how fast Charles had already fallen to the nightmare's influence, Edwin didn't think they'd be able to last long here before they were at each other's throats.

"Tell me you have an idea of how to actually summon him," Charles said.

"Maybe." Edwin hadn't thought they'd need to summon Dream. In fact, he'd been hoping they would get through this mission without having to see Dream at all, let alone interact with him. But perhaps that had been too much to hope for. He turned to Monty. "You've interacted with Dream before. What's the best way to summon him without making him angry with us?"

"There's not really any way to avoid that," Monty admitted. "If you have something you can give him as a gift, it might help. But giving one of the Endless a gift doesn't always go as well as it should."

Niko held up her soapstone bear, though she didn't say anything.

"Okay." Edwin held his hand out to Charles. "I need the pack."

"You planned for this, huh?" Charles handed his pack over immediately.

"I try and plan for every possibility. Even those I would rather not have to follow through with." Edwin reached into the pack and quickly brought out the items he'd packed in case they needed to summon Dream of the Endless: a tallow candle, a box of matches, and a tiny vial of sleep dust, collected from people from the living.

"Where did you get all that from?" Charles asked.

"Do you remember that case of the pillow ghost?" Edwin opened the box of matches and removed one, striking it against the box. He then touched the flame that flared to life to the candle wick and immediately, the stench of animal fat filled the room.

Niko wrinkled her nose. "That smells really bad. Do you really need it for summoning Dream?" she asked.

"I don't know for sure if a normal candle will do what we want. And we only had these candles, anyway." Edwin drew a quick circle with chalk on the floor, around the candle, and stood back so that he wouldn't smudge the markings. He then opened the vial of powder and poured a third of its contents onto the flame.

Immediately, the flame turned pure black and soared high. Smoke filled the room and Edwin took a step back. Fire shouldn't harm any of them...but this was part of a spell to summon one of the Endless. And they were in the Dreaming, where the same rules they were used to might change.

When the smoke dissipated, a form was sitting cross-legged in the air above the candle flame. A thin figure with pale skin and black hair, wearing black clothing.

As Edwin watched, the figure opened his eyes and stared right into his.

"I would not recommend summoning and trapping one of the Endless." Dream's voice whispered through the room.

Edwin swallowed and forced himself to stay where he was instead of following his initial instinct, which was to take a step back and appear more submissive...less of a threat. "I apologise." It seemed like he'd been saying that a lot recently, but if anyone needed to be placated, it was the being he'd just summoned. "I merely needed to speak with you. It wasn't my intention to trap you." He moved forward and scuffed his foot against the chalk circle, breaking it.

Dream straightened slowly, stepping down onto the floor. He looked towards the Corinthian, who leaned back comfortably against the couch, and then focused his attention on Edwin. "How did you find your way in here?"

"It wasn't deliberate." Edwin couldn't help but tense, slightly, as Dream stood directly in front of him. The other being was unsettling; more so than the other inhuman beings he'd encountered. But perhaps it was less about Dream himself and more the location that was making his skin crawl. "We have reason to believe the Cat King is being held here in the Dreaming. We're here to rescue him. No other reason."

Dream stared into Edwin's eyes for several long moments before he asked, "Do you believe someone could be held here without my knowledge?"

"No," Edwin answered honestly. "But the Cat King does not belong here, in your realm. His presence here will upset the balance in the world of the living. Even if you could give me an idea of his location...a clue. Something." He couldn't help the pleading note that slipped into his voice. Briefly, his mind turned to the last time he and Thomas had seen each other. He'd never begged for anything since being taken to Hell and realising begging would do nothing to stop the pain and suffering. But for Thomas...he wouldn't hesitate.

"You don't belong here either," Dream said. 

Charles cleared his throat, taking a step forward. "The sooner we find the Cat King, the sooner we'll get out of here and leave you in peace."

Something flashed on Dream's face; annoyance, maybe? It was gone in a second and he was blank and expressionless again. Turning to Charles, he said, "I could send you out of the Dreaming and then you would no longer be in my domain."

Niko came up to stand next to Charles and gave Dream a hesitant smile. "Thank you for giving my spirit shelter here," she said quietly. "I wanted to give you this gift." She held the bear out to him.

Dream looked down at the soapstone carving, and Edwin found himself tensing slightly. The carving looked small and rough; a paltry gift. Would Dream reject it and be offended by what he saw as a measly offering?

Slowly, Dream reached out and closed his fingers around the carving, plucking it from Niko's hand. Turning it over in his hands, looking at it, he said, "This saved your life."

"With all due respect, it didn't save her life," Edwin said. "Her body was sent to her mother after she...." He swallowed, unable to make himself continue speaking. Not only did it hurt to remember Niko dying and being so helpless to prevent it, but he could tell that the memories were affecting her too. It was obvious in the darkness that shadowed her eyes; in the way she hunched slightly over, as if to protect the wound Esther had dealt her, even if it wasn't visible here in the Dreaming.

Dream looked towards Edwin and asked, "Why do you think her soul came here and didn't end up in my sister's care?"

In Death's care. Edwin should have thought of that himself; he'd just been more focused on trying to find Thomas, on trying to navigate the Dreaming. "Her body's still alive?" he whispered faintly.

"Oh shit," Charles whispered, eyes growing wide in panic.

Edwin fought down the bitter taste of panic that threatened to rise and engulf him. They couldn't do anything for Niko right now, but once they'd managed to free Thomas.... "We'll get your body back and figure out how to get your spirit back into it once we're out of the Dreaming," he promised Niko out loud.

"Okay." Niko smiled, but it seemed forced and a bit sad.

Dream's face was still blank...still expressionless...but he placed the carving back into her palm and took a step back from her. "You shouldn't give it away so easily." He looked at Charles and then Monty, his gaze lingering on the latter for a moment or two longer, then turned back to Edwin. "You are free to leave this house."

It was more than Edwin had hoped for. Slowly, he nodded towards Dream. "Thank you." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Charles open his mouth. Catching his friend's gaze, he gave a quick, sharp shake of his head.

Charles closed his mouth again, but he didn't look happy.

Edwin glanced towards the Corinthian, still sitting on the couch like nothing had changed, and then focused on his three friends. "We should leave." He didn't wait for any of them to respond, not wanting to risk Dream changing his mind, and swiftly walked towards the door, pulling it open and stepping out into blackness.

All too quickly, his surroundings grew brighter...until Edwin realised he was standing in the middle of a familiar room: the one he'd been in with Thomas, when he went to visit the Cat King. Lounging in his chair at the far end of the room, the Cat King sat up and grinned, then crooked a finger at Edwin. "It's about time you came to see me. I missed you."

"You're not real," Edwin whispered.

A smile spread across Thomas' face and he sat up a bit straighter. He pulled his clasped hands apart, revealing a black leather collar with a leash attached to it. Catching Edwin's eye again, his smile grew wider. "I have a gift for you. Aren't you going to come and accept it?"

Edwin looked behind him, but he couldn't see the door he'd just come through. All he saw was the mirror he used to travel between his home and Thomas'. There was no sign of Charles, or Monty, or Niko. "Where are they?" he whispered.

"Where are who?"

Edwin turned back, eyes widening a fraction when he realised Thomas was standing right in front of him. He knew he was still in the Dreaming and that this wasn't really the Cat King standing in front of him, not really Thomas standing there, but his body reacted to the close proximity of the older being...as if he really was standing in front of Edwin. Edwin's eyes were drawn to the collar and leash held in the not-Thomas' hands and he swallowed, feeling something move in his chest. What would it feel like to wear a collar for Thomas? To kneel at the older being's feet like he was a pet?

The collar was around his neck. Edwin hadn't seen him move, or felt his hands on his neck. But suddenly, it was there, the leather soft and supple against his skin. The other end of the leash was clasped in Thomas' hand and he gave a gentle tug on it, drawing Edwin down to his knees.

Edwin's clothing was gone, leaving him naked, as he knelt on the ground and looked up at Thomas, as he had done when he'd chosen to kneel at the older being's feet when submitting to punishment along with pleasure.

Thomas reached down with his free hand and ran it through Edwin's hair, tugging gently at the strands. "Good boy," he murmured, just as if Edwin was a pet. His pet.

Edwin closed his eyes, forgetting everything that had built up to this moment; forgetting why he was here. All he could focus on...all he could think about...all he could think about...was his position at the Cat King's feet, and offering everything he could to the older being.

Nothing else mattered.