One advantage of having relatives in Dream was access to the Library of Fiction. It held copies of every story, even those lost or unpublished in The Empty World. When Morpheus had exhausted his own collection of comics and anime, he branched out into Disney movies and then historical epics.

Having watched Spartacus and The Fall of the Roman Empire back-to-back, Morpheus was intent on meeting some Romans. So it was he went to Egypt and watched the Romans march on Alexandria, a pretty Greco-Egyptian resort and the capital of the Ptolemys.

Whilst the Romans were wondering which General to follow, Morpheus took advantage of their confusion to steal a tent from an officer of the army. He didn't believe theft particularly righteous, but his ability to look across time and see the probability of the owner's death or the tent's destruction made the loss seem insignificant. It might even be, Morpheus reasoned, that he was saving the belongings.

Besides, he thought, it was a good idea he tested his ability to take things with him when he teleported. He'd managed family members, bottled Djinn and flowers. Why not try a war horse and wall tent complete with interior furnishings?

It worked.

Morpheus was soon sitting in the Thar Desert, in the shade of his tent's canopy, with two Djinn and a horse for company. He asked them whether he ought to go home, or stay to see what a desert looked like by night. It was a rhetorical question, though his Djinn had the ability to speak if motivated to do so. There was no night in the Night Regions, despite its name.

They only called his home so because Leliel was ArchRegent and basically the embodiment of Night itself.

Stay until nightfall, Morpheus told himself.

He liked the desert. It was made of sand, and sand was easy for him to manipulate. So long as part of him remained in contact, Morpheus might extend his ability to shift form from his body to the sand. Silicon and carbon were easy to work with.

Morpheus walked out into the desert as the sky began to darken. He was soon surrounded by all manner of sandcastles and sculptures.

Sometimes, Morpheus envied characters in Disney movies. No matter how different you were—a wooden boy, a mermaid, a hulking beast—singing seemed to fix things. It was practically guaranteed that if you began singing about something, say being lonely, that someone would show up to make it a duet. Morpheus didn't suppose he was a great singer, but all Angels could sing.

He was probably a better musician than a vocalist, but technically, it was all strings and vibration.

Mother had given him the guitar. And though he hadn't seen it, yet, in several possible timelines, Mother was a rather famous singer. In some futures, he played on stage, too.

Morpheus sensed someone coming near. It felt similar to a summons, but with a sense of opposite directionality. Not a Human; the presence was too strong. They would materialize nearby and were traveling across space-time now.

Jibril appeared in a grotto sand-sculpted Disney characters. "Nice mermaid," he said, then puckered his lips to blow pale-blue hair off his brow.

"I have never seen you in this world, Jibril," Morpheus said.

Jibril waved a hand as if to wave away the topic. He sighed and looked about. "I talk to Humans frequently, but it rarely involves coming to The Empty World." Jibril turned his eyes skyward. "Sorta cloudy, isn't?"

"Smog's found it's way into the desert by this time," Morpheus said. Still, there were no artificial lights here to distract the eye. The stars not veiled by clouds were easily seen. "I like watching day turn to night and back again."

"Got a job for ya, Murph," said Jibril.

Morpheus laughed. "You really are good at speaking American."

"I'm good at speaking all languages. I do have an offer for you. Would you'd like to be in charge of a Mirage?"

Morpheus loosed his control on the sand. Several of the sculptures held themselves together; most fell. It seemed the Mermaid smiled at Jibril. "Heat wavers?"

"It's more a spell cast on sand. A doorway to a sanctuary between worlds. Deserving people seem to find them, most often."

"If you want me to work in this mirage, I will," Morpheus said.

Jibril nodded. "Yes, it will be good."

With a gaze from Jibril's all-colored eyes, Morpheus was instructed in creating and running mirages. And, for future reference, he received instruction in disassembling them.

His mirage consisted of a stolen Roman tent, its furnishings, and a lot of sand. Morpheus, a horse, and two Djinn were its staff. The entrance was anchored in space, but not in time. Within hazardous terrain yet close to southern branches of the historic Silk Road, Morpheus was able to serve ages of the lost and wandering.

The spell on the sand alerted Morpheus when a guest approached. Even before he could not consciously read their minds, his body knew the form most needed or desired. The shift came instinctively. Morpheus might be male or female, old or young, this color or that.

He could will his form to change if he concentrated, but he rarely made more than a small adjustment for modesty. Morpheus was there to make his guests feel safe.

Once guests got close, it was easy enough to read their minds for other welcome imagery. He willed sand to shift over furnishings to disguise foreign shapes. He commanded his Djinn to assume the appearance of welcome figures, be they animals, servants, or guardians.

When his guest neared the tent, Morpheus would greet them.

Many visitors passed through the mirage. Most stayed only long enough to have a meal and a night's rest; they left to continue their quests or journeys. Others became distracted; stayed for seemingly long periods of time, while Morpheus cared for them in the body of their choice.

Morpheus learned from them. His guest might stagger in speaking of nations, quests, kings, invasions, trade routes. Never speaking about what he didn't know, Morpheus listened and nodded at what they said. Once he'd picked up enough of a language, he might speak a few comforting phrases.

The ones from the nearest lands and oldest times generally understood that they were in a mirage; a magical oasis they were blessed to find. They tended not to press Morpheus in whatever body he wore.

But, those from afar, or from later dates, usually thought Morpheus whatever person he appeared and interrogated him. How had he come so far ahead? Where was such and such person? When they got rowdy like that, Morpheus put them to sleep.

None of them, near or far, knew who he really was, that was, not until the last.

Between guests, Morpheus had begun thinking there was something off. A pattern or lack of pattern? He could not name an exact complaint. Maybe it was something to do with how often he'd been forming bodies with a specific gender. The horse was always a horse. His Djinn sometimes appeared female, but they sometimes seemed welcome as boys, or eunuchs, or muscular guards. Morpheus had not experienced so much variety.

Morpheus thought about this as he reclined on his couch, sipping water from his jeweled goblet. He didn't even think of his belongings as stolen anymore.

The water was real, gathered by his Djinn from the clouds and collected in a barrel. It was useful. Most visitors liked to wash when they came in from the desert. It made sleeping next to them more tolerable.

It never bothered Morpheus much when guest expected him to sleep with them, nor when they asked him to have sex.

He hadn't actually done that part.

He could have if he'd wanted. It wasn't as if he'd been sung into being yesterday. He no longer needed chaperones or anyone's permission to visit the Empty World.

But he hadn't, because it was easy to provide their minds with the illusion that he had entwined his flesh with theirs.

Maybe, Morpheus thought, he should try it for real. But, how could anyone truly make love to him, if his body shifted to the form they most desired?

Morpheus was still wondering when the next visitor touched the perimeter of the mirage.

Morpheus felt the most desired form come over him and, in that instant, panicked. He had barely changed. Skin the color of cave flora: yes. Midnight-blue hair: yes. Wings: yes, and they were still feathery and black!

There were a few minor differences. Some gauzy clothing he'd never think to wear. A tattoo of a black orchid on the small of his back. A few piercings.

There was just the one major difference. Morpheus was male. Not an androgyne who leaned toward a preference for 'he'. This body, so close to his natural form, was physically and pretty substantially male in sex.

"What's going on?" Morpheus whispered.

"Morpheus?" his Djinn hissed.

Morpheus listened for the thoughts from his guest. There were so few, as if this mind was trying to hide its secrets.

He struggled just to find welcome shapes for his Djinn. Morpheus barely believed the words as they came from his mouth. "Audrey Hepburn and Sofia Loren in kitschy disco-pink harem pants and vests."

He liked their look more than he had expected.

"Go greet him, I can't do it."

The two Djinn hobbled out onto the carpet that lay under the canopy, fell to their knees, and spoke in high-pitched voices, "Hello, Master!"

The visitor entered the tent.

Morpheus felt so strange looking at him. He wasn't perfect. Maybe a little too skinny. The stubble on his face was too sparse to look intentional. He was wearing damaged clothing that might have once been a suit. Yet, he was pretty.

"My heartstrings are snapping," Morpheus whispered.

"Morpheus?"

The guest knew his name! It was not someone who looked like Morpheus this one most wished to see, it was Morpheus. Yet Morpheus had never met him before.

His mind which had been guarded was suddenly open.

"Julien," Morpheus said. That was his name. "Come in. I'm sure you want to take a bath."

"What's wrong, honey?" asked Julien. When he pronounced the term of endearment, his fangs were clearly visible.

Morpheus swallowed.

Morpheus couldn't stop staring. Julien was a Vampyre. A Vampyre with years of memories involving Morpheus. He knew exactly who and what Morpheus was.

Morpheus forced himself to smile. He had not met this person, yet. Or, more correctly, Morpheus had just met Julien, who had met Morpheus for the first time in his future.

"Tell me that's real water," Julien said.

"It's real," Morpheus said.

Julien winked at him! "I've seen what you can do with sand."

"It's real," Morpheus repeated, "The Djinn draw it from the sky."

"The Jeannies?" Julien asked as they were undressing him for his bath.

He watched as Julien lowered himself into the metal tub. This was his body that felt a rush of attraction upon seeing the Vampyre slip into the water.

"Julien!"

"Yeah?"

"There's something I have to tell you!"

Julien laughed at his announcement.

Morpheus didn't think he liked this teasing. How did Julien have years of memories involving Morpheus yet not take him seriously? What sort of relationship did they have?

Morpheus summoned his courage and just said it, "I've never seen you before in my life."

"Ooooh," said Julien. "Time...and your ability...but how...unless I traveled?" He lifted his head and looked about the tent. "Oh, Gawd." He drew his limbs in close to his body. "Did I die?"

"No!" Morpheus said. He knelt beside the tub. "I promise. Your soul is in your body and you are in a safe place."

Julien's hands rubbed the back of his neck. The movement caused the gold torc at his throat to catch the light from the lamp stands. "I was just in a plane crash," He said softly.

Morpheus looked into the bath water. "I see no recent injury." But, Julien's clothing had been damaged when he arrived. "Are you in pain?"

"No. I wouldn't be. I had enough of--" Julien paused. Their eyes met. The gaze lasted long enough to become awkward.

"You're pretty," Morpheus sighed.

Julien laughed, but that time it was not mocking at all, only warm. "Thank you," he said. "You are pretty, too. You know?"

Morpheus shook his head.

"You are. You always were," Julien said. Morpheus almost spoke, but Julien continued. "So, exactly how young are you to not have met me yet?"

"I'm." Morpheus cleared his throat. "I'm old enough."

Julien smiled wide. "That young." His posture relaxed and he lay his arms along the edge of the tub. Morpheus could see a rose-shaped tattoo inside Julien's right arm. "How? Can you tell me?"

Usually, it didn't seem wise to tell the visitors they were in a mirage unanchored in time. But Morpheus thought his present circumstances were fairly extenuating.

"In my future, you will meet me," Morpheus began.

"But, your body," Julien said, "It's the one you had when I last saw you, but not the one you had when we met."

"You gave me this body," Morpheus explained, "because you wished to see it when you approached the mirage."

"It is really you?"

"I'm Morpheus. The person you are thinking of is me, who coincidentally used to work in this mirage."

Julien sighed. "It's some coincidence." His tone suggested the opposite were true.

"What else would it be?" Morpheus asked.

Julien shrugged. He had a floral tattoo behind his left shoulder that continued onto his neck. "Destiny?"

"Somehow I don't think it was her," Morpheus whispered.

"Might be best not to know."

"Why?"

Julien turned his head and stared at Morpheus a couple seconds. "It was a commercial passenger jet, Murph."

Morpheus nodded. He was unsure what else to say. Those souls on board still existed, somewhere, but their Human lives were ended.

Julien signaled Hepburn to bring the pitcher of rinse water for his hair.

Morpheus looked away. "I've never met a Vampyre before," he said, "they call you alghuls or bhutas around here."

"Ha," Julien said, "I live in Karachi."

Morpheus looked up, a little surprised by that.

Julien combed his fingers through his damp, blond hair. "But, yes, I'm from Long Island."

"It sounds like it," Morpheus said. "I went there, once, to Manhattan."

"I lived in the city, too." Julien turned and folded both his arms along one side of the tub. "Murph. Will you tell me now you've never been kissed?"

Why?" Morpheus asked. But, he didn't really need an answer; he could see Julien was teasing him. "I haven't."

"Not anyone? Not some visitor here?"

"They don't even see me in my own body," Morpheus said, "There was someone who said my own body was beautiful. But, I wasn't ready, and he's dead now. So...."

"Mika?"

Morpheus didn't recognize the name. "Hyacinth."

Julien nodded. "When we first met," he said, "When I first met you, you came up to me and asked if I would kiss you. Just like that. You told me no one else had ever done it."

"But, not that I had never been kissed."

"You were always clever," said Julien.

"Do you mind if we?" Morpheus started. "I mean, would it be OK to kiss you?"

"Of course," Julien said quickly. Then as if having a second thought, he lifted his right index finger. "But, you can shift to your usual body, if that's more comfortable."

"I don't dislike this one."

Julien shrugged. "Whichever."

Morpheus leaned towards the tub, rising onto his knees. Their cheeks touched; Julien's skin was cool, with the slightest tickle of stubble. Morpheus began to rethink his decision not to shift. Here someone was offering to be close to him just as he was. Wasn't that what he wanted?

He shifted. Gauzy clothes became the most basic black jeans and tee. The tattoo and piercings were absorbed. He lost height. But, Morpheus wasn't ready to give up the sensation of feeling male. His other guests rarely gave him the chance, and he just liked the gravity of it.

A tilt of his head and Morpheus caught Julien's lips in his.

Morpheus closed his eyes.

Julien broke their kiss with the light scrape of fangs along Morpheus' lower lip.

Morpheus shivered. "You taste sweet."

"It the cloves. I'm guessing smoking's not a deal breaker?"

Morpheus opened his eyes and looked at Julien. He was still close, and looking back. "Do Vampyres get cancer?"

Julien laughed and leaned back in the tub. "We do not."

"Neither do I." Morpheus watched his Djinn help Julien out of the tub. They offered towel and spare tunica.

"I didn't even know you had jeannies," Julien said, "though, sometimes you do show up with an entire entourage."

The floral tattoo went all the way down the left side of Julien's back: a vine sprouting deep purple and pale pink orchids.

Julien smoothed the red tunica beneath his hands; it was a little short for him. He looked very much like the next Caesar, except that he had fangs.

"Julien," Morpheus said, "I think I might be. No. I know I am crazy attracted to you right now."

"I see." Julien tipped his head towards the couch. "Would you like to sit with me?"

It sounded good to Morpheus, so he took a seat beside Julien

"Gawd, this is confusing."

"Because I'm younger me?"

"Yes. No. I mean, not only that. Not everyone has a chance like this, to go back and say the things that they wished they could have realized or said long ago. But, honestly, I'm afraid if I say the wrong thing, I'll break the time-continuum or some thing."

Morpheus laughed. "You couldn't do that." He saw Julien's confused expression. "Really. It doesn't work that way. Whatever you perceive to have happened happens. Whatever you say to me now is what I will understand you to always have said."

It took a minute for Julien to process.

"It doesn't help to try to go back in time and tell someone, 'don't play quoits with Raphael,' if you've already witnessed them die in a quoits-related accident."

"So, it's pointless to say, 'don't even try to be with me'?"

Morpheus bowed his head. "It might make me want you even more."

"I'm sorry." He paused. "That's what future me wants you to know. For everything. Being a mess. Drama. Miscommunication."

"OK."

Tears welled up in Julien's eyes; the red tears made his pupils look intensely blue.

"Julien."

He blinked rapidly to clear the tears. "I didn't know this meeting happened. I'm just realizing it means that whatever I've said, or am about to say, you've known it all this time!"

Morpheus nodded. "Yeah."

"There are things I didn't know until recently. I still don't know if there are things you know, in the future that I don't know, yet. I'm not sure if encouraging you is the right thing."

"C'mere." Morpheus lifted his arms and twisted in his seat. Julien was quick to fall into his embrace. "No one's cried for me before. If you are trying to convince me not to want you, you are doing a terrible job."

Julien cry-laughed against Morpheus' shoulder.

Gradually, Julien lifted his head. He wiped a knuckle beneath each eye.

"I should tell you something else."

"Of course," Morpheus said.

"OK. This might sound cheesy, but I mean it sincerely. I want you to remember." Julien took a deep breath before he continued: "It gets better."

Morpheus shook his head. "Better than what?"

"Just remember it. If, in the future, one of us is hurting. Just say it to yourself: It gets better."

"It gets better," Morpheus repeated.

"So, what do you usually do here?" Julien's eyes looked from side to side. "Do you want to watch the sunset or something?"

Morpheus went a little slack-jawed at that. He reached for Julien's right hand with his left. "You really know me."

Julien smiled and held his hand.

"You're OK in sunlight?"

"These days."

They rose from the couch and went to sit under the tent's canopy.

"It's funny," Julien said as they sat down, "Since we met, you always seemed to know how to handle Vampyres."

"Like I had a teacher?" Morpheus asked.

"Yeah, but you grasped things she couldn't have taught you." Julien's face was in profile, but it looked like he was trying not to smile so much that he smiled wider.

"Lord," Morpheus whispered, "You're talking about making love."

Julien laughed. "Sorry. I used to think it irritating you couldn't talk dirty, but now I think I miss this."

"I can talk about sex," Morpheus insisted, "I'm ready...."

"But you want it to be meaningful?"

Exactly. "Yeah. I know I'm not a hedonist. I want to like and trust someone, at least."

"That's totally normal. I had a boyfriend when I was a junior in high school, but we didn't do much. I didn't even know what to do, then."

Morpheus nodded. "Mostly what I know comes from fantasies in Human dreams," he confessed.

"Oh my Gawd! The magical land where proper lubrication and rational numbers of limbs do not exist!"

Awkwardly, they both attempted to speak at the same time. Julien continued, "neither of which apply to you in real life," while Morpheus said:

"A lot of power plays and partners unattainable in real life."

They laughed.

"I warn you now, I'm much more domineering in general than in bed," Julien said.

"I can work with that."

It was a day and a half before they had sex. The remainder of the first day was spent getting used to sleeping next to each other. The day after that, Morpheus offered to let Julien drink some of his blood. That was an intense, physical, and intimate experience in itself that came with a mixture of pleasure and pain. But, it wasn't as intense, for Morpheus, as when they made love.

That was how he thought of it: loving someone with his body.

How could he love Julien at least a little bit? He somehow knew to ask, "Is this my preferred form or yours?"

"Both," Morpheus rasped, nearly too overwhelmed to speak. Right then, it was both.

"Not sure if I should tell you," Julien said, when they rested, "There's going to be a time when your body changes. The details are mostly still private to you, but you were kinda excited about it at the time."

Morpheus shifted into the form he'd taken when Julien first approached the mirage. It was his future body, but he had to concentrate a bit to maintain it. "I'm glad you told me."

"But, remember the first thing future me wanted you to know." That Julien was sorry.

Morpheus reminded himself of the second thing: It gets better.

Not before it would get worse, unfortunately. Their time alone in the mirage was ended with the musical tones of a mobile device. Morpheus didn't recognize what the noise was at first. Loren found the small electronic device in the crash-damaged ruins of Julien's suit.

"It's not mine," he said, but Julien gestured at the machine then lifted it near his right ear. He spoke to someone: "It's me...Of course, I'm alive...No. I'm safe...OK."

Julien stood there for a while, holding the little phone.

"They're coming for me," he said.

"All right." Morpheus began preparations to disassemble the mirage. He anchored the physical components to the time in which the pair of Vampyres were arriving to collect Julien. They had his same ability to shield their minds from telepathic talent, but Morpheus was able to see the probability of their arrival.

And despite their guard, Julien's mind was open enough to supply their names: Athené and Faye. They'd slept beneath the sand somewhere along their way; Faye's hair was coming back and the bodice of her dress was caked with sand.

The two Vampyres fell against each other in laughter when they saw the Djinn. Faye swung her hips from side to side as they sang: "...dat da dat da de dat da..."

"We've come for you, Master!" Athen said, falling to his knees and bowing as if in homage. He looked young, like he was barely legal, but his powerful presence said he was ancient. He'd probably seen Roman conquest without ability to time travel.

"Don't be an ass, Thené," Julien told him. His mental defenses were back up, but they'd been close once; that was obvious.

"Listen, Jules, I'd be happy to leave you here if it weren't for Joy."

"Joy?"

"Something's happened to her," Faye said.

Morpheus stood and watched Julien leave him without a goodbye.

Joy? What else could happen to her?

-----

As of 20 September 2016 this chapter is updated to the 3rd Draft.

The chapter was extensively rewritten. The same events happen and the same information is relayed, more or less. It's just I rearranged the order and reworded most description.

This chapter was already, previous to this edit, among the most edited and rewritten. It remains so. It just includes such a pivotal scene that I keep trying to improve how the scene is presented.