< 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 > (Discontinued)

[Chapter 15: Not Quite Yet]

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The rush of energy that overcame your body seemed to take you off of your feet. In fact, it did. The moment that you made eye contact with Nightmare, you felt your knees give way and the room went dark. Dream did likewise, and it felt like you were falling, falling, falling, deeper and deeper into unconsciousness.

After all, the only way to confront your nightmares was to fall asleep.

This time, you didn't need Dream to help you up. But it was nice to feel him gripping your hand tightly as you got to your feet on the dark ocean of Nightmare's mind. It was purely ocean—no sort of land in sight—and the waters were raging. Any ship that could have been caught in this storm would sink within minutes. The wind whistled through your (H/L) (H/C) hair, and you wrapped your (F/C) sweater around yourself more tightly.

(N/N) got up, rubbing their head before looking around, their expression melting into one of pure horror. "Oh. Oh no. What the hell did you just do?"

"We're going to destroy this virus at its root," Dream explained quickly and quietly. "So in order to do that, we needed to get inside of Nightmare's head."

"Did you have any other plan besides that?" They asked dryly.

Dream thought about that for a moment, then hardened his face. "Yes. We win."

Hope filled you to the brim. It was a syrupy sweet feeling that you wanted to hold forever, and you could tell that it was holding off the darkness Nox was trying to project. "That doesn't seem like a very stable plan," (N/N) drawled, getting to their feet. "But you know what? Screw it. If it means finding Nightmare and pulling this storm to a halt, I'm in."

Smiling weakly, you loosened your scarf from around your neck. Dream gave you a quick peck on the cheek and started off. Blushing wildly, you followed close behind. The only sound that you could hear was blood rushing through your ears. All of you were constantly moving, constantly trying to find Nox while not letting Nox find you first. That was your biggest fear as of late: dying with Dream there to see, or—worse yet—vise versa. You didn't know if you'd forgive yourself. Dream seemed to feel the emotions rolling off of you, and he gave you a half smile to send your heart racing faster.

"(Y-Y/N)!" Both you and (N/N)'s attentions were snapped to a figure rising from the waves, gasping for air. A light blue scarf and armour, with panicked blue eyes. Blueberry.

He was alive.

"BLUE!" You shouted, running across the ocean without noticing Dream or (N/N) shouting for you to stop. All that mattered was that Blue was alive and well. He could wake up!

Something grabbed your ankle. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, (Y/N)," a silky smooth voice rang across the water, filling you with dread. "I honestly thought that you were improving. Alas, that isn't the case, is it?" You heard the splashing of Dream's boots before you heard a cry of pain. Struggling, you managed to look over your shoulder to see Dream being held down by a tendril. (N/N) was standing there, preparing themselves for a fight. "Aw, they really do care about you, don't they?" Nox turned your face to them and smiled with eerily straight teeth. "Well, they don't care as much about you as they care about him."

With a flick of their wrist, another skeleton burst from the chaotic waves. He gasped for air before falling over, faded and weak. (N/N) was shaking now, knife glowing an even brighter yellow-orange. Even from that far away, you could see that the knife had thin linings of HATE within it, though they were doing their best to contain it. HATE would only make Nox stronger.