• So come with me, where dreams are born, and time is never planned. Just think of happy things, and your heart will fly on wings…

    “Day dreaming again Mi’aoisa?” Came Aazorn’s voice, his footsteps barely sounded on the marble floor as he crossed the room, inclining his head in respect towards the one soul who had not lost his ability to see the monsters that lurked in the dark.

    The young man turned his head; a jagged scar ran down the side of his face, marring what had once been angelic beauty. He shrugged lightly, his hands moving forward to run idly down his thighs before he tilted his head to the side, he attempted to smile as Aazorn moved through the darkness. His eyes had long since ceased having to strain to see in the dark and while he was still mortal and thus could not see as clearly as Aazorn, he was learning more each day.

    He stood up from his chair, his long legs unfurling till he stood to his full height, reaching Aazorn’s own six foot six height with ease. His hair had richened to golden blonde, his curls gone as his hair grew to the length where they could no longer be supported. His eyes had deepened from the innocent and sad violet to the jaded amethyst. He reached his hand out for Aazorn before he pulled back and laughed brokenly before he pulled back and shook his head. “Don’t touch me Aazorn, no one is to touch me.” He said softly, his voice laced with a threat that Aazorn understood all too well.

    “No Mi’aoisa, no one will touch you.” Aazorn said fluidly, his long black hair falling around his face, rich chrisom eyes shining in the dark as sharpened teeth gleamed for a moment before darkness reigned again. “What dream are you going to tonight?” Came the question that came every night, it was a question that he knew the answer to and it was an answer that was never going to change.

    “I’m going to see Kisten.”

    “I would be better if you saw him in his own world.”

    “I don’t wish it.”

    “Mi’aoisa…it’s time.”

    “Screw time Aazorn! Here…we make the rules! We set the boundaries, we make people see what they can’t see in the light, why should I go to him? He’s the one that left me!” He yelled, his voice reverberating off the walls as they pulsated with his anger, waking the other Nightmares from their slumber and one by one the fearsome creatures came forth into the light, dropping their monstrous forms and standing with the young man.

    “We are going.” Aazorn said firmly, his long fingers reached out and twined in his young master’s shirt, jerking him forward till their noses were nearly touching but he knew better than to touch bared skin. Triple jointed fingers bent, holding the still mortal in place. “It is time to face your last monster.” He said darkly as shadows caressed their forms, molding them together as if they were lovers before they faded from the realm of Nightmares. “Akheron…” The lead Nightmare said dangerously as they arrived back at the park. He sat the young man in the swings and kneeled beside him, the ground underneath his knee instantly turning to shadow that was darker than the night sky.

    Akheron swung back and forth slowly, looking around in confusion before his eyes landed on the creature that had used to terrify him, that sometimes still did when he was looking like his true self. “I didn’t want to come here. I’m not strong here.”

    Aazorn snorted in disbelief, one hand reaching out as if to touch the young man till he jerked his hand back and lowered it to his side. “You are not strong? You are who you are.” He said seriously, his hand itching to caress the face of the man that had once been the child that could see him…he’d always been able to see him.

    Michael believed longer than the other boys, though they jeered at him; so he was with Wendy when Peter came for her at the end of the first year. She flew away with Peter in the frock she had woven from leaves and berries in the Neverland, and her one fear was that he might notice how short it had become; but he never noticed, he had so much to say about himself. She had looked forward to thrilling talks with him about old times, but new adventures had crowded the old ones from his mind…

    Akheron sighed as he thought back to the book that Kisten had read to him, remembering how badly he didn’t want to grow up, to stay forever sitting in that room with the book on his lap as Kisten read to him and he tried to sound out the words, to commit them to memory. He felt droplets of water hit his hands, slowly they came in rapid succession before he looked up at Aazorn. “Why is it raining?” He asked, as his face became wet and he was shocked to see that the Nightmare looked truly…sad.

    “Boy…why are you crying?” The shadowy cloaked figure asked as he reached out for the man who had forgotten how to cry. “Boy…” He reiterated again as he rested his cold hand against the wet warmth of his Master’s face. “Why are you crying?”

    Akheron flung himself into Aazorn’s arms, nearly toppling the lithe creature backwards as both of their shadows moved up to wrap around them, protecting them from an outsider’s gaze. “Because he left me…” He cried as he held on to the one person…creature that he had left. “He left me and it still hurts. Take me back Aazorn…”

    Aazorn sighed as he picked up the young man as easily as if he had been an infant. He looked around the park, their playground of nightmares as the shadows moved to return them back to their realm, where Akheron could oversee but never be a part of. If you just asked…I would take you back to him. Aazorn thought to himself as they faded from sight, the last to leave was the shadow of a crying young man on the swing.
    And rain started to fall.