Broken Together (MCYT au)

Chapter 63: Two Steps Back

Dream woke up, his world on fire.

Perhaps that is quite an over exaggeration, but he couldn't care less for he felt that his mind was completely on fire. He wasn't sure if he was in full control, which made matters only worse by the second. Dream was always able to tell when he was in control (due to the underwater limbo he always found himself trapped in during possession), but lately, he's found himself losing it.

Dream knew that it was only a matter of time before he started to lose himself.

"I'm going out-" he realized how hoarse his voice was, dizziness swirling his thoughts as he managed to start walking towards Techno's office. Hallucinations of dancing silhouettes in all sorts of colors from red to green; colors he tried to ignore. He heard the footsteps of people following him yet turning around to see nobody chasing after him.

"Zayne, what are you doing?" He mumbled to himself, taking each step slower than the one before.

This is the price for rapid improvement, Dream.

He squinted his eyes, the candlelight from each of the lanterns which he once welcomed with warmth now reminded him of the blistering heat and the fact he was slowly suffocating from the inside out. "What are you going to do, kill me?"

Depends, how much do you want to die?

Dream shook his head, tightening the strap which held his mask up as he stumbled into Techno's office, labored breathing becoming much more profound with each passing second. "Not particularly," he whispered, looking up at Techno who sat at his desk, most likely expecting the other. "Hey, Techno. I need to make this quick," his voice was hardly comprehendible; he could hardly understand whether he was in control or not. "We have to wrap this up-"

Techno looked up, watching the other lean against the walls. "You aren't ready yet, Dream. What happens if Zayne goes rogue? You can't handle that, Dream."

"It's... a little late to think about that-" he joked, Techno shaking his head and gesturing for the other to sit across from him. "I don't want to be that guy... but-"

"You are losing yourself, Dream," Techno said blatantly, shaking his head in worry. "We knew this would happen, just not this quickly-"

"Which is why we need to fight Herobrine now," Dream spoke up, his voice in all sorts of distortedness. The dancing silhouettes in the corners of his vision grew clearer, blinking to rid himself of the retched sight. "We can get him now, while I'm still here and-"

"You are nowhere near ready, Dream" Techno sighed, going through the entries they had worked on in the past millennia. It seemed as if centuries had passed within an instant, a sense of time truly being lost. "If you fight Herobrine now, you'll die. End of story: You will die, Zayne will be sent back to his limbo in chains, and our only hope of winning this war goes down the drain."

"This is the sacrifice Puffy talked about, the one you are afraid of," Dream spoke, the words slipping out of his mouth. He didn't mean to say that; they never spoke of Puffy's death, it was an unspoken rule. This was it; he continues to lose control but there is no thread to reach out to bring him back. "Even if it kills me, it's worth the shot. What happened to the carefree Technoblade," Dream felt a smirk growing behind the mask, horrified at the comments he was making. 'What am I saying? Zayne, whatever you are doing, stop it!' "The Technoblade I knew didn't care about risk, even being in line for the monarchy never bothered you, since you always knew Hercules would take it when your father was old and gray."

"The king is dead, Dream! He's gone, I'm first in line for the throne because the king is gone. Think about anyone other yourself for just five minutes!" Techno shouted and for once, Dream did not see a fearless leader. He saw someone who was afraid. Someone who had fears, trauma, worries; someone who was broken, just like him.