LOSING GAME ➳ dreamwastaken

𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞

Reverie wished Techno was there. He would have loved to watch as the flames danced against the black canvas of the night sky, engulfing the walls of the castle in a golden fortress. She watched as the flames got higher, so high that they appeared to be brushing against the stars, and she let out a sigh of relief.

Burning the castle was the final crime that Reverie would commit, and something about that fact pleased her. Dream's castle had acted as both a home and a prison to Reverie at different times in her life. Watching as the final harbourer of her pain was swallowed by a raging fire and reduced to rubble and ash, Reverie had never felt more powerful or more in control of her own emotions.

Perhaps her and Dream were, in fact, a losing game, and always had been, but for the few moments in which Reverie stood watching the castle burn, she and Dream were officially the King and Queen of the chaos. Just as Dream had promised her, they ruled the kingdom together, even if it was not in the way Reverie had expected. She had brought the kingdom to its knees and when it tried to stand, she placed the hilt of her sword to its head and held it steady, because it was her kingdom now. In her final hour, she was the Queen.

As the flames roared in the darkness, lights flickered on in the windows of surrounding buildings. Reverie was hidden by the shadows as people came swarming outside, shouting dramatically and rushing towards the flaming castle.

When Reverie spotted Bad amongst the crowd that had gathered as close as they dared get to the raging fire, she knew that she would now have a clear path to the Egg.

Sam stood waiting for her by the entrance, his hands tucked neatly behind his back. Reverie could almost hear whispers drifting up the makeshift staircase, urging her to descend underground.

Reverie approached Sam somewhat warily—you could never be too careful. To her relief, he did not make any unexpected movements and remained still as Reverie reached into her pocket and took out one of the two folded pieces of paper that were still inside.

Wordlessly, Sam took the note from Reverie and the nod that he offered told her that he would do as she wished and deliver the note to Dream. Then, Reverie turned to begin her final walk towards the doors of death, but Sam's hand landed on her shoulder, momentarily halting her.

Sam squeezed Reverie's shoulder gently and, although he did not offer any words of consolation, the small gesture provided Reverie all the comfort she needed to go forth.

When Sam's hand fell away, Reverie began her descent underground, and not once did she look back.

The cavern was much bigger than Reverie had expected. She still had no idea why Bad had been mining out so much ground the day he discovered the first clump of the Blood Vines, but she supposed that information was unnecessary anyway.

The Blood Vines scaled the walls, floor and ceiling, covering almost every inch of stone in scarlet strips. The Egg stood in the far corner of the cavern, and Reverie had not prepared for the feeling of nausea that crashed down upon her when she laid eyes on the Egg.

Her knees buckled but she willed herself to continue forwards. She had come this far and she wasn't going to turn away now.

Reverie's heart hammered against her ribcage, its beats growing more violent the closer Reverie became to the Egg. She could hear it whispering in her head in a language that was foreign to her yet she somehow understood.

The Egg wanted Reverie's blood—it craved it, but Reverie knew exactly how the ritual worked.

Polidori blood had healing qualities. If the Egg was to consume the blood of a Polidori who was unwilling to give up their blood, this would grant strength to the Egg, for it fed on the fear that lingered in the spilled droplets of blood.