"In dreams, even gods wear masks."
---
Scene: Lucen's Apartment – Midnight
Rain hisses on the windows. Lucen sleeps restlessly on a futon. His bandages are fresh. His breath is shallow.
The city is silent. But his mind is not.
---
Scene: The Dream Realm – Somewhere Between Flame and Fog
Lucen stands barefoot on a surface of liquid obsidian, with a sky made of stars that move like eyes.
A soft wind echoes like whispers in a language he doesn't know… but feels familiar.
Then—
A dark figure appears. Cloaked in shadows that move like smoke. His voice is soft, smooth, and vast.
> ???:
"Lucen. The 8th. The unwanted. The unplanned. Yet the one… who burns the brightest."
Lucen turns sharply.
> Lucen:
"Who are you?"
???:
"Some call me Morpheus. Some, Phobetor. Some, simply… Dream."
> "I come to those who tremble in silence. And you, dear boy, are a cathedral of trembling."
Lucen clenches his jaw.
> Lucen:
"I don't want anything from you."
Morpheus:
"Ah. But I'm not offering. I'm simply revealing."
He waves his hand. The obsidian cracks.
Below it—scenes from Lucen's past flicker like film:
The death of Tariq.
The fire.
The half-burned city.
His own reflection—eldritch, twisted, glowing with demonic veins.
> Morpheus:
"You think you've buried this? No. You've only taught it to whisper."
---
Scene: Back to Reality – Morning
Lucen gasps awake, shirt soaked in sweat. His eyes glow faint red—then fade.
He stares at his trembling hands.
---
Scene: Lucen Visits Eshun – Monk Temple on the Hill
Lucen sits at the steps, silent. Eshun kneels beside him with tea.
> Eshun:
"You've seen him, haven't you? The Dreaming God."
Lucen nods.
> Lucen:
"He's… not just dreams. He knows things. My rage. My lies. My guilt."
Eshun:
"Because dreams are made of truth... buried under symbols."
> "You cannot defeat him with fists, Lucen. You must survive him with identity."
Lucen breathes deeply.
> Lucen:
"Then teach me to anchor my soul."
---
Scene: Dream Realm Again – That Night
Lucen returns. But now, he's wearing his orange kāṣāya robe. The one he wore as a child monk. A symbol of self.
Morpheus watches, intrigued.
> Morpheus:
"Oh? The child returns with memory stitched in fabric."
Lucen:
"I'm not a child anymore. And I don't belong to you."
> Morpheus (smiling faintly):
"You belong to fire, Lucen. But you carry water. That… is what makes you dangerous."
He leans close.
> "But remember—your flames aren't extinguished. Just sleeping. And I know what wakes them."
---
Scene: Vice Watches From Afar – Elsewhere
Vice, surrounded by cracked mirrors and sinful relics, sips wine and watches news footage: Lucen helping fire victims quietly.
> Vice:
"You dream now, little light. But nightmares… always wake hungry."
He places a photo of a new target on the table.
It's Aria.
End of chapter 8...
---
Next Chapter:- CHAPTER 9: HERETIC FLAME🔥