Chapter 2: Imperfect Hosts
Lucienne: I kept a journal for a while… A chronicle of everything that happened in your absence… But slowly, the words began to fade… Sometime after you left, all the books in the library became bound volumes of blank paper. The next day, the whole library was gone… I never found it again.
Dream: And yet you remained while others fled, the royal librarian of an abandoned kingdom.
Lucienne: I never felt abandoned… I knew you would return.
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Lucienne: You need rest, my Lord... And food and perhaps a bit more rest, and then you'll be back at full strength.
Dream: No… Not without my tools.
Lucienne: Your tools?
Dream: My sand, my helm, my ruby.
Lucienne: Why? What happened to them?
Dream: They were taken from me… By my captors… And then taken from them. I know not where… Nor what I am without them.
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Ethel Cripps: Assalamu Alaykum, darling. How are you? Well, you'll never guess what I am looking at. It is a Caravaggio. And it can be your Caravaggio for 22 million… Well, of course you can think about it, but not for too long.
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Ethel Cripps: Giovanni, it's Josiane. I hate to bother you at work, but I've just acquired another of the Vasari volumes… Yes, very nice.
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Ethel Cripps: Dites au directeur que Madame Daudet l’a appelé… Oui, je patiente… Bernard, I found it. And it's in exceptional condition. The Honjo Masamune.
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Ethel Cripps: Hello? Hello?
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Corinthian: Quite the place you got here, Ethel.
Ethel Cripps: Who are you? How did you get in?
Corinthian: Getting in was the easy part. The hard part was finding you. You've done a very good job of convincing people Ethel Cripps doesn't exist.
Ethel Cripps: Apparently not good enough.
Corinthian: Well, I'm not exactly "people".
Ethel Cripps: What are you then?
Corinthian: Do you remember the being Roderick Burgess kept caged in his basement? Hmm? King of Dreams?
Ethel Cripps: You're one of his?
Corinthian: I'm my own man now. With your help, I intend to stay that way.
Ethel Cripps: Why do you need my help?
Corinthian: Because he's out of his cage and he's coming for us. You and me.
Ethel Cripps: Why me? I never did anything to him.
Corinthian: Oh, you did though, Ethel… You stole from him.
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Dream: There is only one sure way for me to find my tools… I must summon the Three-In-One.
Lucienne: Surely it hasn't come to that.
Dream: The Fates see past, present and future, and they know all.
Lucienne: Yes, but they speak in riddles. They never tell you what you want to know, only things you should never know… Perhaps just this once you could ask one of your siblings for help. Destiny would certainly know where your tools are, or Desire...
Dream: My siblings have their own realms to attend to, I have mine. We do not interfere in each other's affairs.
Lucienne: You may not, but they've certainly been known to. Perhaps just this once you could tell them what happened to you.
Dream: I am quite sure they know what happened to me… And not one of them came to my aid.
Lucienne: The Fates aren't cheap, you know. They cost a bloody fortune.
Dream: And at present, I cannot muster power enough to summon them, let alone pay that cost. Unless... Is there anything of mine that remains in The Dreaming? Something that I created?
Lucienne: You created all of this.
Dream: No, something that remains intact. That might retain some fragment of my power within it. Something I can absorb.
Lucienne: There is one thing.
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Abel: Gregory, come down from there right now. You're gonna slip and hurt yourself! That's it… There he is… Are you sure? Good boy, Gregory. Good gargoyle… Cain, come quick.
Cain: Blasted, bulbous, bilge-bubbling bollocks.
Abel: Cain.
Cain: What you want, powder-brain? Can you not see I'm busy?
Abel: We have visitors.
Cain: What? Where?
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Dream: Cain. Abel.
Cain: Lord Morpheus.
Abel: You've come back.
Cain: At last.
Abel: I told you he'd return.
Cain: I never doubted it. Come in, my Lord. And you, Lucienne. To the House of Mystery.
Abel: Or to the House of Secrets. I have tea.
Cain: I have tea and biscuits.
Lucienne: Gentlemen, I'm afraid this is not a social call.
Cain: What's happened?
Abel: Is something wrong?
Cain: What is it?
Dream: For the sake of The Dreaming, I must take back a gift I gave you long ago.
Abel: Yes, my Lord.
Cain: What's ours is yours.
Abel: Anything at all.
Cain: Just ask it.
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Abel: Surely there's another way.
Dream: I wish there were. But The Dreaming must be restored.
Cain: You say that as if we're the ones that destroyed it. As if we disappeared for over a century.
Lucienne: Cain.
Dream: You forget yourself, Cain.
Cain: No, my Lord, you forgot us. Do you have any idea what we've already lost waiting for you to come back after all these years?
Dream: What you have lost?
Cain: The answer is no.
Dream: I have not come here to ask you… I've come to ask Gregory… I need your help.
Cain: Gregory, stop. No. Take me instead. Or Abel.
Abel: Yeah, take me, Lord Morpheus, please.
Dream: I cannot. I can only reabsorb that which I have created, and Gregory began as a Nightmare.
Cain: Yes, but he's one of us now. It's not fair.
Dream: No... It's not.
Abel: You're a very good boy.
Cain: You don't have to do this, you know… It's not fair.
Dream: You have served this kingdom with great honour… You will be missed… Come, Lucienne… We have work to do.
Abel: Good luck, my Lord.
Cain: Simpering suck-up.
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Corinthian: I see you've turned your talent for theft into a successful career.
Ethel Cripps: I don't steal them. I broker them.
Corinthian: Well, you ever keep anything for yourself?
Ethel Cripps: No.
Corinthian: Not even Dream's tools? Well, he's gonna want them.
Ethel Cripps: And I'm guessing that you do too.
Corinthian: The tools, they won't work for me. They're made of the same stuff I am.
Ethel Cripps: So... Why are you here?
Corinthian: To see if we can help each other. I could show you how to use them.
Ethel Cripps: Use them to do what?
Corinthian: Make him go away. For good this time.
Ethel Cripps: You want me to kill the King of Dreams?
Corinthian: Right. You can do it. I know you can. You just have to listen and trust me.
Ethel Cripps: Then I'm afraid we're both dead, because I don't have them.
Corinthian: Yeah, well, that is too bad. I wonder if your son knows where they are… How is John doing these days? What do you think Dream will do to the son of Roderick Burgess? So I'll ask you one more time for your son's sake. Where are the tools, Ethel?
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Lucienne: Do you think you're quite ready for this, Your Majesty? It has been some time since you've navigated these waters.
Dream: Do you think I've forgotten how?
Lucienne: No, but...
Dream: I cannot ask The Fates for help without giving them something in return. There is nothing left to give from The Dreaming. I have to gather my offerings from the dreams of others.
Lucienne: I understand. It's just that, in your absence, these waters have become darker, treacherous, unsafe.
Dream: These waters are as much a part of me as I am of them… Gregory's sacrifice will not be in vain.
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Dream: You were right, Lucienne. The Dreams and Nightmares no longer seem to recognize their master. I will remind them and take from them what I require… Since one meets The Fates at a crossroads, I find one in the dreams of a Cambodian farmer… The hanged man represents surrender and sacrifice for the greater good. The gallows come from a young Japanese cinephile, her head full of British horror films.
Soldier: Release!
Dream: The currents are stronger and faster than I remember. I have to focus. Open my eyes and see what The Fates require. A serpent... A symbol of transformation, of life, death and rebirth. I have gathered my offerings. Now, it is up to The Fates.
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Dream: I, Lord Morpheus, Dream of The Endless, summon The Fates... The Three-Who-Are-One, the One-Who-Is-Three… The Hecate.
Fate Maiden: Morpheus, it's been a while.
Fate Mother: You look thin, love. Are you eating? Are you hungry?
Fate Crone: He is, but not for food. Look at him. He wants something.
Dream: You've found me out… I do want something… I need your help.
Fate Crone: Help? Oh, listen to him. Like you helped us against Circe?
Fate Mother: Circe is old business, sister-self.
Fate Maiden: And he did bring nice stuff.
Fate Mother: You may ask us three questions.
Fate Maiden: And get one answer from each of us.
Dream: Thank you, ladies. My first question. I had a leather pouch filled with sand. Where is it?
Fate Maiden: It was sold in London. Last purchased by a magic user called... Johanna Constantine.
Dream: Constantine... I knew a Constantine, but that was 300 years ago… You said "last purchased." Does she still have the sand?
Fate Maiden: Dream, you know better than that. You get one question, one answer.
Dream: My apologies. My second question.
Fate Mother: Go on, dear.
Dream: My helm. What happened to it?
Fate Mother: It was traded away to a demon, for the Amulet of Protection.
Dream: To which demon was it traded?
Fate Mother: One question, one answer, love.
Dream: Last question… My ruby, who holds it now?
Fate Crone: Your gem was passed from a mother to a son.
Dream: Where are they now?
Fates: You have asked your questions!
Lucienne: My Lord, you didn't give it to The Fates.
Dream: Because it was not meant for them.
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Ethel Cripps: You don't listen, do you? Attractive men seldom do. I suppose they don't have to.
Corinthian: Ethel, are you flirting with me?
Ethel Cripps: You asked me where the tools are, I told you I don't have them.
Corinthian: I find that difficult to believe, given your extraordinary success.
Ethel Cripps: Do you think that the only way a woman can be successful is by using magic? Supernatural and sexist. You really are a Nightmare, aren't you?
Corinthian: Oh, come on, you can't deny the tools have helped you. They've certainly kept you from looking your age.
Ethel Cripps: Now who's flirting? When I left Roderick, I traded the sand and the helm for my life in America.
Corinthian: And the ruby?
Ethel Cripps: The ruby... As you know, it does have the power to make dreams come true, but it also makes nightmares come true… My son, John, took the ruby from me and then the ruby took John.
Corinthian: Hmm. Well, where is it now?
Ethel Cripps: I don't know. Don't want to know.
Corinthian: You're lying, Ethel… You don't have to lie… In fact... You don't have to say a word. Your eyes will tell me everything, every thought, every feeling.
Ethel Cripps: You will regret this. I promise you.
Corinthian: What makes you think that?
Ethel Cripps: I don't need Dream's tools… I have my own.
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Abel: Brother… Thanks for burying me in such a shallow grave this time. And... For this.
Cain: Who gave you an egg?
Abel: You did.
Cain: I didn't give you an egg. Why would I give you an egg?
Abel: As an apology for murdering me.
Cain: When have I ever apologized for murdering you?
Abel: Cain, look! It's a baby gargoyle.
Cain: If he thinks leaving this creature on my doorstep makes up for Gregory...
Abel: Do you think he came from Lord Morpheus?
Cain: Who else, lackwit? He's trying to buy us off with a baby gargoyle.
Abel: Or he feels just as bad about losing Gregory as we do.
Cain: He's rather cute, isn't he?
Abel: I think I'll call him... Irving.
Cain: Irving? You can't name a gargoyle "Irving," you gully-guts.
Abel: I like Irving.
Cain: Gargoyle names... Always begin with a G. "Gormogon, Gladstone, Ganymede..."
Abel: All right, then. Girving.
Cain: Girving?
Abel: It starts with a G. It doesn't have to be Girving. It could be Goldie, Goldie's...
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Jackie: Miss Dee. Hi. I'm Jackie. I'll be escorting you inside today. If you could just put this on for me?
Ethel Cripps: Thank you.
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Jackie: Hey, Sam.
Sam: Hey, Jackie.
Jackie: I'll leave you in Sam's capable hands.
Ethel Cripps: Thank you, Jackie.
Sam: Welcome back, Miss Dee.
Ethel Cripps: Thank you, Sam.
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Ethel Cripps: Hello, Johnny.
John Dee: Hello, Mum.
Ethel Cripps: How are you, Johnny? Are you well?
John Dee: Same as ever. Slightly bored. Highly medicated… The days are all the same in prison.
Ethel Cripps: Hospital, John, not prison.
John Dee: If it pleases you to think so.
Ethel Cripps: What did the doctors say? How's your therapy going?
John Dee: Is that your way of asking me if I've forgiven you yet?
Ethel Cripps: You're fine, aren't you, darling? You've come a long way. I'm proud of you.
John Dee: Are you trying to convince me or yourself?
Ethel Cripps: I'm trying to have a conversation with my son… We do need to talk.
John Dee: That rarely goes well for either of us. Perhaps I should ask the guard to come in and referee.
Ethel Cripps: We need to talk about... The ruby.
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Abel: Hello, Irving. I mean, Goldie. I'll call you Goldie for Cain's sake, but I think of you as Irving, really. In my heart… He can't help it. It's not his fault. It's who he is. It's who we are. The first murderer, the first victim. This is our story… Do you even know what a story is? Should I tell you one? It's a secret story. It's a story about two brothers who loved each other very, very much. And they were very nice to each other. Nice and kind. And... And brotherly, you know? And the elder brother never harmed the younger brother ever… And they didn't live in different houses. They lived together in the same house… And they'd be... Happy… I don't mind getting murdered, honestly. If that's what makes Cain happy, then... Hey, what are brothers for, eh, little brother? Come on, then… Shall we say good morning to Cain? Oh. I'll be fine. He never normally murders me before lunch. He's not much of a morning person. Like me. Or you, apparently.
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Lucienne: May I ask where you're off to, sire?
Dream: London.
Lucienne: Did you not just spend the last 100 years there? Sorry. Why London?
Dream: The sand was sold there… When I have it back, I will seek out my helm… In Hell.
Lucienne: Oh, dear… Then will you grant me one favour before you go? Take a raven with you.
Dream: No more ravens.
Lucienne: If not for you, then for me. A raven can go back and forth between realms. Keep me informed...
Dream: I do not need a minder… I am Dream of The Endless.
Lucienne: Yes, and Dream of The Endless always has a raven.
Dream: Jessamy was the last… If this Constantine is anything like her ancestor, she will serve me well enough… She is only human.
Lucienne: As was Roderick Burgess… What could possibly go wrong?
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Lucienne: Oh, good. You've returned. And just in time too. His Lordship will be pleased.
Corinthian: Where is Dream?
Lucienne: He's away. Again. For the moment.
Corinthian: He's out there looking for his tools, isn't he?
Lucienne: He will be coming back.
Corinthian: Well, then, I'd better get a move on.
Lucienne: Where are you going?
Corinthian: Back to the waking world. To freedom. You should try it sometime.
Lucienne: Dreams and Nightmares do not belong in the waking world.
Corinthian: Oh, turns out I fit right in.
Lucienne: Have you no loyalty to your creator?
Corinthian: Why should I? He has no loyalty to us.
Lucienne: You misunderstand him, Corinthian.
Corinthian: Oh, no, I see him for what he is. He doesn't give a fuck about you or me. He only cares about himself. His kingdom… Well, he can have it. 'Cause I am leaving and I am never coming back.
Lucienne: He will come after you.
Corinthian: Well, then, if he does, he won't be coming back either… You can't change him… You can't save him either.
