Log:Death of the Dreamer

2020/09/14 Dialydd Radical Grimm 1

The front door to the shop has a 'CLOSED' sign on it still. The window display in covered as well. If one knocks, after a 30 second or so wait, one hears a recorded voice says through the door: The business is presently closed. If you have mail or a message, please put it through the slot. If not and in all cases, thank you for stopping by. The recorded voice is female and german.

Grimm blinks as they get a voice message. She looks to Radical in concern. "I would've thought Nona would answer at least," she says. She's had a chance to recover from the incident with Victor, having spent the downtime with someone special, or just reading on her own. She uses her shadow sight to scan the interior of the shop as she calls out, "Nona? It's Gabrielle and Radical."

Radical thinks about it. "I saw Dialydd in a dream not too long ago. He might have passed already."

Grimm looks to Radical and pales, shock written across her face. "You...wait, what? No, that can't be...what happened?"

Nona can be seen by Grimm on the other side of the door. Sera'a is holding Dee's PDA and holding it up towards the interior of the door. As Grimm calls out, the 'recorded' voice says, "Ah, I see. I will open the door."

The pentapus scuttles forward, up the door, and then throws the latches then throws it weight back to cause the door to swing open. "Come in. Close and lock door please. Master Dialydd is still with us. But, he fades."

Radical nods and steps inside, holding the door for Grimm...and closing and locking it behind them after they're both inside.

Grimm steps in and smiles weakly in gratitude for Connor's manners. She looks to Nona worriedly. "Can we see him? Is there anything we can do?"

"Of course you can see him, sera Grimm. And you are well ser Radical. The young master would certainly not mind," says the artificial voice through the PDA. You may, or may not, note that one of Nona's tentacle seems to have connected to the power/input port on the PDA.

No glyphs flash across sera'a's skin as it speaks.

The pentapus scuttle across the floor in front of you all if you decide to cross to the door to the back room.

Radical nods quietly and follows toward the back room. "Thank you."

Grimm takes a breath and follows behind.

The back room is much as it has always been. The major change is the iridescent yet translucent 'cocoon' that encases Dee's body. It lays on his overlarge futon. Dee's wears little if any clothing in the 'cocoon'. He seems deeply asleep, his chest rising only slowly. His now completely silver-white hair lies loose around his face, his eyes closed, light age wrinkles covering all his exposed skin.

"Master Dialydd fails. His systems are shutting down. The young master breathes only 8 times per minute now and his pulse is sluggish," murmurs Nona through the PDA. "It is good you come now. He will likely not last the night."

Dialydd is a beautiful winter now rather than a glorious spring. His supernal attractiveness is changed, not diminished.

Radical takes a deep breath and adds as an explanation of his prior comment. "I shared a dream with Dialydd not too long ago. He was speaking with someone else when I came across him."

Grimm is surprised by the sight, covering her mouth. Her brows knit up in grief. "I...I hoped with Victor gone, maybe his stolen life force would return..." she utters to Nona. She looks to Radical curiously. "He was? That's...interesting. I dreamt of Dialydd before, when I was caught in one of my nightmares," she looks to the cocoon again. "He had some control over dreams. I've been able to enter dream and mindscapes before, but I got the impression it was more familiar to him."

"The young master is of sleep and dreams. His Gifts are strong with such powers since birth. He walks in dreams," Nona concedes.

Grimm looks up and away, looking bizarrely confused. "Something's...watching this place. Something far and away in deep space. It feels like dreaming...or death." She shivers at the sensation. She looks back at the cocoon. "And that...doesn't feel right. It's cosmic, but it's touched somehow by a universe that no longer exists."

Radical furrows his brow. Grimm's statement is enough to get him to see what he can see for himself...looking across dimensions and with his magic sight.

The pentapus looks up at the ceiling at Grimm's words then back to observing Dee while, with it's other three eyes, watching the two of you. "Yes. He is watched now." She then falls silent.

"You know about that?" Grimm asks Nona. "I think you may know more than we do on this..."

Grimm looks up and away, looking bizarrely confused. "Something's...watching this place. Something far and away in deep space. It feels like dreaming...or death." She shivers at the sensation. She looks back at the cocoon. "And that...doesn't feel right. It's cosmic, but it's touched somehow by a universe that no longer exists."

Radical furrows his brow. Grimm's statement is enough to get him to see what he can see for himself...looking across dimensions and with his magic sight.

The pentapus looks up at the ceiling at Grimm's words then back to observing Dee while, with it's other three eyes, watching the two of you. "Yes. He is watched now." She then falls silent.

"You know about that?" Grimm asks Nona. "I think you may know more than we do on this..."

Radical tilts his head, "Where is the cocoon from, exactly?"

"It was made by the Master for the young master," states Nona as she continues to watch. Hearing a gruff female German voice from the little pentapus is rather odd.

Grimm looks to Radical, then to the Pentapus. "The Master...?"

Radical shrugs, indicating to Grimm that he has no idea who that might be.

"The one who made me more than my creators intended," murmurs Nona as it waves a few tentacles. "I was designed by the Somon as a gift for the young master. A companion and teacher for a young child. A very advanced child care expert system and edutainment device but not even an a low level artificial intelligence." A glyph flashes across her skin. "The Master made me more than I was intended to be. To serve as companion and protector for the young master. Sadly, I have failed. The young master dies."

...flashes across sera'a's skin...

Grimm takes a breath and looks between Nona and Dialydd's cocoon. "I'll tell you what he told me when I felt I failed him. It was his choice to make to face that evil. He wouldn't want you blaming yourself for that," she says, though she doesn't sound like she believes that yet. The guilt she carries is still noticeable in her eyes.

Radical nods to Grimm, "We did what we could for him. From what I saw...he may get the chance to come back. A choice."

The pentapus waces another tentacle assera'a speaks over Radical. "I have aided in raising the young master. He is my charge even as he leaves childhood. If the Master choo..." Nona turns it attention fully to Radical. "A choice? What choice?"

Grimm looks to Radical as well. "From the dream?"

Radical rubs his temple. "I remember seeing his life path. His thread. And where it led...was to his...mother? He returned to her. And there were multiple threads that led from it. His potential choices from that point. One of them returned him to life, if I remember correctly."

A whisper, not unlike a daydream, floats on the air. "Not to life. To Apoetheosis," says a deep male voice.

Radical looks around for where the voice came from. "I think that was one of the other threads, actually. One of the other options."

Grimm startles and looks around. "Is that...the voice you heard when you were checking on his thread?" she asks Radical uneasily.

Another, female voice, rich and melodic even as a whispter,, and familiar to Radical murmurs, "The child can return to life. But it would be a new life. Unburdened by the cares of his present one. A rebirth. Or he can choose to stay in my Garden. Or to pass through the Gates of Death to Beyond."

The 'spell' being used to make their voices heard is connected to the clairvoyance that come from deep space and far away.

Radical points upward and says to Grimm, "That female voice was the one I heard when I looked along his thread. I met her in person. Well, more or less in person. She's one of only two beings to ever 'see' me when I looked into the future."

Grimm nods slowly, recalling how that unsettled Radical. She looks up where he pointed. "Is there anything we can do to help him?"

The female voice responds, "My brother's son faces the door all mortals face. And he, like all, must pass through it alone. Then, he will face a Choice unlike near all mortals." Her tone is calm, comforting, pensive.

The male voice murmurs, "Dialydd can hear you even now. He rests on the border of Sleep and Death. Tell him what you would have him do. We are not so allowed."

Radical lowers his head, "I...am not sure what to say. Other than...Dialydd, you should follow whatever path you feel you need to. I don't want to try to convince you to make a particular choice. If you have something you feel you need to still finish on Earth, then...choose that."

Grimm is much less diplomatic. "Forget that, come back! You hardly got a chance to experience it. There's so much out there to still see and do," she implores emotionally, much the opposite of Radical. She's not poised at all as she makes her plea.

Nona looks up, seems to bow, then murmurs in her stolen voice, "Wake, Night's Laugther, come back to us all! Your sisters, brothers, mothers and father, and I, would miss you should you go. Come back and finish this life before you embark on another!"

"He has heard and now, he must come to my Garden, to face his Choice," murmurs the female voice.

The iridescent cocoon glows a silver-white that is too bright to look at for a long moment. Then as the light fades, you Dee's voice as if from a far distance. "OH, that didn't hurt at all..." he exclaims in a cheerfully surprised tone.

The cocoon is now a solid mass of silvery-white light, neither fading nor brigthening, but dimly glowing.

The male voice murmurs, "As he faces a Choice, his body now lies...how to explain...my son's body lies between ticks of the clock. His decision will decide the rest." After a moment, the voice adds, "Thank you for caring for my child. I shall remember."

And then the magicks that are the clairvoyance and the speaking fade.

Grimm flinches away from the light. The cosmic energy, the opposite of her powers, is discomforting and just on the brink of people painful. She gasps softly at Dialydd's voice, then forces herself to look back towards the light, squinting against it until it dulls and leaves sunspots in her vision.

Radical takes a deep breath and says, "I guess...we wait a little bit now?"

Grimm nods and takes a few steps back, heart heavy. "I guess...?" she says, emotionally shaken. She rubs her face. So many elder gods, cosmic entities, and people being changed. Her world got so much bigger in a short amount of time.

"Shall I make tea for you," says Nona in a brisk manner, heading towards the kitchenette without eaiting for an answer.

Radical calls after Nona, "Thank you."

Time passes for you all even if Dialydd supposedly lies between 'tick and tock.' None brings you all tea several times as well as various pastries. Unless sera'a is directly asked questions, Nona remains silent, watching the now glowing silvery-white cocoon motionlessly.

Grimm reaches for her cup of tea, feeling gutted that she can't help. She can't help but take the most sugary pastry on the platter. She needs major comfort food.

Radical is able to watch quietly thought a couple of cups of tea. After that, he does end up shifting to remaining there, but doing some reading on his PDA.

Grimm takes a breath and is about to ask something. She finds herself not ready to ask Nona about Jerin funeral customs if Dialydd goes beyond, so she lets out the breath and stuffs her mouth with another bite of pastry, unsure of how to deal with this.

Just after 2AM, Nona reaches out and touches the cocoon. Sera'a states through Dee's PDA in its German accented English, "The young master's vital signs are erratic. His heart rate is slowing and breathing is shallow."

"Neural activity is nearly unmeasurable. Endocrine system is...odd."

Radical puts his PDA away. He nods slowly. "Hmm." He finds himself starting to need some sleep, but he manages to keep awake for the time being.

Grimm sits up straigther and more alert at that. "What does that mean...?" She's used to late nights, but usually she's dancing at the clubs or fighting monsters when she's up this late.

All light sources in the room dim for a moment, brigthen suddently, then go out. The only light in the room is now from the cocoon, its silvery white light suddenly harsh.

A familiar door, well familiar to those who have ever frequented the Inn Between Worlds suddenly appears next to the cocoon and opens. Out of it darkness step the Sisters who run the Inn. They carry...strands...of Order, Chaos, Nature, and Artifice in their hands. You both realzie that they are not actually strands of energy but that is how your minds interpret them. The triplets step up to the cocoon and let the 'strands' falls into it. The Sisters clothing constantly changes with each step they take, from nothing to the most fantastic of ourfits.

Nona scuttles back for a moment at the Sisters appearance then moves back to beside the cocoon as they drop the strands into it.

Radical blinks...and reactivates his magic and dimensional sight as soon as they appear, to make sure he understand as much as possible about what is happening.

"Oh shi--" Grimm starts as the door appears, standing up as her tea cup goes clattering, backing up a few steps. She's only ever encountered one of the Sisters (she thinks), and knows enough not to mess with them. She's never seen them in this context, though.

In a tripartite voice that is both one and separate, the Sisters murmur, "From out of the lost Realities, a new singer arises. A new refrain to aid against the Unmaker of All. Rejoice and fear! The Song continues!"

The Sisters step back through the darkened Door as the cocoon explodes in a burst of heatless silvery flame traced through with the all the strands and then instantly is sucked into a Jerin shaped form.

Radical flinches as the sudden burst of light, turning away briefly to shield his eyes...despite not really needing to with his goggles.

Grimm hisses instinctively, expecting the raw cosmic power to sting or burn. Like a vampire turning from the sun, she turns away and raises her leather jacket by the lapel to shield herself. No burning comes, but there is that same discomfort that Dialydd's bracer gave her.

In the aftermath of the 'explosion', Dialydd stands blinking as if neewly awakened where the cocoon was. He is the same, but different. (New desc).

His eyes glow with a silvery-white light for a moment then they 'fade' into his brilliant violet eyes.

Dialydd looks around then down at himself. "Cha," he murmurs in his normal deep rich bass tones, "Have I missed much while I was gone?"

Radical chuckles and relaxes a little bit. "I suppose it depends. What's the last thing you remember?" He finds himself wondering if Dialydd remembers them or not. This will be a test of sorts.

Grimm lowers her jacket and blinks a few times as she studies the changed Dialydd. As her vision clears, her jaw drops at the alien appearance that is strangely attractive and sexy. Not to mention shirtless and in a kilt. "You look like you did in my dreams," she says, sounding very distracted as her eyes take in his looks.

"I remember being very tired. I think I dropped my tea cup," murmurs Dialydd after a moment. "And then, cha, I was in Eissa's Garden. I spoke with, cha, Connor and Phantom." He pauses.

"Then, I drifted. Jon'no came for me, so I knew I was dead. But, cha, I was not. I walked with the Lords and learned...cha, I learned I should never have been born save for the love between my mother, Bres, and my father-in-spirit, Reann, Lord of Night and Dreams."

His gaze turns to Grimm and he ducks his head. "Cha, yes, your dreams were also mine, sera Grimm. Part of me, cha, was always there even when I was not."

"We are one now, the dreamer and I."

Grimm keeps quiet at the mention of Connor, trying hard not to look towards Radical at the mention of his name. She's promised herself to keep his secret. "The dreamer? So that was...something else in a way?" she tries to understand.

Radical nods to Grimm, "I...shared his dream, apparently. Or wandered into it? He knows who I am.

"Cha, yes, part of me, the part most like my father Reann, lived always in Dreams, sera Grimm," murmurs Dialydd.

His stomach then growls loudly. With a darkening the skin on his face, neck and chest, Dialydd murmurs, "Cha, I apologize but I am starving."