Chapter Text
A pen clicked as Nightmare continued to write down what he had observed.
Purple eye lights scanned the market full of fruits, vegetables and goodies for Nightmare to buy. Neither him nor Dream required food, so he wouldn’t, but he still liked to observe how the market thrived. Even if these villagers despised him, Nightmare couldn’t help but be so curious as to how they move, talk, act and just their overall behaviour. Him and Dream weren’t like them, and that’s why he was interested.
Although, he still had to be careful, as yet again it’s because of the hate that this village has for him. He doesn’t know why. He never did. But he tries his best anyway, because maybe one day they’ll like him, maybe one day because he does what they want they’ll finally like him. He knew they wouldn’t though.
They’d never like him, especially not how they like Dream.
With a gentle huff, his back scraped against the tree he was hiding behind, body sliding down until he was fully sat down. Monitoring the villagers was nice - monster-watching, he called it - but he couldn’t do this forever. They always found him, and then they..
Well, it varied. But bad things, always bad things.
His eyes snapped back open the second he heard a twig snap nearby. Very nearby. With one swift movement, he stood up and looked around, ready to summon a weapon if he needed to defend himself. If it was them, then he’d need to. He was quick to sense the anger right next to him, quick enough that he could dodge the swipe.
He quickly moved out of the way of arm’s reach, the wolf monster grumbling in frustration, “Come on, Nightmare, give me that journal of yours. You know what I’ll do if you don’t.”
He refused to answer, the silence stretching onward and onward until he was caught off guard by the villager pouncing on him and fighting for the book. He held it as tight as he could, even as their grip remained strong and continued to pull hard. But he wouldn’t give in so easily, it was his and therefore his property. He could do what he wanted.
That confidence faded as quick as the journal was snatched from him. He immediately stood up, fighting against the taller one but they just pulled it open and read through the entries. As they dog-eared the pages, scrolling through, they were eventually met with the latest entry. The one just made, and not yet finished.
Nightmare’s eyes furrowed, a kick reaching them. But it was already too late, they dropped the book and growled at him, “You’re a freak, you know that? A freak.”
As they ran off, all Nightmare could do was watch in terror as they spread the news to their fellow villagers. He never meant to do anything wrong, he really didn’t.
Speaking of wrong, something caught his attention. And so, he watched from behind the tree.
A bunny monster quickly ran into sight, out of breath by the time they got to the market; hunched over and taking a moment to heave, “I- Dream,” they started, “He’s.. he’s in danger, get help.. GET HELP!” They screamed, quick to panic just as the other villagers did.
That same wolf monster was quick to glare at Nightmare, a furious glint in their eyes as they marched over to him with heavy and loud steps. As their stomping ceased, Nightmare could only back up against the tree, only to be lifted up off of the floor and strangled by the wolf.
“You did this, didn’t you?” They spat, “FIX IT!” And with that shout, Nightmare was let go. Even as he sat on the grass and collected himself, he let out coughs and his vision span. Once he finally got up, his head was still in utter agony, but he had to go anyway. For his brother. The village had already began their march, leaving him behind. Yet the wolf stayed for a moment or two, staring back at him with a feral rage in their face.
I have to fix it, he thought as they stomped away, Not just for his safety, but for mine.
He took another moment to relax, leaning on the tree for support and preparing for the terror that was about to come. He was still dizzy, but he had to go. He couldn’t stay here forever.
With a sigh, he took in the fresh air and held back tears as he joined the line of villagers.
And yet, that fixed nothing. That fear and pain fixed nothing.
The air was heavy with tension, the breeze blowing by the two skeletons as their staring contest didn’t cease, it only strengthened. Dream’s frown grew, tears beginning to drip down his face as the consequences of his actions finally caught up to him. The thick, black goop that was soon to encase him whole began to crawl up his leg, and all he could do was whimper in pain and sorrow.
”..I-“ Dream swallowed, “I’m.. I’m sorry.” He just barely got out, the corruption soon to cover the entirety of his leg.
Nightmare couldn’t move, he couldn’t believe it. This wasn’t real, this was a dream, it wasn’t reality it- the villagers were tricking him. Surely, this was just some sick joke, another hit to the gut by them - emotionally this time - because they hated him more than he could possibly comprehend. They seemed so panicked, but it was just an act, a joke, this..
..This couldn’t be real.
Looking back though, it all seemed so real, especially now that he was witnessing it happen in real time. It had all happened so fast, yet he still recalled the events in vivid detail, negativity forever implanting itself into his bones.
Dream’s life shattered before Nightmare’s very eyes, his brother’s future being wiped out in one bite of an apple. A golden apple. He had been eating so many that Nightmare knew the positivity would overwhelm him and his senses, it’d become toxic. Corrupting.
This wasn’t right. This wasn’t right at all.
The goop continued to travel up Dream’s leg, gradually blurring in Nightmare’s vision until it became fully out of focus.
The world around him slowly became nothing but a blur, eyes seemingly focused yet on the inside everything was blurring together in a swirl of colours and shapes. Black was the most prominent colour of all, slowly mixing with the white before fully overtaking it.
His breathing became heavy, he didn’t know how to cope! He- he was scared. Scared, yes. Scared of what was happening.
What was happening? He.. didn’t know. He knew nothing about what was happening because it never happened before, this was new, a new thing to be documented and recorded in history.
But, that wasn’t right. He couldn’t let this become history, he couldn’t let this become reality.
The rattling of his bones was the last thing he heard as he charged forward, summoning a glistening, shiny and twinkling moonstone blade that had light bounce off of it as it sliced through the corruption that encased his brother whole. He was not letting his fear bring him down, he was not letting his brother die. Not right here, not right now, and especially not to some stupid corruption.
The negativity shot out of him in waves and blasted down the monster that replaced his brother, an actor sent to trick him and deceive him into believing that was really his brother. It wasn’t, it was a beast posing as him, and keeping his real brother captive.
Not for long, he thought as a larger frown than before found it’s way onto his face, I’ll get my brother back.
Purple magic shot out of his newly formed staff with a moon on top, having appeared in his hand in place of the moonstone blade. The creature was weakened, and with this last shot he could get his brother back. Smoke filled his nose as it plagued the area with both it’s existence and scent. A crater had formed, having been made visible as the smoke cleared up. His brother would be there, safe and sound, he just knew it!
But, what he saw when it cleared up made him quickly realise he had overestimated himself. He had overestimated himself a lot.
Tendrils sprouted out of the back of the creature that had replaced his brother, the smoke finally revealing them as one by one they waved him hello. Just as the joyful glint in Dre- the creature’s eye did, a grin forming. Thick, black goop covered his left eye, dripping down onto the ground as he finally took a step forward onto the dead grass.
The staff dropped and softly clanked on the ground, metal colliding with grass as he truly had no other choice when being tackled to the floor. The tentacles rose high up, dripping with the same black liquid that spread itself across the entirety of his body, “Don’t worry, brother,” he softly spoke, “I’ll make you feel better.”
Nightmare couldn’t do anything, he was frozen, terrified for his life. All he could do was thrash underneath the one who pretended to be his brother, hand reaching out to grab his staff.
It was too far.
His breathing quickened, the guardian attempting to get his telekinesis to work as the staff rattled and shook, slowly floating up. It wasn’t stable, but he had to try, for him. For his brother.
Finally, with one last grunt, it flew up in the air and slammed itself into his hand. Yet, it didn’t hurt. Either way, a blast of his negativity managed to get the beast off of him. A good distraction, yet distractions were temporary. He quickly rose to his feet, staring over at the creature who shrieked in agony. His purple eye lights went up and down, fully scanning the monster, and he was quick to notice the corruption process wasn’t done. Maybe that was some sort of weakness?
A second glance made him realise it was incredibly close to the clifftop. Which was.. very convenient for him, but also gave him a horrifying idea. One that might just work.
He huffed, “Dream, if you’re still in there..” he swallowed, “I.. I’m sorry.”
The beast seemed to stop at that, tilting its head as if curious. Then, he grinned, laughing with an overly sweet tone as he approached. “Oh, silly brother.. I am Dream,” the creature spoke, Nightmare backing up with a shiver in his bones, “Don’t you get that?”
He had to force himself to not cry, holding back tears yet again before letting out a different kind of cry. A scream came out as he charged forward, tears still beginning to form in the corners of his eye sockets as his staff shot the other directly in the gut. He seemed shocked at that, a bit of his goopy flesh dripping off and revealing the eye that lay underneath. A yellow eye light stared back at purple ones, going thin in horror before a muffled scream was heard, the eye getting covered back up.
Only then did Nightmare realise the sin he had committed.
”DREAM!” He shrieked, a blood curdling scream as he desperately tried to reach forward. It strained his arm but he did anyway, his magic forming subconsciously and lifting up the beast, bringing it to him. Noticing this, he bit his lip yet tears still fell, the telekinesis bringing the cre- no, his brother to him and quickly embracing him in a hug. He stepped back a bit so the two wouldn’t fall, Dream still being held up by purple magic.
He let out shaky breaths as his grip tightened on his brother’s back, holding him close as if letting him go would make him disappear, “You’re.. you’re okay.” He muttered, the reassurance applying more to him, “You’re.. fine.” He let out one last exhale before his breathing got relatively normal.
The other hugged back, and he knew right then and there that was his brother. The head resting on his shoulder helped ground him, both figuratively and literally. And he wished that this moment would stretch on forever, and ever, for he loved his brother so much. He never wanted to hurt him, only the beast that posed as him.
The one that stabbed him in the back.
Terror filled his bones much as pain did, groans of agony coming out of him. He just barely held back a scream, and considering that reaction he knew he made a mistake. He made many mistakes in this fight, but this one cost him quite a lot.
That much became obvious when he summoned his soul and a gaping hole was right in the middle of the purplish black apple, bony hands began clawing deep into his shoulders, picking him up with the help of the tendrils before throwing him off the cliff.
”NO!” He screamed, tears erupting faster than ever just as his blood did and becoming one with the wind. A head peeked out from over, and one of the tentacles innocently waved, just as “innocent” as the look on the deceitful one’s face.
“Goodbye for now, brother. I hope to see you again!” He beamed, continuing to wave until Nightmare’s vision began to blur, the black shape he recognised as the newly corrupted Dream slowly walking off. Tears fell so fast that his cheeks were soaking wet, some refusing to burst out of how stubborn he was. Yes, stubborn, very stubborn. And as his vision began to fade, one last thought dawned on him, one last terrifying thought.
Truly, he had no idea what to do.