I'm not sure if I'll really be able to incorporate this idea in its entirety into A Hidden Heart, so I'm going to do so here. If this does end up showing in the story (it's not set in stone [pun absolutely intended]), then I guess this is sort of a basis for the idea? Anyways, I just really like this plot, and I've seen it done the other way (AKA, that one Dreamswap ending and at least one other Dreamtale AU), but not this way (this isn't quite Shattered Dream or DINTIS!Dream).
I started this in March, and for some reason, my brain decided that I had to finish it now and put my project on hold. I had less than two thousand words of this a few days ago, and now it is this monster of a oneshot that makes my page lag (I had to finish this in the Wattpad app just to avoid the lag). Anyways, I think this is my largest oneshot other than my CPAU one, and that's a win for me!
This idea honestly deserves its own full-sized fanfic..and this might turn into a two-shot, if I feel like it.
Comments are welcome and appreciated!
Please enjoy!
~~~~~
Positivity and negativity weren't supposed to overlap like this. A positive spirit wasn't meant to intake this amount of negativity. I was fairly sure my brother didn't care one bit. I had been trapped in Nightmare's dungeon for eight months now, and his plan for me, however twisted it was, was simple. I was a threat, and for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to kill me; the only option in his eyes was to nullify the threat..by eliminating what made me dangerous. That was my positivity, and he was eliminating it with negativity. He couldn't do it all at once, though; the process had to be slow, and it had to be drawn out. As such, he visited me once a week, with his only purpose being to inject his poison into my body. I had stopped pleading with him, and I had stopped trying to reach whatever might have remained of my good-natured brother. I realized that the remnants of his goodness were only able to force him to keep me alive, nothing else. Instead of being grouped into a cell with some of his other unfortunate prisoners, I was alone, unable to reach anyone else to anchor onto their positivity, forced to know that they were so close (I could see the ones in the cells across from mine!), but too far for my weakened powers. They didn't know that when they smiled and asked me to absorb their tiny bits of positivity.
"Come on, Dream!" An Asriel across the hall from me was smiling desperately, just as he had been since my capture. "You can do it! You can endure!"
The encouragement had reached me, once. It didn't anymore. I had savored the positive emotions when they had been within reach, but that time had passed, and my powers had grown too limited. I couldn't even grasp the sadistic happiness from Nightmare's followers when they taunted me anymore - not even when they touched me. I was dreading Nightmare's next visit; if what he had planned for me was truly possible, it would come soon. When the whispers in the hallway became silent, I heard the quiet, muffled footsteps of my brother, and the barred door to my cell squeaked open.
"Hello, again, brother." His aura had once only clashed with mine, but now, in my weakened state, it went straight to my soul, and it hurt. "Are you ready to spend some more time together?"
He knew I couldn't respond; I had been too weak to even stand since the third month, and speaking had been out of my ability since the seventh. I could only cry, at this point, and I did, although I didn't believe that he cared. My pain increased with every step he took, despite the fact that I hadn't been harmed physically in my time here; this was a magic-based pain, and when he laid his hand on me, forcing his magic to flow within my body, it was at its fullest. My energy rose only because of my instinctive urge to get away, but his appendages kept me from acting, which left my only alternative as screaming. I had heard other screams down here, but they were mostly from fear; Nightmare's followers didn't seem to enjoy hurting others without a cause - although, if Nightmare ordered them to, they would. Their attacks seemed to be mostly the result of arguments between them, and if a stray attack hit someone as they ran through the dungeon, that was the fault of whoever was standing too close to the bars. Most of Nightmare's prisoners had no reason for being here other than to make the dungeon look more like a real dungeon; some of them were even paid to be here. Nightmare had always been one to go to extreme lengths to keep up a facade. I wished my situation was nothing but one of his facades.
My soul was positive. After decades of fighting my brother, it had had much experience fighting negativity that sought to taint it; Nightmare knew that. That was why he had opted to make this slow. He sent large waves of negativity toward my soul each week, and my soul had to spend time and energy to rid itself of the foreign magic. It could do that, and it was used to doing that. If Nightmare had simply injected me with all the magic he could force into me, my soul would have realized the unconquerable threat and turned me into stone again to halt its invader as it gathered the required positivity to combat it. By taking it slowly, the buildup of negativity in me was too minute for my soul to take such drastic measures; it simply expended a bit more energy to get rid of it. A little bit more each week turned into too much over time, and before I knew it, my soul had devoted too much energy to fighting the negativity; I could no longer reach the positivity that had been fueling me, and my soul was running on reserves. Yes, it could create positive magic, but the process was too slow to make much a difference at this point; my soul probably couldn't summon the magic needed to turn me into stone now.
Nightmare knew all of these things. He had always been the smart one. Every move he made was coordinated perfectly, and if a mistake was made, he always had a backup plan. Even his retreats were practiced. I supposed this end was inevitable, wasn't it? He had captured me right after I had announced that I would be going on the year-long vacation that my friends had told me to take to relax from overworking myself; no one would have questioned my disappearance. I hadn't told anyone where I had planned to go; they would have assumed that I had chosen an isolated AU, and no one would check up on me. As long as there were no emergencies, no one would try to track me; Nightmare had probably kept his chaos at regular levels and made a deal with Error to keep him from causing any events that would have required my assistance. He had probably been planning this for years, and his hard work was..paying off. I wasn't sure what would happen as my screaming intensified and I felt my life force, the positivity that I had been used to since my creation, fading. Maybe I would die. With the pain I felt right now, it was a valid possibility. I wasn't sure I could live without the thing that made me..me. As my eyesockets closed, I found that I wasn't as worried as I had thought I would be.
I woke up. I hadn't expected to wake up, but I did. I felt different. I usually felt like getting out of bed and conquering the day; I felt as if the day had already conquered me, and I wanted to stay wherever I was.
"Good morning, brother." Nightmare's voice didn't surprise me; if I had woken up, he was sure to be close by. "How do you feel?"
"Like going back to bed.." I mumbled, pulling the covers further up on me - wait, covers? I must have been in a bed..it certainly felt like that.
"Open your eyes, brother."
"Why?" I groaned slightly; that was too much of a task to accomplish.
"Just do it."
"Can't.."
"You are fully capable, brother; now open your eyes."
I huffed in annoyance, opening my eyes only to glare; I didn't feel like doing anything, much less listen to the one who locked me in his dungeon for eight months!
"Hm.." He smiled slightly, staring into my eyelights. "May I see your soul now?"
"Don't you have somewhere better to be?" I scoffed. "This must be such a bore for you."
"Despite that, I would like to see your soul."
"Haven't you seen it a million times already? It's the same dumb old soul you've seen for the past few decades!"
"I'm not so sure about that."
"Then you're stupid, and I was stupid for thinking that you were intelligent. Take a look, and-and...a-and.."
My soul was pitch black.
"Hm.." Nightmare ran a finger across the apple that now..resembled..his.. "Success."
"Wh-what did you do to me..?" I could hardly speak..he had..he had..
"I turned you negative." He replied. "You are no longer a threat to my goals; you may live your life as you wish, and I will no longer hunt you..as long as you stay out of my way."
"..If I choose to fight you?" I felt like doing that..
"Your magic is now negatively-based; instead of hurting me, it would merely strengthen me."
"..." That..was right.
Nightmare had turned my soul negative. I was a negative spirit now. He..he wasn't going to hunt me down anymore. He wasn't going to force me into hiding again. I wouldn't have to camp out in forests every night and hope he didn't ambush me. I wasn't going to have to abandon the places I had called home after he found me again. I could..have a real home. A real home to come back to when I finished my job-
I didn't have a job anymore. The Guardian of Positivity was burdened with the job of keeping people happy, but I wasn't the Guardian of Positivity anymore. I..was I even a guardian at all anymore? A negative spirit couldn't be the Guardian of Positivity, but there was already a Guardian of Negativity. And..that meant that I didn't have a job anymore. I didn't have to keep spirits high when everything seemed hopeless anymore. I didn't have to inspire hope in every being I came across. I didn't have to please anyone. People wouldn't expect me to. I didn't..want to. I had only done those things because it was my job; I didn't get anything out of it. The only things I had received for it were either a few thank-yous or smiles, and sometimes a rare thank-you gift. Helping protect universes, another aspect of my job..was thankless. Inhabitants of AUs had sometimes beaten Ink, Blue, and I more than our enemies..why had we even bothered? Because we were the heroes? What did heroes get? Insults. Abuse from those we protected. I didn't want to do that again; I had only done it in the first place because Ink was so burdened by it that he could barely stay awake some days. He didn't deserve that..but I didn't, either.
I didn't deserve to be treated as if I were just a servant to the multiverse; I wasn't. I had been pushed by so many people so many times, and the only ones who had actually cared were the ones telling me that I needed to take it easy! Ink, Blue, Classic..a few of the judges, too. Everyone else told me I wasn't doing enough. I needed to help them whenever they were in trouble; I needed to come when they were feeling bad about anything. I had to make their sadness go away regardless of how exhausted I was, because guardians were supposed to be able to do anything to protect what they guarded. Guardians didn't get tired; they worked until they couldn't feel their limbs, and then they worked some more. When I had left to take one little vacation, I had been swarmed by people who wanted me to stay and keep working. I had been forced to teleport away before I was crushed by the crowd. I had only seen it as nervousness when I was positive..but I now realized that I was only a tool to those people..a way for them to forget their sorrows without needing to deal with things themselves. Now that Nightmare had completed his goal, I was free to go..free to return to my life, and free to pretend this never happened. Maybe I didn't want to.
"Nightmare?" I addressed him, looking over to him as he read a book by my bedside.
"Yes, Dream?" He responded.
"Do I have to leave?"
"..." Nightmare shifted his lone eyelight to look up at me. "Well..don't you want to go back to your friends, or whatever? I won't stop you, as long as you don't help them fight against me; I really don't care what you plan to do after this, since you're no longer a threat to me."
"..No."
"No to the going back, or no to not fighting me? Because if it's the last one, I'd crush you; your powers now reside in my domain, brother."
"Going back..I don't want to fight you."
"Good, because I spared your pitiful life for a reason."
"What's that?"
"You'll make me stronger like this; wherever you go, you will be passively spreading negativity, in the same way you used to spread positivity."
"..You were always smart about stuff like that."
"Yes, and your point is?"
"..Nightmare?"
"What?"
"Can I talk to you..as a brother?"
"Don't you always?" Nightmare scoffed lightly.
"I want your advice."
"Dream, the last time you asked for my advice, we were four. Haven't you matured enough to make your own decisions since then?"
"Nightmare, I'm serious."
He sighed. "All right, I'll humor you; what could you possibly want my advice about?"
"Nightmare, what should I do when..when I think people have taken advantage of me?"
"Kill them." Nightmare stated, bluntly. "It's simple revenge, and if you don't want to do it yourself, you can just hire a paid assassin; it's easy."
"Nightmare.." I looked at my brother with a deadpan expression, shaking my skull.
"What, are you such a baby that you won't even hire an assassin?"
"It's just..death would be too good for them."
Nightmare paused, looking at me in surprise, before smirking. "Brother, have you ever considered working with me? I know we've had our differences in the past, but I'm sure we could just push those petty quarrels aside."
"..You know..I wouldn't have given it a second thought, before..but..maybe you're right. The world doesn't deserve to be happy..except..a few good people."
"I feel the same way, brother." Nightmare chuckled. "People take happiness for granted; I only show them that their way of thinking is flawed."
I smiled. "I never thought of your work that way; I guess the positivity clouded my judgment."
"And..what does your judgment say now?"
"That you're right. That you've always been right. I want to help you, brother; I should never have tried to go against you."
"Well.." Nightmare paused for a moment. "Apology accepted, brother..and..there's a place here for you."
"I want it, brother; I want to make a difference, and I want to be with you when I do it."
"I didn't expect you to be so eager, but..welcome to my gang, Dream; I hope you enjoy it every bit as much as the rest of us do."
"I'm sure I will."
"Do you want to be introduced to the others, or would you like some time first?"
"..I've been wearing this outfit for eight months straight."
"Fair point." Nightmare nodded. "Do you..want to live here? I know you don't really have a home..since we..you know.."
"Yeah..I'd like that."
"All right. I have a lot of rooms in this castle, but..I think I know the one you'd like the most."
"Lead the way, brother."
I left the bed I had been lying in, and I followed Nightmare out of the room. He led me to a different room in his castle, after a short walk through the halls, and when we reached the room he had in mind, and he opened the door. The room was..nice. It had a large bed, a roomy closet, and a daybed, as well as a bathroom to the side. The walls were a light gray, with a dark gray carpet on the floor, and..I liked it.
"What do you think?" Nightmare asked.
"It's perfect." I smiled.
"I'm glad. I'm sorry about your outfit, though; I'm not sure it's salvageable."
I let out a small hum, noticing the countless rips and tears my clothes had gained; most of them had been formed in just the first few months in Nightmare's dungeon, when I had still had the energy to fight.
"It's fine." I replied. "I don't really think this color scheme suits me anymore, anyway."
"I can find something new for you; what do you think you'd be comfortable in?" Nightmare questioned.
"Something..warm."
Nightmare chuckled at that. "I forgot about that; you must be cold in here. I think you'll find that a negative spirit is more prone to the cold than a positive one; it's just the way we are. I'll grab something warm for you to wear."
"Thank you, brother."
"Of course, brother."
Nightmare left me alone, and I decided that I wanted to clean myself off; eight months in a dungeon had left me in a desolate state of subpar hygiene. I entered the bathroom, and I was happy to see that there was a shower and bathtub. I looked at the showerhead for a moment, recalling past memories. I had always been so busy as the Guardian of Positivity; I had never had time for more than a quick shower when I needed it. Well..I wasn't the Guardian of Positivity anymore, and I was going to take a bath! I turned on the faucet and waited for the bathtub to fill up, feeling quite pleased with my choice. As I waited, I noticed a mirror above the sink, and I decided to look at myself; I had little doubt that my face was as dirty as the rest of my body. When I faced myself in the mirror, I couldn't help my small jump; my face was dirty, yes, but..my eyelights weren't the yellow I was used to seeing. Instead of a bright yellow, my eyelights shone in a light shade of..violet. I looked exactly like Nightmare had..and I didn't think that was so bad. Nightmare had been right, after all..I had been wrong.
When the bath was ready, I took off my clothes and sat down in the bathtub, enjoying the light sensation of the warm water on my cold bones. I didn't spend too much time relaxing, though; I started to clean myself within two minutes. Old habits died hard, I supposed. Before ten minutes had passed, I was clean, and I decided that I had taken a long enough bath, leaving the bathtub and letting the water drain. Nightmare had only been gone for fifteen minutes when I was wrapped in a couple towels, regretting my decision to leave the warmth of the water so soon. I sighed, realizing why Nightmare had always insisted on wearing long sleeves, even on the hottest days of the year; being a negative spirit was freezing! I shook my skull, refusing to think about the possibility of freezing to death, and I forced myself to finish drying my wet bones; there was a warm bed right outside, and I could take shelter there until Nightmare returned. Thirty minutes after Nightmare had left me, he entered my room to find me under three blankets, still shivering.
"Ah, sorry." He said, when he found me. "It took me a while to figure out your size; this should fit, though."
"Th-thanks." I accepted the clothes he had brought, and I smiled in relief under a nice warm jacket.
The outfit Nightmare had brought me was nice; it was a simple long-sleeved black turtleneck under a dark gray jacket, with black sweatpants and some comfortable fuzzy black indoor boots. A year ago, I wouldn't have dared to be seen in such an outfit, but now..I believed it suited me.
"I can get you some more clothing soon enough, but this should be all right for today, right?" Nightmare asked.
"Yeah, thanks." I nodded. "It's a lot better."
"You're welcome, brother. Would you like to meet the others, now?"
"I guess so."
"Come along, then, brother."
Nightmare and I left the room, and I followed him to what seemed to be a living room; his four subordinates were gathered here, and when we entered the room, all eyelights (including the ones that didn't exist) landed on us. Nightmare didn't seem bothered by the attention, and I didn't let it intimidate me, either.
"Who's that, boss?" Killer wondered.
"This is the newest member of our gang, everyone." Nightmare responded.
"Oh, finally!" Cross laughed victoriously. "I'm not going to be the rookie anymore!"
"What AU's he from?" Horror asked.
"I believe I'll allow him to introduce himself." Nightmare stepped aside, allowing me to speak for myself.
"What's your name, rookie?" Killer inquired.
"Get used to that nickname, by the way; you'll be the rookie until someone else joins." Cross recommended.
"And you think you're off the hook, slightly-older rookie?" Killer chuckled.
"That's not fair."
"So, you got a name?"
"Dream." I answered, seeing no point in hiding my identity.
"Ah, sorry, rookie - that one's taken; try again."
"Taken by whom?"
"Guy with a bow and arrow, wears a ridiculous amount of yellow, and thinks he's the sun."
"If he's dead, can I take his name?"
"Well, sure, if you think you can actually kill the little ball of sunshine." Killer scoffed. "But I don't think boss'll let you do that."
"Nightmare, would you say that the ball of sunshine is dead?" I looked to my brother.
Nightmare grinned. "Yes, I'd say he is."
"Wait, hold on, you actually killed him?!" Cross couldn't believe it.
"Yes, I killed him." Nightmare admitted.
"So we spent eight months not killing him..just for you to kill him." Killer groaned. "You could've at least told us!"
"No time." Nightmare shrugged.
"Did this guy watch? Did you let the newbie watch instead of your loyal followers?"
"I wouldn't say he watched it..he was unconscious."
"..Boss, where did you get this guy?"
"Hm..Dream, where did I get you?"
"Depends on what get entails." I responded.
"You two are being too cryptic for me; would you two speak english?!" Killer wasn't happy with our little game.
"All right, Killer." I nodded.
"..How do you know my name? I never introduced myself."
"Because I'm Dream." I smiled.
"You're taking his name, yeah, but that doesn't help us."
"Let me rephrase that..I'm Dream. I've always been Dream. Does that help you?"
"..." Killer stared at me, understanding the implications of my words.
"That's..not possible.." Cross thought. "You look..nothing like him.."
"Why would you abandon your horde of followers to join Nightmare?" Dust questioned. "You fought him for literal centuries, and now you're joining him?"
"He just made me think about a few things."
"What kind of things?" Horror wondered.
"Things like..myself. My 'followers,' as you call them. My job. He made me think, and I ended up realizing that he was right; people don't deserve to be happy. There are only a few pure souls in this world who really deserve happiness, and everyone else deserves to suffer; it's as simple as that."
"..I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that something happened to you." Cross stated.
"Well, Nightmare did change a core part of my being, but I'm not arguing." I shrugged.
"That makes more sense." Killer nodded. "What'd he do?"
"He turned my positive spirit into a negative one."
"So..no more Guardian of Positivity?" Dust concluded.
"Correct."
"..So what are you now, then?" Horror inquired.
"Whatever I feel like being."
"Can we trust him, boss?" Killer didn't seem to want to trust me - not that I blamed him, after everything.
"I'm not sure." Night are answered honestly. "But I'm willing to give him a chance."
"Okay..so, movie night?"
"Definitely!" Cross giggled.
"Do I have to?" I really didn't want to watch a movie right now; I would have been much happier plotting my revenge.
"Is that a real question?" Killer glared at me.
It turned out that movie night was mandatory. As much as I would have preferred to do literally anything else, I was forced to sit down in a pillow fort and watch a movie with Nightmare and his gang..at least the movie was good..and the popcorn, too. Apparently, movie night was a bonding exercise, testing both patience, from people talking incessantly through the film, and restraint, from trying not to murder everyone in the room because of their constant shifting, loud chewing, and, again, talking. That didn't mean that the event was unbearable, though; actually, I quite enjoyed it! Killer would mimic the fighting styles of the characters, explaining either how well or how terribly the actors would have done in a real conflict, and Cross would consistently remind Killer that it was just a movie. Horror left every ten minutes, only to come back with more snacks, and Dust made fun of the characters, criticizing their every action and describing the thousand better alternatives present in the moment. Nightmare was in charge of pausing the movie every two seconds, and instead of shushing the others, he simply endured the trials and practiced his evil laughs. At one point, he told me that he had given up trying to stop their antics long ago, simply accepting that there would never be a peaceful movie night. As for me, I enjoyed the show, and I made only a few comments along the way.
When the movie ended, I realized something very important: I had had a great time! This was the first fun thing I had done in..over a year. The last fun thing I had done had been a small picnic with Blue and Ink in Underswap, but that had been cut short due to an attack on an AU..and that picnic had taken place almost sixteen months ago. As the others began to clean up the mess, I wondered what Blue and Ink were doing right now..I wondered if they were being flooded with work, as per usual; they probably didn't have time to relax. I remembered the day Blue had joined Ink and I in our work; he had been so excited..and he had been met with nothing but ungrateful jerks and hurtful words. Ink and I had warned him about the dangers of our enemies, but we hadn't thought to warn him about the people we were protecting..we had won a battle that day, but Blue had cried his eyesockets out when we left the scene; the inhabitants of that world had taken their anger out on us..and Blue was right by our side. I was looking forward to my revenge.
"Ooh, he's in there deep." Someone spoke, taking my attention out of my vengeful thoughts.
"Huh?" I lifted my skull, and..a bowl of popcorn fell off it, right into my lap.
"Aw, man!" Killer was saddened by the event. "It was up there for almost a full minute!"
"..You put a bowl of popcorn on my head?" I wasn't amused.
"Yeah, and?"
"Never mind; I'm too tired to deal with you."
"You're no fun!"
I sighed, standing up and grabbing a few pillows and putting them where they belonged (I actually had no idea where they belonged, but it would have been rude not to help put this stuff away). When the pillow fort was gone and the snacks were back in the kitchen, I was tired, and everyone else seemed to be, too.
"I'm going to bed.." Dust announced, walking away first.
"That's a good idea." I yawned.
"Bedtime, then." Nightmare decided. "Dream, we'll talk about having you go on your first mission tomorrow; for now, get a good night's rest."
"I will. Good night, brother."
"Good night, Dream."
With that, I trudged to my new room, and I collapsed onto the bed, slipping my boots off, crawling under the covers, and falling asleep quickly; I was exhausted. I had a pleasant rest, and when morning arrived, I had absolutely no will to get out of bed, but I decided that it would have been wise to ignore my instincts; if I was going to get my revenge on the multiverse, I needed to be active about it. I slid out of bed, put my boots back on, and left my room. I proceeded to get lost because I didn't know the layout of this castle. After what felt like an hour of wandering aimlessly, I found signs of life, and I found a person soon after.
"Oh, good morning, Dream." Cross was wandering the halls, with a cup of coffee in his hand. "How are you doing this morning?"
"Absolutely horrible." I deadpanned. "Does this place come with a map?"
"Oh, you left your room without a guide, didn't you?" Cross assumed correctly, recieving a tired nod. "Yeah, you're going to want to have one of us to take you around the castle until you learn where stuff is; personally, I didn't get the hang of it until my second month. Here, I'll take you where you want to go; did you have anyplace in mind?"
"Where do you guys eat breakfast?"
"The main kitchen; we have a dining room, but it's a couple hundred feet from the nearest kitchen, and that got tiring way before I got here; the kitchen doesn't usually get too much traffic until about nine, since everyone except me, and apparently you, now, sleeps until eight or later almost every day. Anyway, it's this way; follow me."
Cross proved to be an invaluable help over the next few minutes, as he pointed out rooms that were used frequently while he led me to the kitchen; I believed that I was going to get along with him far earlier than I would with any of the others. When we reached the kitchen, no one else was there, however, and Cross didn't seem surprised.
"Yeah, everyone else is probably asleep right now." Cross commented, looking at a nearby clock; it was just past seven thirty. "Wait an hour or two, though, and they'll show up. In the meantime, allow me to introduce you to the kitchen appliances no one but Horror is allowed to touch. We can also get breakfast, because I'm starving; you must be, too, right?"
"You're reading my mind." I laughed lightly.
Cross showed me around the kitchen, and we ate a breakfast of fruit and waffles while we waited for everyone else to wake up; time moved swiftly, though, and before I knew it, Nightmare had entered the room. It was a few minutes after eight forty-five.
"Good morning, Dream and Cross." He greeted, sitting down next to us at the counter.
"Morning, Nightmare." Cross returned.
"Good morning, brother." I smiled at him. "Did you sleep well?"
"Two different people in this house woke me up at two A.M. and four A.M. respectively, and their reasons were a burnt-out nightlight bulb and a request for a new knife, both of which could have waited until later, but didn't."
"..Pitch black gives me the shivers.." Cross looked guilty.
"You were supposed to be asleep."
"You sleep with a nightlight?" I questioned.
"It's not weird!" Cross defended himself.
"What do you do when the power goes out?"
"..I sleep with someone else.."
"I-" I was cut off.
"Good morning, world!" Killer burst into the kitchen, immediately moving toward the refrigerator.
"Stay away from the fridge, Killer!" Horror entered the room before the knife-obsessed skeleton could reach the appliance.
"But I'm hungry!" Killer whined.
"Then wait for me to make you something!"
"Fine.." Killer huffed, sitting down at the counter with the rest of us.
"Does this happen every morning?" I asked.
"No." Cross replied. "Sometimes, Killer reaches the fridge."
"What happens after that?"
"..Something gets lit on fire. No one knows how, but it happens."
"That sounds oddly realistic."
"You should have seen what happened when Killer touched the blender."
"What happened?"
"..It was so bad that we all swore an oath not to talk about it." Cross shuddered.
"..That sounds oddly realistic, too."
Horror began to cook a breakfast for everyone who hadn't already eaten, and I witnessed what a morning was like in Nightmare's castle. Dust woke up half an hour after everyone else had already eaten, and when he began to eat his cold breakfast, Nightmare decided to address something important.
"Well, now that we're all here, let's talk about Dream." He started. "Dream, you're inevitably going to find yourself in battle soon enough; your former allies will no doubt find out what you've become eventually. What would you prefer: telling them outright, not telling them, or something else?"
"..." I contemplated that decision.
"Take your time to think it over; I understand that this is likely a difficult choice." Nightmare waited for me.
Ink and Blue..my friends. I doubted that they were going to regard me as such after this..or maybe they would. They had been mistreated just as much as I had - maybe more, during the past eight months. Maybe they would understand; they couldn't deny that they had wanted to quit..the only difference between them and me was that I had quit..and the fact that I wanted revenge. I looked down; they were committed to doing good..I didn't think they would accept what I had become. But..I didn't want to keep it from them. They were some of the few good people in the world; they deserved to know. The entire multiverse was going to know.
"I don't want it to be a secret." I answered.
"Very well." Nightmare accepted my answer. "And..do you think you would feel comfortable fighting them, if it came down to it?"
"..No." I couldn't deny that.
"Well, time will help that."
"..I don't think it will."
"What makes you say that?"
"Brother..there are very few good people in this world." I looked at him with an expression that let him know that I was serious. "Ink and Blue are two of them. I..used to be one..and, because of that, I can't bring myself to even think of hurting them."
"It's just a matter of detachment."
"No, Nightmare. They're good people. I can't hurt good people, brother!"
"Why not?"
"Because.." I sighed. "I know what happens to good people."
"..." Nightmare obviously didn't understand what I was talking about. "What happens to good people, then?"
"..They get used." I replied. "They get manipulated into doing whatever is asked of them, at their own expense. You haven't seen Ink and Blue at their worst; I have. You don't know what it's like to try to be the good guy, only to realize you're protecting bad people. You might have injured us in battle, but you never stayed afterwards to see what we had to deal with; I've endured more scars from 'innocent' civilians than you ever inflicted onto me in battle, and so have they. Being a hero is the most unforgiving job anyone could ever have, because your best isn't enough, and if you aren't perfect, the people you're protecting will turn on you like a pack of wild dogs. And, if you were wondering, yes, they blamed us for your attacks." I scoffed lightly. "In all honesty, you were a minor threat compared to them. They drive Blue to tears and keep going, and they make Ink feel like the weakest being in the multiverse. They abuse the hell out of them, so, no, I will not attack those two wonderful people in any way, shape, or form."
Nightmare stared at me in shock, and the rest of the kitchen was filled with the same emotions. It was clear that they hadn't known about this topic. After a few minutes of silence, Nightmare gathered up the courage to speak once more.
"I..I didn't know." He admitted. "They..they really hurt you..for protecting them?"
"They redirected their anger at you to us.." I shrugged sadly. "They had someone to protect them, and they took us for granted..but the protectors don't have anyone to protect them..they're alone."
"..I understand." Nightmare sighed. "You don't have to fight them..I'm not even sure I could do that, after hearing what you just told me."
"Thank you."
"Of course.."
"Why the heck would someone attack you three for protecting them?" Killer didn't understand.
"Because they're ungrateful." I answered bluntly. "You could give those people the world, and it wouldn't be enough; they'd still decide that they aren't happy, and when those people aren't happy, they're violent. They don't deserve to be protected, but the good people of this world ignore the imperfections of others, and they protect them anyway."
"..That's not fair." Horror commented.
"Horror, you, of all people, should know that life isn't fair."
Horror lowered his skull. "Yeah.."
"Well.." Nightmare obviously hadn't expected the conversation to turn out this way. "I suppose there's no doubt as to your hatred of the people in the multiverse."
I let out a small chuckle. "I think that's putting it lightly, but, yes, I hate everyone except a few good people."
"So..what do you think of us?" Killer wanted to know.
"You're doing the world a service; I wouldn't have joined you if I didn't appreciate what you do."
"That's good to hear." Nightmare stated. "So, when will you be ready to start?"
"I'd love to start at everyone's earliest convenience, but there's one tiny problem.."
"What would that be?"
"I don't know what I can do. Growing up, we had different sets of powers; there's a chance that mine have changed with everything that's happened."
"..That's true." Nightmare hummed. "Well, I can show you to our training room; from there, we can find out what you're capable of."
"Thank you."
"Come along, brother."
Nightmare and I left the others in the kitchen, and I could sense their rage from several hundred feet away; it seemed as if my confessions had sparked anger within them. I followed my brother to the castle's training room, which was rather large; it must have been formed from several smaller rooms, judging by its size. Training dummies were scattered about, and decently-sized sparring arenas were located in one corner of the room. There was exercise equipment, and there were weapons of every shape and size present, as well as a plethora of other various pieces of training equipment; Nightmare had certainly gone all out to have the best training area I had ever laid my eyelights on.
"Well, go ahead and see what you can do." Nightmare invited. "Just note that you'll be stronger here than anywhere else; this entire castle is flooded with negative energy, and that will strengthen you now."
"Noted." I nodded, understanding.
I focused my magic, and I created a weapon, using the same mindset I would have used to create my bow before. What happened next was a pleasant surprise.
"Well, at least you know how to use that." Nightmare said.
"I certainly do." I grinned.
I had created my bow; that was good. It had undergone a change of style, however; instead of the light tones it had once sported, it now donned a combination of dark purple and black; the arrow I summoned was a brick red color. I tested my aim on a training dummy, and I was pleased to find that I could still shoot straight, even after eight months without practice. That was likely the result of my previous tendency to train whenever I had free time; I had always feared being out of practice, since..that would have made the post-battle attacks more harsh. I hummed, wondering if I could still change my bow into something else. I smiled when it formed two daggers at my will, and it just as soon turned into a staff; they all had the same coloring as the bow, and I found that it suited me. However, the real question was not about color; it was about skill. Nightmare allowed me to practice until I believed I was ready for battle, and a few hours after the start, I reached that conclusion..after I took my boots off; they really didn't help, and I was glad that the rest of Nightmare's gang actually wore sensible footwear, such as sneakers. Nightmare was the only exception, but he could change his footwear at will, and he could make whatever he was wearing stick to his feet with his goop (it was an unfair advantage to people without goop).
"Do you have any sneakers in my size?" I asked. "Or boots that are meant for the outdoors? Or literally anything that can't be categorized as a slipper?"
"I'll check." Nightmare left the room, and I practiced a bit more, creating shields and performing defensive moves; those had always been a large part of my training routines..even if I rarely used them in real battle.
Nightmare returned with a new pair of boots, which had a purple and black pattern, just as everything seemed to have now (I honestly didn't mind - I rather liked the designs). These, however, were more like my old boots, and they were suited for combat, just as my previous ones had been. Nightmare knew what I liked, it seemed. Soon after he had returned, the rest of the gang entered the training room, and they had their weapons out.
"Well, are you ready for your first mission, Dream?" Nightmare questioned.
"As I'll ever be." I replied.
"Very well. The plan is simple: create negativity in any way possible, and do not kill anyone unless they present a major threat to the rest of our negativity spreading (this includes pillars of hope, since they counteract the spreading, and their deaths would increase the amount of negativity created). Do you understand?"
"Every word." I confirmed.
"Keep in mind that this is just a 'regular' mission, and there will be other ones with other rules in the future; we don't only go out to spread negativity."
"Understood."
"Very well, then. Let's get going."
Nightmare opened a portal to our first target: Underfell. The original Underfell. The thought of attacking people I had once protected probably should have made me feel wrong in some way, but..I knew these people. Fell wasn't one of the good people; the rest of his universe was probably worse than he was. After battles in this universe, they were some of the cruelest people we had had to deal with. That was probably why I felt great when I shot an arrow at an unsuspecting civilian. In the past, my arrows would certainly cause harm to people, but they also influenced a sense of happiness, for some reason; they were made of positivity magic. People didn't mind being shot with one of my arrows, if it made them feel good. Now, my victims were not happy; tears ran down their faces, and laughs were replaced with screams. As the sound of chaos began to permeate the air, I found myself feeling..ecstatic. I had only ever seen glimpses of what happened during Nightmare's attacks before; they had always ceased when the fighting began. I had never seen so much suffering; I had never realized how much these people deserved it. They didn't deserve to be protected from this; I regretted ever making the decision to help them.
As we continued to cause suffering, I found myself enjoying the beginning of what would no doubt be a long bout of well-deserved revenge. Making people hurt in the same way they hurt me made me feel good; I wanted to hurt everyone who had hurt me, and I wanted to do it as many times as they had..maybe more. Unfortunately, after less than an hour, the chaos was cut off by a portal, and two people I knew well walked out of it. Ink and Blue had arrived, and they looked tired. Blue's eyelights were dimmer than I had remembered, and Ink's were only forming simple shapes; nevertheless, the two good souls (well, one, but Ink was still a good person despite his lack of a soul) stood firm as they stopped us from continuing our work.
"Nightmare, stop attacking these innocent people!" Ink held his weapon steady.
"I'm inclined to believe that they aren't as innocent as you claim they are, Protector." Nightmare always had to be dramatic..
"..What are you talking about?" Ink was unsettled by my brother's words.
"A little birdie told me what they do to you..and I simply must ask: why do you bother protecting them?"
"..Because we're the good guys.." Ink obviously didn't enjoy this conversation.
"Who told you?" Blue questioned.
"The newest member of my gang." Nightmare answered, stepping aside to reveal me, who had been standing behind him (he had choreographed that to be dramatic, and I wasn't going to stop him).
"..And who is that?" Blue had no clue.
"Dream." Nightmare had actually choreographed the entire reveal last night during the movie (just in case I decided to let them know about my change from the beginning), aside from the part that mentioned what he had learned this morning, but that didn't matter to me, since I had no lines during it until I was directly addressed.
"..That doesn't look like Dream." Ink was confused.
"Considering the fact that he's spent the last eight months rotting away in my dungeon, he could look worse." Nightmare had been proud of that line.
"You..what did you do to him?!" Blue was angry; Nightmare had predicted that.
"Oh, I simply changed your friend's positive spirit into..a negative one." Nightmare performed the evil laugh he had practiced last night.
"..What..?" Blue didn't know how to react, but Ink did.
"Dream, don't worry!" Ink was determined. "We'll save you!"
"I'm afraid that's actually impossible, Protector." Nightmare smirked. "You see, I took my time with the operation, and the only way you would be able to turn him back into a positive spirit would be with none other than the Guardian of Positivity..but there isn't one, anymore."
"Well..we'll save you from Nightmare!"
"I don't think he'll take kindly to that, either; you see, after I changed him, I allowed him the option to leave. I gave him the choice to go back to your little world..and he chose to stay."
"..Dream..why would you want to stay with him?" Blue wondered.
"Because I want something that I can't get on your side." I answered, my voice holding no hostility toward my old friends (I wondered if they would still consider me as a friend..probably not).
"What do you want?"
"Revenge. You two understand; you know how I feel. Don't pretend you don't have the same thoughts."
"..Dream, the point of being a protector is-" Ink was cut off.
"Being beaten by the ones we protect?" I interrupted. "Being worked until we can't feel our bones? Knowing that we'll never be good enough? I endured that for forty-eight years, Ink, and I can't take it anymore!"
"..." Ink bowed his skull. "I'm sorry, Dream.."
"You have no reason to be." I shook my skull. "You're a good person, Ink, and I admire that; I just wasn't as strong as you two are. I won't fight you; you're not my enemies. If..if you still want to be friends..maybe we can talk something out.."
Nothing else was said, but the hopeful nods from the other side were enough for me. The fight that came after didn't include me, and the others didn't seem too intent on really hurting Ink or Blue, taking everything into consideration. They ended the confrontation without more than a few scratches, and we left soon after the battle had begun. In the end, the mission was a success, and Nightmare was pleased with how it had turned out. Our next mission came the next day, and it involved getting me some new clothes and some decorations for my room, as well as some more food. Ink and Blue didn't come that time. After that mission, during lunch, Nightmare had a visitor. Error, the infamous Destroyer of Worlds, entered the kitchen, poured himself a glass of chocolate milk, and sat down on the counter.
"So, what's new?" He didn't notice me, probably because I was at the other end of the kitchen.
"We've discovered mercy." Killer sighed, resting his skull on the counter.
"..Did I miss something?"
"You know how we fight the Star Sanses?" Cross questioned.
"Yeah?"
"We're not really doing that, anymore.."
"..Did you make a peace treaty?"
"No." Dust responded.
"Then why would you just stop fighting them?"
"Because Dream joined the gang." Horror replied.
"..Night, would you catch me up?"
"Of course."
Nightmare began to explain what had happened recently, and, at some point, I was formally introduced to Error, who had a difficult time processing the information. However, within an hour, he was caught up, and he could hardly believe what he was hearing.
"So I'm destroying universes filled with soulless jerks?" He gathered.
"Mhm." I nodded.
"That makes me want to go on a destruction spree and forego my usual policy of near-painless death."
"It would be more satisfying if there was no death - if they just lost their homes and were forced to look for shelter in alleyways and on sidewalks."
"..You're more ruthless than I remember you being."
"Negativity does that to people." Nightmare interjected.
"Yeah..so, I think I'll take your advice and go destroy some universes before I accidentally murder all of you. Good bye."
Error left us to eat our lunch. In the days after that, I noticed that Error spent a good amount of time in the castle, and he felt like part of the gang, despite being just an ally. Three days after he made his appearance at lunch, Nightmare had another visitor - two, actually, and they were for me. Ink and Blue had come to speak with me, and we found ourselves sitting together in Nightmare's living room, alone (Killer had to be dragged out, but we managed to get some time alone).
"So..how have you been?" Blue decided to start the conversation.
"All right..you?" I asked.
"The same.." Blue sighed. "Dream, we're.."
"We're happy for you." Ink helped. "We're glad that you don't have to do this anymore..that you're happy."
"Thanks." I smiled.
"We won't beg you to come back, either. And you were right; we understand why you're doing this. Speaking for myself..I've always dreamed of getting revenge, too..I guess you're just braver than I am."
"Me, too.." Blue admitted. "I guess we were never really as good as we tried to be."
"So..friends?" Ink hoped.
"Yeah." I hugged them, and they hugged me back. "Friends."
The rest of our visit was used to talk about what had happened while I had been locked up (almost nothing besides work, on their end) and to plan our future secret meetings (we couldn't publicly be friends anymore, since I was now considered a villain). Our meeting ended when someone decided to summon Ink - people did that a lot, and since he couldn't determine if the situation was actually serious or not until he answered the call, he had to answer calls unless he was doing something of the utmost importance - for some stupid reason, and Ink and Blue left. Life continued, however, and a new sense of normality came with time. I spent most of my time training or spending time with Nightmare and the others, and I got to know them well. I enjoyed taking my revenge on those who had wronged me in the past, and I made sure that they felt unbearable guilt for what they had done to me; it was easier with my new aura, too. On rare special occasions, I met with Ink and Blue, and we spent time together; it was easier to find time when we could ask Error and Nightmare not to attack anything for a couple hours, but we were still sometimes interrupted by a summoning or something else of that nature.
In the end, however, the thing that made me feel good was the fact that I had put a deep-rooted fear into the inhabitants of some universes; they were afraid that they would lose all their protectors if they continued to harm them, and some of them had stopped! Not all of them, of course, and sometimes, only a couple individuals in a universe made the decision, but my friends were happier, and I felt as if I had done something. Revenge felt good. There really wasn't anything too bad about being a negative spirit; sure, there were some unpredictable mood swings, I was occasionally grumpy in the mornings, and I sometimes killed people out of spite, but I was content. I could endure, and I would.
I was happier now than I had ever been before.