Chapter Text
One night, as I lay peacefully in bed—my eyelids heavy with the weight of sleep—a dream overtook my senses. It was a dream that seemed to stretch as long, if not longer, than my own immortal mind. Its form lingered in clarity, an exquisite vision so real that I yearned for more.
In the quiet depths of my great palace hall, nestled beneath the heavy wool blankets scattered upon my bed, I dreamed of a man—a beautiful, god-like man, whose face would come to haunt every shadow of my night. His skin, olive-hued and slick with oil, shone in the sunlight, as though the sun-god himself had laid his golden mark upon that mortal flesh. At first, my mind, conscious as it was, could not recognize the figure before me. The blinding light shielded his face, and my dreaming eyes were left blind.
“Who are you, stranger? Man or god, figment or fate? Why have you come? Why do you invade my dreams with your nameless visage?”
“Faustus,” the man replied, his voice as smooth as his glistening skin.
“You know me, Faustus,” he murmured. And indeed I did; my memory of him was only a month old.
“You know me, Faustus. You have seen my face before. So say my name, if I am truly within your mind.” I obeyed his command, the will of this man in that moment more powerful than the resolve of any god.
“Andronicus…” I whispered, again and again, until his marvelous name clung tightly to my heart.
Then, a single tear, warm and silent, fell gently from my eye, leaving me once more blind to the wonder of my dream. And with that tear, I awoke—my cruel mind abandoning the beloved figure who would not relent in his quest to capture my immortal soul.