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Cain sat on his comfortable velvet sofa, enjoying the warmth of the fireplace next to him, watching it with interest shining in his dark eyes. Sighing, the murderer got up and walked over to the bookcase by the fireplace, and pulled an old dusty book from the second shelf, using a cloth to clean its cover and get a better look at it.
A noise caught his attention and when he turned around, the little gargoyle Goldie was looking at him with curiosity in his warm black eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, I know there are many versions of the same story. I only told Matthew the best known one."
Goldie chirped again.
"Known by who? By me, of course. I am the guardian of this story. Also, any story in which our lord appears is not as popular as the others, I'm sure you understand why. It's the version I like the most, so it's the truest. But that doesn't mean there aren't others with some alterations." Cain returned to his seat next to the small gargoyle, opening the book and moving closer to the fire to get a better look. "This version is a little different. I've been thinking about this story since Matthew left."
You see, Goldie, in the Beginning, they were alone in the cosmos. Their oldest Brother was an omnipresent presence, therefore, he was totally absent. When Dream appeared in the cosmos, Death became fully aware of herself. Because no one know that they exist if they are not aware of the existence of another. And looking at Dream, he was so beautiful that in the innocence of her youth, Death looked up at her parents and asked
Is he a gift to me? Is he mine?
However, her parents did not have an answer for her, perhaps because they did not even know what Dream's purpose was either. So they just went back to their respective realms. And the two Siblings were left alone in an almost empty cosmos, with only the young stars to keep them company.
And how to describe their existence back then, Goldie? What they felt for each other and what they meant to each other? Words were Delirium's greatest invention when she was still Delight, and even they are obsolete to describe what both were like back then, surrounded by an innocent happiness, even if they did not know they were happy, because you need unhappiness to know how to recognize it and that did not exist yet. The more appropriate thing would be to say that during those billions and billions of years they were together, alone, and satisfied. They were for the other the axis by which the universe revolved. They orbited around each other as if they wanted to imitate the stars and planets. They had no language, and almost always not even a physical form, so there were no lies or secrets in their coexistence. Both were naked in essence.
But then a star exploded for the first time.
How could they both know the change their Brother's creation would bring? They were both young ancient beings, innocent in their billions of years of age. It was what they witnessed then what changed things for them.
At the center of the cosmos, their Parents reappeared to create their next child. And in front of them, both Siblings contemplated for the first time the union of two essences, Time and Night becoming one in what seemed to be a euphoric ceremony, impossible to understand for two beings who did not know the concept of euphoria. But the two Siblings did not stay to ask questions, however. They were too disturbed by what they just saw, and they quickly left the place, going as far away as possible, hiding behind a black hole.
Looking at each other, they both tried to comprehend what they had just seen. This is how they make us, the older of the two thought, drawing the conclusion that their Parents were creating a new Sibling for them.
Her younger Brother seemed thoughtful as well. What they feel is incomprehensible to me. It is like a dream, but they never want to wake up. It lacks of sense.
Both remained silent for a time so diffuse that it could have been seconds or millennia, before the younger Brother turned again to communicate with his Sister. I want to do that.
Me too, she replied, remembering the satisfaction on Night's face. Neither of them thought about the possibility that it was something forbidden, because until then the concept of forbidden had not been invented either. So when the personification of dreams reached out his hand to touch his Sister's face, and found that it felt good to feel the curve of her lips on his fingers, his other hand did the same, and found her beautiful incorporeal cheek made of the dust of the universe.
And imitating what they had just discovered, he brought the dream from her lips to his, until he pressed them against hers. And the pleasant spark of what he had just discovered was too good to stop.
So Dream deepened their kiss, surrounding her with the illusion of his arms, and they both fell like a shooting star into the black hole. It was the first time that the taste appeared in the cosmos, in the mouth of the personification of dreams, and it was the sweet taste of death and life. And they fully understood what they had witnessed and its purpose.
It was a change in his very essence to become one with her. To get into the very center of her being and vibrate together as one soul. It was an experience that shook him completely, something never known before, that broke him into millions of pieces and built him up again. The darkness disappeared inside the black hole, illuminated by the heat of their forms. And when the sound barrier was broken by their voices, something new appeared in the cosmos. Something that was not yet supposed to exist in the order of things. Pleasure. Passion. Belonging. Unity. Devotion.
And so they would have remained for millennia and millennia, in the sweet unconsciousness brought by the other, if their Mother had not found them.
Night discovered them at that moment, and with a cold fury, she reached her hand into the black hole and dragged her children out. Then she took her third son in her huge hand and pulled him away from his Sister, severing the fusion they had been in. What have you done, Dream? You have taken your Sister in a way that is forbidden for you.
But Dream was still under the effects of the euphoria, and in his fevered state he only wanted to return to his lover. Yet he did not try to break free of his Mother's hand.
Death backed away from her Mother, equally feverish and yearning to recover what they had discovered, but aware that her Mother's rejection of her had put her in a vulnerable position. What does forbidden mean?
Something you should never have done. A mistake, with consequences that must be fixed.
Consequences?
Your actions, my Children, have disturbed the natural order in the book of Destiny.
And Night did not bother to offer further explanations about what they had done, considering it unnecessary. Because, sensing a new presence near her, Death directed her gaze upwards, where a sphere of light shone like a small star. And moving towards it, she felt with her cold fingers its burning surface, marveling at the discovery. The closest thing she had ever seen was the birth of her beloved Brother, Goldie. And that was what led her to draw conclusions. You are our child, she said to the sphere. And immediately the sphere began to change, to imitate a shape similar to its Mother's. That only made things worse, as Death clearly and unavoidably felt love for the fruit of her union with Dream, at a time when love was not supposed to exist either.
The form was small and male, with black hair and beautiful colored eyes. I greet you, Mother. Tell me who I am. You have made me, and now you must give me a name.
Death tried to reach out again to touch him, but she was stopped by Night's thoughts, strong and powerful and furious.
This cannot be tolerated. It must be fixed immediately.
And letting go of her son, Night reached out her hand to take the newly created creature, holding him tightly and throwing him into the black hole, where he would reach Nothingness and leave the universe forever, in front of his Mother's impotence.
What have you done? What reason could you have for banishing the creature I just created? And what is this horrible feeling inside of me? I do not like it! Make it stop!
It is called pain, and it is the only thing you cause, my Daughter, Night replied, reaching out her hand to take the form of her daughter. I will have to undo you and make you again, without any memory of what just happened. Or you would do it again.
And squeezing her hand, her Daughter vanished between her fingers, her essence spreading to all corners of the galaxies like a shapeless mass, waiting to be united again.
And when Night looked back at her Son, she discovered in horror that there were tears in his eyes, another thing that was not supposed to be possible yet. You have been altered too, Dream. You know love and passion and pain now, but that is not supposed to exist yet. I have to undo you too.
Dream did not resist, instead he welcomed her punishment with open arms, in order to get rid of that feeling called pain.
Cain closed the book of stories out of existence, a assorted tome of things only he or Abel knew, whether in the form of secrets or mysteries. He set it down on his lap, looking up at his fireplace and listening to Goldie's chirping next to him.
"I have this story because the mystery is: where is their son? Night could have hidden him in her realm, like old junk you don't know where to put in. Or she could have eliminated him completely. There's no way to know."
Goldie growled.
"No, no one remembers that poor boy. Sometimes Lord Morpheus is about to remember him, like a suppressed memory that wants to come out, but when he is about to remember him…" Cain tossed the book into the fire. "He forgets it again."