Iridescent || DNF

Chapter 5: A Man's Curse

 George lay on the hospital bed, softly letting out puffs of air as he clenched his eyes shut. Sleeping had become even harder since entering the castle, and in the past few nights George had barely slept a few hours. His insomnia was worsening, and he missed his bed at home. Every day he found it harder and harder to get up, and while he worked on his medical training he felt groggy and dead on his feet.

Niki had begun to take notice.

"You need to go to bed earlier George," she'd said. "Here, take some of these flowers. Sweet smells always help me relax."

George had taken the flowers and set them in a jar beside his bed. They hadn't helped him sleep, but they did make him sneeze.

George sniffled, doing his best to ignore his potent allergies, and turned over in his bed. He had just begun to finally drift to sleep when he heard a thump coming from outside the medical room. A jolt travelled down his spine as he wondered who could be up this late. Maybe one of the nurses went to grab a glass of water?

Muffled noises floated through the thin walls. Something was going on. An instinct pushed George out of bed. He quickly put on his fuzzy slippers and wrapped himself in a blanket, tiptoeing towards the door that led to the hallway. The voices grew as he neared the door, and he pressed his ear to it so he could listen.

"We need to be careful. We don't want Dream to find out," a familiar voice whispered.

"I know, it's just... I've been doing a lot of thinking lately-"

George closed his eyes, focusing as he listened to the second voice. He didn't seem to recognize that one, but who was the first? Suddenly, a thick, icky feeling welled up in the back of George's throat. He was barely able to muffle the sneeze in time, and he heard the speaking outside come to an abrupt halt.

After a moment, the voice came again.

"I don't like this Karl. Let's go talk somewhere else."

As footsteps receded down the hallway, George felt himself slipping out of med bay and carefully pattering after the voices. He didn't know why he had such a strong urge to discover what the people had been discussing, but he worried about what they were keeping from Prince Dream. There weren't any traitors in their midst was there?

George's stomach clenched. As if the looming war wasn't frightening enough, now they had to deal with their own people turning against them.

The voices continued to trail down the hallway, but George could only make out wisps of words.

"It's not too late... we still have time."

"If only we could turn back time instead of being stuck in this loop..."
What are they talking about?

George realized the men who were talking had stepped out one of the castle doors and into a garden. It was difficult to see at night, but George quickly ducked behind a bush and finally was able to make out who was standing in front of him.

The men's faces were illuminated in the moonlight, and George finally realized why one of the voices was so familiar. General Sapnap? The other man he didn't recognize, but Sapnap had referred to him as Karl.

Karl donned a sweeping, dark cape that was covered in stars. He had messy hair and wore a light blue sweater with a swirl in the middle. George had a feeling the ensemble was colorful... He wished he could pick out each pigment of the outfit, and see the vibrancy of the painted stars. Damn my color blindness...

"I... I have to tell you something Sapnap," Karl whispered, bending over slightly so his cape cascaded over his arms. "I went-"

"You didn't!" Sapnap hissed, grabbing Karl's shoulders. "You said you would never go back there!"