Dreamcrash

Twenty Five: Breaking

"Really a shame you couldn't bring him back, don't you think? I was almost cheering for you."

"Almost?"

"Well, after all, we are enemies."

I pull my hand away from the carving, sigh, and turn around. A skeleton in a long grey coat was standing behind me, looking down at me with grey eyelights. I would jump up and attack him, but honestly, I'm too tired and fed up to care. I just want to be alone. "What do you want, Three?"

"Just letting you know my offer still stands."

I don't know what he's talking about, yet at the same time, I do. Something about... leaving Pen and Patch, I think. I don't know. Whatever it is, I don't care. "Just letting you know the answer's still no." 

"We'll see about that. Anyways, this isn't what I'm here for. I'm here because I want to show you something."

"Show me later," I snap. Doesn't he get that I want to be alone?

"I'm afraid I can't wait. It's getting impatient."

I pause, unsure how to respond. What does he mean? From how he's talking, it sounds like a person, but I don't know.

Three smiles maniacally. "I'd like to introduce you to the final product of the thing you helped me on. I'm so glad it worked out correctly, although I doubt you will be. You see, it's after something. And sure, it could pick anyone else, but it's after yours specifically."

"Wh... what are you talking about?" I stutter, chills crawling up my spine. 

"I guess the best way to make sense of this is for it to tell you itself." Three snaps and I feel a sudden pang in my Soul as I'm thrown into the air. I look at my Soul and see it's wrapped tightly in teal strings. "I'm rather disappointed I can't figure out a way to spare you, Night. You seem like a nice person. But you're a pretty big anomaly, almost bigger this wretched multiverse. Normally, it's my job to eradicate anomalies, being a Code Master, however you're a special case. You see, you single handedly rewrote the entire code for yourself and your AU by a simple choice."

I feel shock run through me. "I'm guessing Pen didn't mention this detail," Three continues slyly. "Because of that choice, you caught my attention. I could make good use out of you. I could give you what you want and you'll never have to deal with Pen and Patch and those idiot Protectors again. I could even get Dream back. All it would take is a simple tweak to his code, and you'll have your brother back." Three holds out his hand. "So, what do you say?"

It was tempting. The thought of having Dream back with me? That's all I want. But to do that, Three would have to mess with his code. Dream wouldn't be coming back on his own free will. I love my brother, and I want to be with him, I really do. However, I don't think I could force Dream to be with me against his will. As much as I would love it, I've thought only of myself enough.

"No," I say firmly. "Final answer. Now leave me alone."

Three snarls. He's not used to being refused, I can tell. "Fine. It was nice meeting you, Nightmare." His eyelights went from the normal grey to a bright lime. "Kill him."

I saw a flash of teal, followed by my Soul being released and I hit the floor. Exactly like what happened in Comettale, darkness swooped up around me and in it, a hidden aura. 

"Who are you?" I yell, anger starting to boil. Can't I just be left alone? "Come on out!" 

A figure appeared in the distance. The moment I saw him, I felt dizzy. My head hurt, my vision spun, I felt like I might collapse. "Well, well, well, who do we have here?" The figure says. He starts walking closer, and I feel my headache getting worse. "Long time no see."

"Wh.. who are you..?" I force out. "What do you want with me?"

"I want nothing with you. I want something from you." The figure is close enough to see clearly. He's wearing a teal sleeveless jacket with a gold outline and a purple shirt underneath. He has black pants and dark purple boots. His black eye sockets were barely visible against his dark grey bones. The eeriest part was the eyelights. The right one was orange, while the other was a dark purplish reddish color with a teal ring around it.

"What do you want?"

"Simple. Your Soul." The figure disappears and I trace his aura to... right behind me.

I roll out of the way as the figure slams a giant, sharp bone where I just was. Tapping into my powers, I create a small red marble and push it onto my arm. My head immediately clears and I'm filled with a burning sense of focus and determination. An arrow appears in one hand, my bow in the other. I aim the arrow at the figure. He teleports away and sends a few teal strings at me. I dodge them, but they hone in on me. Quickly deciding I need to distract the figure, I jump at his and nock an arrow. He sees me and pulls the strings away to dodge. We fight, back and forth, attacking, dodging, getting hit, attacking again. I can feel my anger growing as we fight and my head starts to hurt again. After what feels like a few minutes, maybe more, maybe less, he hits me hard in the back and I collapse.

"I'll make this a nice and easy choice. Give me your Soul or I'll pull it from your dust."

I clench my fists, rage boiling. I'm done sitting in regret. I'm going to take him down. And suddenly, all the guilt and anger and sadness and every negative feeling in me explodes out. The figure is pushed back.

"What- what the-"

I don't give him time to ready himself. All I know is I want to hurt him. My attack is aimed for his skull, and by the time the figure realizes that, he barely has time to dodge. I don't know exactly what I did, but the attack missed his skull by an inch, impaling his shoulder instead. He looks at me with fear in his eyes, which makes me smile. He's scared. Good. He should be.

A crack echos through the void. I feel a sudden pain in my extended hand. My senses and thought process return and I realize what just happened. The attack I launched was oddly familiar. It was a black marble, like the ones I use to manipulate other's emotions, but bigger and more... wrong. More dark. Coming out from it is a black tendril that was stabbed through the figure's chest. It almost looked like a tentacle, like the...

Like the tentacles that corrupted me uses as a weapon.

I quickly pull my hand back, releasing the attack. The figure drops to the floor. I hear another crack and look at my hand. It's starting to break. The shell is coming off, and underneath was a black goopy mess. I panicked. Was I corrupting? Why? How do I stop it? The figure looked at me and then disappeared, lifting the darkness and I was once again in Dreamcrash. I collapsed instantly as my vision started to fade, the pain in my hand almost unbearable. 

The last thing I heard was someone calling my name as I fell into darkness.