Garden of Time:
Crystal and Dream arrived at the garden, amazed by the amount of different types of flowers and plants that grew in such a vast collection. There was a hedge that surrounded most of the place, and a small hedge maze as well that changes each day, making passing through a challenge each time. Dream and Crystal examined many of the plants they passed by, chatting away about whatever came to their minds and about the flowers too.
"I am sorry for what happened to your world, and your brother," Crystal said, as she stood besides Dream while viewing a Venus fly trap.
"… Yes. I tried my best, but my best wasn't enough to save him... that's why I have to go beyond my best so that I can get through to him. So that I can save him. I've been keeping him at bay for this long right? So I know I'll be able to get my brother back eventually. Even if it's not all the way to the way we were before, but close enough is fine by me," Dream said, his golden star pupils glowing, as Crystal smiled at him.
"You're so filled with hope, even in an almost impossible situation... I know you'll be able to save your brother one day. I believe in you, Dream," Crystal said, her smile sweet and honest.
"Thank you, Crystal. That means a lot to me," Dream said, happy to see her smile as he smiled back.
They came across a flower that was surrounded in a glass box with a stanchion around it so that no one would stand close to it. It was five feet tall with a cyan stem, and a purple flower in a bud form. However, the bud glistened in a translucent sheen like a gem.
"Woah! That crystal bud looks like the same type of gem as the one on your violin," Dream pointed out, as Crystal felt her body freeze as she stared at it.
"... Crose... a Crystal rose... Undyne and me used to train in a field of them," Crystal said, her eyes glowing, surprising Dream.
"You trained with Undyne? Who else? How about Alphys? Asgore? Toriel?" Dream asked quickly, trying to see if he can get her memories to unlock by asking her in this moment.
"Alphys helped maintain the Crystalline palace, Asgore was king and overlooked our gem land with the queen, Toriel. Humans and monsters were in harmony because of Frisk. Papyrus and Marisol were overseers of the humans and monsters, Undyne was the leader of the defender unit, and Sans and I were guardians of the central control room at the top of the Crystalline palace. Frisk would visit us, and she would go with the king and queen to take care of the land... Sans and I also maintained the Power Crystal that kept the Crystalline palace and our whole world intact..." Crystal replied, and then her eyes stopped glowing.
"You're world sounds so amazing. A Power Crystal, Crystalline palace... it sounds so cool," Dream said.
"... I can't believe it..." Crystal said, looking downward.
"What's the matter?" Dream asked.
"... I actually remembered. I mean, I still feel like there are holes in my memories, but I remembered something... how is it so simple now but when I was trying to remember myself it didn't work?!" Crystal said, balling her hands in fists and puffing her cheeks in frustration.
"W-Well, I mean I don't know why, but at least you're remembering now, right?" Dream said, rubbing the back of his head with a smile, as she looked at him.
She felt almost entranced by his smile, but she quickly shoved the thought out of her mind as she relaxed her fists and expression.
"Yes, you're right. I should be more grateful then I am, especially to you," Crystal said, her smile returning, as Dream felt his face heat up.
"You're welcome," Dream said with a smile, and then he became determined and added, "Then let's keep going. Now we have more to work with since you remember more."
"Right. I do remember more about my homeland and people, but I can't remember the name of my world. Hmm... is there any sorbet or sherbet being offered at the food courts?" Crystal asked.
"Umm... maybe? Want to check?" Dream asked, and she nodded.
"Why suddenly want sorbet or sherbet?" Dream asked, as they were walking out of the garden.
"It was my favorite treats to eat with my Sans, so I wanted to see if I still like them..." Crystal replied, as she looked at him a moment longer, a sadness filling her heart.
"Okay, let's go get some... Hey, what happened? You look sad," Dream asked her.
"O-Oh, it's nothing. I just feel a little down. Maybe I'm not sure if I'm the same person I was before? Maybe I changed beyond myself after losing my memories? What if I'm not a good person? It's a lot of things to consider," Crystal said.
"... That's true, but I don't think you're totally different, or else you're memories would have already been changing you and showing your wrongdoings, or at least your thoughts would. How was your mind in what you remember?" Dream asked.
"At peace mostly, with a hint of flare," Crystal said with a smirk, as Dream chuckled.
"I don't see anything wrong with that, and even if you may not have been good, would you want to be bad now?" Dream asked, and Crystal shook her head.
"Then there's nothing to worry about. In any case, you changed for the better, right? And even if things don't look good, I'll be there for you," Dream said, confidently.
"Thank you, Dream," Crystal said.
Lone bench on a hill:
Crystal and Dream were enjoying their treats together as they talked more about what Crystal remembers about her world.
"It's fascinating how your world works by energy and magic. Even the humans are crystalline-like. What a unique world," Dream said, as he placed his cup and spoon down when he finished eating.
"I'm impressed too, and I'm actually from there," Crystal said, as they laughed about it.
Crystal took her cup of cheery sorbet and drank the rest of it before setting it down. She felt a numb rush in her head, as she placed her hand on her head.
"Ugh! Brain freeze!" She said, as Dream chuckled and said,
"You ate the rest too fast."
Crystal was about to say something when a memory flashed in her mind that surprised her and made her fall off the bench. Dream was able to catch her before she hit the ground as he helped her sit up on the ground.
"Crystal! Are you okay?! Are you remembering something?" Dream asked, growing concerned.
"I think I do... someone... no. A monster came..." Crystal said, and with her eyes glowing she held her palms up and in her hands little colored crystals materialized.
She made the Crystalline palace and used colored crystals to represent each person there, and then she formed a dark crystal that was heading to the palace as the crystals near that one turned dark as well. Dream watched in fascination and wonder as he listened intently as Crystal spoke,
"It was a regular day. There was tension in the air from a dark gem shard that was found near the outskirts of the kingdom. We were setting up extra defenses when she came... a corrupted crystal filled with darkness from her cracked gem-heart had come. She wasn't very powerful in strength at first, but she had the terrible ability to corrupt others with one cut from her claws. Sometimes they would slowly be consumed by corruption, and then become corrupted as she was and follow under her. Sans and I had to guard the Power Crystal from being corrupted or else the whole world would fall under corruption. Everyone else went to fight... they all fought valiantly... but the more the fight continued, the more her army grew from spreading her corruption... Corruline... we called her that from 'Corrupted' and 'Crystalline'... she eventually invaded the Crystalline palace..."
Crystal showed the dark gem break in the kingdom, as those who fought her were corrupted, and she continued,
"Sans and I wanted to help, but we couldn't risk being corrupted or else our world would be destroyed because we were the only ones who guarded the Power Crystal... Everyone went to fight, and all of them became corrupted... Alphys, Undyne, Mettastone, Asgore, Toriel... even Frisk and Papyrus... Nothing could stop Corruline. Her power grew with each fight and corrupted gem she made... then it was us two left, sealed in the Power Crystal's room. We knew at that point, there was only one thing to do..."
The dark crystal was shown trying to break into the room where a yellow and pink gem stood with a large crystal on the ceiling of multi-colors. Crystal breathed in and out shakily, and then continued,
"Sans and I had to destroy the Power Crystal. Even though it would destroy our world, we couldn't allow her to gain all of the power from the crystal or else she would be able to travel to other worlds and corrupt them all... we had to destroy it to stop her, but we knew she would probably corrupt or kill us... most likely kill us for doing that, but we were willing to sacrifice ourselves... it's not like there was anyone left in our world..."
The crystals zoomed in closer to show the yellow gem and pink gem breaking the Power Crystal, and the corrupted gem became frantic as it was breaking into the room. Crystal continued,
"... I remember being in the room... I was hugging my Sans, ready to die... but he pulled out of our hug and showed me a piece of the Power Crystal he held in his hand. He told me he loved me... how wonderful it was to be with me... and how he cherished every moment we spent together... I told him I loved him too, as Corruline was breaking into the room. I remember her eyes, swirling with red and darker colored energies in a haze of madness... but what surprised me more was how calm Sans was being at the time. Then he used the shard of the Power Crystal to open a portal, as Corruline was almost in the room. We stood in front of the portal, and I told him let's go... but..."
Crystal showed the portal open with swirling gems, as the yellow and pink gem stood together while the yellow one held a green shard. Another breath, and Crystal continued,
"He hugged me again... but I could feel that he was shaking. I thought he was scared, but when we pulled out of the hug... he was... crying. He still smiled at me so sweetly, but he was crying, and I asked why and he... he said... h-he said... 'I love you, my dear, and I don't want you to die, especially in this way. You're the last of us, and you deserve to live, my beautiful crose. Live. For all of us...' I begged him to come, but he said he had to stop Corruline from leaving so that she would be destroyed with our breaking world... He threw me through the portal and right when Corruline lunged at him, he shot the shard of the Power Crystal at me. It hit my forehead, and when it did... the last thing... I remembered w-was..."
Drops of water hit the crystal display Crystal held, as Dream looked up and felt like he was staved in his soul as he saw her tears streaming down her face that held a broken expression.
"Sh-She... -hic- ... she KILLED HIM!" Crystal cried as the display fell to the ground, and she brought her hands to her face.
Dream moved closer to her as he wrapped his arms around her in comfort, while his own eye sockets became watery.
"... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, Crystal..." Dream said, as Crystal huddled onto his chest and continued to sob.
He softly rubbed her back to soothe her as best he could, even though he knew it wouldn't stop her tears from flowing restlessly down cheeks. After a long cry, Crystal had gradually calmed down at this point.
"I'm sorry about your home and the ones you love, Crystal... I'm sorry for making you remember such sad things. I didn't mean to cause more harm than good... I'm so sorry," Dream said, a tear sliding down his cheekbone.
She hugged him tighter, as Dream used his hand to brush her hair out of her face. In that moment of contact with his hand on her head, Dream could feel a connection as he heard a voice speak in his mind,
'Heh... this is the end of the road for me... our world is going to be destroyed, and she'll be the last of us... but at least she'll be alive...'
'Sans... of Crystal's world,' Dream realized, and the voice continued,
'But I... I don't want her to be alone. I wanted to lock those memories away from her of our world so that she wouldn't suffer, but holding the truth too long wouldn't be good if she wants to find her home that no longer... I don't want her to be alone though. My girl. My best girl... I hope you'll forgive me for forcing you away and possibly seeing me die... killed by a back stab... That's why, I don't want her to remember unless she's with someone trustworthy. Someone with a pure heart and soul that will be there to help her through this. Someone who can dedicate themselves to help and support her when she remembers and keep her safe. Someone who may eventually... love her, as I have, or more. I hope that one day she and this dude will meet, and that she will live out her dreams... because her dreams have always been mine...'
More tears poured down Dream's eyes as he listened.
'Take care of her, dude... because someone really loves her... and maybe you can too.'
The voice stopped speaking, silenced by it's departure, as Dream lowered his hand from Crystal's head.
"...I see... I understand now...I had to come here today, not only to meet Crystal, but to fulfill his last hope... for his beloved," Dream said in an almost whisper, and Crystal pulled herself back just enough to look at him without breaking their hug and asked,
"Dream? You are sad too, but it's not you're fault. I wanted to know. At least I know the truth before I really got my hopes up... I'm at least glad you were with me… I really have nothing huh. No more hopes or dreams either… it's all gone," Crystal said, as more tears rolled down her cheeks.
Dream whipped away her tears and said, "That's not ture Crystal. He had hope for you that you would carry the hopes of your people and find new dreams to fulfill. He wanted you to live on, and you shouldn't shame his death by believing it's over. It never is."
Crystal looked up at him as her eyes widened to his worlds sinking in.
"I said I'll be with you and I will. I'll take care of you, Crystal, and I'll make sure your dreams come true. In honor of your world and his love for you, I'll fulfill his last wish. So keep hoping and dreaming and loving, Crystal. Because we really care about you," Dream said as he smiled through his tears.
Crystal saw his tears falling although he smiled, as she wiped them away and said,
"You're right. I will. Thank you, Dream, so much."
Crystal laid her head on his chest as he held her to rest since she was emotionally tired.
"Ha... Ha... positivity and hope, huh?" Crystal said.
"Heh... aren't we the pair," Dream said, and they both smiled.
A distance away:
'Hmph, well well. Looks like the little gem found a partner. I guess it was a good idea of me to bring her here, huh? Dang... am I getting soft...? Nah. I just do what I want really, and I can't help but help a Curtain out sometimes... Welp, time to make sure my sweetheart is in check. Wouldn't want him to get in trouble by not being close to me,' Kagemi thought, as she walked away to return to Nightmare, while making sure he didn't happen to bump into his brother Dream just yet.