I honestly thought this guy's first introduction would be in Trial by Fire with all the other people like him, but he was the 'first of his kind' so to speak; he was the first one of them thought up by anyone for anything period, and by Ryou at that. I'ma borrow him here, but I'm sure you don't mind, Ryou Just who are his 'kind'? That's something you just gotta find out. Nice, long chapter though. I heart certain characters

oOo

'What a mess...' Muttered a young man as he idly fingered his short ginger spikes. His other hand was at his hip as he surveyed the scene through hazel eyes looking unamused. 'But I don't need someone making my job harder than it already is... isn't half the world being asleep enough?' He continued uttering to himself as he wandered down the street, concerned with his issue, and stepping over the individuals cluttering the sidewalk.

Certainly, half was more than enough. If only three people slept every night that'd be plenty, but of course that's never the case. And some sorcerer-guy had to come along and ruin it even more, but there would be retribution. He'd certainly show him for making his job all the harder. It'd mean adding a few more people to the list of sleepers, but with all the people out now, what difference would it really make?

He knew he'd have to make this business quick, he really wasn't allowed to leave his assigned domain, but since this is something that affected him directly, well, he should darn well be there to fix it personally. Which ones would affect him the most though? He knew it'd be best to only choose two of the grand total of four people awake. It would make things interesting, and dramatic... yeah, drama was nice when it was someone else's. And that sorcerer would flip his lid when he found someone fiddling with his spell when even he couldn't do much without time and planning and power.

Yep, meddling was fun when it annoyed people.

He stopped in front of the house. It was a little on the large side, this sorcerer liked showing off, though, as he clearly demonstrated with his spell. Two non-sleepers inside, neither of them the sorcerer. Perfect.

With a casual wave of his hand, the hazel-eyed man made the pair inside the house fall victim to the spell as well. As he turned away, he noticed that there was another in the house who was sleeping, but not because of the spell. There's Mr.Perpetrator now. And since he's already sleeping... with a turn of the hand, the nightmares begin...

oOo

From the darkness, dim light shone through. Below was pavement, and above was only sky, but night sky. There was an ethereal light that lingered on the horizon. He looked down on the scene from what seemed like a great height…

Sudden images flashed by quickly and intensely; conflict and fighting, determination, despair, hopelessness-

Pain!

Eriol sat bolt upright in his bed, trembling. He breathed a sigh of relief that the dream was over, and tried to still his shaking hands. He'd like to say that it was only a dream, but his dreams had a tendency to become reality at some time in the future... This dream didn't seem like those he saw happening to other people.

It was himself he saw.

He stood beside his bed, rearranging his night-robe, and, taking his glasses from the nightstand, wandered out to the balcony that came off his room. He stared out at the quiet scene, and the starless black sky. It was so silent. There was no one stirring outside, no one in the whole world. One single thought had been troubling him; one that came from nowhere, really, probably just his annoying former self, the Eriol that wasn't swayed by Clow's experiences.

The thought was that, in punishing Sakura, he had condemned himself to the eternal dark and silence as well. This thought disturbed him greatly, and when it cried out to him loudly, almost made him want to reconsider the whole thing. This 'former self' had a tendency of overwhelming him at times, usually when it would be most inconvenient. Fortunately, now was not a pivotal moment in time, but he still struggled to keep his composure. It was difficult… part of him despaired so deeply…

This is a prison…

He could still sense that one person from before who was somehow awake and wondering around. It may have just been the spell interfering, but this person somehow had the same feel as the spell itself...

But it was unimportant. This was something he could live with. He had Ruby, he had Spinner.

He tied his robe around him tighter against the chill of the dark, and turned back into the house. Restless, now, he left his bedroom to seek the council of his guardians.

'Ruby?' He questioned outside her door, and knocked. After receiving no reply, he pushed open the door and peeked inside.

Ruby Moon was fast asleep in the chair by her desk, and Spinner was not far from her, also sleeping. His heart clenched at this sight, and his worries suddenly escalated.

For Ruby and Spinner were guardians, and they never slept.

'Ruby! Ruby! Spinner!' He started quickly across the room towards them, but he knew for certain that they had fallen victim to his spell as well. This struck him hard, and he fell to his knees, his head falling into his hands as he let out a single sob. He thought quickly of what could be done, but there was nothing- aside from lifting the entire spell, which he wasn't entirely certain he was willing to do. He knew, because he had tried to lift it from the woman and her children, but it held fast. Even though his only other companionship was gone, and he was alone….. he couldn't abandon his mission. He was obliged to see it through... and on top of all that, lifting the spell would take more effort than he was willing to admit.

He was totally alone, and he had condemned himself. The part of him that was untouched by Clow laughed at him for his folly, while at the same time cried out in loneliness. That part came to surface, his Clow-corrupted side falling away having nothing. He laughed bitterly through tears that had started to trickle down his face, and rose to his feet. Those creatures meant next to nothing to him; they were the creations of Clow's lingering spirit, but they were his only company.

Aside from Sakura.

Perhaps if he went to her, he could convince her that they should keep each other company, but his Clow-corrupted side may have prevented any chance of that. At any rate, it was worth a try. Leaving the house behind, and still wearing his night-things, his glasses still sitting on the nightstand beside his bed, he searched for her.

oOo

Touya was still at the shrine with Tomoyo and Syaoran, her father had been at work, so fortunately she was completely alone in her house, and didn't have to face them sleeping dreadfully in her familiar home, the only place she used to feel secure. She shuffled through the Cards, paying particular attention to the ones not bearing her colours. She felt so betrayed... but she knew that no amount of anger would do anything to help. Even sadness... crying couldn't do anything except maybe make her feel even worse.

She needed to keep a level head about her. She realized that this was just another test, though maybe it wasn't designed as such. It wasn't a test of her power or magic, but of her compassion and courage. Pleading with Eriol didn't work, but at that time she was feeling panicked. This time, if she took a rational approach maybe they could figure something out. Surely Eriol couldn't want to be alone in the world. Surely somewhere... somewhere inside him, even if he didn't show it or admit it to himself, somewhere he had to be just as alone as she was. If she could convince him that this wasn't about her, it wasn't even about him, it was about the whole world... Eriol couldn't be a murderer, and if they left the resolution too much longer he'd become a mass murderer...

There was a knock at the door.

Surprisingly, though maybe just because of habit, it didn't startle her. It's, after all, perfectly normal for someone to come knocking, though in the back of her mind she knew it could only be one of three people, and one of them was far more likely to come than the other two. She collected herself, she was ready.

She opened the door...

...to see a man with short ginger hair and a green sweatshirt standing there admiring the garden with his hands in his pockets.

'Um... c-can I help you?' This was impossible, at least, according to Eriol. There shouldn't be anyone else awake, unless this was somehow Eriol in disguise... but she couldn't feel anything remotely like Clow Reed's magic from this person, except that he had faint magic which reminded her vaguely of the spell everyone was under...

'Just decided to stop by for a visit while I'm in town on business. You see, all the hotel managers and such are sleeping, so...'

'You're... here on business?' She was becoming more and more alarmed by this person every moment that passed. How could he be awake, and what business could he possibly have here with everyone asleep? Unless... somehow he was immune to Eriol's spell. If he had strong magic, like Sakura herself, he'd be less likely to fall asleep. 'What kind of business?'

The man strolled right on past her and started examining the photos and awards on the mantle. 'Sleepin' business, by the looks of things.' He found all this amusing...? He didn't seem at all troubled that no matter where he looked there were people laying asleep where they had been awake just before the spell. 'Seriously, though, this is marginally irksome, and I need a place to stay where someone will cook for me.'

Sakura sat on the couch in a daze. All this... and this stranger wants my hospitality...

'All these people sleeping just makes my job harder. That just won't do.'

Sakura's heart leaped. 'So you're here to help fix this?'

'Sure am. I don't see why no one else found a problem with it, though.'

No one else...? 'Are there other people awake?'

'Sort of... they're not here though.'

'Who are you...?'

'Just Re'en.'

'And what's this job of yours...?'

'Dreams.'

Was this still somehow a strange trick that Eriol was putting on? Or could this Re'en be for real? 'How... how are you going to help make things better?'

'Well, I'm technically not even allowed to be here, so I can only do tiny things. I put that sorcerer kid's guardians to sleep, because that might persuade him to lift the stupid spell. Or maybe he's more likely to listen to you now.' He looked through the bookshelf then, and occasionally pulled out a book, which he'd 'feh' at, and put back. 'It's incredibly annoying when you go to do your job and find it's now twice as big.'

'Yeah... I know what you mean...' Sakura murmured.

'Nah, I really don't think you do. I mean, I've already got how many people to make up dreams for? And now I have to do it all at once and all the time instead of half at one time, half at another. This sucks and blows. The sorcerer twit's definitely going to get what's coming to him.'

Sakura gave up trying to make sense of what he was talking about, but knew that it was best to appeal to angry people you didn't know. 'And what's coming to him?'

Re'en narrowed his eyes at what must have been a suspicious book and cracked his knuckles. 'Fun dream time. And whatever the Council guys want to do to him. But a week of nightmares certainly won't be enough... oh, no. At least three months. Yeah. You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?'

Sakura shook her head mutely.

'Alright...' Re'en sat on the sofa next to her, taking his time to make himself comfortable. 'You know my name's Re'en, but my official title is 'Master of Dreams'. I don't suppose you know anything about Masters like me, either, huh?'

Again, all she could do was shake her head.

'Kids these days... Anyhow, I'm in charge of the almighty Realm of Dreams, and I'm supposed to make sure everyone gets their nightly hallucinations. Sometimes daydreams too, if the person's serious about them. I'm not from around here, in case you haven't guessed yet.' He fiddled with one particular spike that seemed to be coming out of place. 'There's other people in charge of other Realms. Passion, Realities, and all that. There's lots of Realms. Anywho, all us Masters sit on our happy Nexus above all you mortals. Sometimes particular annoying mortals make me mad enough to teach them a lesson though, so here I am.'

'Mortal...? So you're a demon or something...?'

Re'en burst out laughing, and even though he saw that she was quite serious it took him several long moments to calm down enough to speak. 'Ah, demon indeed. More like an angel, I guess. We help the Big Boss Creator while he does whatever. Not angel in the nice sense, because some people in the Nexus are just jerks. Angel in the sense that Mr. Sorcerer-Who-Likes-To-Ruin-My-Life is no match for any one of us; we're kind of... higher beings, I guess you could say.'

If it was all true, Sakura felt like she needed to bow, or something. Him being awake and all was enough proof that he was at least as powerful as Eriol, and as he said, these Masters were certainly powerful. Instead of bowing, or groveling, however, she asked, 'So... what would you like to eat...?'