Old Hat

Jekyll1886: Dr. Weir wore an
emerald-green waistcoat this day. He was seated in a chair, waiting to meet
with Dr. Lanyon. He had been there for quite some time now. Anticipation had
given way to impatience, which in turn had been succeeded by boredom,
acceptance, and, finally, a touch of sleepiness. He slouched back in the chair,
his head resting against the wall.
The scene before him shifted. A lavish parlor, a locked door, and a supremely
unpleasant little man. He looked as if he had the world by the tail and thought
it owed him a living, to boot. He was kicking a dark but lively bundle of cloth
on the floor, cursing all the while. Whatever was under the fabric eventually
ceased moaning and moving. The man took a jeweled dagger from elsewhere in the
room and unsheathed it. He raised it above his head, ready to plunge the blade
into the dark mass to make sure the deed was done.
Suddenly, the pile of cloth rose up to reveal an equally small individual,
battered but irate; he flung his cloak in the first man's face to obscure his
vision, then tackled him against a wall and lay hold of his throat.
Lewis started awake.
"Oh, for pity's sake, not this again..." he sighed,
rolling his eyes. "Must've fallen asleep." Yet the scene continued to
play out before him.
A third man lay gagged and bound in the corner of the room, helplessly watching
events unfold. He bore a familial resemblance to Weir, but was perhaps a decade
or so older, his hair a lighter shade of brown, his build more substantial. His
eyes were a beautiful kelly green. Weir's father or uncle, perhaps.
The second man incapacitated the first, then took his time with him, committing
all manner of violence and indecencies upon him. Finally, he laid hold of the
very knife that'd been intended for him, and put it to the first man's throat.
The third man had finally managed to chew through his gag. He locked eyes with
the second.
"You don't need to do this!" he cried. "I know he's a cad and a
fraud and a liar," he acknowledged of the first man, the initial
assailant, "but he doesn't deserve this!"
"You and I both know that's not true," the second man rebuffed him,
boring into him with eyes so dark they seemed to swallow light itself.
"He's had this coming for a long, long time."
Lewis yawned.
"I must be well and fast asleep," he observed.
Miss-Dreamerkat:  Dreamer
opened the trap door and poked her head in. "Forgive my interruption but
have you seen a large brown cat?" She asked nervously.
Jekyll1886:  "Can't
say that I have, no, sorry." Her appearance surprised him. "What a
strange dream this is turning out to be..."
Miss-Dreamerkat:  "Dream?
This is real" Dreamer said.
Jekyll1886:  "Are
you sure?" asked Lewis with a hint of worry. He stood. "I could swear
I've dreamed this before, or something like it." But, no, there was the
chair he'd been sitting in, there was the door to Lanyon's office...and,
existing at one and the same time, there was that parlor room, real as day. The
second man slit the throat of the first as if it were the most natural thing in
the world.
This drew a quick intake of breath from Lewis. He looked a little pale as he
glanced toward Dreamer. "You have my apologies, miss," he managed.
"My dreams aren't always pleasant. Still, there was no need for you to see
that. To be honest, I've no idea why you even can." He pinched himself.
"No, not asleep," he observed. "How is all this out here instead
of in my head?"
Miss-Dreamerkat:  "I've
seen worse. I've seen people go mad and do horrible things to themselves that
would make this" She pointed to the slit throat. "Look like a
pinch"
Jekyll1886:  Weir
visibly relaxed.
"Oh thank God," he said, relieved. "I never know how anyone's
going to react around here. So many unknowns." He shook his head.
The murderer continued to mutilate the corpse, while the third man wept
silently on the floor.
"Anyhow," continued Lewis, ignoring the scene, "Lewis Weir. Nice
to meet you, even if it is under such strange circumstances."
Miss-Dreamerkat:  "Dreamer
Jekyll" Dreamer said shaking when the scene shifted showing a brown haired
girl in her prison cell look horribly depressed and thorns wrapped around her
arms and legs. She lay in a way that she could see the person in the cell
diagonal from her.
Jekyll1886:  "Well,
Dreamer-- Oh my, this isn't mine," he interrupted himself, taking in the
new scene as he made a mental note of Dreamer's last name. "What the devil
is going on?"
Miss-Dreamerkat:  The
girl lay there looking anguished, her face had started to look sunken the
markings on her voice bright against her pale skin. One eye was gray and the
other yellow, the thorns bright red agianst her skin look painful. Dreamer in
the present stepped back. The past one was in the same clothes as dreamer.
Jekyll1886:  Lewis
looked from one Dreamer to the other, putting the pieces together.
"Is she...you?" he asked.
Miss-Dreamerkat:  Dreamer
nodded turning away as if not to look.
Jekyll1886:  "Good
Lord, what is that place? You poor dear! However did this happen to you?"
Miss-Dreamerkat:  "prison"
Dreamer said calmly the memory/ scene faded.
Jekyll1886:  "Prison?"
Weir echoed, disbelief patent in his tone. He'd assumed someone had kidnapped
her and held her captive. "Not that one can always tell by looking,
but...you don't exactly seem the criminal type," he observed. He wondered
what crime she could have possibly committed to warrant such inhumane
treatment. Or perhaps authorities in this dimension were much harsher with
their punishments than he'd been led to believe.
Miss-Dreamerkat:  "I
was taken to the worst prison in the multiverse" Dreamer said. "For
constant travel through it by ways that are unnatural and tear in to the fabric
of space"
Jekyll1886:  "Oh,
dear." He counted himself lucky his acquaintances had used a method to get
him here that worked with the natural warp and woof of
space-time rather than against it. "I wasn't even aware there was such
an...institution. Whoever is in charge of it?"
Miss-Dreamerkat:  "The
guardian of the multiverse" Dreamer said.
Jekyll1886:  "Guardian
of the..." he trailed off. It was quite a bit to take in.
Miss-Dreamerkat:  Dreamer
nodded.
Jekyll1886:  After
a few moments, a question burbled up into Lewis's mind.
"How, pray tell, does one become a 'Guardian of the
Multiverse'? What are his--or her, or its--qualifications? And who appointed it
to such a post?" It seemed very unfair that innocent people might, Weir
supposed, be punished by such a being for violating laws they never even knew
existed.
Miss-Dreamerkat:  "there
has only been one for all eternity. " dreamer said. "he is made for
the job"
Jekyll1886:  "Hm,"
said Weir, troubled. "Made by whom?"
Miss-Dreamerkat:  "Made
by a solar emplosion or something i don't know." Dreamer said. "I
don't care either" She said bitterly.
Jekyll1886:  "I'm
sorry, Dreamer. I don't mean to upset you. You've obviously been through more
than anyone should have to endure. If I ask questions, it's because I feel for
you; I feel an injustice has been done, and that doesn't set well with me. I
ask because I want to know who punishes the punisher--because, if I were in
charge, I would surely punish him for what he did to you. There needs to be
accountability on his end, or he's nothing but a bully. Who is his boss? God?
Or does he hold himself as supreme over every creature? Are they to be toyed
with at his whim, while he shirks any moral responsibility by calling such
cruel treatment 'justice'? Just because something is legal doesn't
mean it's right. And if I ask his origins, don't doubt that it's
with an eye toward possibly finding his weakness."
Miss-Dreamerkat:  Dreamer
let out a laugh, a cold laugh that echoed though the room. "I know I did
wrong! I had to pay the price! He was doing his job!"
Jekyll1886:  "In
the world from which I come--a perfectly mundane, human realm--there are
laws against cruel punishments. Are you honestly telling me a
'Guardian of the Multiverse' is less enlightened than a mean assemblage of
mortals? We had a group of people in our world who caused the Second World War
and put millions of people to death. They, too, many of them argued, were
simply 'doing their job'. In the end, they were convicted of crimes against
humanity. I fear such a crime has been committed against you. To lock a person
up is one thing. To torment them unnecessarily is merely an extraneous
indulgence in malevolence. Evil often masquerades as righteousness."
Miss-Dreamerkat:  Dreamer
sighed shaking her head. "I tore the very fabric of space more times than
i can count." She said. "You're high sense of justice will be your
downfall"
Jekyll1886:  He
laughed.
"It already has been," he confessed with a rueful smile. "Though
it may do again. But tell me: Should I care nothing for what happened to
you--what has doubtless happened and will continue to happen to countless
others? Power is a thing easily abused."
Miss-Dreamerkat: Dreamer shook her head. "Best not question
it"
Jekyll1886:  "I
see we have a difference of opinion here," he said with a chuckle. "I
can no more cease my questioning than summer can resist giving way to autumn.
It's simply my nature. But if you don't want to answer them further...that, I
understand, and will respect."
Miss-Dreamerkat:  "Look
the past is just that the past. I wish not to dwell on this. I have accepted
what's happened and i don't want those seeking justice to meddle in areas they
shouldn't" Dreamer said firmly.
Jekyll1886:  "In
that case, I will certainly not meddle in areas I shouldn't on your behalf. You
have my word," he promised, utterly serious. "I had no wish to upset
you, Dreamer, yet I fear I've done just that. You have my sincerest
apologies."
Miss-Dreamerkat: "It's fine" Dreamer said pivoting and
then leaving without another word.
== Obtained From ==
Nightmare, or Reality?
Nightmare, or Reality cont.
Category:Main Plot
Category:Halloween Special: Nightmare or Reality?