The Sandman

I kept a journal for a while.

A chronicle of everything that happened in your absence.

But slowly, the words began to fade.

Sometime after you left,

all the books in the library became bound volumes of blank paper.

The next day, the whole library was gone.

I never found it again.

And yet you remained while others fled,

the royal librarian of an abandoned kingdom.

I never felt abandoned.

I knew you would return.

You need rest, my Lord.

And food and perhaps a bit more rest,

and then you'll be back at full strength.

No.

Not without my tools.

Your tools?

My sand, my helm, my ruby.

Why? What happened to them?

They were taken from me.

By my captors.

And then taken from them.

I know not where.

Nor what I am without them.

Darling. How are you?

Well, you'll never guess what I am looking at.

It is a Caravaggio.

And it can be your Caravaggio for 22 million.

Well, of course you can think about it, but not for too long.

Giovanni, it's Josiane.

I hate to bother you at work,

but I've just acquired another of the Vasari volumes.

Yes, very nice.

Please tell the chairman that Madame Daudet called.

Yes, I'll hold.

Bernard, I found it.

And it's in exceptional condition.

The Honjo Masamune.

Hello? Hello?

Quite the place you got here, Ethel.

Who are you?

How did you get in?

Getting in was the easy part. The hard part was finding you.

You've done a very good job

of convincing people Ethel Cripps doesn't exist.

Apparently not good enough.

Well, I'm not exactly "people".

What are you then?

Do you remember the being Roderick Burgess kept caged in his basement?

Hmm?

King of Dreams?

You're one of his?

I'm my own man now.

With your help, I intend to stay that way.

Why do you need my help?

Because he's out of his cage and he's coming for us.

You and me.

Why me? I never did anything to him.

Oh, you did though, Ethel.

You stole from him.

There is only one sure way for me to find my tools.

I must summon the Three-In-One.

Surely it hasn't come to that.

The Fates see past, present and future, and they know all.

Yes, but they speak in riddles.

They never tell you what you want to know,

only things you should never know.

Perhaps just this once you could ask one of your siblings for help.

Destiny would certainly know where your tools are, or Desire…

My siblings have their own realms to attend to, I have mine.

We do not interfere in each other's affairs.

You may not, but they've certainly been known to.

Perhaps just this once you could tell them what happened to you.

I am quite sure they know what happened to me.

And not one of them came to my aid.

The Fates aren't cheap, you know.

They cost a bloody fortune.

And at present, I cannot muster power enough to summon them,

let alone pay that cost.

Unless…

Is there anything of mine that remains in The Dreaming?

Something that I created?

You created all of this.

No, something that remains intact.

That might retain some fragment of my power within it.

Something I can absorb.

There is one thing.

Gregory, come down from there right now.

You're gonna slip and hurt yourself!

That's it.

There he is.

Are you sure?

Good boy, Gregory. Good gargoyle.

Cain, come quick.

Blasted, bulbous, bilge-bubbling bollocks.

- Cain. - What you want, powder-brain?

- Can you not see I'm busy? - We have visitors.

What?

Where?

Cain.

Abel.

Lord Morpheus.

You've come back.

At last.

I told you he'd return.

I never doubted it.

Come in, my Lord.

And you, Lucienne. To the House of Mystery.

Or to the House of Secrets. I have tea.

I have tea and biscuits.

Gentlemen, I'm afraid this is not a social call.

What's happened?

- Is something wrong? - What is it?

For the sake of The Dreaming,

I must take back a gift I gave you long ago.

Yes, my Lord.

What's ours is yours.

Anything at all.

Just ask it.

Surely there's another way.

I wish there were.

But The Dreaming must be restored.

You say that as if we're the ones that destroyed it.

As if we disappeared for over a century.

- Cain. - You forget yourself, Cain.

No, my Lord, you forgot us.

Do you have any idea what we've already lost

waiting for you to come back after all these years?

What you have lost?

The answer is no.

I have not come here to ask you.

I've come to ask Gregory.

I need your help.

Gregory, stop. No.

Take me instead. Or Abel.

- Yeah, take me, Lord Morpheus, please. - I cannot.

I can only reabsorb that which I have created,

and Gregory began as a Nightmare.

Yes, but he's one of us now.

It's not fair.

No… it's not.

You're a very good boy.

You don't have to do this, you know.

It's not fair.

You have served this kingdom with great honor.

You will be missed.

Come, Lucienne.

We have work to do.

Good luck, my Lord.

Simpering suck-up.

I see you've turned your talent for theft into a successful career.

I don't steal them. I broker them.

Well, you ever keep anything for yourself?

No.

Not even Dream's tools?

Well, he's gonna want them.

And I'm guessing that you do too.

The tools, they won't work for me.

They're made of the same stuff I am.

So… why are you here?

To see if we can help each other.

I could show you how to use them.

Use them to do what?

Make him go away. For good this time.

You want me to kill the King of Dreams?

Right. You can do it. I know you can.

You just have to listen and trust me.

Then I'm afraid we're both dead,

because I don't have them.

Yeah, well, that is too bad.

I wonder if your son knows where they are.

How is John doing these days?

What do you think Dream will do to the son of Roderick Burgess?

So I'll ask you one more time for your son's sake.

Where are the tools, Ethel?

Do you think you're quite ready for this, Your Majesty?

It has been some time since you've navigated these waters.

Do you think I've forgotten how?

No, but…

I cannot ask The Fates for help without giving them something in return.

There is nothing left to give from The Dreaming.

I have to gather my offerings from the dreams of others.

I understand.

It's just that, in your absence,

these waters have become darker, treacherous, unsafe.

These waters are as much a part of me as I am of them.

Gregory's sacrifice will not be in vain.

You were right, Lucienne.

The Dreams and Nightmares no longer seem to recognize their master.

I will remind them and take from them what I require.

Since one meets The Fates at a crossroads,

I find one in the dreams of a Cambodian farmer.

The hanged man represents surrender and sacrifice for the greater good.

The gallows come from a young Japanese cinephile,

her head full of British horror films.

Release!

The currents are stronger and faster than I remember.

I have to focus.

Open my eyes and see what The Fates require.

A serpent…