Fresh New Antivirus

Ch. 59 - Dreams Come True

'And inevitably take it over,' was the collective thought.

Red was the first to teleport, followed by Lust. Sci stuck a hand out from under the table before he went after the two.

Dream was wondering about who they were. As far as he and the Council knew, Nightmare's only allies were Killer, Dust, Horror and Cross.

Nightmare seeing Dreams' expression, easily guessed what he wanted to ask. "Understand that until we officially have a truce, I can't tell you who our non-combatant allies are."

Dream nodded slowly. "You don't want me to know because it might put them in danger."

Nightmare merely gave a small quick nod. "That, and they still have Fate strings attached." He turned back to his boys. "Cross is in charge. Dismissed." Mentioned skeleton's smile turned smug, and Killer faked being hurt at not being chosen.

Nightmare looked to Dream, before nodding down a hall. "Come on."

The pace was slow enough for them both to gather their thoughts about what they may want to ask each other.

Even with the extended walk, as soon as they entered the room, neither could figure out where to start.

They ended up in an impressive double leveled library, as Nightmares office was in use. Dream was awestruck. That was a lot of books.

Nightmare led Dream to a fireplace with a couple of chairs and a table that had a book half finished. They both took a seat and the silence grew, both fidgeting and avoiding eye contact.

"I ... see you still like to read." Dream tried as an opener.

Even with the extended walk, neither could figure out where to start.

Nightmare gave the barest of smiles.

"I do. Yes."

The conversation dropped off again, though more comfortable than before.

Taking a breath, Nightmare steeled himself to just jump into what was going to be a very painful conversation.

"What do you remember of that day?"

After a moment, Dream told his side of the story.

"I ... I wasn't at the tree. Someone was sick." Dream looked into his lap. "They were dying and there was nothing that was helping. So, I brought one of the apples. At the very least, its aura would send them off peacefully." Dream frowned. "I ... don't remember their face anymore, but I stayed until they passed. On my way back to the tree ... I heard screaming."

Dream paused in his story as a haunted look passed over his skull. Nightmare wanted to reach out and hold his hand to help him though the memory. Had even started to reach out before their auras started to graze each other in a stinging sensation. He was left to withdraw his hand.

So instead, Nightmare settled for his words. "Take all the time you need."

The actions gave Dream the courage to continue.

"At first ... I didn't recognize you." Dream took a steadying breath. "By the time I reached the tree, two were already dead and ... and I tried to block you from killing the third. You ... stabbed me instead. The third was screaming about how you ate the apples."

Nightmares seemed to be holding his breath, even though he was technically there.

"The last gold apple saved me, but ... the overwhelming negativity still turned me to stone. The last thing I remember was you saying ..." Dream paused. "You said, hic ... 'This is all your fault.' before walking toward the village. When I finally broke free ... there were barely any bones or dust left."