Morpheus leaned against a lampshade outside of Dion's, awaiting the return of his comrades. In all reality, the god of dreams greatly enjoyed the diversions of laying back and keeping watch for anything in the night. After all, who better than the one who dwells in the dark parts of the human mind to keep watch for whatever may go 'bump' in the night?
Sighing contentedly, Morpheus looked around with half-opened eyes, scanning the busy streets of Sin City for anything that might prove... threatening. However, when you're a deity, you really don't find winos, sots, gamblers, bums, and whores to be all that threatening.
"Feeling lonely, stranger?"
Morpheus was almost startled by the voice off of his right shoulder. Turning slowly, he saw a beautiful young woman standing beside him, having snuck upon him unseen by his divine eyes. For a brief moment, Morpheus was disconcerted... until he took a deeper look at the woman beside him.
To the average onlooker, she was merely a lady of the night... a very beautiful lady of the night, but a prostitute nonetheless. Her raven black tresses hung long on her head, covering up about half of her face. Her dark eyes sparkled, the hue of them making it almost impossible to determine where her pupils began and irises ended. She was dark complected. In fact... there was very little about this whore that wasn't dark. A black halter top, miniskirt, fishnets, and stilletos, accented by a black trenchcoat which flapped gently in the soft breeze of passing cars and pedestrians. To the average onlooker, she was merely a lady of the night...
...but to the trained eye of Morpheus, she was the Lady of the Night. He smiled slightly, the lazy, lopsided grin he was known for among the old gods.
"My lady," he said softly, nodding his head. Taking her hand gently in his own, he stooped and kissed her slender fingers. "How do you fare in these... dark days?"
"Well," she said, her dark eyes flashing. "And yourself... lover?"
"Ah, Nyx," Morpheus cooed, running a hand through the goddess' jet black tresses. "I thought you'd forgotten our little... rendezvous of old."
"Not at all," Nyx - goddess of the night - replied, her bright eyes flashing. "However," she continued, gesturing toward her current garb, "times do change and one must draw worship however she is able. Where have you been?"
"Around," Morpheus responded, raising his eyebrows a bit. "And you? How were you able to avoid the destruction of the Pantheon?"
Nyx's dark eyes flashed. "Simple," she said. "I was too busy here to make the journey to Olympus. Surely, that's how you were spared as well...?"
Morpheus didn't answer, but merely tilted his head, gazing at Nyx with a sidelong glance. "I was certain that I was the last. How many of us are there remaining?"
"Enough," Nyx replied, a coy smile rising to her lips. "While the initial Olympian Pantheon may be gone, a few of us lesser deities still remain." Her lips curled slightly. "More's the better, I suppose."
"How do you mean?" the Dream King asked.
"Did you honestly feel any compulsion for them?" Nyx replied. "They scorned the lesser deities, yourself included. Mighty Apollo governed the day, but his siter, Artemis got all the credit for my realm... and she held dominion over the moon only! Tell me, lover: is that justice?"
"A wise man once held the belief that justice is doing that which we are born to do," Morpheus offered simply.
"Then he was a fool," Nyx said, a momentary spark of passion leaping into her dark eyes. "A fool deluded by the oracle of his master. The oracle, ironically enough, of Apollo."
Morpheus grinned slightly. "So, this is all a sort of conspiracy, then?"
"Call it what you will," Nyx said. "I, however, do not mourn the conquering of Olympus."
Morpheus said nothing. Instead, he gazed upon her, his eyes softening slightly. He looked at Nyx in a way he had not in millennia... a look of tenderness.
His hand reached up to her face, caressing her cheek softly. Momentarily stirred from her passionate blasphemy, the goddess of the night locked eyes with the god of dreams and for a wondrous moment... they remembered their once dark union.
Their lips met, the intensity that had once been on Nyx's lips now flowing to Morpheus' by virtue of their kiss - a kiss that dreams would be made of. Morpheus himself would see to that.
As they separated, Nyx looked up at the god with loving eyes. "Whatever happened to us, lover?"
Morpheus smiled. "Your dark side," he answered.
Nyx smiled teasingly. "Everyone has a dark side, Ever-changing One."
"True," he said. "Unfortunately - and, I suppose, ironically - your dark side is all I was ever able to see."
Their eyes met again and Nyx leaned forward, giving her beloved a peck on the cheek. "Farewell, Shifter," she said softly. "We really must get together before this century ends."
"Indeed," Morpheus answered with a smile. "Farewell, Dark One..."
As he turned his head, he caught himself. What had he said? Dark One?
Quickly turning back to confront the goddess... he was dismayed to find her gone. There was nothing at his side save the Las Vegan street and the various passersby.
"...dark one..." he whispered to himself, his mind and heart racing with equal intensity and contrasting points. Could it be? he thought to himself. Could she be the one we seek?
A heavy hand landed on Morpheus' shoulder. This time, Morpheus was startled, turning to see the Wind Lord Aeolus behind him, shaking his shoulder with his godlike strength.
"Morpheus," he said, looking at his friend with a certain concern. "Who were you talking to just now?"
The god's mind reeled as he looked Aeolus in the eye. "No one," he said resolutely. "Just... talking to myself."
Aeolus' look of confusion gradually changed to one of bemusement. "Come, Morpheus," he said, leading the god by the arm to where Medea and Sthenno stood with a young man in a suit. "Allow me to introduce you to our newest recruit..."
