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There was something wrong.
He could feel it in his bones, as though he knew, without question, that something was wrong, that something had been stolen from him and unless he fought, he wouldn't get it back. He scowled, and looked around the cell where he was being kept. There had to be a way out of here. He'd broken out of his fair share of prisons, there was no reason that he couldn't break out of this one as well.
He paused and frowned, looking up at the cuffs and tilted his head. Had he broken out of prisons before? That was an odd thing for a person to know about themselves, perhaps. But he did. He knew it, with a certainty. Just like he knew that he could dislocate his thumb and ensure that it slid out of the cuffs with ease because they were loose and that meant he wouldn't have to try hard at all.
What type of man was he that he knew how to slide his hands out of handcuffs with a very familiar pop? He pushed the cuffs off of his hands and dropped to his feet in the wet cell, looking around to see what else there was. It was very dark, and damp, and the feeling of wrong only grew stronger by the second. He popped his thumbs back into their sockets and squinted in the darkness, trying to make out who else was there.
"Hello?" he called. There had to be someone. There were always other people in the cells, unless you were dangerous and they left you alone. Sometimes they did that to try to protect the others. Maybe he would need to make sure he wasn't alone. Was he dangerous? He thought perhaps he had been, because his hand remembered the feel of a sword, of a gun, of a bow, and many other weapons besides.
So he was dangerous, and he had been captured. Okay. He might not know his name, or who captured him, or why they captured him, but he could work with that. He got the feeling he had made due with far less. That was what mattered, he would figure this out and get his freedom and find his... friend?
He blinked and stared straight ahead, at the outline of bars in front of him. His friend. He had a friend. A friend that he needed to get back to. A friend who was waiting for him, who would come for him, and it wasn't safe. He needed to get away and get free so his friend wasn't hurt. This could be dangerous for his friend and a part of him knew that and was very aware of it. His friend could be in trouble just like he was.
He made his way over to the bars and tested them, pulling at them, one after another. Two of them were loose enough if he worked at them, but the others were strong, despite the grime that had clearly accumulated on them. He pushed his hair out of his face, uncaring of the mess and wished that he had something to tie his hair back. Maybe he needed to cut his hair off, there was no need to keep it this long.
"Who are you, and what have you done to me?" A snarl ripped through the room.
He spun around, shock and fear flooding him at the growl that came from the shadowy creature in the corner of the room that he hadn't seen before. There was a pained screech that escaped shortly after, and then the sound of claws scrambling at the bricks beneath them. "I don't know, I haven't done anything, I don't remember!" he shouted, trying to get away from whatever was coming after him. "Please, I don't remember, I just have to find my friend, he's the only thing I remember!"
All at once, the creature froze and shook, it's great hulking body heaving as it let out a heavy breath. "Friend."
"My, my friend," he said, nodding, even as he kept his back pressed to the bars behind him, swallowing hard. "I don't know where he is, or what happened, but I have to protect him. I promised that I would keep him safe, and I don't remember anything about me, but I know he's important. I have to protect him."
"You... do not lie," the growling voice said.
He met the shining white eyes in a galaxy of black claws and fur and licked his lips, shaking his head. "No, no, I wouldn't lie. He's the only thing I remember, and he's important to me. I have to keep him safe, I have to get out and make sure that I keep him safe." He tightened his hands on the bars and watched the creature carefully. "What, what about you? Do you remember anything?"
There was a low growl that escaped the creature, but Hob got the feeling it wasn't directed at him. He blinked and stared at the creature again. Hob? Was that him? Was he Hob? "I am Hob," he said to himself, quietly, testing out the words, and there was a level of rightness that settled into his stomach. Yes, that is who he was. He was Hob, and he had a friend that he needed to keep safe. That was all that he needed to know.
"Fae," the creature snarled. "This has the markings of the Fae."
"The Fae?" Hob blinked and his eyes widened as he looked around the cage that they were encased in. For some reason he had not imagined this sort of place to exist in the Fae realm, instead it should have been in Hell. Hob tilted his head as it started to ache and rubbed at his temples. Where had that thought come from? What did he think these cells belonged in Hell? Had he been to Hell? Was that something he was familiar with?
"Well, I'm not sure how we ended up here, but clearly we need to work together to break free," Hob said, looking at the creature. "What should I call you?" He tilted his head and frowned. He'd worded that so strangely as though it was how things had to be worded here.
There was another frustrated growl from the creature, and Hob sympathized, if it was anything like him, the creature did not remember anything either. "Let me guess, you do not know?"
"I do not," the creature snarled, fury growing by the second. "However I know that I have the power to make them pay. For this type of trick will not be accepted kindly. It is born of cruelty inherent only to the Fae, and for them to perform this sort of magic, there had to have been a reason."
Hob frowned, testing the two bars that had give again to see if it was possible to really remove them and the more he tested them the more he thought that was the case. "It's stranger that they locked us up in a place that we can escape." The creature swung to him, those pinpoint bright eyes focused entirely on him and Hob felt an inappropriate shiver run down his spine. He was discovering all sorts of things about himself today.
"What do you mean?" the creature asked. "Easy to escape?"
"Yeah, look," Hob gestured to the bars, and gave them a tug, and showed how much it rattled in its holdings. "With a little bit of effort I think I could break this open, nevermind you. You could easily break free of this particular cell. So why are we kept here?" He tapped a finger to his jaw. "Also why were we put together when the rest of the cells appear to be empty?"
The creature let out a low rumble, settling back onto his haunches as shadows swirled around it. "You ask wise questions." The creature observed the room, studying it pointedly before closing its eyes and breathing in deep.
Hob watched the creature inhale several times over, as though it had many pairs of lungs and was doing far more than absorb simply air. There was something further to the action, something that he could not see with his senses, but what part of him could feel. "What are you doing?"
"Getting answers," the creature stated. "I do not know how, but I do know I can get answers if I reach for them. The trick is to reach in the right direction."
Hob nodded, because that did not make any sense, but then, neither did anything in this situation. Why was he something to be feared in the same way this creature was? Though, perhaps he was not, and instead, his captors had put him into the cage as food for the creature. That would make more sense, but then, why had his memories been removed? What had happened to his friend? He had come here with his friend.
Hob stilled, even as he listened to the creature breathe behind him. "I came here with my friend," he stated, soft and plain. "The same one that I need to protect, that I need to save. I came here with him. I need to get to him." Panic grew in him by the second and he looked around for a way to break free. "I have to help him, he's been captured before and I promised I would..." Hob trailed off and stared at the wall across the way. "I promised him that I would never allow him to be captured again."
"Why would you make such a promise?" the creature asked. "It is a foolish one. You cannot protect your loved ones from everything."
"Loved ones," Hob repeated, nodding slowly. That made sense. His friend was a dearly loved one. Of course he would do anything to protect such a friend. "Because, I would have been able to back it up," he said, giving another firm nod. That felt right and felt real with what he now knew about himself to be true. He would have been able to help, to keep any of his friends safe, but especially his Friend.
The creature scoffed. "Remaining in this cell is a poor idea. We must escape, before we are nothing more than a Dream." He stalked forward and pushed a claw on the loose bar that the human had indicated, glad when he had enough self-preservation to scramble out of the way.
That word pinged something in his mind, but it also caused an ache badly enough to have him crashing to his knees. He groaned and held his head, even as the creature began to press harder on the bars, causing them to screech. Dream. Why were dreams familiar? What did that mean? He'd never put much stock in his dreams, they were only dreams after all But Dreams were important. He knew that, the same way he knew he had to rescue his Friend. Why were dreams important? What did that have to do with anything?
Hob gave an impatient tug at his hair, the gesture familiar as he forced himself to take a deep breath. "Think, Hob, think," he ordered, his mind racing. Any time he thought the word dream, that same lancing pain appeared, but it was getting less and less with each passing moment.
"What are you doing?" the creature asked, scowling.
Hob grit his teeth and focused. "Dreams," he repeated and gasped in pain. "Why are Dreams important?" More pain, his vision was starting to grow worryingly dark, but he had to keep pressing. "Dreams. Tell me why dreams matter. Tell me why I care so much about dreams. What is important about them? Dreams. Why do I want to keep my dreams, where are these dreams coming from?" he babbled out the words, even when the creature growled in protest, repeating the same sentences over and over again, the pain growing steadily worse as he tried to push through whatever there was sealed around the word dreams.
"Who is Dream?" Hob snarled, and abruptly the pain was gone, flooding out of him in a second, and he stared straight ahead. "Who... who is Dream?" he repeated, his voice soft.
The creature stilled, and was no longer even breathing, and Hob's eyes darted over to where it had become completely still. He frowned and tested out the name again. "Dream. Dream is someone I need to find," he said, trying to feel out the shape of what was still hidden from him. "Something is keeping me from remembering, but I can force my way through it. It hurts, but I can." He took a step toward the creature. "Do you know who Dream is? And why he might be important?"
"Dream," the creature repeated, and then roared with pain, stumbling back from the bars.
It was the same pain that Hob had gone through moments again, and he stepped forward, unafraid of the swiping claws. "Keep saying it. Break through. It has a hold on you but you can break through it. Say it again, keep saying it."
The creature roared the word again and again until it's voice went hoarse and Hob was panting, breathing in time with it until, at last, it went still, just as Hob had. He watched carefully as bright eyes met his and there was a clear answer, this time devoid of pain.
"I am Dream," the creature stated. "I have always been Dream."
Hob's breath caught and he took a step closer, his fingers reaching out to the feathers that looked like fur on Dream's body and stopped just before touching him. "Dream. I needed to find you. Do you know why? Do you know me?" He swallowed and watched Dream's eyes as they remained on him. "My name is Hob. Do you know that name?"
The creature went to say his name, Hob could see the shape of it, but he let out a screech of pain that shook the prison around them and swiped out at him, forcing him back even as a claw swept across his chest, setting him on fire. He gasped, his hands going to cover it, even as blood gushed out and around his hands. "Oh no, no, it's okay, no," in the back of his mind, there was no true fear, no worry, not of death. He was not afraid of death and never had been. He'd decided not to die.
Hob blinked and stared at Dream, at the anguish on his face, even as his body heaved with every breath he took, and forced himself to smile "Don't worry, I won't die, I've decided not to die, I can't die." They were promises all mixed in on each other that made no sense at all, but there they were, mocking and taunting him. "I'll be all right Dream, I'll be okay, don't worry, don't worry I promise..."
Even as he felt to the ground, his vision very dark, Hob felt the same certainty, deep in his bones. He did not want to die, and so he would not. Not even here, not even here and not like this. He was not afraid of death, he was not. After all she...
She?
She was a friend?
Hob closed his eyes and felt his breath rattle out of his lungs.
Dream let out a shriek that quaked the ground around them, swiping open the cells with a single wave of a massive and meaty paw, throwing the brick out of the way, Hob, his name had been Hob, curled protectively against him in his other arm. He charged through the hallways, the brick collapsing around him as he roared, shadowy magic gathering around him as he moved faster, glad when the creatures who dared to look in got out of his way, until at last there was a door.
Then there was not, as Dream's shadows tore it down and off its hinges and he charged into the circle of people who had appeared to be waiting for him. He roared his pain again, but they were unfazed, especially her, sitting on the throne, staring at him with a hungry expression. It made something uncomfortable curl in his chest and he held Hob tighter. Hob had promised. Even though his heart had stopped, he had promised.
In another instant, he felt Hob's heart begin to beat once more, and the soft, wet sound of a breath muffled against his fur. Dream turned his attention to the mocking smirk that waited for him on the woman's face and growled, low and deep until the entire room shook. "What have you done?"
"Done, my dear Dream?" she tittered. "Why I have only deigned to show you the truth. The truth as I have always known it, and the truth as you should have known it."
Dream snarled, and watched in satisfaction as several of the Fae danced back and away from him. It felt good to see them scatter like that, afraid of him. Filled with fear and filled with worry about what would happen if he got to close. "And what truth was that?"
She tossed her hair. "That a human was always wrong as your choice. After all, you killed him with your own hands, as surely as you would have had you been yourself with your memories intact."
Hob pushed on Dream's arm, asking to be set free, and Dream hesitated, holding him closer, but Hob's shoves got more insistent, so Dream released him to the floor, where he stood up in front of a gasping court, the open wound on his chest still sluggishly bleeding.
"Not nearly as dead as you were expecting, Your Majesty," Hob said, his tongue filled with cotton and his entire body throbbing with pain. But there were some things that he knew and was more familiar with than pain, and this was one of them. He smirked at her. "Nice try though. Smart plan, too. Remove both of our memories and rely on his viciousness to see if I die. But now, now your little trick has failed. Give him back what you have stolen."
Titania bared her teeth. "I have stolen nothing that he did not let me take!"
Hob growled and stepped in front of Dream, even as he felt him growl louder behind him. "You trapped him in a Nightmare form, and then robbed him of his memories and identity. That is tantamount to a declaration of war against the Dreaming, and were he in full possession of what you took from him, he would agree!" His voice echoed and a coat settled into place around his shoulders, wreathing him in power.
"Give it back to him and we will consider, but only consider, mind you, leaving with those in tact, and your realm left to rot in your hands."
Titania stared down the human in front of her and scowled. "You dare to make demands of me? I could trap you in an eternal life here and you would be none the wiser."
"Except I would," Hob said, staring her down. "I was breaking out of the spell that you had cast before Dream broke us out. I would be able to break it again, I'm certain of it. And, it turns out, that dying removes the spell entirely. Didn't plan for that, did you?" He wiped his hands and stared her down.
"Now," he demanded, staring at her. "Remove the spell on Dream."
Titania lifted her hands and cupped them, blowing a stream of air at Nightmare, where he was still standing, heaving, behind the human, as though he could still be as protective as he always was. It was a disgusting sight, unbefitting one of the Endless and the power they carried. She watched as the Nightmare form melted away from Dream and then there was a furious Endless standing before her. She smiled faintly.
Dream stepped forward with a quick brush of his fingers across Hob's shoulder to shift the reality around Hob enough so the wound on his chest had never happened. It was a figment of a dream and would be locked away forever, where he would feel his lover's chest splitting under the sharpness of his claws.
"You have declared war on the Dreaming, Titania," Dream intoned, his voice reverberating with power. "You lured us here under the guise of peace talks and to strip us of our selfhood and memories, to attempt to ensure I killed him?" He tilted his head and stared at her, watching as fear crept into her eyes. "I have thrown others into Hell to rot for far, far worse."
Titania tilted her head up. "Demand your punishment." Her eyes twinkled and she tilted her head. "Will you have my head, vengeful Dream? To give all those here a reason to despise you more than they already do?"
Hob crossed his arms over his chest. "I address the Fae Court," he called, his voice ringing, bringing the attention of the entire Court to himself. "While we would be within our rights to demand the life of your Queen, we are also fair and willing to show her mercy." He felt the growl that was growing in Dream's chest and held up his hand. "However, that does not mean I wish for her to suffer no punishment. Instead, I suggest a punishment that fits the crime."
He stepped forward to stand beside Dream, reaching out to take his hand, giving it a slow squeeze. "Our punishment is your memories and selfhood. Stripped from you by Dream himself, as you stripped him. Locked in your Fae form and set lose in the feywild. Far from the Court, far from those who would remind you of who you are. You are to live, but you are to live as you once were, without any knowledge of who you are now."
Titania surged from her throne, her face twisted and furious. "You cannot!"
"Does the Fae Court find this punishment fair for the crime committed against one of the Endless and their Consort?" Hob asked, turning away from Titania to meet the eyes of the Fae around him. "Speak now if you would see us demand her head instead."
Silence reigned, echoing around them, even as Titania continued her shrieks of protest. Hob turned to look back at the Queen and took one step forward, not in front of Dream, but to threaten her and smiled. "You cast a spell. Dream? It will be no spell from him. It was be an altering of reality. There will be no breaking free as I did. Just in case any here loyal to you think to come find you."
As Dream stepped forward, black clawed hands reaching out to cup Titania's face as she screamed and fought, Hob looked around to the Court once more. "Whoever rules in her place, know that this is your one and only warning. If you ever move against the Dreaming again, we will attack swiftly, violently, and you will not survive. You may have long memories, but I assure you. The memory of one of the Endless is far, far longer."
With that threat leveled at them, Hob waited until Dream was done with Titania and took his hand as they stepped away and the sand swirled around them, bringing him back to his apartment above the New Inn, sagging in relief. "Next time," Hob said with a laugh. "We aren't going to the Fae Realm for diplomatic overtures, no matter what you say."
Dream grunted out a singular agreement, nodding. "Very well."
Hob reached out and took his hand, now looking much less like claws and more like real fingers and kissed it, pulling Dream in closer. "I'm all right."
Dream scowled and pulled his hand away. "I mauled you."
"No, you reacted in pain and swiped out with your claws," Hob corrected. "You didn't attack me. A reaction in pain is not something that I will ever hold against you, love."
Dream frowned and stared down at the floor between them. "You died."
Hob shrugged. "Not the first time I've died like that and it will hardly be the last. One more for the books. Besides, it's also not the first time you've torn me up as Nightmare, even if we normally do that in the Dreaming."
Dream studied Hob carefully and reached out to pull his husband, his Consort, fully into his arms. "They tried to take you from me."
"Never gonna happen, love," Hob reminded Dream, holding onto him tightly. "It's not going to happen. I will not let it."
Dream let out a shuddering breath and held onto Hob tighter. He closed his eyes and settled back into the feel of the Dreaming and everything that he could now feel once more. "She could not cut me off from the Dreaming entirely, but I did not know what I was reaching out to feel. It was there, but I did not understand it. I did not like the feel of it."
Hob nodded and tangled his fingers in Dream's shirt. "Never felt pain like that before either. It felt like my skull was splitting open. I've never felt anything like that before." He shook his head and nuzzled into Dream's neck and cuddled closer to him. "Don't blame me if I hold you extra close tonight. I'm not going to be able to help it."
"I feel the same," Dream agreed, clinging tighter to Hob. "Might I suggest that we go to your bedroom?"
"Yeah," Hob agreed, even though he didn't move out of the circle of Dream's arms. "Just give me a minute. Or ten." He breathed in deeply and focused on the tight hold around him, and that they were no longer going to be subject to Titania's general bullshit. It would be something that they could be relieved about tomorrow, but not today. Today he was going to cling to Dream and be thankful for what he had.