Faded ||A DSMP Ghost Dream fanfic||

Fragments of the Past

Phil looked down at the blonde boy that was curled into him, sound asleep. "What happened to you while I was gone..." he sighed, tucking the ghost closer to his chest. In front of the two, Techno silently paced the room, muttering quietly under his breath. 

"I just don't understand! I'm sure he didn't kill himself. But he was in the prison, so who could've killed him!? Sam would've stopped anybody since he's the warden!" the pink-haired man muttered in frustration.

"To be fair, he did have a lot of enemies, Techno. But first, I think we should alert the other Syndicate members."

Techno finally stopped pacing and turned to face the avian. "You're right."

Phil watched as the younger desperately searched for parchment and a quill. Finally finding what he was searching for, Techno scribbled down a few quick notes on two separate pieces of parchment. Rolling up the scrolls, he tied each with a strand of his hair. Satisfied, he strode over to the bell by the windowsill and rung it two times. Soon, two crows fluttered down and landed on the windowsill. After securing the letters to each crow's leg, he told each crow who the letter was for. 

"This one here is for Niki, and this one is for Jack. Now off you go."

The two watched as the crows slowly drifted out of view. Slumping against the wall, Techno slowly slid to the floor. "Now all we can do is wait..." 

Phil gazed at his dejected son. "It'll be alright, mate. We can't change what's already happened. Dream has already died, we can't change that."

"That's true. But we CAN avenge him."

"Of course, we can, mate. I don't plan on forgiving whoever killed him either. However, it'll take time to find out who did it. And anyway, we need a plan. There could be multiple people involved in this. Nothing good will come out if we rush things," the older calmly explained.

"You're right... I let my emotions get to my head. I just can't believe that he's dead... After all... he is... Dream. I can't believe that someone as powerful as him just... died," Techno sighed.

"It's alright, mate. It happens to the best of us. Now come on, let's get to bed. The others should arrive early tomorrow morning," said Phil, as he lifted the sleeping boy gently. As the three headed upstairs, Phil gently set Dream down on an extra mattress they had pulled out. Giving his hand a little squeeze, he whispered, "Good night, mate. You've been through a lot. Sleep tight and rest well tonight."

The next morning when Dream woke up, he didn't recognize any of his surroundings. He was starting to panic but his previous instincts had taken over. Quickly remembering the details of yesterday, he figured he was probably still in Techno's house, just a different part of it. His hypothesis was confirmed when the trap door at the foot of his bed opened and the winged-man poked his head into the room. 

"Morning, mate!" Phil called out. "Come on down, the others are here already."

The ghost looked around and noticed that Techno's cape had been covering him. Picking it up, he held it close to his chest and carefully claimed down the ladders. When he reached the main floor, he turned and saw 2 new people. 

Talking to Techno was a short girl with matching pink hair. 

Her hair was tied half-up, in two neat buns on the top of her head. She was wearing a cream-white hoodie. The hood and the rolled-up sleeves, however, were black. Around her waist was a black corset, and under it was a black, leather tool belt. She wore black, slim streamer pants, with high, dark brown, leather boots to match. Her eyes were a sparkling, ash blue. 

Behind her, leaning on a wall, was a man in mismatched red and blue glasses. He wore a black and blue striped shirt, with gray cargo pants. He had high, black, combat boots. Similar to the girl, he had a brown, leather tool belt. Over his chocolate-brown hair, he had a gray headphone set. (If you want, you can headcanon him bald. I'm basing the designs off their canon characters.)

Sensing his presence, Techno and the girl stopped their conversation and turned to face him. 

"Ah, good morning Dream. This is Nihachu, and this is Jack. They're part of the Syndicate, a group of anarchists that Phil and I work with."

"Good morning Dream, please just call me Niki," she smiled. 

"H-Hello Niki," whispered Dream, as he clutched Techno's cape tighter.

"Would you be okay with me coming closer?"

Dream hesitated before giving a small nod. Niki slowly walked closer to the trembling ghost, afraid of scaring him. She stopped a foot away from him and gave him a small, sad smile. 

"Do you remember me by chance? Even a little bit?" she whispered.

"... No. I'm sorry but I don't really remember you..." Dream whispered apologetically.

She gave him another sad smile. "Don't stress about it, okay?"

"W-wait! I don't remember you... But I think there once was a girl, who was always nice to me. I think I wronged her before, but she was still nice to me. Was that you? By any chance...?"

"I'm glad you remember at least a little bit of me then," Niki said with a warm smile.

"I-I'm sorry! For whatever I did before..." the ghost quickly blurted out.

Niki rested a hand on his shoulder, looking up at the boy, she smiled. "Don't worry about it, okay? We all made a lot of mistakes in the past. It wasn't fair that we threw all the blame on you. I'm sorry, for how I judged you in the past."