The Good, The Bad, and The Apples

Chapter 1: Dreamtale

 Centuries ago. There once was a vast kingdom. The kingdom... of dreams. The kingdom had no king nor queen. But it did have two twin princes. Dream... And Nightmare. Dream was beloved by all. He spread happiness and positivity throughout the kingdom on a daily basis. While Nightmare... he wasn't loved by all like his brother. The townsfolk wanted positivity. Like what they leeched off of Dream. Nightmare didn't mind it so much. As long as he had his brother with him. But soon enough. The townspeople grew worse. Harassing Nightmare and saying mean things to him. Nightmare didn't understand what he had done wrong. He tried talking to Dream about what was happening but his brother was always too busy. You see, both boys represented either positivity or negativity. Nightmare got 'the shorter end of the stick' as you might call it. And both boys had an apple to protect. Under the tree of dreams. A huge tree with black apples on one side and golden yellow ones on the other, the boys had to protect it with their lives. The townspeople gave Nightmare dirty looks whenever Dream looked away. Still. Nightmare didn't know what he had done to upset them. So one night,under the tree of dreams, he developed a plan. He would prove to the townspeople he could also protect the positive apples.

The next morning he called everyone to the tree to see him take a positive apple. The townspeople were astonished when he was able to pick it up without changing it to negativity. But,that didn't last long. The apple turned black in a matter of seconds. Nightmare watched in horror as all of the positivity apples turned black. The villagers were furious. They told Nightmare to eat the apple for what he had done. Dream tried to hold them back but he couldn't. Filled with grief for what he had done,Nightmare bit into the apple. Tears streaming down his face. Dream tried to stop him but it was too late. Nightmare cried out in agony as shooting pain tore through his body. "Brother! It hurts!" He shouted out,still in pain. Nightmare couldn't take the pain anymore and he collapsed. Purple tinted tears flowed out of his eye sockets as he cried and cried for the pain to stop. His body writhed as a black and green goop swallowed his body. Dream finally shot an arrow into the sky to distract the townspeople. Nightmare had gone silent as Dream shot the arrow. Then, his eye sockets snapped open. Revealing not the usual purple eye lights that seem like they were crafted out of moonlight and shadows,but a mossy green color. Like the moss and grass that grew throughout the kingdom in abundance. Nightmare let out a chilling laugh. Then without warning a tentacle covered in goop shot out and grabbed a villager. They cried out as Nightmare squeezed their life force out of them. They fell to the ground,dead. Their eyes blank and colorless. The people started to panic. They tried to run away but Nightmare caught every single one of them and killed them. Dream shot Nightmare with an arrow to stop him from killing them but it wasn't enough. The negativity had already spread so deep into his soul that it turned black with hatred and red with determination.

Nightmare soon disappeared. Leaving Dream heartbroken and brother less. For days Dream wept in his broken kingdom. He wept under the tree of dreams. Which had died and turned black. He wept for his brother for who was missing. He wept for his friends. He sat by the base of the tree and cried and cried. No matter how hard he cried or how long he wept his golden tinted tears. He couldn't forgive himself.

Slowly. The kingdom of dreams faded away to an empty void. Dream sat in that void for ages. Waiting for someone to find him. Til a fateful portal opened in the world. Bringing another skeleton covered in ink tattoos and an ink splotch mark on his face. Dream was startled to feel a new presence in the void. His soul,which had turned dull with his grief, gave a bump of excitement and turned slightly back to the yellow it once was. Dream got up from his spot on the ground and started running towards the newcomer. "Wait! Wait!" He cried out as he saw the skeleton about to leave,thinking it was just another destroyed AU by their arch enemy. They startled and jumped as Dream came towards them. "Please! Help me-" Dream gasped,out of breath, "I need your help!"