Showtime (A Sanscest Story)

The Shattered Mind

Reaper was already waiting for them. He floated in the middle of the Medical Tent. He whispered quietly for Cross to close the flap. Cross did so, feeling a jumble of emotions flowing from Reaper. He turned back and jumped. Dream was crying softly again. Reaper gently hushed him. He reached out and hugged Dream. Dream seemed to accept it quietly. He was trembling.

"We've all missed you." Reaper told him. Dream hiccuped and gave a weak smile, twitching. He began to cough and Reaper watched in quiet dismay as the golden-tinged sludge spattered the ground. He instructed Cross to pick Dream up and lay him on a bed, which the monochrome skeleton did.

"Give Cross your hat." Reaper ordered. Dream only clutched it closer to him and growled. Cross was dismayed until Reaper spoke again. "Dream." Dream froze up and turned to look back at Reaper uncertainly. "You can trust him." Dream twitched his gaze over to Cross.

He reached out and passed his hat to Cross, who sat on the bed next to his. He watched Dream worriedly. He was thinking. He was still worried about Blue. "Did they ever find Blue?" He asked. Reaper nodded.

"Ink came back with him earlier. He had a couple nasty cracks. Took a bad fall, apparently. The first injury that actually had nothing to do with Nightmare." He snorted. "A miracle, really." He fell quiet. "I haven't seen Dust though. Even while I was tending Blue's wounds, he didn't show up."

Cross furrowed his brow. That wasn't like Dust. He looked down. He wanted to investigate, but something told him that he wasn't going to like what he found. Something else told him that Nightmare had already broken his promise. Cross felt an upset churning in his SOUL.

He jumped as Reaper got his attention, drifting in front of him. He reached out and turned Cross' head. "Did he do that?" Behind him, Dream began to fearfully apologize, once again begging not to be taken back to the Final Tent.

Reaper turned away, reassuring Dream that he wasn't going back. The entire time, Cross had been staring at the curtain where Geno was. How had the other not heard all this? Reaper seemed to notice him staring and chuckled. "Used some magic. He won't be waking up for this." He assured Cross.

Cross nodded. He shivered as he felt Reaper heal his scars. The other pulled away and Dream was shirtless. He had the same dislocated ribcage that Cross had had, except small chips and pieces of his were missing. He had lacerations everywhere. Reaper sighed and Cross could only feel pain and dismay from him.

Dream twitched, black sludge seeping from cracks. Cross got up and immediately fetched some rags and a container of water. Reaper thanked him and began to wash the golden-tinted sludge off of Dream. "H-He betrayed me, R-Reaper." Dream whispered frantically. The way he said it was like a child shamefully telling their mother they'd broken something important. Reaper nodded and quietly said that he knew.

The broken golden skeleton whimpered. "He h-h-hurt me, Reaper." Reaper paused again and said that he knew. Cross could feel him struggling to control his pain. Possibly because Cross was in the room. He floated around to the front of Dream, getting the other to look at him.

"I was there." He said quietly. Dream stiffened before twitching and breaking down into violent sobs, nodding and shaking. "I know he was jealous of you and jealousy can do terrible things to people and cause them to do terrible things as well." Reaper had probably seen it all throughout his lifetime.

Dream stared at him before trembling and golden tears slowly began to well up in his eyes. His fingers all twitched. One by one. Dream grabbed his head, his breathing speeding up. He began to whine for Killer and that hurt Cross a little. Reaper shook his head, saying that Killer could come see him when he was a little better.

Dream continued to cry, his fingers digging furiously into the bed. He managed to calm down after a few moments. "You disguised your aura, so that's good. You did do good." Reaper assured him. Dream whispered quietly that he did good. He was just echoing Reaper when he suddenly stopped cold. He immediately froze up, which alerted Cross and Reaper that something was wrong.

Cold rage and fear swept out from him. Cross immediately felt a cold feeling approaching. Reaper sensed it as well, grabbing the hat from him and shoving it to Dream before picking him up, taking him to Geno's curtain and placing him behind it. "Don't make a sound." He ordered. Dream shook and nodded.

Reaper shut the curtain and drifted over to Cross as Nightmare's tentacles slipped under the flap and opened it. He came inside, clearly annoyed, but his gaze softened when he saw Cross. "Cross. It is late for you to still be out." He said. "May I ask what you're doing here?"

Cross had froze up for a moment before immediately flushing purple and giving the best excuse he could think of. "I-I'm sore. From the..." He trailed off, hoping Nightmare would understand. Nightmare's tentacles paused and he leaned in, murmuring a quiet apology. Cross assured him it was fine.

Nightmare turned away. "Please return to your tent after." It was a soft order and Cross replied in earnest.

"Y-Yes, Ringmaster." He froze up as he felt harsh anger from behind Geno's curtain. Nightmare left the tent and both of them let out the breaths they had been holding. Reaper moved over and shut the tent flap once again. He seemed to finally sink to the ground.

Cross had never seen Reaper so tense before and in a way, it was terrifying to know that even Reaper feared Nightmare. Death, itself, was scared of Nightmare. Not because of what Nightmare could do to him. No. Cross turned to look back at the tent. He knew who it was that Reaper really cared about getting hurt.

He sighed and glanced over at the curtain. "Dream." The curtain opened and Dream crawled out, using his single arm and holding his hat in his teeth. He growled in his throat, sinking down to the ground, pressing himself flat against it as he twitched. Reaper came drifting back over. "It's alright, he's gone." He assured Dream.

Dream dropped the hat and held his head. Reaper sighed as he stared at the hat before looking back at Cross. "I'm so glad you found that. I had to retrieve it so quickly. No doubt Killer will be searching for it soon." Cross stared at Reaper. He'd left the hat and gloves there??

"Did... did you steal these from Killer's tent?" He asked in quiet shock. Reaper looked down. Cross was both scared and understanding.

"Is it really stealing if I'm returning them to their original owner?" Reaper asked quietly. Cross was taken back for a moment before murmuring that he guessed it wasn't. He jumped as Dream began to claw at the ground. He wanted to see Killer. Reaper had a flare of pain again before reaching out to Dream.

"It's best that you don't see him until you're a little better, Dream." Dream began to whisper feverishly that he was okay and Reaper shook his head. He reached out and placed a hand on Dream's head. He closed his eyes and sent a pulse of magic out over Dream. His spastic muttering fell silent and he dropped, seeming to pass out.

He shook, even in his sleep. His body would give a twitch every so often. His fingers were still tightly dug into the ground and Reaper glanced at Cross. Cross understood and got up. He scooped Dream's body up and Reaper led him to a back room, next to the storage room. There was a single bed in here and Reaper explained that this was where they isolated problematic patients.

Asy was a frequent visitor of that room. But he wasn't in there right then. Cross went over and laid Dream on the bed. Dream snarled in his sleep, twitching again. Cross stared down at him quietly. He furrowed his brow and Reaper glanced at him. "Something wrong, Cross??"

"Why did Lust tell me he was dead?" Cross asked quietly. He felt understand pulse from Reaper and turned to look at the hooded skeleton with a raised brow. He turned his attention back to Dream.

"Because the Dream we knew is no more. This is Dream now. He may be here, but he is also no longer with us." Reaper sighed. They watched as a sludge began to run down Dream's chin once again. It didn't seem to be hurting him anymore. Reaper looked down.

In a pained way, Cross understood. Dream would never be able to mentally recover from what happened to him. He closed his eyes and lowered his head. He wanted to be able to do something for him. Anything. But he couldn't. He could only watch as the deranged, former Ringmaster twitched and muttered in his sleep.