CW:

Sexism. scary Dreamers shouting. Nightmares wibbling. Mupples!

The Dream churns, and… mostly due to us, it takes it a while to settle. We can sense Rahdian and two others blazing with her, and the little cutie beyond that.

Leave them until after we’ve met. They’d, without words, seemed willing to wait as long as needed. Even until a second Dream if we wanted.

So polite! Fuck, is that a wonderful thing to find in a creature who we’d all expected to be really strange and unfathomable.

“Ina?” Aceso murmurs, endless wonderfully warm tendrils curling about my Dream-woven form. “It should be safe to go to them now.”

I sigh and lean back into her. Both missing the perfect melding but… Also enjoying feeling that same desire in her. Two spirits divided and thrumming with love. “I know, just… basking in this a bit.”

She hums agreement and squeezes me tighter. “The Dreamscape we’ll meet in will… it’s going to be messy. A combination of old places and memories from both you and Rahdian.”

I nod. “Yup. I caught that in the song we wove. Will the Nightmares be a problem?”

She growls out a chuckle drowning in such wicked hungers. “Not for either of you. With three shards they might rise up more easily but… with three spiteful wills they’ll find nothing but Wroth and Ruin. We’ll hunt together and protect this Dream for you both.”

That settles me, and I wiggle around. Meet her gaze. “Aceso, my love. Are you ready?”

But all I find is more hunger and furious anticipation burning through her eyes. “Yes! An eternity of yesses! Please take me to meet them!”

So I do something I’d never be able to manage in the Waking World, I hoist up and carry one of my lovers forward. She squirms a bit in surprise, but… only playfully. The Dream almost coos in delight as Aceso nuzzles close, before twisting to instead cling to my back. Tendrils wrapping all about as we slip from our private muses into the connected Dream.

And of course, we find them waiting for us on a beach.

The memory of warm sand and the ocean's wonderfully salty breeze brings such a wash of desire. Literally sings with the ache I’ve had for months.

And of course Rahdian is even more radiant in the Dream we share. What was paling skin now lightly sun-kissed while her hair is smooth and glimmering.

And about and beside her are two wonderfully interesting beings. Twinned rippling Goddesses of perfect… somethings. Just like with Aceso their scars and fractures are there. Mirrored in one’s storm drawn hair and the other’s ocean touched toes. But… that doesn’t make them less perfect. Instead I… I’d say more so. Two girls, like Aceso, just… trying to find their happiness despite such wounds.

The trio turns to us from where they sit. Eyes alight with considerations and worry and… and curious wonder at us.

“Hi!” I greet and let the Dream ripple with my emotions. A show of trust to our guests.

“H– hi.” Rahdian murmurs while moving to stand.

A pause, and the… I think she’s the Fury, speaks.

Greetings, Inamatorii. Voice like distant thunder and eyes like cracking lightning. We wanted to thank you for offering our Rahdian safety and comfort, and us this shared Dream.

I can’t help but flinch a little, but cover it with a smile before she can take it as anything worse. “Of course, She’s wonderful. A delight, honestly. And please, just call me Ina.”

The Fury nods, then turns focus to Aceso. And to you, for showing her the way to construct this Dream for us all to meet.

Aceso nods, such… huh. Shyness? Yeah that’s definitely what she’s trying to hide. “Of course. I… I’ve never… You’re welcome.”

Would you be offended if we asked for a private sharing of memory and past? The quiet melty one speaks up, tone soft and gentle and kinda… bubbly. Just… just in case we stir up something scary by mistake?

Aceso gains a bit of courage at seeing this littler spirit in contrast to the scary Fury. “Only if my Ina agrees to it. I’ve given her my trust and this Dream. She may not experience everything, but she will be aware of it. Might even be able to consider it later.”

My Ina. Fuck that makes my heart and the Dream around pulse in love for her.

But those words startle both of the spirits, and after a pause the Fury asks. Is that wise? You must be a shard from very early, to be able to maintain such a soft Dream.

Aceso nods, tendrils curl tighter as she whispers. “I… I’m pretty sure I was the last one made before The Weaver died.”

The Fury roils in surprise, while the Melty one seems so much to almost… almost wanting to reach out toward my Aceso while murmuring. I… I’m so sorry.

And yet this Dream is incredibly stable. How is that managed when you bear so many painful memories? The Fury asks.

Aceso nuzzles my hair as she considers the compliment and praise. “Anything you see here, stable and healing, is because of her.”

“Nope!” I smile and reach back to wrap a hand through a dense cluster of tendrils. Begin to squeeze and caress in ways I know she enjoys. “Aceso’s being modest. I’m just… a bit of an anchor. A stubborn silly girl she saved and who can’t help but return as much love back as I can.”

My fifth lover wibbles at that. All a mess of emotions and desires and such deep love for me.

Please show us how? The melty one sort of… bounces in sudden excitement. We… Rahdian is wonderful and… and we want to give her everything we can but… but there is… is…

And the ocean stirs, and… oh.

Beneath the waves and nightmares and tears she’s fighting so hard to hold back I see it.

Both these shards are incredibly damaged. Like… like that sap or… or spirits literally cracked and would be bleeding soulfire and memory and power if not for how they’ve pulled close to plug each other’s fissure.

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“How is that possible?” Aceso whispers in such pain.

An old lover of hers battled a great beast at sea. The Fury sighs and moves to cradle the Melty half as she falls into tears in Rahdian’s arms. And from its carcass they drew my cracked and riven shard, merged it with theirs to save my spirit. But… in doing so the Sun Spoken died. Shards lost beneath the waves for centuries, if not longer.

“That’s… um. That’s where I found them.” Rahdian adds softly. “We… We saved each other. Really.”

I turn and look out over the ocean, at the crack, and the fissures beneath… A single furious will bubbling up beneath my horror and sadness at the sight of it.

“Ina…” Aceso warns softly. “We… it’s… it’s too deep. The Nightmares will overwhelm and keep us from sealing it.”

“Not with help.” I murmur. “And not if you don’t get distracted, love. I see how you will chase and hunt them. But if you can keep them away…”

My fifth lover roils in anger and hunger and fury.

It… Even if we were to merge and aid, Rahdian doesn’t have the Amwella for us to risk this. The Fury intones as gently as she can.

Such fear echoes off the girl at the Fury’s words, and with a sigh I turn back to them. “You’re right… But this isn’t the end. We’re going to fix that.”

“How?” Rahdian murmurs.

“We happen to know a big cunt with a ton of Amwella to spare and an entire gaggle of shards to recruit to help.”

A pause, then Aceso growls. “No.”

Twist to look up at her, “We can work something out. Use a similar twisting of this Dream linking spell, try and like… I dunno. Isolate them and Emarial from each other. Divide the Dreams. Take this slow and careful.”

She pauses, considers that.

Inspiration bubbles at the song we might weave.

This… Emarial. She’s another Sun Spoken? With multiple shards like us? The melty one asks.

I nod. “Yeah. She a cunt but… she’s started to admit her mistakes. Has been avoiding Dreams for years to avoid the shards she’s absorbed.”

The Fury roils a bit in contemplation. Absorbed? How did she come across so many? This one has been trapped since its fracture from our Weaver and you're the first Rahdian’s met. Is unaware of the wider land’s changes.

“Killed and gutted.” Hisses Aseco. “She’s an Amwella Drinker. She suffers for it.”

Melt one’s eyes go wide, and the Fury seems to boil in anger.

“It’s…” I pause, considering how to broach this topic delicately. Worried I should wait for commands to be removed but… “I don’t think she did it out of malice or… or some joy. The Sun Spoken she killed where trying to do something.”

Deep Breath. Brace for both pain and revulsion. Seal it to our side of the Dream…

“Ina…” Aceso whispers. Feeling the pain I’m about to call up.

“Rahdian seemed surprised when she discovered Aceso's anger, but we need to ask this…” I murmur. “How do you feel about males? Arudian and Transgender or otherwise?”

Pain.

Not the worst, and honestly I kinda stumble more from holding it to our side of the Dream more than this old thing’s bite… But when I look up a being I don’t recognise is taking a rolling step forward. Eyes filled with wroth and anger and such deep fury.

But not at me.

At the girl on my back who writhes in pain and anger and worries for me.

HOW COULD YOU!?! This mingled form of Sea and Storm bellows, voice a gale that washes up against the Dream.

Aceso glares and hisses back, her own fury bubbling up to match theirs. IT WAS TO PROTECT MY CHALLA FROM THEM!!!

The sea around roils, nightmares stir.

“W– wait…” I sputter, solidifying the Divide between Dreams and keeping Weaver Shards from clashing. “Please just… let me…”

YOU BLIGHTED HER WITH A LAMENTATION! Rahdian’s shards roar.

A pause, and Aceso writhes, drops her glare to the nightmares around. Voice still bubbling with anger but… quieter. One of them hurt her and… and… She refused to protect herself! To REAVE the parasite from the Sapana and protect others from his ROT!

The storm pauses, and what was one merged becomes two. Melty one weeping as she clings to a scared and confused Rahdian, while the Fury’s eyes turn to me.

“We’re… we’re trying to remove it.” I stammer out, able to form words as the Dream calms. “It was a mistake, she’s admitted that much.”

And the Sun Spoken this Emarial slew? She asks.

“They were killing them.” I nod. “And… and more. We don’t know what. Torture, we think.”

The Fury considers this for a long while. I… have no love for them, and feel a fury at the idea of them using our Amwella. But… No more. The curse that writhes through the Soul Ocean we wove is a poison.

Aceso growls in disagreement. “Never. Again.”

The Fury billows out in frustration, but it’s the melty one who echoes my Aceso. Never again.

That makes everyone look to her in surprise. This seemingly quiet spirit suddenly roiling with such debts of rage. It is our Amwella! Our will. OUR WARMTH! OUR SONG! We are RIGHT to KEEP THOSE WRETCHED THINGS FR–

But something cracks, and I have to pour my everything into holding this Dream together. When I’m able to focus on her again she’s drooping and weeping between Rahdian and the Fury’s embrace.

Wounds and pains I can only barely imagine shattering her a bit as she tries to reach for rage.

“I… we don’t need to talk about this.” I assure them. “We… I know Aceso struggles to recall certain parts of her past, but has some good memories! Like… like the one with a loving mother or a sister or…”

I turn to look up at my fifth lover. She… huffs in shame and annoyance but… can’t hide her anticipation. Her roiling desires.

And the two shards of Rahdian echo the same longing. So we spend time exchanging gentle things, and from it Aceso is gifted wonderful experiences she felt long lost to her.

A memory of a mother, different from the first, who was such a wonderful teacher. Filled to bursting with inspiration for odd and disparate magics, and… maybe the reason for Aceso’s head tendrils?

A sister lost and found again. Helped to heal from the wounds she could never recover from alone. Giving her a safe haven from–

And an old home. Just a glimmer of it, but enough to know it as a city of Song and Sea. Tasting a bit of an old Rot but… healing. Always, because those that lived there needed it. Kept safe by–

As I pull back from them, I find that Rahdian has done the same. And we’re both sort of… manifesting as two girls plopping to sit on the beach while our Dream lovers consider these shared memories.

“Sorry.” She murmurs.

“You’re fine, Rahdian.” I sigh in such a calm way. Glad our shards seem to be at peace with each other. “They… Aceso is a LOT to handle sometimes. It’s good to gift her space with two who… well I’m sure they can keep up with her, can understand.”

“Oh I… Yeah. That too.” She murmurs. “I just… got distracted. Sorry.”

I glance over. “Well… that’s fine too. We’re in a shared Dream, after all. It's hard not to drift a bit.”

She glances over to me, eyes filled with worry. “I… You… You didn’t notice?”

I quirk an eyebrow. “Notice what?”

She bites her lip, nods her head back.

I follow her gaze and… well I can’t see anything past the… the… Oh.

“Oh fuck.” I kinda sputter.

My old home, The Dune Wall, sits at our back.

“I… I don’t…” Rahdian whispers.

“Fuck.” I spit again and focus on the stupid thing. “Sorry, Didn’t realize I dredged up that old thing. Fuck. Of course I… fuck. Sorry. I… I know you probably have questions about it but… fuck me is that just a big shitty thing to have sitting there while we do all this.”

She sputters a bit. “You… You’ve been atop it? The Dune Wall?”

I sigh as the old memory echo… thing, refuses to budge! “Yeah. Enough times to make it REALLY not want to move! FUCK!”

I huff and look back to see Rahdian giving me a really uncomfortable look of curiosity. Chide my silly Dream-addled brain for saying that thought out loud.

“But… I don’t…” She whispers.

I huff and turn my gaze back toward the sea and our lovers. “It’s… kinda a mess. Me, I mean. I’m still the messy girl I was. Just have gotten better at hiding it from my lovers.”

Rahdian purses her lips. “I wish I could relate. But… I never got the chance to hide my messiness from those walked at my side. And the moment they saw me, they…”

From the cadence and wibbles about the Dream I… I don’t know if this is an intentional thing Rahdian wants to share, or accidental. Thoughts can kinda just slip out when we’re here and… but I mean I can’t NOT scoot a little closer and take up her hand while whispering. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. Focus on me, or our shards if you need to.”

She trembles a bit, nods and squeezes my hand. “And now I… I want to just… just tell you it all now so you can hate me. Because I can’t do that again, Ina. Can’t let more amazing people find out later after we’ve grown close and… and break my heart all over again.”

“I’m… yeah I get that. I felt that early on with my lovers. Was certain they would hate me and even lasted an entire day before cracking open and having to spill it all out.” I try to lean forward and catch her gaze. “And I cannot imagine what it would be like to have to hide myself from them. Handle all the… the pain from my past alone.”

“How did you know?” Her voice and solidity in the Dream goes soft and quiet. “That… that they would accept you? Tasii mentioned you had past things you needed to keep secret too.”

“Because…” And then I decide to just… let it all spill out. “Well it wasn’t a sure thing, not to me and not at the time but… They didn’t try to control me. They gave me a choice. I… Well we all found out I was Sun Spoken before everything else and they had a right to demand I be honest with them because of how scary everything was at the time but… Yeah. Tasii also read me like a book and could see that hiding this was hurting me, so… she kinda offered me solitude if I needed that. No guilt for taking what they’d already given me, but just not with them. Which would have probably been really bad for me but… they didn’t want to force me.”

She thinks on that for a long while, just… letting the Dream wash over us before huffing out. “I’m sorry. I just… I’m so scared. You're the High duenna of Arudia and… and this really powerful Sun Spoken and… and Zigdara is probably closeby and… You could really hurt me.”

I sigh and nod, take a look out toward our woven Dream lovers. “But I made a promise. No matter what this is, I’ll not judge you or let what you tell me spill from this Dream. Not unless you want that. Even if it’s really bad. We’re not High duenna to pass judgment, just… want to fix things with the Gemstones and let others manage Arudia. Hopefully quickly. Because fuck me do I want to get away from all this cold nonsense.”

Such desperate hope literally bleeds off her, a thing of pain and worry and such need.

Something that… that I feel such a kinship with. A fluttering that draws up my own memories of wanting so much to finally tell someone who I’d always been.

“Th– the Dune Wall.” She whispers. “I think it’s stuck here because of me. I… I’ve spent so much of my life there and… and…”

What?

That… well Zigdara did say she felt Rahdian recognized her… But why couldn’t she remember who she was?

“Oh? Did you work there?” I ask dumbly.

She begins to shake her head then… pauses. “S– Sort of? I guess? I… I…”

She cuts off to take a deep breath while looking out over the sea. Toward our lovers…

“No. Actually. I… I was trapped there.”

Everything… tilts a bit at that word.

Trapped.

In the Dune Wall?

This big stupid thing holds a lot of stuff but… isn’t really a like… a place to hold people captive. There are temporary rooms for that. I think. But… not long term.

Only one group is unable to leave that place.

I… almost make a mistake. Almost speak an old name that I, of all people, know will hurt this girl so much if she recognizes it. But I catch and smother it before that stupid thought can become even a whisper in this Dream.

“W– wait.” I stammer, frozen and trying so hard to strangle my stupid thoughts before they can spill out into this Dream. “Just… The Dune Wall holds… like… but that would mean you… you’re…”

Like me?

Rahdian winces in pain, and can only nod.