Wirt wandered through the dark endless plain. There was nothing but darkness around him. Nervously the boy rubbed his arm. This was just a dream, just a dream. Wirt repeated this sentence in his mind, again and again, wanting nothing more than to wake up. His steps echoed into the endless void as he walked forward. He didn't dare to turn around, too scared of what might face him. This was a nightmare, he just wanted to wake up! Wirt went forward for what felt like an eternity-

"Wirt?" Wirt stopped abruptly, closed his eyes. This was not real, Greg wasn't here… this was just his imagination- "P-please, Wirt…"

Wirt just couldn't stand it. He turned around and his heart felt like it stopped. "Greg…" His voice was weak, his hand trembling. In front of him was his brother, standing in a snowy forest, Edelwood growing around -and probably also inside- him. Wirt stepped forward as if he was in trance. It was long forgotten that all this was just a dream. His steps grew faster and within a few moments, the boy was at Greg's side, tearing the branches away from him. The more he tried to free his brother, the more the branches seemed to grow. "No no no no no…" Wirt whispered, tears starting to fall.

"Wirt?" Greg asked, leaves falling out of his mouth. "It's… it's all your fault."

Wirt stumbled backward, falling into the snow. "W-Wha…" The branches grew even faster until leaving only Greg's face free.

"You are… you are the reason I am dying!" Greg's voice grew louder. "You are the reason WE are dying!"

"We?" Wirt asked, voice even weaker than before. His body felt beak numb, unable to feel the cold around him. Greg's eyes staring into his. Slowly his eyes seemed to make out what was behind the young boy. He gasped, his eyes widened. "Mom!" Wirt felt like he was going to puke. Behind Greg were so many Edelwood-trees. People with only faces free from the wood were staring at him. His mom, Greg's father, his own father- there seemed to be every single person who had something to do with Wirt.

Then the trees started talking. There were so many and the voices were so loud. Wirt couldn't make out a single word they were saying. It sounded like they were accusing him, mocking him, warning him- all at the same time. Wirt lifted his hands to cover his ears. "Stop." He whispered. "Please, stop." Tears started to fall again. What was happening?

When the noise seemed to reach its peak, everything went silent. Wirt looked around. He was in the darkness again. "It's a dream… it's all just a dream." He stood up, legs still weak. Wirt closed his eyes, turned around. "I need to wake up." He breathed and opened his eyes.

A scream escaped his throat as he stumbled backward again and fell into a seemingly endless void. But Wirt didn't care, he just wanted to be as far away as possible from those horrifying glowing eyes.

Wirt woke up. Somebody had knocked on his door. "Yeah?" he asked.

The door was opened and Greg walked in, carefully closing the door after himself. "W-wirt? Can I sleep with you?" The younger boy asked.

Wirt swallowed, Greg hadn't asked for that in quite some time. "Sure." He stated and Greg climbed into the bed next to Wirt.

"Thank you…"

"Do you want to talk about it?" Wirt asked, knowing that his brother must have had a nightmare (not unlike himself).

"It was The Beast…" Greg whispered, not elaborating his statement any further. Wirt just nodded.

After a few minutes, Wirt heard the calm breathing of his brother. He sighed, even though Greg wasn't afraid of The Unknown, he feared The Beast. After the boys had returned Greg often asked to sleep next to Wirt. He had defeated The Beast, so Greg expected to be safe next to him… Wirt wished he could feel safe too, knowing that he had slain The Beast.

He chuckled and fell asleep soon after.

When Wirt woke up, he felt something warm on his face. Slowly the boy opened his eyes and yawned. He sat up and tried to wake up more. "Greg?" Wirt asked, looking at the child next to him. Greg didn't answer. He turned around and continued snoring softly.

Wirt signed and got out of his bed, careful not to wake up Greg. The boy didn't wake up and Wirt walked out of his room, leaving the door open so that Greg wouldn't get too scared if he woke up alone.

He walked towards the kitchen, still yawning. He could already hear his mother preparing the breakfast. He reached out for the door handle. Wirt paused for a second as he heard not only his mothers but also Greg's fathers voice.

"I just…" he heard his mothers voice, the concern audible "I'm just worried about Wirt."

"I understand. But I don't know what we could do. Maybe we should take the offer and sent him back to the hospital." Greg's father sounded exhausted. They probably were discussing this for quite some time… But why should he go back to the hospital? And what offer? Had the hospital called? Was something wrong with him? Wirt started to hyperventilate. His whole body was trembling.

"But as the doctors said, they don't know what is wrong… they can't help!"

"But can we?"

"Yes!" Wirt could hear the determination in his mother's voice. "We will figure it out. Together!"

Wirt could hear Greg's father sight and whisper something Wirt couldn't make out through the wooden door to the kitchen. But his mind was somewhere else. What was wrong with him that worried his mother and Greg's father? A million questions went through Wirts mind. And he couldn't find a single answer. Everything was just so-

"Wirt?" Wirt was thorn away from his thoughts. He looked up. Greg's father had opened the door and was starring right at Wirt, the shock visible in his eyes. "Did you eavesdrop?"

"N-no!" Wirt said quickly. "I mean, uh, I just woke up…" sheepishly he rubbed his neck.

Greg's father just nodded. "Well, I think I'm going to wake up Greg… You can help your mother with breakfast Wirt, right?" The man smiled and Wirt nodded.

"Ah. Greg is in my room… he had a nightmare."

"Thank you, Wirt." With this words, Greg's father left the kitchen and headed toward Wirt's room. The silence that suddenly filled the whole room was heavy and Wirt didn't know what to do. He looked awkwardly around the room. His mother was standing in front of the window, looking outside.

"The morning is beautiful, isn't it?" Wirt asked. He silently cursed himself. How could he ask something stupid like this? Why couldn't he just ask what they were talking about? Why couldn't he just ask what was wrong?

"How do you feel?" His mother turned around, the concern not only audible in her voice but also visible in her eyes.

"G-good… yeah, good." Wirt answered, not quite sure himself. "Did the hospital call?"

"Yes." She stated, not looking Wirt in the eyes. "They asked for you to come for another checkup. It was… something wrong with your blood."

"W-what?" Wirt asked, panic slowly raising in him.

"They can't say if it is good or bad." His mother said, trying to reassure him. "But the doctors said that the substance does not seem to harm you."

"Substance?"

"Yes… the doctors couldn't pin it down exactly, but they said that the structure is similar to oil…"

Wirt couldn't listen anymore, the only thing he heard was the blood in his ears. Oil… oil… oil, like an edelwood-tree. Why was there oil in his bloodstream? Why? How? No, no no!

The boy felt a hand on his shoulder. "Mom?"

"Wirt, everything is going to be okay. We will figure it out, okay?"

"Y-yes…" Tears rolled down his cheeks. His mother whipped them away with his soft fingers. She smiled before embracing him into a tight hug.

After releasing him, she looked him directly into his eyes. "If something is wrong, tell me immediately, ok?"

"Yes…"

"Good!" she smiled. "Can you help me? I think we all are hungry." Wirt nodded. He felt better than before, even though he still had a bad feeling about all this.

Four people said around the table, the atmosphere was warm and cheerful. Greg was telling his parents and Wirt about his dream- the dream he had after climbing into his brother's bed. "And then there was a magical tiger! And it let me ride on it… The magical tiger had very soft fur." He smiled and all worries were forgotten, almost…

Greg noticed the tense atmosphere but he wanted to make his family happy. And they always smiled when he told them funny stories so he did exactly that. But today… even though his mom and dad were smiling and seemed happy, Wirt just continued looking down on his food, not touching anything.

"It felt like a sheep! You would have liked it, Wirt!" Greg tried to cheer him up but his brother just looked at him with a distance glance.

"Uhm…" Wirt nodded, looking down at his food again. His mom looked at him, eyes now filled with worry… Greg didn't know what to do, now his mom was sad too? He wanted to make them smile, to make mom and dad and Wirt laugh.

He fell silent. They all continued to eat, and even Wirt tried to eat something. Greg saw how hard it was for his brother, but he didn't know why. Was he missing something? He himself was missing Beatrice and the Woodsman, Auntie Whispers and Lorna. But Wirt had said that they were far far away and they couldn't go visit them. But Greg wasn't dumb. He knew now that he was older that The Unknown was a different world, a dangerous world. But the dangerous Beast had been defeated by Wirt, so it must be safe, right? Why couldn't they return?

"Can I go back to my room?" Greg looked up. Wirt had finished his breakfast.

"Yes…" His mother said. "But tell me if something is wrong, okay?" She smiled and Wirt smiled back, even though his eyes were still filled with something that Greg could only describe as sadness mixed with worry.

Wirt left the room and Greg was tempted to follow him but… Wirt would probably be angry if he did so, so the boy remained at the table.

It was only a few moments until Wirts terrified scream tore through the silence.