- Come on, Dream? Are you already down? Pathetic.
Nightmare picked up Dream, throwing him to the wall again and again and again, while his henchmen were laughing behind him. And, what is that, is that, Blueberry? Behind him… laughing… why? Why did he have to leave, why did he have to betray him. And where is Ink or even Error? They are gone, no one is there to help him. Ever.
- So, is it it? The end of Dream. Just like the start, it’s going to be forgetful and insignificant. – Nightmare laughed for the last time slowly and painfully piercing through Dream.
- AHHHHHH!
Dream woke up suddenly, gasping for air. He fell asleep on the floor again, tissues of either tears or blood of his wounds all around him, his bandages stopping him from freely breathing. His head felt heavy, his face all messed up from a lack of hygiene, sleep and tears.
Dream sat up and looked around his dark concrete room, such a mess. Is he even worth a status of the guardian of positivity if he can’t even keep his room clean. It hurts. His head, his wounds, everything. Isn’t it absurd? He looked into a cracked mirror on the wall, at his dirty blond hair and big circles under his eyes, he instantly hid his head and pulled his leg closer covering them with his long blue sweater. He wanted to cry, but he couldn’t. he grabbed the cape his brother made for him in the old days, he hasn’t been wearing it for a while now. The memories of his brother, even though bitter, were still partly sweet and comforting.
Knock knock
- Huh?
- Hellooooo, Dream? It’s me, Ink! It’s time for work, don’t you remember? Come on, hurry up and get out! This is going to be a wild day!
He quickly stood up, whipping his face. He put on his shoes, his crown, he thought he didn’t deserve, and some gloves to cover up his scars. In just a few seconds he was ready for work, it’s better to not keep Ink waiting, he get’s really scary when he is angry.
And what does Dream work as? Well, he is part of the star sanses! Just few days ago they were three, but now they were only two, Ink and Dream. They keep the universe safe by fighting groups like the bad guys and individuals like Error or Fatal Error. Although Dream doesn’t like fighting any of them, especially not Error and his brother, the leader of the bad guys, Nightmare, although, he knows he must, he doesn’t really have a choice. I mean, Ink is the one who gave him this job and mustn’t mess up, at the end of the day, he wouldn’t even be alive today if it wasn’t for him, who has revived him from the dead.
- Finally! Let’s go I’ve got work for you!
- For me?
- Oh please, you look like you just woke up and yes! I need you to calm down Error. I tried doing that for hours, but it looks like he’s having a full crisis in his void of nothingness, he keeps talking with people who aren’t there and shouting random things and whining and crying and-
- Okay, got it, and you want me to calm him down?
- Yes, that’s what I was saying are you even listening to me?
- Yes, yes, yes. Sorry.
- Sorry won’t help here, go on and help Error, okay, Dreamy? – Ink cracked a rather demeaning smile on his face, like he was talking down to a child.
Dream did as he was told, although slightly annoyed he had to deal with this alone, he still cared about Error so he didn’t mind helping him out in a trouble, at the end of the day, that’s what the guardian of positivity is meant to do.
Dream concentrated into making an interdimensional portal to hop into Error’s plain. Collecting all that was left off of his positivity he opened it and hoped right through not wasting any time or energy. Ink was correct, Error was having a terrible crisis.
Error was shouting and screaming nonsense bashing his head against the ground, and glitching in ways Dream has not yet seen.
- Error, are you okay?!
- WELL OF COURSE I AM NOT OKAY, WHAT, ARE YOU BLIND?!
- Okay, okay calm down a bit! I know that you aren’t okay and I’m here to help you with that! So just breath in and breath out slowly, okay?
- THE VOICES, WHY CAN’T THEY JUST LEAVE ME ALONE?!
- Okay listen, everything is going to be fine, okay? The voices aren’t there, everything is fine. Just let me touch you and pour in some positive emotions and you will just fine.
- Like hell I am letting you touch me!
- But you don’t have a choice!
Error was getting worse and worse by the second and Dream knew he had to do something to help, as soon as possible. He thought for a few second and seeing if he doesn’t do anything soon, Error might as well be considered gone. He hugged him. For just a few seconds he lunged at uncontrollably glitching Error and hugged him, calming him down using his power of positive energy and he quickly passed out, this was too much.
- Hey? Hey! Wake up idiot! If you die on me, Ink is going to kill me!
- Huh? Sorry, sorry I’m awake now. Sorry for hugging you even if you didn’t want me too.
- Yeah, yeah, sorry is such a useless word, you say it and expect to be forgiven like nothing has happened. But at the end of the day, you did save me from absolute insanity, so I do forgive you, I guess.
- Sorry, I mean thank you, for forgiving me I mean. – Dream stood up and rearranged his sweater. – I should get going now though, I think Ink should be looking for me, how much time has passed?
- About an hour, he came here to look for you, he looked pretty upset about you not being on your duty to be honest, so good luck, nerd.
- Thank you, I’ll need it.
Dream walked away still feeling really dazed from passing out, stumbling on his feet.
- I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I passed out! You saw that! I saved him and that was too much, it’s just an hour, I am so sorry!
Ink pulled Dream closer by his sweater, making him lose his balance and almost fall over.
- Sorry is worthless if you don’t actually mean it, Dream. If you keep randomly passing out and avoiding responsibility more lives will be lost or ruined and it will all be your fault! So, get yourself together, Dream and better do it quick, because I will not take any excuses. Since Blueberry left we have way more work to do and if you keep on slacking there will be consequences.
- I am sorry Ink, I truly am! – dream blustered out almost crying.
Ink let go of Dream’s sweater and he immediately took three steps back, covering his face, as always he was ashamed to show his tears, even to Ink.
- It’s okay, Dreamy, just be more careful next time! – Ink smiled, with a cheerful childlike smile, that somehow had a threatening aura about it. At least he wasn’t yelling anymore.
Ink quickly disappeared, now worrying about something completely else, leaving Dream alone to deal with his usual duties. Isn’t it pathetic? To cry, just because someone yelled at him. Is that something a guardian of positivity would do? Of course not. Such a failure, just like everything else he has ever tried doing, it just collapses around him.
Dream felt a tear rolling down his cheek and he quickly whipped it off. No. he isn’t allowed that.
- Stop it, you idiot! – he slapped himself across the face, snapping out of it. – you’ve got work to do, so get serious! What’s next, ah yes! I have to meet up with core Frisk and check for any suspicious bad guys activity lately, and I am already late, can I do anything right?!
He shook his head and went on to the omega timeline to meet up with core Frisk.
Dream hasn’t seen them in quite a bit, I guess they have been busy making sure everything is okay in the omega timeline and don’t really have that much time for chit chat, but still Dream felt a bit left out, seeing them interacting with all of these different entities from all around the underverse. He was glad to see them healthy and happy though. It would be selfish to think otherwise, wouldn’t it and a guardian of positivity can’t be selfish, can he?
Core frisk looked like always, the same old gray sweater, deep completely black eyes and short hair. Dream looked awful compared to them, he has not washed his hoodie or even showered for a long time now, he doesn’t seem to have time or even motivation to do that. And it was clear that core Frisk had noticed that.
- Dream, are you alright? You look… not well.
- It’s fine Frisk! I am doing fine, it’s just that since blueberry left, I had a little less time for myself, you know? – he let out a slight giggle, less of joy, but rather to easen the tension forming between them as the look on core Frisk’s face seemed to gradually get more and more worried. – I am really okay! No need to worry! – another fake smile.
- Okay… whatever you say, Dream, as long as you are happy. So, about the bad guys... – still suspicious core Frisk changed the topic. – they have been expanding, I’m pretty sure that they tried to manipulate Red into joining them… apparently that worked with Blueberry.
- No.
- What?
- Blueberry came to them on his own free will. He wasn’t persuaded, or at least that’s what Ink told me, because Blueberry didn’t even bring this up with me before leaving.
- Oh… it must really hurt? Are you really okay, Dream?
- I am fine, for the most part at least, how can I be not fine! It’s almost the entire point of my existence! To be happy and make others happy! So, please, don’t worry about me. Ever.
- Okay then, can you ask Red a few things for me, please, because I think he might have some important information if he really got in contact with the bad guys, or maybe just check up on the guy as well, he might be a little bit shaken up from the experience, okay?
- I’ll do my best!
And so Dream went on with another task, he must be lucky that they didn’t notice he was late! Because how else could someone be this forgiving about something like that! About wasting their time. Either way it didn’t matter now. Dream went through the crowd of entities from so many aus, all of them whispering and looking at him. He knew it was probably, because of how disgusting he looked, but he couldn’t shake off the feeling that it was because they all thought the same. Such a shame, such a pathetic piece of waste, how does he deserve to be the guardian of positivity or even part of the star sanses. He is nothing, but useless.
Dream thought these thoughts so many times now that he was almost desensitized to them, but it still hurt. It hurt more than getting stabbed, it hurt more than his wounds. It still didn’t hurt enough.
He arrived at another place, another au, the underfell au. He looked around the reddish snowy houses. Red was nowhere to be seen.
- Red! Red, it’s Dream! Where are you?
He heard noises coming from inside the woods. He started running towards them, somebody could be in danger! He can’t have that. He was panting when he arrived at a little circle with no trees and in the middle of it… Nightmare, holding Red by the neck…