Chapter Four

"You should not have done that."

Thessaly returned from the door to her seat, and turned to face the man standing in the corner. "Why not? Your family is playing with these mortals, why not show them some guidance."

"All you did was create more confusion." Dream stood up and walked to Thessaly, glaring down at her. "You know better."

"He's a mortal, in love with an Endless. I can sympathize." She snickered, and sat down in her chair, not intimidated by the other man. "Desire's done it again. I thought Death would have taught her a lesson after last time…"

"He has been touched by Desire. Such blessing comes with a cost."

"A love he cannot have?" Thessaly's eyes blazed in anger. "You and your family play with these mortals, wreak havoc on their lives, and claim it's all for the greater good. Do you think this boy would have chosen eternal unrequited love in return for desirability if given the choice?"

"The choice was not his to make."

"Should it not have been his?" She shook his head, "One day, one mortal will not stand for this, and that will be your downfall."

Dream scoffed at the woman's words. "I have had no hand in this boy's life."

"No?" She looked at him disbelivingly. "He dreams of Death."

Dream frowned, "his creation."

"You have the power to stop them. It's torture."

"I cannot interfere."

"Of course you can."

"I will not."

Thessaly stood up and waved at him. "Fine. Did you come here just to tell me to leave the boy alone?"

Dream nodded solemnly. "Leave them all alone. Your interference in these affairs is not welcome."

Thessaly smirked. One of these days, her interference in one of these affairs would bring him down. And then she would rejoice. "Thanks for the warning, Morpheus. Until we meet again…"

"May it be a long time coming, Thessaly."

****************************************************

Nearly a week passed before Nick was able to get Kevin alone, and tell him about his encounter with the strange woman. "She said she would keep an eye on me," he finished, looking to the older man for counsel.

Kevin sat back in his chair and ran a hand through his hair thoughtfully. "Was Thessaly human?"

Nick shrugged. "I have no idea."

"And you said the house was gone when you looked again?"

He nodded slowly. "I know I hadn't imagined that house though."

"No, I imagine you didn't," Kevin mused. At this point, nothing could surprise him, not even a house disappearing the instant a man walked out of it. "I wonder how we could contact her. You think she knows more than she told you?"

"She certainly made it seem like she did." Nick's hand clasped around the locket on his neck. "We could always call him."

Kevin shook his head, as his hand grabbed his own locket, feeling it's reassuring weight around his neck. "No. If you learned anything from that woman, you learned that these lockets are special. We have to save them until we absolutely need them."

"Then how are we going to find them? How am I going to find her?" Nick jumped up with a start at the knock on the door. "Shit, what," he peeked his head out to find his bodyguard pointing to his watch. "Oh. Kev, we're late."

Kevin stood up with a groan and followed Nick out the door, "we'll finish this later."

The two men waited behind their bodyguards in a corner of the hotel lobby for the all-clear, then walked through the open area quickly, their bodies sheltered by the larger men. The moment they were spotted, a swarm of girls appeared as if from out of nowhere, pens and pictures being shoved in their faces for signature.

Kevin and Nick both tried to be cordial, signing something for one girl here, for another there, but they both continued steadily on their path, quickly getting into the waiting car outside and leaving.

Neither of them recognized the woman with the thick glasses, grinning from ear to ear as she held the autograph in her hand.

******************************************

Thessaly watched the men walk away, and looked at Kevin's signature in her hand. The power of a signature, of that little piece of script. If only he knew…

She'd been grossly underprepared for her encounter with Nick the week before, and was still beating herself up for the mistakes she'd made. She'd assumed he was just a simple mortal who had caught Morpheus' eye, and cursed herself for not examining him for more before approaching him. Now she knew better, of course. Her eyes lit up as she saw the girls run towards another man emerging from the elevator banks, and she joined the fray, grinning wickedly when she saw him stop to chat for a bit. "Hi," she giggled like the girls around her, handing the man in sunglasses her picture for him to sign.

"What's your name?" He looked at her over the tips of his sunglasses. She looked strangely familiar to him, for some reason.

"Thessaly." She smiled, and took the picture back. Before AJ could react, she pulled his sunglasses off his face, and stared into his eyes. The eyes were the window to your soul, as they say, and she was always good at reading souls. One look told her which Endless Family member had a hand in AJ's life. "Tell me AJ, do you still have nightmares?"

"What?" He snatched his sunglasses back with a strange look.

"Do you drink because you're trying to lose your sanity, or restore it?" She asked another question, enjoying his confused reaction.

AJ stepped away from her in surprise and turned his attention to another girl, dismissing her words as the babbling he often heard from nervous fans. A lot of times what they said made no sense….this was no different.

Thessaly watched AJ leave the hotel, laughing inwardly at her discovery. She looked at the fans following him, some bursting into tears as he left, amazed that they would idolize one so lost. But then again, they didn't know, did they….he didn't even know. But she saw it in his eyes. There was no doubt, no question in her mind which Endless had touched AJ.

In his eyes, she'd seen the reflection of a little polka-dotted butterfly.

*************************************

"Hello."

Kevin looked around him with a start. He was in the Throne Room of Dream's castle again, seated at the long table as before, with Dream at the head, and Nick across from him. "Hi."

"Oh cool, hey!" Nick reached out his hand, greeting Dream like an old friend.

Dream stared at Nick's hand in confusion, then bowed his head. "It is good to see you both well. It has been some time."

"I met a woman who knew what my locket was." Nick told him, making a face when Kevin scowled. "What? He probably already knows, why shouldn't I tell him."

Kevin frowned. He'd just rather spend the time with Dream talking about things they didn't know, instead of going already what they already did know. "You said her name was Thessaly."

"Yes. I am well aware of the Thessalian."

"She told Nick that your Family has taken an interest in us. Why?" Kevin asked.

Dream chuckled quietly and shook his head. "My Family has an interest in all mortals, our function is to serve them, just as the Thessalian's function is to cause trouble for the Endless."

"So what you've done for us is nothing special?"

"What motive have we for otherwise?"

Nick protested, "But, she said…"

Dream raised his hand, "Enough. I will hear no more of the Thessalian's lies." He turned his gaze to Kevin. "You signed a pact with her. You must retrieve it."

"I did what?" Kevin's eyes widened, and he stared at the man in surprise.

"She tricked you, as is her nature. Now she has your signature. You must get it back."

"But…how?"

"She also has the mark of another one of your group. Alexander."

"She didn't seem like she wanted to hurt us…" Nick argued. "She was explaining stuff to me."

"She was using you to get to me." Dream replied evenly. "It is sport, to her."

"Tell us what we want to know, then, and we won't need to ask her." Kevin challenged. "Why is she after AJ? He's never met you guys."

"I will tell you some of what you ask, but first, hear me this. Thessalian has a weakness, in that her quest for knowledge is total and absolute. She is seeking information. If you can figure what knowledge it is she seeks, you can use that to get back that pact."

"How did she get it, though?" Nick asked. "I would have recognized her in a heartbeat."

"You may not have seen her, or she may have been in another form."

"Then how do we stop her from getting our signature again? We can't not sign autographs." Kevin looked at Dream in exasperation. "We're public figures, hiding out isn't an option."

"As I said, when you learn what information it is she seeks, you will know her weakness."

"If she's trying to get to you, wouldn't it then be information about you? What could we possibly know about you she doesn't?" Kevin shook his head. "No way, this doesn't stack up."

"She is most likely drawn to your talent. One such as her is surrounded by ugly things, such beauty would be irresistible to one as starved for life as she."

"Where's your sister?" Nick interrupted, looking around the castle.

"She is elsewhere."

Nick stood up and started wandering the room, opening doors and peeking in. "Can I go see her?"

"No."

"Sit down, Nick," Kevin hissed. Why did Nick have to choose this moment to start acting like a hyperactive kid again?

"No." Nick grinned, and continued his explorations.

"Let him go," Dream told Kevin. "We will continue our discussion while he searches for what he will not find."

"Thessaly told Nick that Desire had touched him, that it was the reason for our group's success."

"As I said, she lies."

"About what, though?" Kevin met Dream's gaze evenly. He had to admit, the idea that Desire had something to do with the way Nick looked was almost believable, every day older the man got, the better looking he got. And he had been stunning to begin with.

Dream pursed his lips and stared back at Kevin. "Your talent is your own."

"What did Desire do to Nick?" Kevin's eyes narrowed to slits, and he tried to look intimidatingly at the dark man.

"Our function is to serve mortals." Dream said calmly. "Any involvement Desire had in Nick's life was for that purpose."

"Thessaly mentioned a purpose…what is it?"

"Her purpose?"

"Yours."

Dream regarded Kevin evenly. "To maintain order in my Realm."

"Then why are we here?"

"You needed to be told about your signature."

"Why is Nick here, then?"

"He needed to be warned about the Thessalian."

Kevin frowned. "Can I sing for you again? In return for more information."

"Another time, perhaps." Dream waved his hand, and Nick reappeared at the table. "Did you enjoy your journey, young Nickolas?"

"I'm not young," Nick glared at the man, then turned to Kevin. "It was pretty neat though Kev, you wouldn't believe some of the things just walking around here."

"Good, Nick," Kevin muttered, still staring at Dream. "Neither myself or Nick is a child anymore, and many years have gone by since we first met you. You have not explained yourself any better at this meeting than you did our first few. I have a hard time believing you would have treated Will Shakespeare so poorly."

Nick's eyes widened as he heard Kevin's words. "Dude, are you sure you wanna make him mad?" he whispered.

The corner of Dream's lip curled up in a wicked smile. "So you do believe yourself to be his equal."

"Did I not make that clear the first time you asked?" Kevin shot back.

Dream shook his head. "No. You did not."

"Our forms of artistic expression are different, but we have contributed as much as he did." Kevin replied. "We sing, we write music, Nick here even paints and writes poetry. As you said, we will be remembered for more than our wealth."

Dream nodded approvingly. "You have taken my advice to heart."

"We know good advice when we hear it."

"What do you wish to know?" He looked at Kevin.

"Is there a heaven?"

"Yes."

"Hell?" Nick asked.

"Yes."

"Devil?"

Dream shrugged. "The last time Lucifer was seen, he was playing piano in a nightclub in Las Vegas."

Nick's mouth hung open as he stared, his next question caught in his throat. "Wha?"

Dream turned and looked at Nick. "Yes?"

Nick's brow furrowed and he shook his head, he must have heard the man wrong. "Um, my question was about you guys."

"Us guys?"

"The Endless. Can you, like, fall in love with mortals? Have kids and stuff?"

Dream's skin paled, if that was even possible, appearing translucent. "The consequences are great."

Nick's eyes widened. "But it HAS happened."

"You do not know of what you ask." Dream shook his head. "Such things are events of which creatures like the Thessalian prey on."

"How so?" Kevin asked.

"They expose us to weakness." Dream said quietly. "They are better left unspoken, and you two should return to your world."

"We're not done asking questions," Kevin protested.

"I have nothing more to tell you," Dream replied. "You each still have the token I bestowed upon you?"

"Never take it off." Nick told him.

"Good. Use it well." He bowed his head in goodbye and waved. "Until we meet again, farewell."

*************************************