Chapter 10
[ Once upon a time... ]
[Once upon a time, he would have given anything to keep it that way.]
[ All given to continue their daily lives as he liked it. ]
[Until I realized, with poorly concealed horror…]
[That all his happiness was a lie.]
Dream flickers, throat dries up. He kept his eyes glued to the ground, unable to face his brother, unable to face his words.
"... The multiversal ellipse... ?" he blew gently as his hands began to shake in anguish.
[ Chuckles ]
[He wished we'd never told him about it again.]
Nightmare himself was struggling to look up. His soul and spirit seemed for once to be on the same wavelength as they shouted in a common cry "Shut up, don't talk about it".
But the nightmare master had no choice:
"Yes, the multiverse ellipse. It's going to happen in a couple of days."
Dream piteously swallowed his saliva, his fingers coming to play with the bottom of his tunic while his voice became even lower:
"...why... are you talking to me about this... ?"
Flashes were coming at him. Bits of distant memories, too distant, which nevertheless kept a certain clarity in his mind. He and his brother, the rare times when an ellipse had appeared, when they had united, mingled, to the point of merging into a being of light and darkness.
It was by instinct that he backed down:
"...it was you who didn't want to talk about it anymore…"
Yes, it was Nightmare who had put an end to their complicity, who claimed they didn't want to hear about this 'stupid ellipse' anymore. But the guardian of the nightmares regretted it, felt terrible about it, because he was now aware of the magnitude of his words, of the impact that this decision must have had on his twin.
"Dream... I'll be honest. The black apples are consuming you much faster than I feared."
The Dream Keeper hiccupped, finally raising his face towards his brother to reveal his tear-fogged eyes. This sight petrified Nightmare, who had to use violence to not let his negativity implode.
"They... they're gonna turn me? Or kill me? Dream asked in panic.
- ... I don't know how much I owe. I just... (Sighs) They should have turned you a long time ago. You should have become like Shattered. I don't understand... why it didn't happen. Why you're still... you."
Nightmare was feeling fragile. Fragile and helpless. He hated to be misunderstood and feared the moment when the situation would turn more dramatic, when they would reach a real point of no return. But for the time being nothing was at stake, and he preferred to bury in a corner of his mind the threat uttered by Error.
"Dream, I'd like to get your approval for an idea. An idea that could save you."
The little dream looked away:
"... Why do you want to save me?
- ... ...l...
- ... You don't make sense, Nightmare... You go from one idea to another without any explanation... You let me know that you hate me, that you want me gone... Then why are you helping me?"
Nightmare was about to respond but the retreating movement of his twin interrupted him.
Dream lowered his eyes once again, without being aware of the darkness that was taking over his being even more, of his negative feelings which, although mastered until then, were only asking to explode once again, in a much more violent way than facing Ink, Cross, or Nightmare himself.
The sweet dream became icy, his pupils suddenly darkening, accompanying the tension that weighed down the room:
"You've always hated me. What's happening to you? Are you remorseful, you, the master of bad emotions? Or are you waiting for me to feel better so you can stab me in the back?"
Nightmare hiccupped, opening his one eye to his perfectly justified accusations.
Yes, at one time, he probably would have done that. But not anymore. Not now that he's realized what a fucking idiot he is.
He took a step towards his brother:
"Dream...
- Back off."
The nightmare stopped abruptly, with an unpleasant chill. He gauged his twin with his eyes, wondering for a moment before he was certain that yes, Dream's voice had become more hoarse, full of danger.
[ Negativity was gaining on him again. ]
Nightmare gritted his teeth, realizing their time was running out. If his brother started to give up, to let go of negative emotions, he probably wouldn't make it to the ellipse.
"Dream, I...
- ... wants to sequester me? Tie me up, lock me up, torture me so I'll never see the light of day again? Do you want to keep me in your castle like your precious trophy, to tell you that you will have been the best because it is YOU who will have defeated the guardian of positivity, and not Shattered? Ahah... ahahah... ahahah.."
The giggle froze Nightmare, whose body suddenly became heavy. His soul squeezed painfully as his throat tightened, as he felt a deaf terror take hold of him, exactly the same way as when Dream was in a coma, that he had given him a fit of insanity before shouting his four truths to him.
He wanted to challenge his twin again, to deny what he had said, but the laughter of his brother petrified him, and he thought he was dying of fright when his sweet Dream, his little dream, his adorable brother, raised his head to plant a lifeless gaze in his direction:
"Ahahahah! Oh my God, that's hilarious ! Why are you looking at me like that Night ? You should be happy, you have everything you wanted ! You even managed to get my soul, that's to say !"
Nightmare is swallowing. So Dream noticed it? At the same time, hard to ignore when your soul is missing...
"What are you going to do with it now? Display it in your art gallery? Attempt to absorb it, unless you want to torture me with it? Because, if you're going to sequester my body and my mind, you might as well go all the way and go straight to the source of my life! Huh? HUH? Ah... AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH!"
The nightmares are receding.
[It wasn't Dream]
He repressed a sob.
[It couldn't have been Dream!]
He wiped his eye brightly, lest the tears escape him.
[ Was this what he looked like when he was corrupted? Was it the spectacle he had given to his twin, the day he had swallowed his black apples, when he had metamorphosed in front of him? ]
Goddamn, he was still in charge of some bullshit? Of course he did, and life kept reminding him of it every fucking second of his existence.
But right now, he didn't give a shit. His remorse and regrets, he'd deal with them later, he'd take them in his face another time!
"DREAM! I won't do anything to you! Neither to your body nor to your soul! I will never hurt you again! I won't let anyone else hurt you-
- Mercy then?"
Nightmare blinked, realizing that Dream had cut it off without the slightest hesitation, with a look of false intrigue:
"Is the great master of misfortune then capable of mercy? After all, it's a negative emotion, I suppose it's normal.
- I-it's not...
- So that's it, you figured fighting a miserable being wasn't good for you? How would you like to have a worthy opponent again? Even though... Ahah... ahahahahah, have I ever lived up to it? I have my doubts! Why don't you go see Ink, HE is up to the task! He will fight you properly! After all, the Keeper of the Multiverse always puts his duty before his friends! I guess that's what it's like to be soulless too, isn't it p-"
The slap cut him clean off, as did the pain on his cheek.
Dream remained stunned, gently resting his palm on his painful face, before looking at Nightmare who was standing very close to him, trying to understand if ... if his twin had just slapped him good and proper.
"...you can talk about me as you please," the master of woe ...whispered. But don't even deign to insult Ink.
- ...What's that? Why shouldn't I? WHY SHOULD I CARE ABOUT THIS SO-CALLED FRIEND?! HE WHO SHOULD HAVE...
- WHO SHOULD HAVE COMFORTED YOU, RIGHT? WHO SHOULD'VE SUPPORTED YOU, SEE YOU WERE HURTING?! INK IS THE KEEPER OF THE MULTIVERSE! HE'S GOT A LOT OF PROBLEMS TO DEAL WITH! AND UNLIKE YOU, HE CAN'T FEEL EMOTIONS! HE CAN BARELY FEEL HIS OWN! HOW COULD YOU EXPECT HIM TO KNOW HOW BAD YOU ARE IF YOU'VE ALWAYS…"
...hidden. The twins widened their eyes.
Dream acted the same way as Nightmare. From beginning to end.
[Hiding his feelings]
[Cracking]
[Corrupting]
[Losing it]
Dream turns pale:
"No..."
He took his head in his hands:
"No... no, no, no, no!"
He couldn't... he... Did he really blame Ink? How long had he...? No... no, those weren't his words, not his initial thoughts! Why was he blaming the others? Why was he picking on others?!
Nightmare took his hand:
"Dream...
- I didn't want to!
- I know you didn't.
- I never meant...!
- I know you didn't.
- I DON'T THINK THAT!"
His brother pulled at him, squeezed him with all his might:
"I know Dream."
[He knew that better than anyone]
[The apples crept into their minds like vile snakes, whispering nonsense, nonsense, nonsense]
[They were corrupting their feelings. They diverted them from those they loved.]
Dream sobbed:
"I don't want to be like that...!
- ... I know you don't.
- I want to get better...!"
Nightmare kissed him gently on the cheekbone:
"I'll take care of it…"
The young dream closed the eyes from which escaped his bitter tears. His trembling palms clutched his brother even harder:
"I'm afraid Night…"
The nightmare placed his forehead against his own, surrounding his twin with his magic and tentacles, embracing him, enclosing him in a warm and protective cocoon:
"...you don't have to see fear."
[I'm here]
[I'll protect you.]
The living room was plunged into an oppressive silence. Only the particularly cliché and annoying ticking of the clock could be heard in the vastness of the room, and Horror hated himself for thinking he wanted to mess the place up.
He couldn't get angry, let his blood pressure go through the roof. He was at Plum's after all. And by the way, his adorable Plum was sitting next to him on the couch, gently holding his hand and caressing his palm with the tip of his phalanx.
"It's going to be dangerous... ?" asked the host distractedly.
Horror shrugged his shoulders:
"I don't know."
Nightmare had not specified anything, having been satisfied with the minimum information: to carry out a ritual and to cure Dream.
That's easy.
Much too easy.
"... He wouldn't have summoned everyone if it wasn't dangerous, Horror confessed softly, shaking his boyfriend's hand more tightly.
- ... And what? I have to expect... not see you again?
- ... I don't know, Plum. I really don't know."
He didn't want to lie or give false hope. He just... wanted to let him know. Prepare him for all eventualities. Oh, it wasn't the first time either of them had come close to death, but... Nightmare had also asked Ink and Error to be present. To ask for support from the Creator and the Destroyer, it meant that the danger was far greater than they had seen so far.
Plum came to curl up against him, enjoying their tender cuddle.
"...I could come with you...
- No, sweetheart... you stopped being a bad guy on purpose to live a quiet life. We don't have to drag you into this.
- But I'm gonna miss you...
- I'm gonna miss you too…"
They exchanged a feverish look as Plum hesitated, words burning in his throat. 'Promise me you'll come back to me,' he said. But wasn't it a selfish request? Of course Horror wanted to come back, and if he couldn't... it wouldn't be of his own free will, of course. And Plum didn't want his soul mate to be filled with regret in case... he couldn't keep his so-called promise.
"... I love you, Horror."
The cannibal twitches, his throat tied, before coming to gently kiss his boyfriend.
"I too, Plum... I love you like crazy…"
So many unspoken, silent promises...
[I'll be back]
[I'll get back to you.]
Killer looked at the remote control between his fingers for a long time, without having the reflex to turn on the television. But it was the right time: he always watched a stupid show when he was depressed, just to take his mind off things. But not today. Today... he had an empty mind, as if his thoughts didn't want to flow any more.
"What the hell are you doing?" Dust came to him, sitting next to him to watch the black screen.
A short silence during which Killer put the remote control on the table:
"... I don't know about that.
- You thinking about the mission?
- ...not really. It's going to be the same as always: dangerous. And as always, we're going to risk our lives. And as always, there's no guarantee we're coming back."
Dust raised an archway:
"... You look even more depressed than before. I thought I was getting better...
- ... I'm thinking Color."
Dust tensed gently:
"Color? That bastard?"
Killer looked down, playing distractedly with the sleeve of his sweater as if to give himself some kind of a hold:
"... He hurt me, you know... But, um…"
He hardly swallowed his saliva, feverish:
"...I lied to you... he's not the one who broke it off…"
Dust blinked, surprised, before coming a little closer to his friend, coming to put a hand on his shoulder:
"Is that you? Why is that?
- ... I panicked, okay? I-I just... I thought I was ready to leave you, to go live with him, to be like Plum! But, um…"
He clenched his fists, trembling:
" ... I can't do this... you're my family, and... I don't want to leave. I don't feel ready, I…"
Dust sighed softly, came to caress his skull to comfort him when he felt himself on the verge of sobbing:
"I love Color... I love him with all my fucking madness... But...
- You'd rather leave him than burden yourself with a long-distance relationship.
- ... It's stupid, huh... ?
- Totally. Why didn't you offer him a place to live in the castle?"
Killer straightened his head, outraged:
"What? But he would never have agreed!
- Did you even ask him?
- Of course not!
- So what do you know? Seriously, Kill', this guy's always been crazy about you! He even went so far as to fight Nightmare for you! Then living with us must be the least of his worries!"
Killer lowered his eyes again, in terrible shame. He cast a doubting glance at Dust:
"...do you think... I should go back to him?
- Do you want to?"
The one with the round soul hesitated... before he nodded his head timidly.
Dust smiled and gave him a little pat on the shoulder:
"So yeah, go to him."
Killer was smiling again, but there was no time to get up and a desperate Cross entered the room furiously, only to fall down on the couch beside them:
"What's the matter with you? wondered Dust in front of his dark face.
- ... According to Error, we have to expect the ritual to fail.
- Great... We're not going to make any old bones."
Killer chuckled and elbowed him:
"Please, it's to be expected. Of course we were going to bump into a bone!"
Cross the gunshots with his eyes:
"Because you think it's funny? Dream's in danger, Nightmare's on the edge... We don't have time for your stupid jokes! You don't even hit my funny bone!"
Nice try, which was rewarded by the smiles of Killer and Dust before they came to put their arms around the monochrome's shoulders.
"We're going to get through this, said the skeleton of dust. I mean, we've been through worse.
- It's clear! approved the one with the black marks. And then we'll celebrate in front of 'Isn't it Romantic'!
- Oh no, you're giving us a break with your shitty movie!"
They left in a frenzy of laughter, their souls still oppressed.
This may have been the last time they took advantage of it...
This feeling was supported by the arrival of Dream and Nightmare. The twins looked terrible, marked by tiredness and tears, but were doing violence to make themselves look good. The bad ones had the decency to make no remarks and hugged each other a little to allow the other two to join them on the couch.
"Are we watching a show?" Killer suggested.
A shrug of the shoulders from his comrades. He took this as a yes and retrieved the remote control, finally turning on the TV to look for some entertainment. If possible something funny, to make everyone smile again.
Nightmare, positioned between Cross and Dream, gently passed a tentacle around their waists to gently bring them back against him, surprising the other two who had no hesitation in curling up in this warm embrace.
Dust threw a light glance at them, before smiling fleetingly and turning his attention back to the screen, his soul nevertheless tight. He had done his best, the three of them didn't need him anymore ...
He had obviously forgotten that twins are capable of feeling other people's emotions.
"Dust, you come next to me... ?" rose timidly the voice of the keeper of dreams.
Surprised, the skeleton of dust looked at him, only to find that Cross and Nightmare were also looking at him. Caught short and embarrassed, he grunted a slight "Yeah" and stood up, coming to take his place next to Dream, before a tentacle grabbed him in turn and brought him closer to the trio.
Sticking to the guardian of good emotions, Dust swallows, his face getting slightly impregnated just like Dream's, before the latter chuckles:
"I like being against you."
This ended Dust, whose face turned tomato-coloured, wrenching a snigger from the other bad guys.
Killer was touched when he saw his four friends like that. He hoped with all his heart that he could have such a fusional relationship with Color... Maybe soon. Very soon.
Finally, when Horror came home - at a rather late hour, it must be said - he discovered with amazement the rest of the gang slumped on the couch, sleeping against each other in front of the broadcast of an episode of Steven Universe.
It touched him as much as it hurt him: he prayed that this would not be the last time they would see them all like this ...
Ink checked one last time that he had not forgotten anything. His memory was playing tricks on him, and while normally he didn't have much trouble with it, this time was different. Not that this was the most dangerous mission he had ever been on, far from it. But it was no less important, especially since Dream's life was at stake.
Dream... he hadn't spoken to him, hadn't even seen him since they fought. But Ink had never stopped thinking about him, about his friend, about that sweet little guardian who had never abandoned him, not even when the Creator had betrayed everyone, had stopped taking his vials just for fun, just to get on the 'wrong' side, so wrong side there was.
Right and wrong were abstract notions but, for Ink, Dream was definitely a 'good' person. Someone you could rely on, who trusted anyone without judging them, accepting even the worst of criminals at his side.
Dream was his friend, it didn't matter what other people thought, see what Dream himself thought.
And Ink wasn't going to let that friend die. Not without trying.
"Inky, are you ready?" Error questioned him as he entered the room.
The painter took a final breath. It was the big moment and it would have been a lie to say Ink was confident.
The Creator turned to his companion, determined, his Carmine wards filled with determination.
"Yes."
[I'm ready]