The longer Elliotes lived with Teri, the more he witnessed the nightmares. Teri would scream every night, sometimes two to three times. She would wake up hourly either stressed or bored. Every morning she would wake up covered in pee. 

Elliotes began taking turns with Monica in the middle of the night, comforting Teri and cleaning the mess. He has gotten really good with cleaning the laundry in the past week. 

Elliotes had a difficult time masking his anger. He knew the reason that Teri was having more nightmares than usual was because Morpheus was targeting her. He just didn't know why. 

Battling his brother through Teri was already difficult in itself. No, Morpheus took it a step further and began to target her whole kindergarten class during nap time. If you thought the terrifying screams of one toddler were bad, try twenty of them. 

All Elliotes could do was shield Teri and her classmates as best as he could while they slept. His only goal was just making sure they woke up. 

One night as Teri slept Elliotes sat outside her door mediating. Monica nearly tripped over him as she exited her room. 

"Whoa there El." Monica said as she stumbled over him. 

Elliotes didn't break his meditation as he ignored Monica. Monica kneeled over Elliotes as she watched him meditate. It's rare that she sees him without Teri hanging all over him. 

For a God, Elliotes traits were human. His eyes had dark circles under them, because of his lack of sleep. He has also been using a large amount of power over the week. Monica placed her hand on his face and gently traced his eyes with her thumb. 

Remarkably, Elliotes did not flinch. Not even when Monica began to poke him in the eye. 

"Stop it," Elliotes mumbled. Monica in return poked him in the nose. "Monica." Ellitoes hissed. 

When she went to poke him again, Elliotes opened his eyes and grabbed her hand. Monica used her other hand and poked him in the nose. 

Elliotes glared at Monica. He began to relax when Monica began to rub his cheek with her thumb. 

"What happens when a God loses all of their energy?"

"They grow weak, and can no longer grant blessings." 

"So, how about we take a break and get some rest."

"I can't, I fear that Teri is only suffering because of me," Elliotes explained. Morpheus was the God of Nightmares and was targeting Teri because of Elliotes. There was no other reason for Teri to be suffering. "I vowed to protect her."

"You made that vow a week ago. I made that vow six years ago." Monica explained. "You can take one night off." 

"It is my brother that is causing her so much pain!" Elliotes yelled. 

He quickly stood up, nearly knocking Monica over. He tried to walk past her but Monica pushed him against the door.    

"Hey!"

"Shut up," Monica whispered. "You will wake Teri."

Monica leaned up against Elliotes chest. She gripped his shirt as she shut her eyes. Elliotes wrapped his arms around Monica as he supported all her weight. 

He has been so focused on Teri that he didn't see how tired Monica was. It is never the people suffering from the nightmares that pray to Morpheus, it is the people watching those who suffer. 

"I pray that the bad dreams go away. I even pray that she is strong enough to just sleep through the night so I can rest. Nothing works El." Monica whispered. "Sometimes you just get dealt a shitty life before you were born, and you pray that someone comes along to change it." 

"Can you show me?"

"How?"

"Try to dream about your past. I can do the rest." 

Monica nodded as she led Elliote to bed.

She tried to remember when back where it all began as she dreamed. Elliotes watched the real-life nightmare that is life. How Monica had to raise all six of her younger siblings. How she fought her abusers which landed her in trouble with the justice system. 

When she was finally of age she decided to make a life for herself. She moved out and went to school in an attempt to better her life. She later learned that her mother was to have another child. It was ruled by the authorities that her mother was unfit to raise the new baby. 

Monica went against the state in order to gain custody of the child all while working and going to school. She had to survive a therapy class, and convince random strangers that she was able to raise her own sister. They ignored the fact that she raised six others at such a young age. Where were the authorities when she was growing up? 

They only seemed to show up when they are against her. 

Monica watched as Teri was placed into foster homes. She fought until Teri's first birthday until the authorities deemed her a fit enough human being to take her little sister. 

Elliotes held Monica tightly as she slept. Watching her past made him think of his. 

He never did compare to Morpheus or Overia. They both gained their wings at a young age. He remembers his father yelling how he wasn't really his son. Just because he wasn't as strong as the others.

He would get locked in the dungeon and chained to the wall for the smallest mistakes for days, sometimes weeks if he was forgotten. He was so scared of disappointing his father. 

Morpheus was always there for him though. Morpheus would be the first to challenge their father. He often talked about overthrowing him to end the way we were treated. 

Elliotes couldn't help but think that his father was in control of Morpheus' behavior. Morpheus would never just torture the innocent for power. Would he?

Elliotes became distracted when Monica turned in his arms. 

She was different. The label didn't matter to her. Sister, daughter, mother; the labels meant nothing to her. She vowed to protect Teri as her own and vowed to take care of her no matter what. She chose to put her own life on hold for another. 

Elliotes thoughts were interrupted as he heard a sharp scream from Teri.

Monica let out a light groan as she pushed off of Elliotes to sit up. 

"And I thought my family was bad." Monica laughed. "I was never chained to a dungeon wall."

Elliotes was in shock as he watched Monica leave the room. He accidentally showed her his dreams.