Author's Note: I haven't read the book yet where they describe Delirium's realm, if they ever do, so I'm just going to improvise it. If there's anything vital to the Sandman storyline that I need to know in relation to her realm, then just drop me an e-mail and I'd be most appreciative^_^ Enjoy!
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And then there was Death. She flipped her coat over one should, fingers curled casually on her hip, shifted from one foot to the next, tapped her toes, and shifted once more. Abigail sat in Destiny's great hall; a full goblet of untouched white wine was placed beside her. Frightened. Alone. Awkwardly Abigail hunched in the tall dining chair, knees drawn tightly to her chest. Death sighed and threw up her arms in defeat.
"I don't know what to tell ya, but she's not dead." Death walked over and lightly tapped Abigail on the head.
"She is not alive." A page turned, Abigail jumped.
"I know." Death shrugged, "What do you want me to do about it?"
Dust settled on the edge of the goblet, microscopic brown flakes kissing the purest gold. Abigail convulsed and buried her head in her knees. When she had entered Destiny's garden she had thought herself in Heaven. Then she saw the walkways, the endless paths, the forks in the road, the boundless hedges....
It was no Heaven.
Abigail entered his garden naked and alone, following a figment of a shadow. Instinctively she had drawn her arms across her chest (she was of petite stature, frail beyond sickness, fragile beyond disease) and begged Him to tell her where they were. He had answered "My garden", and left her standing naked and alone in the middle of a vast maze.
An ankh, easily a foot long, perhaps of white gold, was returned to its place of rest. "You may go, sister."
Death slipped into her coat, "What're you gonna do with her?"
There was no noise. Abigail shuddered. The painful silence, her ears ached for sound, any sound. Rats clawing at the walls, children laughing, babies crying, mother's dying... Anything. Anything.
Death came. Destiny lay her sigil down. Death went.
Abigail did not go with her.
"I do not know." Then Death was gone, and Abigail was alone with Destiny.
Solitude did strange things to people. When Abigail was alone in the hospital she often found herself dragging her nails along the patchwork of veins pressed against her shallow skin. They said it could not be cured. She called them liars. Hypocrites. They could cure the rich but not the poor. Save the strong but forsook the weak. Maria had thrown things until there was nothing left. Then the police came. Beaten, cuffed, sobbing, they dragged Abigail's mother away. Abigail did not see her for a very long time. She grew weaker. The nurses came less often. It was then she thought they wanted her to die.
So she did.
Destiny left the girl to her wine. Abigail wearily lifted her head, "P-please. Do you have something I could wear? I-I'm very cold."
The floor shimmered, the glass shifted, and Destiny was gone.
Abigail pressed her forehead against the mottled flesh stretched across her bony knees. She almost laughed. Even Death did not want her. Death, mother of mercy, daughter of forgiveness, even she did not want to touch her. Perhaps she feared the disease.
Abigail dug her nails into her skin, and laughed.
* * * * *
Fishies flew away cause the fishies didn't want to stay. Fishies never like to stay. The fishies are always flying away. Pretty pretty fishies like the ones that live in the waters but these don't live in the waters.
My fishies fly.
Everything leaves. Everything always leaves. My fish, they leave. My butterflies, they leave. My sister took my butterflies.
Delirium cupped her hands. I want my butterflies back. A rainbow sparkled in her hand and several monarch butterflies flew between her fingers. They danced around her head, then vanished into the brightly colored nothingness surrounding her. No! Come back! Don't go....
The darkness shimmered like spilled oil, it's color shifting with the waning tide, and Delirium captured the barest of sobs between her teeth. Someone sounds so very sad... so very lonely... someone....
Abigail wept bitterly. The tears that would not come when called now poured down her cheeks in rivulets. Destiny had not come back in what felt like hours. In truth, it had been years. Time passed quickly, sometimes slowly, sometimes not at all. It all depended on where you were standing when the cosmos took its deepest breath. Delirium quietly slipped between the folds of her world to His, careful not to make a peep. Like a little mouse she crept, folding one layer of reality upon the next until the doorway was open and the veil piled silently beside it.
Like her fish, she flew on silent fins.
It took much time, but eventually Destiny found what He was missing. There was a page torn from the Book. It was taken so well that there was no visible trace that it had ever existed. Destiny, however, was blind. He slid his finger along the binding where the missing page should be.
Destiny's finger hesitated, poised to trace the missing page... He tasted sweet tarts on His tongue.
"Delirium," Destiny stepped into his grand hall, and read His line, "Where have you taken her?"
The wine was untouched, and Abigail was gone.
Several pages flipped, and Destiny found what he desired:
Delirium smiled and blinked her mismatched eyes Would you like to come away with me? I, um, know a very pretty place, where the fishies fly. It's my place. It's, um, it's not very far. You look sad. Would you like a butterfly? Starlight twinkled like broken glass. Abigail raised her head and sniffled.
"Who are you?" She tasted candy on her tongue.
Delirium tilted her head They call me lots of things. Um, I used to be someone else, but then I became this someone. Now I'm not that someone just this one and, um, I think that's the way it should be. I'm not sure. Delirium sat on the table, legs crossed What's your name?
"Abigail," Whispers echoed like falling timber.
A crocodile smile Delirium. Are you cold? Would you like something to wear? To cover the burns? I used to be afraid that people would see my skin so I covered it with sandpaper. It didn't work very well. I could give you something else. Here.
Abigail released her knees and stared at the torn fishnets and scuffed black boots. A pink tutu and green leotard snugly clung to her torso. Her hair, already short and black, was now extremely teased and ratty, with bright blue electric streaks dancing from root to tip.
There. Now come on, before my brother sees. Come on! Delirium giggled and held out her hand. Abigail stared at the wine, the empty room, the tutu, fishnets, stained glass and massive columns. In moments she took it all in, held her breath and grabbed Delirium's hand. Delirium smiled, and they disappeared. The veil draped itself across the portal.
Destiny tasted sweet tarts on his--
Destiny closed the Book and returned to his garden. He needed to think. He needed to walk. Perhaps the maze would offer a solution He could not see.
Delirium's voice echoed like the gentle roar of a waterfall. Abigail screamed in frightful laughter.
Destiny heard, and so he walked.