Chapter 26: Lucid Nightmare

Deceit feel his shed coming and with all the stress he been under from antagonizing Roman and letting the Prince of Creativity chase him off, to planning villainy schemes with Remus to enact in the imagination against Roman's side and the others, he guessed it was only a matters of a days or hours until the shed reached its peak. And this villain's role, it was a role Deceit couldn't break. They wanted a villain. They all wanted him to be a villain. Even Remus. Although the Duke enjoyed playing the chaotic villain himself, he also loved that Deceit was joining in more now. And Deceit wasn't going to stop until things balanced out in the mind. Until the other sides could stop seeing in black and white, he would continue being the villain. The sign of his shed was the weariness that seemed to settle in his body. But just because he felt tired didn't mean he could not continue joining Remus in the Imagination everyday and join the Duke in the chaotic schemes they had plan for the day. It usually went to the point that they would never leave the Imagination, and would stay in the Dukes castle.

Deceit sighed as he tried to relax on the throne in the Great Hall and watched as Remus created another ghoul-like creature and set it loose on the imagination. The Duke didn't really use the throne and so let Deceit sit in it whenever he liked. Thankfully, the Creative side didn't bring the crown out after they figured out what it could do. Deceit was content to let the Duke cause as much chaos as he could here. Although chaos wasn't the only thing that Remus did either. The Duke had informed that Roman's side was growing smaller, like the Duke's lands were encroaching onto his brothers. And Remus swore up and down that he was not the cause of it. Deceit knew that that wasn't a good sign, and the time that he himself had went to inspect the change and even picked a little at Roman for information and while the Prince had denied such a change and blamed Deceit and Remus for the encroaching Dark Side of the Imagination.

"Hey, Janny what should I make next?" Remus asked, excitedly playing with a glowing ball of green light.

"Oh, I don't know, darling. Surprise me. I think." Deceit said, putting on a smile, coming out of his musing to see what the Duke would come up with.

Remus hummed as he worked and soon turned around revealing a rather large innocent looking Jack-in-the-box. Deceit tilted his head at the large child's toys, as Remus began winding the large toy making it play a light little ditty. Deceit was proud of himself for not flinching with the clown in the box jumped out singing

"~All around the Thomas-sphere,

The monsters chased the Core Sides,

Morality died,

And Virgey cried.

POP! Goes his Mind ~

Roman was maimed.

Logic was never heard from again

Now Thomas is a bad guy,

POP! Goes his Mind~"

The moving object singsonged, as it danced around with its creator. At the end both creation and Remus busting out in a fit of giggles. "Lovely." Deceit complemented, the Dukes work, tensing his back muscles up against a horrible itch that was between his shoulder blades. Scratching it wouldn't do much except make him want to tear off his on skin, but the scales weren't ready yet. His shed was really close now, only a few more days away.

"Isn't it!" Remus cackled. "Oh, let's sing it again!" He crowed, as he and the scary looking oversize toy started the song all over again.

Deceit didn't sing, just hummed along. He didn't want to destroy Remus's fun. He and Roman have been under so much stress playing and fighting in the imagination was their time to be themselves. Although Deceit was worried about Roman's loss in land. He suspected it was the caused by him being insecure about his work. Something that Deceit tried not to let happen to Remus. Disgusting and disturbing as some of the Duke's creations were, they were still his creations, and confidence in ones work always insured that not only was the creator happy, but the creation itself would turn out magnificent. Remus had Deceit to praise him. Roman had the Core Sides. And worrying about deadlines and trying please everyone was making Roman's work suffer. The Snake Side really hoped by giving the Prince a villain to chase around would help, but it really hadn't. Not that Deceit was going to stop playing the villain. Not until both Creative Sides were happy. Not until the Core Sides realized their mistake.

"I got another idea Dee! Watch this!" Remus called, kicking the singing Jack-in-the-box away.

"Really? I can't wait to see." He smiled, watching the Duke shaping another green ball of light. Deceit relaxed further into the thrones cushion as he waved away a floating tray of food, that screamed as it neared him. He wasn't that hungry at the moment.

(Virgil and Roman)

Virgil was laying on a comfortable window seat, watching Roman in the courtyard of the imagination. The Princely side was practicing against training dummies, so he would be prepared for when Remus and Deceit showed back up. Ever since they got together Virgil was free to enter Roman's side now. But lately he was worried. Something was wrong and he didn't know what it was. He knew about Remus taking some of Roman's land, but he doubted that was it. The work Roman gave out was starting to be lackluster and rushed. Many times the Anxious side debated on seeking Deceit out knowing the Snake would have all the answers, but there was no way he was going to go crawling back. He just didn't know how to help Roman.

Ever since he noticed the change in the Prince, Virgil had tried to back off, hoping that making Thomas less anxious would help Roman have a some room to breath, but it wasn't enough.

"What with the look Stormcloud?" Roman asked, walking into the room, sword no where in sight. The Creative Side joined Virgil on the window seat.

"The usual." Virgil answered.

"Let this Prince take your mind off all those nasty thoughts." Roman smiled.

Virgil smiled a small smile. "Maybe we should get back. Its almost time for bed." He suggested.

"Oh. So the Prince of the Night does sleep then." Roman teased, softly kissing the Anxious Sides cheek. "You know no matter what you steal my troubles away Stormcloud." He whispered in Virgil's ear as he summoned the door to the Imagination. "I still have some things to finish up here. You go on ahead, Stormcloud." Roman nodded.

What the Princely side meant was that he had dreams to make and give to sleep, and was behind in the creation of them. Which was fine. Now that he was in a good mood. The happier Roman was the more clearer the dreams he made reached Thomas.

Virgil stepped through and into the Common Room. Patton was in the kitchen sneaking a before bedtime cookie, and froze when he seen Virgil. "Second cookie tonight, Pat." The Anxious Side smiled.

Patton smiled and held up not just his second cookie but a third. Causing the two Sides to laugh. "Want some?" The Moral Side asked.

Virgil nodded when Patton held up the cookie jar. "Want to stay up and watch Roman's dream with me?" He asked.

"Couch sleep over!" Patton cheered, snapping into his cat onsie.

Virgil turned on the t.v. snapping into his own onsie and joining the Moral Side on the couch.

(Remus and Janus)

Remus helped Janus up the flight of stairs in the castle. It hadn't escaped his notice that the Snake Side was becoming sluggish as the days pass. Despite not being an organized person, Remus made sure to keep track of Deceits shed. Deceit's shed was important and Remus wanted to make sure that he took care of the other. And Deceit had said that this coming shed was the one to keep track of. That once it happened Remus could meet Thomas, and while that was all good and everything. But Remus didn't know how he felt about leaving Dee by himself during a shed. He laid the Snake Side down on the bed in the bedroom Janus liked to sleep in when they bunked here. Only for the Side to grab the front of his shirt and so Remus was not able to move away. Not that he wanted to anyway. "Remus." Janus mumbled, fixing the Duke with tired and slightly fevered eyes. "It's time." The Snake Side smiled, letting go of the Duke.

"Fuck! Really?" Remus cursed, starting to pick the Snake Side up. He had to get Deceit in his own room then.

Deceit slapped at his hands. "Don't put me down. Don't let me stay here. And it is too hot in here." He hissed out.

Remus withdrew. "But, you need your room during a shed. And heat. You can get really sick Jay, if your not careful." He frowned down at Janus.

Deceit shook his head. "We're not trying to give you more time, sweetheart. I must stay away from my room for this shed. We want me down for as long as it takes for you to meet Thomas and let him learn more about himself. Just like he wants. I will be fine until you get back." Deceit smiled. "Go have some uninterrupted fun, my Darling."

The Duke stared at the mismatch brown eye and serpentine yellow eye, "Jay, I don't want to leave you alone. I haven't left you alone since the day we met. I made it my job to be your own personal stalker."

Deceit chuckled. "Silly Duke. I will be right here when you get back. This is what we've planned for remember. Now go. Then tell me everything when you get back. I will be needing some serious royalty treatment." He pulled Remus into a kiss before pushing him away. "Now. Go away."

Remus laughed. "Okay, okay. But I better not come back and find you a rotting corpse. If I do, I'm to show case in a glass coffin in the Great Hall. And kiss you everyday until you wake up!" He declared as he marched out of the room. Snapping his fingers so that the temperature of the entire castle was in the low sixties, the Duke left the castle. Even though he wanted to go back and right the temperature for Janus and take the Side back to his room where he could go through his shed comfortably. But Janus was right they had planned for this. He just didn't know that, that meant Deceit would make himself suffer his shed in unhealthy conditions.

Still if Deceit said to go and have fun then he was going to go and have fun. Starting with that dream Roman had delivered to Remy. He was going to change it. And with how off Roman has been lately, the Duke doubted he'd any trouble what so ever. The Creative Side bounded through the Imagination to where Sleep like to let the dreams loose. He waited hidden in the Dark Forest trees, as Remy walked out into the open with Emile close behind. The Cartoon Therapist laughing as Remy, pinched his cheek as he made the good doctor stand back. The Function paced a few yards from the Therapist and reached into his satchel and pulled out two bottles one red and the other green. The Function shook both bottles before pouring the green into the red, and shaking the dreams together about. The colors in the bottle changing again into that of red, orange, yellow, and green with a few rainbow sparkled twinkling inside. Remy held the bottle up to look at the dream one more time, swirling it around until the colorful light inside began to turn to sand. The function poured the sand into his hand and threw it up into the air where the wind caught it and took the colorful sand up into the sky changing the sand taking on the form that resemble of the northern lights. The lights starting to separate and taking on forms that both Roman and Remus created.

Remus waited for Remy to escort himself and Emile away, to go spread the rest of the sand around the mind. The Duke went where Remy once stood and reached his hand out and threw an extra ball of green light into the forming dream. That extra Dark Creativity made the lights in the dream change to different shades of green. "And now for a little more influence. Tell me Thomas wouldn't it be fun to kill your brother. We could drag drag the body and hide it in the tub." Remus grinned, as his voice echoed through the imagination. The dream doing as Remus willed. Once done the Duke stood back and admired his work. "This is going to be such a cool nightmare!" He cheered, as he ran after Remy and Emile, to corrupt the rest of the dream that Remy had to dust.

(Patton and Virgil)

"Ah! I don't understand! What happen to Roman's nice dream?!" Patton gasped horrified, clutching tightly to Virgil's arm. The nice dream they had been watching had suddenly took a dark turn. "I don't understand how Thomas could dream something this awful?!"

"Nightmare! Nightmare! Thomas! Wake up!" Virgil was muttering, he too was clutching tightly to Patton. The two of them both urging Thomas to wake up from the nightmare. Only something was keeping their message from getting through. At most Virgil and Patton only succeeded in making Thomas toss and turn in his sleep, turning it into a lucid nightmare and effectively waking Logan.

It was only a matter of minute before the Logical side was in the common room with the two panicking sides. "Do you two know what time it is? Everyone should be in bed." He lectured.

"Nightmare! Nightmare!"

"Bad! This is bad how can Thomas think such a thing?!" Patton and Virgil shouted at the same time. Both jumping from the couch and pulling at Logan like he was the only safety shield they had.

"Logan help us wake him up!"

"Lo, make him wake up!"

Logan grunted against the pulling Patton and Virgil was doing. "What has gotten you two so upset?" Logan asked as the two sides pulled him toward the t.v., showing him the nightmare. "Well, this isn't ideal." He stated. "And now that I am up, it is likely that Thomas is going to experience this as a lucid nightmare. The most we can do now is to go to bed and wait for him to awaken."

"No! There's got to be something we can do?" Patton pleaded. As soon as he spoke the whole common room darken with a bit of a red hew that just made everything look scary and creepy and brought the a yelp of fright from Patton. There was blood staining the furniture and even bloodstain drag marks.

Logan looked between the two panicking sides and to the changed common room. "We can go to bed." He said, simply, turning to go back to up stairs himself, only this time he had Patton attached to his back, with Virgil trailing close behind.

"C-ca-can we sleep in your room?" Patton asked.

Logan looked back at the Moral Side. "Patton you are a grown man, surely you do not need me as a figurative, comfort blanket."

"AH, Thomas!" Virgil shouted, pointing.

"No, I am Logan. Really, Virgil this is why I had set up a sleep schedule. Staying up late effects memory." Logan corrected.

"No, Lo, he means Thomas!" Patton shrieked, pointing with Virgil.

"Please refrain from making noise we don't want to wake Roman up. I don't think I could handle the three of you causing a commotion." Logan said, as he turned to see what had the two so upset now. His eyes widen as a holographic image of Thomas dragging a bloody dead body, and coming straight for them.

"I can't take it! I can't! Thomas this isn't you! WAKE UP!" Virgil shouted, making a beeline back to the common room.

"WAKE UP! WAKE UP! THIS ISN'T LIKE YOU AT ALL!" Patton shouted too, dragging Logan along with him as he and Virgil crowded the t.v..

Logan made himself comfortable on the couch, taking some deep breaths and tried to block out all the lucid nightmare happening around them. It wouldn't do to have Logic interrupting Thomas's sleep. Odds were that when morning came Thomas was going to wake up feeling very tired. It was obvious that this was the work of the Duke and somehow Deceit had found a way to let the chaotic Side loose upon the mind. The Deceitful side had found a way to let the Duke loose and once they broke those chains. Logan let out another breath to calm his nerves. It was going to be impossible to reset them, especially if either the Duke or Deceit put up a fight.

(The Duke's Castle)

Deceit shivered as he tried to bury himself into the blankets on the bed. He looked at the double doors that led out to a balcony. It wasn't cold enough in the castle yet, his shed needed to last longer. He could feel the Duke pulling against the boundaries that Deceit held him to. Slowly, Deceit got out of bed and walked to the doors pushing the doors to the balcony open and the fell back onto the bed. The cold wind from the imagination sent another shiver through him. That was much better. Much more colder. Deceit wrapped himself back up and stared out at what he could see of the Imagination from the bed.

The sky changed into a wonderful color with stars that twinkled with the colors of a rainbow. Deceit liked the sky in the imagination when Remy did his job. When the sky changed, from the hews of red, orange, yellow, and green and it's rainbow stars. To a dark sky that took on the colors of different shades of green. The Snake Side smiled as he watched. He could hear Remus's gleeful laughter ring out in the imagination. "Things are finally going our way." He chuckled, burying his face under the blankets to rest his eyes. Remus would wake him when he came back.

(Hours later)

One would think that Remus would have returned to his castle in the Imagination laughing and cackling with glee, being able to see Thomas and finally stand side by side with his brother in the Core Side common room to show Thomas both of his creativities and to share what he had to offer. One would think anyway. But no. Remus returned sprinting to the room Deceit inhabited. Literally ripping the door off its hinges and to the bed that had a bundle that could only be called a blanket burrito. Fixing the temperature on his side as he went to pick up his wrapped up yellow noodle. Only for the blankets to unravel and revealed not Deceit but a yellow like cobra snake coiled up and asleep in his hands.

"Oh, Jay." The Duke smiled, and hugged the sleeping serpent close. "I love you." Remus jumped back to his feet and summoned his door, and enter his room, and just as quickly running out and into Deceits room. He gently placed the snake on to the bed and the heating lamps above the bed came on. Remus rubbed his hands over the scale of the snake and watched as some of the scales seemed to move, but he also noticed that the snake's muscles seemed to flinched whenever the scales did move. So, Remus stopped rubbing the scales. How was he suppose to help Deceit get rid of the old scales if he was a snake. Did he just peel them off like he normally would? He climbed in the bed with the snake and wrapped the blankets all around them. Maybe if he just kept him warm, he could get Deceit to shift back.

Sleepily the Deceit flicked his tongue out and immediately knew that Remus had him. He didn't feel like opening his eyes so he felt his way to maneuver himself to where he was under the Dukes shirt, where he could soak up all the heat he wanted. He couldn't wait to hear how things went with Remus showing himself to Thomas. Now that Thomas knew about the Duke there was no reason for Deceit to hide him anymore. And that was all Deceit could ask for Remus. He wanted the Duke to have a fair standing with Roman. Now the only problem is to show the Core Sides that they couldn't just keep working Thomas and making him do selfless things. Self care was important too. Once back to his old self Deceit was going to try again to make them see. But right now, he needed some self-care of his own.

Deceit hissed happily. And he was going to enjoy every pampering moment that Remus was going to give him. Starting with finishing this shed.

TBC

A/N: So, I just want to go ahead and say I know nothing about snakes and what happens when they shed, but I'm pretty sure you don't try to pull them off. Only a few more chapters to go! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Let me know by voting/Kudos, favoriting/Bookmarking, and/or Review! I love reading what you all have to say or what you thought about the chapter.