vii
Intuition. Wisdom. Protection.
Dream had always known fear. Even now, Dream knew fear. Especially now. But for him to shy away from something completely, to truly be called a coward, he'd only done that once in his life. He'd only done that when he was a young, foolish child, and even now he suffered those consequences.
Even now, he kept that lie going. Dream was a coward.
Despite this, he pressed on.
In this moment, he pressed on. No matter how vulnerable, or how exposed he felt, he took another breath, knowing full well he was being put to the test by some millennia old dude named Merlin for Neptune's sake.
Dream was glowing.
Well, glowing might be an overstatement, but one might say he shined brighter, emitted light, something that shouldn't be possible by any normal living being.
This, of course, attracted some attention. The other 3 mer, who had been asleep, were now staring at him with a blend of confusion, interest, and most notably, alarm.
It wasn't long before the quiet gave in, and an obvious chorus of perplexity drummed above them. A mere 10 moments later, Sapnap came rushing down the wooden steps.
A wide-eyed reaction was justified. "Dream- what the fuck is going on? What was that?"
Dream stared back, a little shocked himself.
"What was that light? You're fucking glowing or some shit dude, care to explain what just happened?" Sapnap continued.
Dream snapped out of his own daze eventually, but in lieu of responding, he chose to look down.
Not only was Dream glowing, but one of his pockets gave off a faint hum and gleam of it's own. The captain reached for its contents, coming up with a sole compass, one he bore with him at all times, and happened to be rather fond of after its continued use.
The compass matched Dream.
But its glow revealed something more to it than it did him.
The needle, sharp and faded poppy, spun uncontrollably, deciding only to settle when Dream had too. So Dream watched, waited, and the others caught on. When all was still again, save for the deck of worry above, the compass slowed, slowed, and slowed to a stop.
It slowed to a stop, pointing in a direction that was not north.
vii
Perfection. Freedom. Eternity.
George read the spell.
George read the spell, out loud, like a fool.
An absolute, fucking fool.
To be fair, how was he supposed to know it would actually work?
In all likelihood, it was more likely to have been a dud than an actual, working artifact.
Thankfully, the spell didn't seem to have done much. Just, oh you know, blind everyone in the room.
George had to admit though, to actually be doing magic, real magic, was pretty neat. The most he'd ever had before was speaking to anglers, but those assholes weren't even worth it.
Still, he couldn't forget the effect it'd had. And what it meant.
Convey the speaker a particular which is nay just and is nay true. Convey the speaker a particular which names secret its identity and names secret its soul. Convey the speaker a particular which forgets. Allow it remembrance.
So there was one question left on George's mind.
What the fuck was Dream hiding?
ix
Patience. Tranquility. Clarity.
Dream had to admit, it was relieving, now that the glow was gone. It pulled all eyes onto him, and while he loved the assurance, it was nerve-wracking. It left him open to all scrutiny. It left questions unanswered: questions he didn't wish to answer.
Worst of all, George had given him a look when they left, a look that said he knew a little bit more than he should.
It was too be expected, considering the spell was of a revealing nature. He could only be grateful it was minor. That didn't mean he wasn't a little mortified afterwards, and chose to hole up in his cabin once he'd given orders for Sam to abide by the compass.
And in defiance of Sapnap's pestering interrogations, Dream could not tell him that he knew why he, of all people, was affected by the spell. It was a mystery even to him, even past his knowledge of magic.
Seeing as it was late hours into the night by now, Dream figured he should find it in him to sleep.
Key word, should.
Needless to say, his cabin consisted of a lot more tossing and turning than he found preferable. After another half hour wasted like this, he stood to grab the ceramic mask off his desk and left the comforts of his room.
The air was fresh, sharp, at this hour. Nearly everyone was asleep by now, only a few stray bottles left from the celebration they'd had just nights before. He'd leave that to the boys to clean up tomorrow.
The few figures he sensed atop the deck were either on shift or in the same predicament as him. Restless.
Dream approached the helm, unsurprised by the man looking out over the depths.
Sam looked back upon hearing Dream's footsteps, and they exchanged a small smile.
"Can't sleep?"
"Not a wink," Dream replied.
"I know that feeling. 'Specially now, considering we're so close. You think that old bat would've had any more clues?"
Dream considered Sam's words for a moment, knowing this question had run past his thoughts too.
"I don't know. Of course, I hope this is the last piece of the puzzle, but you never know with old magic."
Sam nodded in silent agreement. This left them at ease to breathe as the wind blew past with not a care in sight. Despite his exhaustion, Dream loved nights like this.
Nights that whispered back to him. Nights that let the Moon fly, and let his ship chase after it. Nights that shaped every scale of his being.
Dream rubbed his arms absentmindedly as a comforting chill passed over them.
They stood like this, only interrupted by the occasional groan of old wood beneath them and the creak of the wheel.
Minutes passed like this.
The only thing Dream knew at this moment was that he loved nights like this. But that was okay, because he was so, so close to Bad. They all were, and that was the only thing that mattered right now.
Dream passed another smile to his helmsman, and once he was satisfied, retreated to his cabin once more.
If he couldn't sleep, he could at least get some work done.
x
Honor. Faith. Confidence.
Just a little more...
A little more...
And...
"YES! I got it!"
George shot out of the tank, victory in hand- literally.
Quackity gave him an odd look.
"What? I solved it!" George defended.
"Uh..huh. Good for you?"
"It is, it's great! I mean.. I guess. What do I do with it now?"
Quackity shrugged, turning back to finishing his meal.
George, on the other hand, looked between the 3 metal rings in his hand, now unsure of their purpose. He had solved the puzzle, but they didn't seem to do anything now. Perhaps they were supposed to be rings, but they were rather oddly shaped to be jewelry. But it seemed likely, so maybe humans simple had odd taste.
Perhaps humans wore them on their toes instead. What else would toes be used for, other than decoration?
Or they were for ears! But they would be rather uncomfortable sitting near his fins.
What if they weren't jewelry? They could be part of some kind of game.
Maybe now the goal was to reattach them. But that was rather boring, seeing as he'd just taken them apart- with much effort, to be clear. Why go through all that just to reassemble them?
This was a confusing puzzle. There didn't seem to be a proper reward once you solved it. Or maybe he hadn't solved it at all, and there was still more to it.
George held one of the rings up to the light coming from a porthole across the room, turning it this way and that to understand what it might be.
It looked vaguely like a gulper eel when turned on way, but somehow he doubted that's what it was.
Why did Dream have to give him such a difficult puzzle?
xi
Disorder. Imperfection. Chaos.
Sam called land.
There was land, and it was small, but it was there.
It was there, and it was unmistakable. Sapnap called him crazy, but Dream knew that this was it.
He knew they were there. Less than an hour of sailing, and he would have it in hand.
There was a flicker of hope.
The Sun's brethren, the Moon's guide.
A flame barely there, roaring to life as he saw answers in sight.
Dream reached out.
He watched the sky.
Breathed the air.
Touched, touched, touched the fire.
He touched the fire, and all hell broke loose.
xii
Sacrifice. Divide. Rule.
Tick.
Tock.
Tick.
Boom.
"Fire!" He heard.
"Take cover!" He heard.
"Eret's caught up with us!" He heard.
Eret?
Eret.
Dream turned, knowing he would hate the sight to see.
He was stood still.
Cannons sounded, but all he could make out was the ticking of a clock.
They had to get there first. They had to.
Finally, he moved.
"Sam, stay on course. Whatever you do, get to that island."
When he eventually received a shocked nod, Dream hurried down to the lower decks, thoughts rushing past him.
How did they not see this coming? Is Sapnap taking care of it? Is George okay? Does Eret know what he's after?
Can they make it out of this?
He reached the bottom steps, gaze meeting with 4 wide-eyed creatures staring straight back at him. The water in the tanks was already sloshing out over the sides, a result of the fray happening around them.
Dream crossed the floor, not stopping until he reached the hidden doorway at the other end. He fumbled with the lock, stumbling as a jolt shook his attempts to free it. His fingers trembled, turning and turning it, desperacy his only plea.
When the lock failed to open, he turned back to the tanks.
He was met with a blade and a sneer.
"Well, well, well. Look what we have here."
-----
Word Count: 1722
Date: 08/07/22
👀
>:)
We finally got to the best part y'all. It's all coming together now...
In case anyone is confused, ships in a bottle are considered magical vessels or foci in this AU, so original bottles will have spells engraved in the masts of the ships inside. As for this particular spell, it's up to you to decipher what it means.
Chapter is unedited so apologies for errors
As for where this book is headed, for the time being I'll continue writing it as a fanfic, and once it's complete I may rewrite it as a novel
Comment? :]