What's Worth Saving (Is Never Worth Letting Go to Waste)

Chapter 26: When He Comes Knocking (At My Door)

Karl knows he's about to die.

Again.

He never let himself hope for freedom, not even when Sapnap arrived. He had tried to go with Dream's demands, but knew deep down neither he nor Sapnap could ever accept them. So Dream is killing him before he becomes a liability. Maybe it'll be a nice release, but it also gives him too much power. Karl's going to die, and Dream will be able to bring him back whenever he wants. He won't be able to escape.

Karl also isn't keen on burning alive. He much rather would've died by blunt force trauma or being stabbed again. He doesn't want to feel liquid fire eating him from the outside in until there's nothing left.

Karl grabs for something, anything to hold on to. To save him from this fate, to stay alive. His hand closes over thin air as he tips back and falls. Karl shuts his eyes, hoping it'll be over quick, a thousand apologizes crowding his mind—

He gasps as something grabs him suddenly, his eyes snapping open. Karl can feel the heat of the lava lessen as he's pulled back on the platform.

Techno clutches his arm, the piglin yanking him back up to the safety of the platform. Karl stumbles and practically collapses against the black stone, relief coursing through his veins. He gasps for air as Dream yells something, though his words are muted to him.

He's alive. He's alive. Karl looks up, and realizes that he's behind Techno. Dream can't get to him. He's alive, and he's out of Dream's grasp. Karl presses a hand against his mouth, barely able to believe it. Maybe he's died, and this is his new limbo. Promised escape, only for him to be ripped back to life again soon.

Karl feels a hand on his shoulder, warm and familiar. He blinks up, Sapnap standing over him. He grasps his hand, letting the demon– his fiance, who did come to rescue him – pull him to his feet. Sapnap's eyes are thick with emotion, his hand moving from Karl's shoulder to cup his face.

"Go." Sapnap nods to the solid ground. "I'll be right back, okay? I just gotta take care of some... business." Karl nods back, briefly pressing his hand over Sapnap's before stumbling off the platform. Away from the lava, from the heat that plagued him for Prime knows how long, and to safety.

To land. To freedom.

He presses himself into the corner of the entryway, watching as Sapnap and Techno both approach Dream. Karl bitterly hopes they drag the fight out, that they make him suffer. He looks past them and locks eyes with Tommy, who's watching and still trying to break the glass.

He nods once to him, lips pressed into a thin, tentative smile. A promise that they're going to get out of here and that they will get to go home.

Karl believes that Sapnap and Techno can defeat Dream. They have all the capabilities, all the strength to do so. He wants Dream to hurt, to bleed, to feel the same pain he inflicted on him and Tommy.

Any mercy he had for Dream long since faded, starting with when he heard about exile. It's finally time for him to collect his dues and die.

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"Techno!" Dream gasps, looking between Sapnap and Techno. Sapnap grins at him, snickering. Seriously, how did he miss him before?

"Thank you.I don't know– thank you." Sapnap murmurs as Techno sweeps past him. The piglin pauses briefly, dipping his head shortly.

"Of course." Is all he says. "Now let's take this green bastard down once and for all." Sapnap barks out a short laugh, turning to face Dream. The masked man's mouth is pressed into a tight lipped smile, the only sign of any unease.