Three Fates Entwined | Dream Team

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Sapnap's head hurt. He wanted to curl up in a hole and stay there forever, never coming out to face the world ever again. That would've been nice.

But he couldn't. Because he had a friend to save.

Groggily, he opened his eyes and sat up. His hand fumbled around the ground beside him, blinding feeling for his sword, as he kept his gaze trained on the two figures before him.

"Make it quick, okay?" George said, trying to keep as still as possible. Sapnap's eyes drifted from the prince's face down to the knife held at his throat, then followed the shaft of the blade all the way to the man holding it, then up to the masked face belonging to the man. The sight was eerie --- George looking calm in the face of death, the comical smile on Dream's face portraying a sense of creepiness. It was unsettling, but Sapnap found himself unable to do anything but watch.

"George." Dream's voice was quiet but audible. "You know I don't want to do this, right?"

George smiled slightly. "Are you kidding? Maybe you could try to make that a little bit more obvious, because I'm not really seeing it."

"I really don't," Dream insisted. He dug the edge of the blade a little bit more under George's chin, as if willing himself to drive it forward and kill the prince. "But..."

"You have to," George finished for him. "That's a lame excuse."

The assassin's free hand clenched into a fist. "This task could be it! It could be what sets me for life, or what dooms me forever. This has to be the most important thing I'll ever do."

"Decide whether to kill me or not? Well, just do it, then."

Dream's hand trembled slightly. Sapnap wondered vaguely why he was having so much doubt. The guy was an assassin, for crying out loud. Killing people should've been a second nature for him by now.

"You know, your mask is really frightening," George said in a softer voice.

What?

Dream must've been feeling the same confusion, because he stayed still. "What do you mean? It's just a smiley face."

"My point exactly!"

"How can something as simple as a smiley face be frightening?"

"The most innocent things are terrifying when they're the face of the person meant to kill you," George lectured. "Ever since my father first told me about the assassin named Dream, I was scared of drawing smiles. All the things I drew just looked sad all the time."

Sapnap didn't know whether to rush over there to save George or to slap him. "All the things I drew just looked sad all the time" would be a horrible thing to have on his tombstone.

"Are you just trying to stall me?" Dream asked.

"Not really, no. I'm just speaking the truth in my last moments to live." George inclined his head towards Sapnap as best he could with a knife at his throat. "I've always hated you."

Sapnap smiled --- a sincere, genuine smile that he never would've thought possible at a time like this. "Same goes to you, Gogy."

He looked back at Dream and was taken aback. A tear appeared at the bottom of the white mask, rolling down his chin. There was blood all over his green sweater, and watching the tear cling there was like watching a murderer cry over his victim.

Which was pretty accurate, if you thought about it.

"A-are you crying?" George asked incredulously. "Dream, of all the things you should be doing right now, crying is not one of them."

"Don't lecture me on how to be an assassin," Dream sniffled. "I'm just getting emotional, okay?"

There was a forced harshness in his voice that made Sapnap forget all about being scared of him and instead made him want to go and give the guy a hug. He'd probably be stabbed if he tried, but still. The man looked like he needed it.

"Come on, Dream, if you're going to do it, then just do it already," George said.

Is he trying to get himself killed?

"Shut up," Dream said half-heartedly.

"Dream."

"No."

Sapnap realized what George was doing --- trying to pester Dream to the point where he just gives up on himself. The prince made it seem like he wanted to die, which was probably even worse to the assassin than having the guy plead for his life.

Was it smart? Probably not. But Sapnap could tell that it was working.

"You don't have to do this," George told Dream. "I've seen a different side of you for the time that I've known you. That side was kind and caring, and that side wouldn't have let anything happen to his friends. What happened?"

"I remembered the reason why I had come here." Dream's voice was clearly harsher now. Panic rose in Sapnap. George's tactic wasn't working.

Sapnap rose to his feet. His head felt like someone was shaking it with the force of a madman, but he didn't fall down again. He spotted his sword just a distance away, lying neglected on the ground. If I can just grab my sword before Dream tries to stop me, I can save George.

He glanced up around and spotted a knight watching them curiously. Probably, they thought that the three of them were just fooling around. It was already too dark to tell what was really happening, but if Sapnap could make Dream turn around so that his white mask was in full view....

"Dream, watch out!" Sapnap shouted, putting what he hoped was realistic panic into his voice. "Behind you!"

He must've been convincing, because the assassin spun around. The light of the moon reflected off of his mask, making the white seem to almost shine in the dark. Sapnap glanced up eagerly at the knight. Even from far away, he could make out the panic in their face. His plan had worked.

"Sapnap," Dream said in a cold voice, turning his attention towards him. Sapnap's heart dropped somewhere into the depths of his stomach. And this is where I die.

"Dream," Sapnap said back. "What is it?"

"That was a nasty little trick, Sapnap."

Sapnap managed a smile. "Yeah? Thanks, I tried."

He glanced up again. The knight was gone, but he could see figures moving towards the shadows towards them. Figures, plural. The knight had rounded up some of their friends. Perfect.

George stood up. "Okay, Dream. You had your chance to kill me and you didn't take it. Honestly, thank you, but now it's time for us to be the hunters."