Cruel Dreams

Okay well first off but sorry guys there's no sex in this one. Couldn't quite manage to find a place where it would fit in. Anyway, I got the idea for this one shot last night while I was reading The Kindly Ones after coming home from seeing At World's End. Enjoy folks.

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Jack groaned a bit, unable to wake. He was dreaming about the ship again. He'd dreamed of it every night for nearly four months. A ship with black sails, that was almost impossible to catch. It had speed, strength, everything he'd wanted in his own vessel, and the dream taunted him. At this moment, he was at the helm, barking orders. Then he realized that the dream was different this time. The skies were slightly darker, and he felt as though someone were standing next to him. He dreaded looking, but in the end he couldn't resist. So he turned.

A man stood there, pale and svelte. His black hair was wild and his clothes seemed to be made of the very night itself. But it was his eyes that had caught Jack by surprise. They were like looking into the abyss, and seeing twin stars twinkling at the bottom of the black. And suddenly, he spoke. "Hello Jack Sparrow." The ship dissolved, but instead of plummeting into the sea, they were standing in a vast hall. Jack looked about, then said, "Bloody odd thing to happen. Usually I wake up about now." He then turned to the man and asked, "So who're you mate? Always nice to know who it is I'm dreamin' about."

The man seemed to be thinking and did not respond. Jack stepped closer and said, "I don't owe you money do I? Be a terrible thing to try to pay it back in a dream. The coins'd probably turn into birds or somethin'." At this the man smiled slightly, and answered, "You owe me nothing Jack Sparrow. Rather I am here due to a boon I am to fulfill." "Ah! Well, I don't know what you owe me but I'd not say no to some gold and a bit o' rum." "It is not a debt I owe to you but to another, and she has asked that I assist you." Jack grinned, then said, "Must've been a girl who's not found out me faults then."

The man smiled again. "She is very well aware of your faults, which seem to be quite numerous. She has insisted I aid you despite them." "Alright then..." Jack started to look around, mumbling, "'Course there's no bloody chairs, AND no rum. Silly dreams. Even in them you can never find what you need." "If you require them to make this meeting more pleasant, I can provide them for you." The man said, then waved his hand. In the blink of an eye two chairs and a table appeared. Situated on the table were a black bottle of the amber liquid and two glasses. Jack raised an eyebrow at that, then with his body swaying a bit waved his hand. "What are you doing?" Asked the man. "Trying to make a bottle appear for you mate, so you'll have somethin' to drink too." Jack replied. The man blinked, then laughed.

"She was right, you are quite witty Jack Sparrow. I do not require anything to drink, the other glass is merely a courtesy. Please." The man gestured to the chairs and sat down, Jack following suit. Jack uncorked the bottle and poured a bit of the rum for the stranger (he figured since it was a dream he may as well be a little bit generous), then took a swig from the bottle. "Oi! Best rum I've ever had. You never answered my question though, who are you?" "I have many names, but for this meeting you may call me Lord Morpheus." He told Jack. "Lord eh? How'd you come by that title?" "I am the ruler of this realm." "And you settled for Lord? Why not king or emperor or some such? Sounds much more sovereignish."

"I am content with Lord Morpheus." He said, and suddenly his voice sounded so cold Jack actually shivered. "Meant no offense mate. Tell me though, what's this boon you've been on about?" Jack asked, taking another drink. "I am to grant you what you wish for most Jack Sparrow, in as much as I can provide." Jack frowned, then said, "That's a bit sad. Seeing as how I won't have it when I wake up. Best not to dream about such things as it's a big disappointment not to have it when you're awake. Bit cruel too." Morpheus was silent, then he began to speak again. "You find the dreams about the ship cruel then?" Jack sputtered, then asked, "How'd you know about them?" "I rule the dream realm, it is my business to know."

"Sounds like a bloody horrible job then. I'd hate to know what other blokes dream. I'd go mad knowing that stuff, savvy?" Jack said. He drank again and Morpheus quirked an eyebrow. "Savvy?" He asked. Jack rolled his eyes and said, "Means 'do you understand?'" "I see. I do not find my responsibilities tiring. But tell me, are the dreams cruel to you?" Now Jack was quiet. He was quiet for so long it seemed as though he wouldn't speak again. Finally he said, "S'a bloody nightmare. The ship of my dreams and it only exists in dreams. If only... No, it's not possible." "If only?" "if only it were a real ship. I could sail the high seas, take what I want and give nothin' back."

"Is that what you truly wish for?" Morpheus asked him as Jack began to gulp down more of the rum, until the bottle was empty. "The rum is gone. Why is the rum gone?" "You drank it." "Ah, right..." Then Jack blinked and the bottle was full again. "Bloody magic." He muttered and had another sip. "Do you wish for the ship Jack Sparrow?" "More than anything. I've tired to find it, s'why I came to the Caribbean." Morpheus was quiet again, then he asked, "What if I told you I could give you this ship in the waking world?" "I'd say you're a liar and I want to wake up now before monkeys start to dance on the table or something equally silly." It seemed as if Morpheus would become angry, but instead he smiled again. To Jack it was a strange smile, in the sense that you couldn't tell if it was because he was happy, amused, or smiling for the sake of it.

"It is within my power to grant your wish. However you would need to undergo a quest of your own." "What kind of quest?" Jack asked. "You must seek out Davey Jones, and bargain with him for the ship." Jack nearly spilled the rum, and he set the bottle on the table so as not to waste it. He'd heard the stories of Davey Jones, and his infamous locker, and to him it sounded like he was being told to seek out the very Devil himself. He said, "Are you MAD?!" "It is the only way to gain the ship."

Jack seemed to consider it, then said, "Say I do find Davey Jones, I'd have to promise him 100 years on his ship to get the other. And serving a century on one fictitious ship to work on another fictitious ship seems a bit daft to me and fictitious in it's own right." "I see. Then would you prefer a different wish?" Morpheus asked. Jack thought about it for nearly ten minutes, only coming to one conclusion. At last he said, "I want that ship." "Then wake Jack Sparrow, and seek Davey Jones." "How am I to find him?" Morpheus stilled, the stars in his eyes flashing, then dimming. "There is a particular compass in your possession."

Jack scoffed and said, "Yeah, bloody thing don't work." "It was fashioned by my sister-brother Desire. It does not point north but to that which you desire most. If you wish to find Davey Jones and the ship, then it will point you in the right direction." Jack pursed his lips, then said, "Well I've tried everything else, why not what a dream tells me Don't know the name of the ship just yet though... But if it's my ship then I want to be called Captain Jack Sparrow from now on." "Go, Captain Jack Sparrow. And the name of the ship is The Black Pearl." And with that, Jack woke up. He looked around his room at the inn and muttered, "Bloody strange dream... Should get some more rum." He got out of bed and went to leave the room, then stopped.

On the little table towards the corner sat the black bottle of rum and his compass, open and pointing towards the sea. Jack wasn't entirely sure what to make of it, but then he smiled his roguish smile. He knew just what he'd do. "Captain Jack Sparrow. Has a nice ring to it."

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Morpheus walked slowly under the dream waters of the Caribbean. The wreckage was close, and he had one last duty to perform. "My lord?" Morpheus glanced to his left and saw Lucien, his librarian, standing there. "Yes Lucien?" "The man has set sail to find Davey Jones." "Excellent Lucien. And Tia Dalma?" "She is quite content with the outcome and wishes to speak with you once she is free to do so." Morpheus nodded, and he continued to walk with Lucian close by. They soon found themselves in front of the remains of an enormous ship. They stepped inside, then walked about in the debris.

"Do you know where you will place it my lord?" Lucien asked. "I have some idea Lucien." Morpheus reached inside his robes, retrieving a large black pearl, roughly the size of an ordinary cannon ball. Morpheus went to the front of the ship, then stared at the figure head. "This will do." He said, then placed the pearl there. Slowly the pearl was sucked into the body of the ship, and the entirety of it turned black. "What will the power of that dream stone give to this vessel my lord?" Lucien asked. "it will make her what she needs to be, for the part she is to play in history. And in the lives of those who board her." Morpheus replied, then turned away. "Come Lucien, there are matters in the Dreaming that must be attended to. I believe my sister Delirium has come to visit."

THE END.

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