The tragic orphans / The heinous mall plot

Yet another dream featuring Emyr... no.  Lalein.

Lots of tags this time, because we have to. "I" in this case is Sophia but murky, with bits of Colleen also witnessing this dream.

-

First part of the dream - Lalein as a child, desperate to escape his current circumstances at home.  He was running blindly through a sunny urban corridor, dodging people and diving into the shadows to swim.  As he followed a crowd's shadow into a patch of sunlight, he was accidentally left stranded in the shadow of a tiny pebble as the people flowed away, and the shadow was so small that he was constricted as if tortured.  He could feel himself suffocating, gasping for air in nonexistent space as his form was crushed to fit that tiny sliver.

He still didn't leave the shadow, though.  I watched him write with blood.  The handwriting did not look like Lalein's mature script - it looked like Emyr's, Lalein's blended with Adriano's, but a child's scrawl.  He wrote, "I would rather be tortured than go back there."

This portion faded to the next.

-

Second part of the dream - I was watching a disorganized orphanage, and through the lens of a girl of approximately seven or eight years old.  She was begrudgingly wandering around a room with multiple bunk beds.  She was cleaning up while the supposed caregivers were shooting the shit, talking, ignoring the many children there.  There must've been at least two dozen kids, some as young as infants in cradles.  She was the oldest and she was the only person taking responsibility for everyone around her.

As the leader of this orphanage, a priest in a black outfit, scathed at her for bumping into him with an arm full of laundry, she dropped the bundle and absolutely lost her shit.  She screamed at all of them, even throwing something at the priest, like a bedside clock or something.  At first they were trying to grab her to discipline her, but she kept evading capture, lancing around the room while still screaming. At some point she was so poignant with her words that they hung their heads in shame.  She was articulating things such as, "Even I, a child, can tell that in your hearts you have no love or compassion for these children!  You are milking us for money and leaving us to rot!  Do you even know when was the last time you changed [Baby]'s diapers?  You are breeding a catastrophe!"

-

Third part of the dream - It was through my POV, and I was working at a mall.  At first it was pleasant, after hours when all the shops were closing, and I was chatting with Cassandra V, our old neighbour from the condo.  We were wandering through the doors when rain began to torrentially downpour, and I bid her farewell as she rushed to her car.  Then, I turned back inside the mall.

I could tell in the dream that I was trying to live there, sneakily, because I had nowhere else to go.  I went to this evening spa area, a location you could rent out for showering and changing, much like some airports.  I was the only person in the place, going into my changing stall, which was like a fully enclosed changeroom with locked door, mirror, and podlights.  I noted a small metal panel nearby which, when I flipped all the way open, I realized was a towel deposit. 

As I stripped fully, I heard footsteps outside of my stall.  At first I paid it no mind, thinking there was another patron, but then a man entered and I flinched.  "Hey!" I cried, covering myself with my hands quickly.  "This stall is occupied!"

The man was only in a pair of jeans.  He looked like a cologne model, caucasian with an eight pack abdomen and a short beard.  But his dark eyes flashed at me and he said, "Oh, I know."

He grabbed me by the arms and slammed me against the back wall.  I suddenly realized in horror that he was about to sexually assault me.

He kicked the door closed behind him when I tried to struggle out of his vice grip.  I kicked his stomach and he grunted, but used his other hand to pin me to the wall by the throat.  My scream came out gargled but I made enough noise, slamming myself against the small towel deposit window.  It opened and I met the eyes of a surprised woman on the other side.  Instead of helping me, she glanced at the man, nodded, and quickly shut the window.

It was a repeat crime, and these two were in on it.  

As the rapist went to touch me, I screamed for Lalein.

In many past dreams, documented in this journal, whenever Lalein comes to help me out of these terrible situations, usually there is an element of destruction.  Usually there is chewing, biting, a sense of power and erasure.  This time, Lalein was a child.  He came out of the shadow behind the mirror and was no more than ten years old.  He looked sad and dishevelled and bony.  But when he realized what was happening to me, he sharpened like a feral little animal.

Lalein threw himself at the man's torso, biting, clawing, chewing.  The man yelped, turning his attention away to punch and kick Lalein furiously.  When the man doubled over after a particularly nasty bite, with all my might, I shoved my thumbs into his eyes and felt them pop.

The man screamed and fell to the ground.  I didn't even think.  I grabbed Lalein by the hand and we sprinted out of there.  I was fully naked and he was stumbling, but we ran out into the violent storm outside of the mall.  Luckily it was a hot summer storm, so I was showered with the warmth. I looked at him in the wan light.  The rain washed the blood off both of us, but he stared back with haggard, lost eyes.  With nowhere else to go... I took him back to the orphanage.

It was no surprise to any of us that I was the older girl in this dream.  Hand in hand, we quietly went back, where one of the caretakers exclaimed upon seeing me naked, but at least they hurried us inside.

-

It is now 7:45am; we woke up 45 minutes ago to this horrifying debacle of a dream.  I have checked and Emyr has fused back, but he looks exhausted.  He murmured that the Lalein parts of him are currently activated by something, but the Adriano parts are holding him steady.

Damn, Emyr, I'm sorry.  What a godawful dream for both of us.

Emyr's first dream

Happened last night. Fascinating.

Sophia's POV but Emyr heavily featured. Around January (birthday) this year, Adriano and Lalein fused to become one alter. His name is Emyr. 

On March 22, 2025, Simon and I moved into his grandmother's house, which I will call Blacksmith. 

-

I was going through business conferences in Aeolus city, or at least something similar to it. Aeolus city is vaguely 1890s-1920s British and Germanic architecture; this dream took place in a nest of modern skyscrapers overlooking a vast blue sky and distant sunny great lake, much like Toronto.

I was socializing and blending in particularly well, but I had an agenda. Commingling with groups, I remember being in a conference hall set up like a small theatre, tan walls with a giant projector screen and rows of unfolded chairs. There was a group of women there, five friends, the ringleader of which made... Unsavory racial jokes about the others, who were a diverse range. I laughed it off with grace and diverted the conversation to how the five of them could cosplay the Muses from Hercules. The redhead girl beside me became sparkly and excited, going off about how they're all good singers and they can commit seriously to the bit. As she spoke, I watched the outfits of the muses manifest on their bodies, glittering linen togas with gold accents and metallic laurels.  I smiled at her and told her, "Do it.  You can absolutely make it happen."

I soon parted from them by keeping my hands busy, heading to a back corner to a dishwasher that was a perfect replica of the Sears Kenmore 1998 at Blacksmith where I live now. It was a steamy, unclean struggle, just like its real life counterpart.  I guess mundane struggles do bleed into these things, huh?

It became clear I was part of "the help" in this section of the dream, which I innately knew as I navigated all these rich and hoity toity people. The women, realizing this, soon lost interest in me and disappeared - the redhead spared me an anxious backward glance, but I had already moved on from them. I kept my ears open as I served hot dishes as it was lunchtime.

I eventually rolled a serving cart up upstairs, on what must've been the 20th floor or higher. Some of the windows were cranked open on the facade facing the beautiful urban backdrop outside. I recall the men staring at me strangely when I sat down next to them after serving. The pair beside me sneered, but left me alone as I ate a much more modest meal from a takeout container. Once they started ignoring me, I freely eavesdropped on their conversation.

It became very clear the man next to me was boasting about his child slavery operation. He counted out numbers to his colleague, and mentioned, "At least one of them is A-grade stuff.  I mean, she's a beauty compared to all the shit brats this shipment."  I had a flash vision of a little girl with cornsilk hair and haggard eyes, no older than four or five.

Coolly, I listened as his colleague kissed his ass like no tomorrow. He went on about other mundane things, like meetings and quality inspections and coordinating with another faction of the operation. Having heard enough, I summoned Emyr.

Emyr came as a leaping shadow, movements like Adriano on the hunt, but blooming black smoke like Lalein. He perched on the window right outside, holding the ledge for leverage. As soon as he manifested, the businessmen in the room froze, and some of them shouted, "Oh my God, it's Him!" 

The NPCs of this dream clearly recognized Emyr as leader and punisher. It felt like a perfect blend - like they recognized the dire vampire kingship of Adriano, with the mythical brutality of Lalein. 

He raised a brow at me. "Bad timing?" he chuckled as the businessman swung to stare at me in incredulity. 

I mulled over the witnesses.  It may have served us better to have used a subtler approach, to have caused less alarm... but I ultimately hummed, "No, you know what, you're already here. You went through all the trouble, you might as well do it now."

It's important to note how mundane our conversation was. When we met eyes, we were both surprised to see each other because we had a lucid moment recognizing that this is a dream. There was a flush of mutual pleasure, since we don't typically lucid dream together.  Very quickly we cleared our throats and righted ourselves.  We had to stick to our plot!

It's also important to note that Emyr did not look like himself at the moment. He looked like... Well, shit, he looked like he was in bad drag. His eyebrows were blocked and painted in the wrong shape, too arched and too high like he was permanently surprised. He had a wig on that looked like paper mache texture, in the yellow silhouette of Meier Link's hair from Vampire Hunter D - Adriano's very original inspiration. His eyelashes had been bleached, the bases of them still black but the tips... frosted.  Everything south of his jaw still looked like himself but boy, oh boy, that mug was cracked.

I sheepishly added, "Oh yeah, just... I don't think this is a good look for you, love."

He sheepishly replied, "I was trying something new to hide my identity. Suppose I'll eventually get better at this."

We had a quick mental exchange where I demanded why he didn't just will his appearance different with shadows, and he paused. He explained it doesn't work that way for him - what, did I think he was Sable with her potions? - but also stubbornly insisted that he wanted to experiment. I stifled a laugh at his expense. Did he think this would hide his obvious powers and infamous identity???

While we were having our chummy chat, which only happened in seconds, the business men beside us were still frozen like prey in front of a predator. Emyr reached into the window with a sliver of shadow. Like spaghettification, he drew the businessman outside, reconstituting him before our eyes. Horrified screams erupted when Emyr dangled the panicking man by the throat. Emyr winked at me before descending. He hopped on lily pads of shadow on the way down to soften the velocity so he didn't snap the man's neck before he was done with him. Soon, they disappeared from sight. 

I got up, glancing at the room of horrified old men. I narrowed my eyes. "We'll be back for you," I told them before I sank into a waiting shadow. 

The end of the dream was a montage. Emyr threatened the slaver. Took him to his banks and patiently had him reveal his information and security credentials. Sat him down in a cement interrogation room and had him write names of his colleagues. "Collaborate with me and I'll free you," Emyr wooed, sounding reasonable and sympathetic. 

The shaking businessman complied too hastily, ready to give up everyone implicit in the slave trafficking ring.  It was a shame that he was only upper middle management.  He was not the ultimate leader, but certainly a power player. Emyr was disgusted to realize the church orphanages - much like the one Trace grew up in - was a front for this heinous operation. Rage prickled his nape but he kept his face neutral.  He lulled the businessman into a false sense of security to ply all the information he needed.

At last, when all the important info was wrung dry, Emyr took the man to Aeolus drawing room underground. 

He released his disguise, his long hair flowing freely in waves of ebony and gold.  He went to the globe where he keeps his drinks and poured the man a brandy on ice.  Emyr sat down next to him and gave him the drink, which the man took shakily and downed in big, inelegant gulps.

After a moment of peaceful silence, Emyr lunged for his throat.  He bit the man in the neck and the man screamed.

"Why!  Why?!  I complied!" he groveled as he fell to the floor.  Blood splattered onto the wood and the chaise.  In the distance, Emyr could hear Marya grumble about the cleanup.  "I-I gave up everyone for you!  Please! Spare me!"

Emyr's face twitched in amusement.  "Do you think that is repentance for all you've done?  Do you realize how many children you've ruined for profit?  In my city, in my kingdom?"

And there was a howl of terror from the slaver as Emyr descended, fangs glinting.

That's it!  There was a tiny bit more on me towards the end but I woke up shortly after this and furiously noted the dream down.  Emyr that was fun wasn't it?  I hope we dream together again!

(I hear him laugh, "I'm sure we will.")