Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

In one of the large valleys just outside of the village, there was a grand estate where a small family lived.

No one had ever been really close to this estate, as some have said that the land there is cursed. From anywhere in the village, you could see the golden jewel of the estate. A large tree, the biggest in the entire world, that grows golden and black apples. The people of the village have called it the Tree of Feelings since times long past. Some books say the name came from the guardian of the tree herself, the head lady of the mansion. People said that the lady of the mansion had a dark secret. But that was only a rumor. A meaningless piece of gossip that stemmed from the fact that she was neither a human nor a monster, but something else entirely.

In the residence, a child was making his way down to the basement. The basement was always a bit chilly, but he had grown accustomed to it years ago. The hallway, which was made entirely of stone bricks, was dimly lit by wall-mounted torches that burned in the night. The flames provided the bare minimum of heat for him, but he was more thankful for them allowing him to see where he was going. He came to a stop at the only door at the end of the hallway, tilting his head back to look up at it.

It was a large door that was arched at the top, curved and rounded. The door itself was made entirely of wood planks. It was so old that pieces of the wood had started to wear down, chipping away and peeling off. This door was always closed and always locked, always with a faint smell of metal seeping through the cracks. He reached out towards it, grabbing onto the iron ring that served as a handle. He knocked on the door, the sound echoing off of the stone walls.

"Mommy..."

His voice was soft, almost like a whisper. He hadn't meant for it to come out so quietly. Of course his mother wouldn't hear him when he was talking so quietly, with all of the sounds that he could hear going on in there. He supposed it was because of how nervous he was. He wasn't even supposed to be down there to begin with.

This was the door that led to his mother's laboratory. She would be locked inside there all day and all night long, working. Only ever working. He had thought that he saw her scarcely before, but now it was a miracle for them to ever spend time together. It wasn't uncommon for him to come down to the basement just for the chance to see her, even if he got in trouble for it. He waited for a few seconds longer, then knocked on the door again.

"Mommy, are you in there?"

This time, he was louder than before. He'd been told about projecting his voice.

Whatever was going on inside of the room on the other side came to a stop. That meant that his mother had at least heard him, possibly. It was also entirely possible that the stop was entirely coincidental. Then there was... also the possibility that his mother or her assistant had heard him and were just staying quiet, waiting it out until he went away. The child's shoulders dropped as he looked down. That seemed to be the case.

I guess... she really is too busy...

His shoulders slumped at the thought, eyes dropping to the floor. He turned away from the door. It just wasn't fair, it truly wasn't. He knew his mother's work made her happy and was important to her, and that made him happy. He wanted her to continue her work and doing what she loved, but he just... he wished he could fit in with it somehow. He knew his mother loved him more than anything in the world, but when it came to her work, it was like he didn't exist anymore. He accepted that he would not see her at all today, just like yesterday and the day before, and started to walk away from the door.

The sound of creaking hinges cut through the silent ambience of the basement, momentarily spooking him. The child turned around once he got over the initial shock, his eyes wide and sparkling as he did so. A smile curled onto his face as he looked up at his mother. He hadn't been expecting her to actually come out. His joy was so immense that he didn't pay attention to the bad smell coming from the now wide open door. Her eyes were fixed onto him, just as he always wanted. Even though the lower half of her face was covered by a white surgical mask, he could tell she was frowning underneath it.

His mother was a beautiful woman named Nim, though he never addressed her by that. Her hair was dark green like the leaves of a tree and was kept short, a bit messy too. Her eyes were entirely white and glowed faintly, making the pale green skin of her face seem paler than it really was. She was dressed in the stereotypical uniform of her profession; a black shirt, a long white lab coat, long pants, and black dress shoes. He knew that shoes of any kind, except for sandals, were uncomfortable for her, so he didn't understand why she wore them.

"Mommy!" He beamed brightly, walking closer to her.

"Dream!" Nim's voice was slightly eerie, and a bit muffled by the mask she wore. "How many times have I told you not to come down here?"

"Sorry, mommy...." Dream apologized, his happiness getting shot a little as his smile disappeared. He looked down, bringing his hands up to his chest as he played with the collar of his shirt. "But... um... it's just... I'm too scared to sleep on my own....?"

Nim sighed quietly, her anger dissipating almost instantly. She knew that was partially why Dream had come down here, in addition to just wanting to see her. She knelt down so they could be eye-to-eye to each other, or as close as they could get to that point with their major height differences. Dream looked up as she cupped his face in one hand, stroking his cheek gently with her thumb. Her eyes were much gentler now.

"Dream... please do not worry. You're never alone," she reassured him. "Your late brother is always there at your side... he's always watching over you, my little light."

"Mm... you said he sent that little white bird from Heaven to check on me," he recalled with a small smile. "He's always watching over us from above..."

"That's right. So there's no need to be afraid. He won't let anything harm you." She nodded. "Now please, get to bed. It's far too late for you to be up."

"Yes, mommy..."

"Good boy."

Nim wrapped her arms around Dream, pulling him close into a hug. He eagerly hugged back, feeling relieved to finally get to spend even the slightest bit of time with her. But all good things had to come to an end, a reality he'd been forced to face all too soon. She stood up from the floor and placed him on the ground gently, stroking the top of his head soothingly and lovingly. The skin of her fingers was a bit rough from all the gloves she wore, but he didn't mind that. He closed his eyes to bask in her affection, humming softly. When she stopped petting him, she motioned for him to turn around and head back to his bedroom.

Dream's shoulders slumped a bit as he did just that, turning around and walking away from her. She would watch him leave, just as she always did, to ensure that he would not stay outside of her lab for the rest of the night. He had done it before and she didn't doubt that he would do it again if he could get away with it. She'd been horrified to come out of her lab at three in the morning to find her precious child sitting against the wall, eyes half closed as he waited for her. Her heart had broken at the sight of her child depriving himself of sleep. Her smile faltered a bit, however, when he turned back to her.

"Mommy, tomorrow's..." Dream began, trailing off as the words got caught in his throat.

"Yes, the anniversary of his death... we'll visit his grave together." Nim leaned down and brushed the tears that were forming in his eyes away. "I know you are sad, but please, try not to cry... it will only make me want to cry."

"Okay..." He murmured, rubbing away at his eyes. "I'll try not to..."

"Now, back to bed, please. I'll be resting too shortly." She pressed a kiss to his forehead. "And please, make sure you change into proper pajamas."

"Yes, mommy..."

Dream turned away from her again and he started to make his way back to his bedroom. She watched him go for a moment, but hastily returned to the laboratory a few seconds later. Dream flinched slightly as the heavy wooden door slammed shut. He looked back at it for a moment, painfully aware of the longing expression on his face, and painfully aware of how eager she must have been to get back to her work. He really hadn't meant to disturb her, he only wanted to see her. He looked back ahead of himself and continued on, heading up the small incline of steps. He didn't want to disappoint or upset his mother by staying out here for too long.

"S-Stop!" A voice cried out, making Dream pause at the top of the steps from its suddenness. "Nooo! WAAAAAH! Help me! HEEEEEELLLLLP!!"

The sound of a chainsaw being started up followed shortly after the voice began to cry for help. Not even a moment later, the pleas for help turned into blood-curdling screams of agony. For a brief few seconds, he pictured the image of the moving blades coming into contact with the person's limbs. He didn't like the image of it, there was too much blood. Too much red and, from what he remembered from seeing in a book before, flesh wasn't the prettiest thing in the world either. But all he could do was keep walking forward, leaving his mother and her assistant to work in the lab and hoping his jitters from the imagined imagery would die down by the time he made it back to his bedroom.

Dream knew his mother's secret, even if she didn't think he did.

His mother was the Guardian of the Tree of Feelings, yes, but she was also a scientist. She loved everything related to research and was always locked up in the lab in the basement, running experiments and analyzing specimens. He'd always heard things coming from inside of that room. The screams of animals, humans, and monsters alike, all filled with the same sense of pain and terror. It was part of why the laboratory and the hallway that led to it always reeked and had a metallic hint, like the copper coins called pennies. It was why his mother got so upset with him whenever she caught him loitering down there.

Even at an exceptionally young age, he knew what his mother was doing. He had a fairly good idea of it, anyway. But he always pretended that he wasn't looking. That he didn't know, hear, or suspect anything. He feigned his ignorance to the truth the whole time, masking it instead as the natural curiosity of a child like himself. He did it for the sole reason of his love for his mother.

The occurrences in the laboratory wasn't the only secret he knew about his mother. There was something else. Something that was harder for him to come to terms with. It involved his mother's assistant, a cat monster named Neil. He wasn't sure when he'd shown up at the mansion or when he became his mother's assistant in the lab, but he couldn't seem to recall an exact timeframe without him, either. When Dream and his brother weren't around, the two of them... they would become intimate with each other. That much he knew.

His door closed lightly and he went over to his bed, crawling onto it as his exhaustion began to set in. He laid in his bed, staring at the ceiling of his room, watching the blades of the ceiling fan as they spun around. He wasn't under the covers of his bed and, despite his mother telling him to change into proper pajamas, he hadn't. He was still wearing the light blue dress shirt, navy blue pants, and fitted boots. He was even still wearing the yellow cape tied around his shoulders, which he'd been told could be a choking hazard.

The grandfather clock in his room chimed, meaning it had struck midnight. Dream sank further into the soft mattress and pillows with a sigh. With the passing of midnight, that meant it was now a new day. Specifically, a year from the day when his twin brother went to Heaven. He scooted over to the edge of his bed and got up, looking out the window. It was too dark outside to see anything, it looked like even the moon was shrouded in darkness.

The moon... his brother had always been fascinated by the beauty of the night hours. He loved anything to do with the moon, the stars, and outer space. His love for the celestial patterns and cosmos was what prompted their mother to change the archives' ceiling to a celestial pattern, since Nightmare always did spend a lot of time in there. Nightmare was the one who taught him how to spot the different constellations and about the phases of the moon, and they used to sit in the backyard stargazing. On nights that it was too cold or too hot to sit outside at night, they would use a telescope that their mother had bought them. Maybe that would have been comforting, spotting the different formations and admiring the twinkling stars, but it was too dark outside.

Now that I'm thinking about Nighty, I can't fall asleep...

His bedroom was a small square room. It had a polished floor of dark wooden planks that were laid out in a fancy pattern, with beige patterned wallpaper covering each wall. The floor was covered by a large floral pattern rug of navy blue and pink. There was a small round table in the middle of his room with two chairs at it, one for him and the other for someone else, one of the three-- two... people in the mansion with him. It was where he got his education. He called it the "school table".

He looked over at the animal pen against the one wall of his bedroom. It was a lovely little setup that his brother and mother had helped him put together. It had a soft light tan blanket, with bowls for food and water too. There were some toys strewn about in the pen too... he'd have to clean them up at some point, just not right now. He didn't think he'd be able to do it without waking up the family pet, a gorgeous red fox named Phoenix, either. Most of them were squeaky toys, after all.

Lucky Phoenix... he doesn't have to worry about this kind of stuff...

He walked by his dresser and over to the bookshelf. Maybe some light reading would help him take his mind off of things and ease him into sleep. Of course, it was always best to have someone read the stories to him, so he could imagine the pretty pictures and let their voice lure him to sleep. His eyes scanned over the books until they landed on two in particular; Horus the Trader and The Red-Eyed Stranger. Nightmare would always read those two to him, but The Red-Eyed Stranger had to be his favorite of the two. He went to pull the book out to read it himself, but something came out with it and rolled a bit away from his feet.

"Ah!" He gasped. He crouched down to grab it, holding it close to his eye to see it up close. "What's this...? A gem?"

It was, indeed, some kind of gem. It was small and could fit into his palm, shaped like a small teardrop. It was mostly clear except for the center of it, where it was very light. It wasn't like any of the gemstones he had ever seen before, even with all the books he and Nightmare had read together about them. He didn't think he'd seen this kind of gem in any of his mother's jewelry either. What a peculiar thing to find wedged in his bookshelf. Maybe he could show it to his mother or, if need be, Neil later. He hoped they would let him keep it, it was very pretty. Maybe he could use it to make a little charm for Phoenix's collar.

He sat the gem off to the side and picked the book up. He went back to his bed and started to read the book, but it wasn't doing anything to help him out. All it was doing was making him think of when Nightmare would read to him to put him to sleep. He closed the book with a sigh, going back over to the bookcase to put it away. He'd been taught that it was a responsible thing to clean up your messes and put things away when he was done with them. When he went back to his bed, he picked up the portrait on his nightstand.

It was a portrait of Nightmare. His brother's eyes were smart and full of life in the portrait, but in reality... that light had gone out a year ago now. He had been his best friend, aside from Phoenix, and someone who he could always go to. He would always help him with the schoolwork they got. Despite them being the same age, Nightmare took his role as the older brother to heart. He was always more mature than Dream was and, when he was asked about it, he told Dream that he was perfect just the way he was. That he didn't need to mature as quickly as he had.

"What should I do, Nighty? I do love mommy, but... he scares me... he's always... looking at me with those eyes... I hate him... but I know mommy likes him. If the two of them got married, I suppose he'd be my dad, huh? We never... had one of those... but would they have kids of their own? Like in the stories? They said a stork comes and delivers babies to married couples... if the stork comes, would I get a new brother? I don't want a new brother, I don't need a new brother... there's only one brother in the whole wide world for me..."

Dream blinked as he felt an itchiness on his face. He reached up to scratch it, only for his fingers to come into contact with something wet. Ah... he was crying. It was true that things had never quite been the same ever since Nightmare passed away. His mother had started to spend even less time out of her laboratory. Dream had no one to spend time with aside from Phoenix, and there was only so much the fox could do. What little life had still been in the mansion was gone now. He had no one to talk to and he wasn't allowed to leave the mansion without his mother's approval, and she never gave her approval. He sat the portrait back in its rightful place on his nightstand.

"Nighty... why'd you have to go?"

Dream shook his head, reaching up to wipe away the tears on his face. He knew it wasn't Nightmare's fault that he passed away, but still... he couldn't help but wonder if there was something they could've done to keep him with them. In all of the stories he read, the children never had dead parents or dead siblings. Sometimes they had dead pets. He didn't know what he would do if Phoenix died, but he knew it would happen eventually.

He shook his head, pushing the thoughts away. He shouldn't be thinking about stuff like that. It wouldn't help him fall asleep if he kept thinking about how the family pet would die someday or how he wasn't a normal boy.

He wondered if sleeping with one of his toys would help him fall asleep. He couldn't sleep with his favorite, most beloved doll. Not only was it old and worn, but it wasn't exactly... cuddle material. Not only that, but he didn't want to risk damaging it or breaking it. It had been a gift from his mother. He dragged himself to his dresser, standing on his toes to grab the large teddy bear on top of it. Like the doll, it had been a gift from his mother.

He still remembered the day when his mother gave him that doll. He was much younger, around six years old or so. It was getting pretty late at night and was approaching his bedtime, so he had gone back to his bedroom to start winding down.

~~~~

Dream was sitting at the small table in his room, scribbling against a blank sheet of paper with one of his many crayons. He wanted to make a pretty picture for his mother to put on the fridge, like how parents did in the picture books he had, or she could put it in her lab. He didn't mind where she put it, as long as she could see it.

He looked up when he heard a gentle knocking on his door. It opened up a moment later and his mother was standing there, dressed in the beautiful pink dress she had. His eyes lit up when he saw her, quickly abandoning his crayons and art project to greet her.

"Mommy, mommy!" He beamed brightly. He latched onto her, hugging her tightly.

"As excitable as ever, even so close to your bedtime," she laughed softly. One of her hands began to caress his head. "I wish your brother was as excited as you are."

"I think Dream just has too much energy," Nightmare's voice came from the hallway with a yawn.

"Well, whatever the case may be, I hope you stay this happy forever."

Dream smiled up at his mother. He would do his best to stay happy for her, so he didn't have to see her frown. His eyes soon drifted over to the toy she was grasping in one of her arms. He hadn't noticed it when she first came in, he'd been so happy to see her. She noticed the change in his attention and gave a sideways glance at the doll she was carrying. She separated herself from Dream and handed him the doll, presenting it like it was a gift.

"I brought you a new toy to play with, Dream," she said.

"A new doll!" Dream gushed, taking the doll from her eagerly. "Thank you, mommy!"

Dream looked down at the doll to examine it. It was a human doll with long brown curls and gorgeous blue eyes, dressed in a cute green dress with a cute matching cap. It was a very pretty doll, prettier than the raggedy ones he'd made for himself out of yarn and loose buttons. The body of the doll felt a little warm, too, and the hair was very soft. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought the doll was alive.

"Does Nighty get a doll too?" He asked his mother, looking up at her. "I'll share my doll with him!"

"Dream, sweetie, you know Nightmare doesn't play with dolls like you do," she replied. "He uses them more as decorations rather than toys. But yes, I've given him a doll as well."

~~~~

The doll he'd been given had seen better days. He'd learned not to roughhouse with the doll after a piece of its face had chipped off. Ever since then, he'd either only play with the doll at pretend tea parties or would leave the doll to sit on the rocking chair. 

A shiver went down Dream's back. The room felt much colder than it had when he came back from the basement. He found it a bit unusual, since his bedroom was usually always on the warmer side. He had a heavy feeling in his chest and his throat felt a little dry. He would bring some water bottles up to his room from the kitchen in the morning. He would do it now, but... his mother would get upset with him if he left his room again at this hour. He crawled under the mess of blankets on his bed and hugged the teddy bear close, burying his face into the crook of its neck.

~~~~

He was dreaming. Rather, he was recalling a memory from a happier time.

He was sitting in a large, open field of flowers not too far from the mansion. He was sitting on his knees and had his head tipped upwards, looking at the clouds and trying to find the different shapes they had, looking for any clear pictures. One time he had spotted a cloud that looked like a dog. He was also singing a small melody. It had no words to it, but it sounded nice to him anyway.

"You sing so well, Dream," his mother commented, sitting just beside him.

"Mommy, can I turn around now?" He asked, smiling as he spotted a cloud that was shaped like a pumpkin.

"Just a moment, dear," she said. "Just put this here..."

Dream couldn't help but smile as he heard a delighted sound come from his mother. He reached up when he felt something land on his head, feeling what he assumed were flowers. She had made him a flower crown. It was a bit small for his head, not entirely fitted, but he loved it regardless. He stood up from the ground, brushing the pieces of grass off of his pants, and did a small twirl.

"Does it look good on me?" He asked.

"Yes, I think it suits you quite well." She nodded in approval.

"Yaay!!" He cheered, latching onto his mother in a tight hug. "Thank you, mommy!"

"I'm really sorry I can't always play with you and your brother," she sighed. "It must get boring playing with each other after so long."

"Mommy... it's alright," he said, hoping to lift her spirits up a little. "I'm glad we could all finally play today."

"Yes, that's right. Mother came out and played with us."

Dream looked up when the new voice joined the conversation. His brother was walking towards them, picking pieces of fur off of his clothes. He had taken Phoenix back inside after the family pet had fallen asleep. Dream got off of his mother and ran to meet his brother, grabbing onto his hands when he got to him.

"Nighty, Nighty! Look! Mommy made me a flower crown!" Dream said enthusiastically, pointing to the decorative accessory he was now wearing. "Isn't it nice?"

"I can see that. It looks wonderful on you," Nightmare replied with a small smile. "With how much you've been playing and all your excitement, you should sleep very well tonight."

"Mommy should sleep well too! She's been with us too!" He turned to their mother. "Mommy, we should all play together again sometime!"

"Yes, we should." She nodded in agreement. She turned her eyes to Nightmare. "And next time, you should join us for the whole day."

"Well, I look forward to it..."

Nightmare's smile, as small as it was, quickly dropped from his face. He twisted his body away from Dream, bringing his elbow up to his mouth. Dream gasped as his brother started to cough harshly, the older of the twins doubling over. Dream looked over at their mother helplessly, silently asking her what to do. She stood up from the ground herself and started to head over to the two of them.

"Don't push yourself if you're not feeling well!" She lightly scolded Nightmare. "Come, get some medicine from Neil. It'll help you feel better."

"No... I can get that myself..." Nightmare breathed out once his coughing fit had died down. "It's nothing to worry about..."

"Brother, are you hurt?" Dream asked, eyeing the few drops of blood on Nightmare's sleeve worriedly. "You're okay, right?"

"Oh, Dream... of course I'm alright, it's just a little sickness." He turned to face him, cupping his cheek in one hand. "You look so anxious. It's not a look that suits you."

"How can I not be worried?" He asked him. "I care about you..."

"Oh Dream, I care about you too. That's why your smile is so important to me." He started to smile again. "If I can't see you smiling, I start to worry..."

"Nighty... okay, if you're sure you're alright," he said after a moment. His face held hints that he still had concerns, but he was smiling again, just like what his brother wanted. "Maybe we should go inside now, anyway."

"Neil was just finishing dinner when I came back outside," Nightmare informed them. "He made sirloin steak and said we can have ambrosia for dessert if we've behaved all day."

"Yay!!! I love ambrosia!!" Dream cheered, turning away from his brother to run towards their home. "Let's go inside now!!"

"Dream, wait! It's only after dinner!!" Nightmare called out to him, running after him. "You have to check your shoes before you go inside!! You'll get dirt everywhere!"

Dream looked back at Nightmare, laughing as he chased him. Behind them, their mother was laughing at their behavior. Her voice sounded so happy and, in turn, it made Dream happy. A pleasant breeze drifted past them and he had to keep a hand on his flower crown so it didn't get blown away. Neil was waiting for them at the door, watching as the twins collided with each other and fell with an exasperated expression.

Dream, Nightmare, and their mother... they had all been so happy back then. It was true that Neil was there, too, but he didn't really affect the happiness their family had. Even without the twins having a father or Nim having a husband or significant other, they were still happy. They had everything they could've wanted. A home, a pet, food, warmth, a family. Maybe Dream wanted to go to an actual school like the children in his books did, but he got the education he needed regardless, so he was fine with it. Besides, it was another thing he got to do with his twin.

But everything had, for the most part, been taken away when Nightmare passed away from his sickness. Dream hadn't even found out about it until the morning, since he'd passed in his sleep. He knew that the passing was painless because of that, but he wished he could've been there so Nightmare didn't have to be all alone when he died. Maybe that would've made him sadder, but dying all alone couldn't be comforting.

When Nightmare died, all of the happiness their small family had shattered into pieces.

~~~~

Nim sighed as she placed the bloodied tools down on the tray.

She was standing next to the table where her latest test subject had once laid. The old wood of the table had faded from brown to a more grayish color, stained with the crimson of blood. The table wasn't all that different from the floor, where pools of the same crimson liquid were scattered. There were burlap sacks made from linen, all filled to their capacity with discarded pieces of bodies. There were patches of red stains on them from all the blood, while other ones were so stuffed with bloodied body parts that the thick liquid was seeping through the thin fabric.

"A fine sample..." Nim commented as she glanced over at the collected materials. "Yes, these will serve nicely."

"I'll get rid of the remaining waste myself," Neil said as he stepped away from the table he was nearby.

"That can wait." Nim turned around to face him. She held her arms out, offering her embrace. "Come here, Neil."

"Doctor..." Neil breathed out in a whisper.

The cat monster made his way over to the head of the mansion, forgetting about the materials that needed to be cleaned up for the time being. He opened his arms-- one of which was a prosthetic replacement made by the same woman-- and accepted her embrace. Their arms coiled around each other as they hugged, with the green skinned woman resting her head on his shoulder. Both of their clothes were soiled with blood, but neither of them minded. It was something they were used to being covered in, as it was one of the dirty parts of their job.

"Doctor..." Neil began to speak, eyes glancing down at the woman in his arms. "The young master... he's aware of our relationship."

"What does it matter?" She asked him, pulling away a bit to look up at him as she removed her dirtied surgical mask.

"I don't think he's very fond of me," he replied, frowning a bit. "That's the problem."

"Oh Neil... the boy will be eleven soon. It's a troublesome age, to be sure," she sighed softly. "I know you two do not get along the best, but be kind to him, please."

"Of course I will."

The two came together and shared a kiss. When they pulled away, there were faint traces of dark green lipstick smeared along Neil's lips. He reached up to wipe it away with his sleeve, earning a giggle from the scientist. Still, she couldn't help but think back to her little ray of sunshine. He'd been so overjoyed to see her come out of her laboratory, and the way he reacted when she touched him... had she truly been being so neglectful towards him?

Almost as though he sensed her feelings of worry, Neil pulled her into another hug. His fingers caressed her short green hair, rubbing circles into her backside. Nim let out a content breath, closing her eyes. She felt as though something cold was being traced along her spine slowly, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up. She dismissed it as a result of all her worrying about her lonely child. She did not know how she would cope with losing her only son left...

"Neil, can you promise me something?" She spoke. "Can you ensure that Dream is never harmed?"

"I..." Neil was slightly hesitant. "I promise, doctor."

"Good... good... thank you, Neil." She smiled. "He shall always be my most precious..."

Chapter Text

Dream was startled awake by a loud, echoing scream.

He sat up on his bed in an instant, barely even processing what had happened or that he was awake. The scream had been high pitched and clearly a wail of pain, and there was only one person in the entire mansion who had a voice like that aside from himself. He looked around his room, wondering if he had only imagined it or if it was a remnant from a nightmare. It was still pitch black outside with no trace of the moon and his room was still much chillier than usual. Phoenix was fast asleep in his little pet bed, snoozing away without a care in the world.

That scream... could that have been mommy? He wondered, worried for his mother. Something must have happened... I'll go check on mommy!

Dream slid off of his bed and rushed over to his bedroom door. As he reached for the handle, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss. That would have explained the scream he heard, but there was something weighing him down. A tiny voice in the back of his head was telling him not to leave his room, that it might not be safe outside of it, but he couldn't just go back to bed without knowing if his mother was alright or not. He'd already lost one person he loved.

He opened the door with caution. He turned the door handle slowly until he had it turned all the way, pushing it open a slight bit to peak outside of his room. He couldn't see anything out of the ordinary in the hallway and decided to step outside of his room. He closed his door behind him, tensing up as the handle slipped from his hand and the door closed with a loud click. He looked to his left and to his right, since there were two ways he could go to get to his mother's laboratory. The way to his left led to a staircase that would take him to the ground floor of the mansion. The way to his right went past his brother's room and out into the entrance hall of the mansion.

The way to his right was the fastest route to his mother's laboratory, and it was the way he often went when he wanted to try and bribe his mother out of there at night. Dream's footsteps echoed off of the floor as he made his way down the hall, though he came to a quick halt as the flames on the wall-mounted candles went out. A ghostly, eerie laughter rung through the hallway. He was unsure of which direction it was coming from, cautiously glancing around his surroundings.

Before Dream could even process it, there were dark red handprints and footprints in front of him. The handprints came in a variety of different sizes and so did the footsteps. The handprints were placed along the wall, covering his brother's bedroom door too. But both trails of bloody prints led right to Dream. The child fell back from the shock of it, blinking rapidly. And with that rapid blinking, there were two figures in front of him.

They were both a horrible sight to see. Their skin was sickeningly pale and tinged with gray, their bodies alarmingly thin. One of the figures was staring at him with strained milky white eyes, thick and deep black gauges around them. A stream of blood was coming down from behind her sloping bangs, going over one of her eyes and all the way down her neck. The other eye had several cracks branching out from the corner closest to the side of her head. Her mouth was sewn shut and the seams appeared to go in a full circle around her jaw, with similar stitching around her neck. The other one's body was completely twisted, bent backwards in a way that was unnatural, her head turned and craned to stare directly at him. Her mouth didn't have stitches and her lips, which were painted red, were parted. Several cracks were on her face, coming down from her eyes as though they were tears.

Dream cried out in fear, bringing his hands up to cover his eyes. But they stopped shortly before they were level with his chin, his head tilted back slightly. He started to scramble back, but with each movement he made the grotesque figures moved towards him. They reeked of that metallic smell he associated with pennies and blood.

"No... don't..." Dream whimpered out, hoping they would understand him and leave him alone. "S-Stay back...!"

"This way!"

An unfamiliar voice called out to him. Dream turned around slightly, looking in the direction that the voice came from.

"Who's that?" Dream wondered, starting to turn his back to the shambling bodies.

"Come this way!" The voice called out again, this time a bit more desperately.

"Is there somebody there...?" He said aloud, turning away from the bodies fully.

He pushed himself up from the floor, quickly dashing away from the two figures. The diamond pattern on the tiled flooring became blurred as he ran, the groaning sounds of the two figures behind him getting harder to hear. He had to be careful not to trip and fall, or else they might catch up to him. He soon came to a stop, the person who he assumed had been calling out to him now becoming visible in the dim hallway.

They were a skeleton like Dream, though taller than him and had a bulkier build. His eyes were a pale, milky white, but unlike the figure that had the same colored eyes behind him, this person's eyes seemed to shine with hints of life. His clothes were strictly black and white except for a golden heart locket that was visibly sticking out from his scarf, which was torn and tattered at the ends. There were red stains that were barely visible in the dim lighting, though Dream didn't notice them very much. He was leaning against the wall, one of his eyes fixed on Dream. The small child stared back at him, his fear and curiosity clear on his face.

"Who are you?" Dream asked, as the person was unfamiliar.

"This way," the stranger replied, unmoving.

"But who...?" He trailed off, taking a step towards him.

"Stay with me."

The stranger pushed himself off of the wall, turning his back to Dream. He was heading towards the staircase that would lead down to the first floor of the mansion. Dream knew that this mysterious person wanted him to follow behind him, but he didn't seem to have the strength to move. His feet were glued to the ground and he could only stare after the person. The boy must have known he wasn't following behind him as he came to a sudden stop. He whirled towards Dream, ends of his scarf swishing around as he turned.

Dream's body tensed up as he took a step back, hands gripping his shirt tightly. Now that the stranger had turned around, both sides of his face were visible. Dream had seen burn wounds before, as Neil had burned himself a few times while cooking, but he had never seen anything to this degree. The right side of the person's face was very badly burned with visible marks of dried blood around the burned area. His right eye socket was empty, just a pitch black void, and looked as though it was melting.

"I said, this way!" The stranger called out to him, sounding much sterner this time.

"No...!" Dream yelped as his fear threw his body around.

He didn't even realize he'd gone back on himself, returning to the hallway where his bedroom was, until he heard the eerie giggling of the two shambling figures. His eyes widened as he saw they were much closer than before and he looked around, trying to figure out where to go from here. He ran to his bedroom door, nearly forcing it open as he twisted the knob and pushed. He was quick to turn around, a small pop coming from his ankles as he did so, and slammed his door shut as the brown curls of the stitched up figure came into view. He twisted the lock on the door and placed his hands against the door firmly, ready to fight to keep it closed just in case.

Outside of his bedroom, the weird sounds that were coming from those two twisted people gradually faded away. He couldn't tell which direction they went in. His mind soon jumped to the boy with the scarf that he had come across in the hallway. His face had been horribly burnt and he had been abnormally calm for the situation going on, but he couldn't help his wondering about if the boy would be alright or not. Surely he would be, since he seemed to have some sort of plan that he wanted to take Dream along for. Unless that was a trap.

Dream let out some shaky breaths as he got off of his door, his arms shaking as he brought them up to his chest. He gripped the yellow cape that was tied around his shoulders, playing with some of the loose threads to try and soothe himself. None of this was making sense to him. First there was that horrible scream, then those two... whatever they were, and then the boy with a half-ruined face.

Did they have something to do with that scream? They had to, Dream thought. Mommy...

Dream turned around, rubbing his arms as he bit his lip worriedly. He glanced over at the pet pen and saw that Phoenix was still sleeping peacefully, blissfully unaware of what Dream had seen in such a short amount of time. He lifted his gaze up from the floor, swallowing thickly as he tried to think about what he should do now. He didn't know if those two figures were patrolling the hallway or if there were any more of them, but he had to make sure that his mother was safe and unharmed.

Dream's breath caught in his throat, a small gasp escaping him as he took notice of another stranger. This person was slightly taller than him, he estimated that it was only by a few centimeters, and had their back turned to him. They were standing in front of Dream's bookshelf, one of their index fingers tracing the spines of the hardback books lightly. They were dressed in primarily brown, a short jacket overtop their white shirt with the hood pulled over their head. Their pants were long and flowing, wide at the bottoms, with light cyan straps hanging down from the back. From what Dream could tell, they weren't wearing any shoes. A long scarf, which was significantly lighter than the rest of the brown in their outfit, was woven around their neck.

Who's that!? Dream thought fearfully, instinctively taking a few steps back.

There was a stranger in his bedroom. The only people who should be in his bedroom were himself and his mother. Sometimes Neil would have to come inside of it to give him medicine when he got sick, but any other time he wasn't allowed to. When he had still been alive, Nightmare had been allowed inside of his room too, obviously. His mother had always told them that if there was a stranger in their bedroom, especially at night, to scream for help. But with the things he'd just witnessed, he didn't know if that would be the smartest option.

Dream's eyes darted around his room, trying to locate anything he could use as self-defense if he had to fight the stranger. He cleaned his room up regularly, as it was something his mother always scolded him about, and wilted a bit when he saw nothing that would be of use. There were the chairs at his little round table, but he wasn't strong enough to use one of them as an actual weapon.

"These are some very interesting books..." The stranger spoke aloud, as though they had heard Dream's thought. They seemed to shift something in their arms before grabbing one of the books, reading the cover of it. "Do you like books, my dear?"

"W.. Who are you!?" Dream demanded, trying to cover his fear with anger.

The person standing at the bookshelf turned away from it once they put the book back, walking over towards the rocking chair that had Dream's most beloved doll on it. When the person turned to face him fully, he completely blocked the old doll from view. Now that he could actually see the person, he noticed some other details about them. Their brown jacket and the hood had thick gold-colored stripes along the edges, a star-shaped clasp in the front of the jacket to keep it together. In their arms they were cradling a black cat, which was staring at Dream with mismatched eyes.

The person was a skeleton like himself, made of white bones. Normally, anyone would expect a skeleton to be made of white bones. Dream had never seen anyone with the condition himself, but there was a rare birth condition that could cause a skeleton monster to have different colored bones from the usual trait, most commonly being black in that condition. He only knew about the existence of the condition because of a book he and Nightmare had read together once. This person's eyes were mismatched just like their cat's eyes, one of the lights being a yellow star while the other was a blue circle. There was a splotch on their cheek, which thankfully wasn't red.

"Oh, no need to be so cautious," the stranger said to him, offering him a small smile. "I'm a friendly salesman. Not one of those door-to-door solicitors."

"Salesman...?" Dream repeated, cocking a brow. He knew what a salesman was, but he had never seen one before, let alone met one. "Do you have a name?"

That's the stupidest thing I've asked in the past few months, Dream thought with embarrassment. Of course he has a name!

"Call me Ink," he chuckled, stroking the fur of his cat. "I hope to get to know you, young one."

Dream didn't say anything in response to that last part. He had thought it was a bit weird how this complete stranger had just appeared in his bedroom and was speaking as though he was a distant friend or associate of his mother's. Dream looked Ink over from head to toe. He didn't look dangerous or harmful, he didn't see many places that he could hide weapons or anything like that. He was holding his cat very gently, too, so he clearly knew how to handle cats. Something about that cat was throwing him off.

"But it's really bothersome... to think that corpses are wandering around this very mansion..." Ink sighed, looking off to the side. "Don't you think so?"

"Corpses...? You mean those... those things I saw in the hall?" Dream asked, his wariness towards the salesman beginning to go away. He glanced back at his door uneasily, wondering if those so-called corpses were outside. "They're like the bad guys from some of the stories... but why would--?"

"It's a curse," he said bluntly. His cat looked up at him for a moment, as though judging his words. "What you saw were the corpses of your mother's test subjects. Overcome with anger, their spirits have been brought back to a life-like state due to the power of a curse."

"A curse...?" He repeated to himself. "Why would they--?"

"To get revenge on your mother, of course," he cut him off again. "Why else would they be here?"

"What!?" He cried out, eyes widening in disbelief. "So then that scream was...! I have to save her!!"

Dream turned away from Ink and his unsettling cat, for the moment forgetting about his fear in regards to those two corpses he had encountered earlier. He reached out for the handle, but stopped as Ink started to speak again. Dream looked over his shoulder. The salesman had his head tilted at an angle, watching Dream with those interesting eyes of his. They were different from before, one eye having a yellowish swirl while the other was a silvery hourglass shape. How had he done that?

"She's killed countless people for her own benefit," Ink stated in a matter-of-factly voice, uncomfortably similar to the way Nightmare used to talk sometimes. "This is her retribution."

The cat that was comfortably tucked in his arms meowed, as though agreeing with his statement. It purred loudly as Ink stroked its fur again, nuzzling into his hand. Dream's eyes were momentarily fixed on the ring that was on Ink's finger for a moment. The diamond on it was a bit similar to the one studded onto the cat's collar. Perhaps it was a way of identifying ownership?

"You must've realized your mother's true nature by now," Ink said, almost sounding sympathetic about it. "And yet you wish to save her?"

Dream averted his gaze to the ground. It was true, then, that his mother really was killing people in her lab. Retribution... he didn't know what that word meant, but he knew that it was something similar to consequences. He thought the question over for a moment. It was true that his mother killed people for her experiments and research, but he still loved her because she was his mother and she loved him back.

I have to go and save mommy, Dream thought. That's what Nighty would do if he were here.

He wondered how his brother would've reacted to the corpses wandering the hallway and that odd boy with the melting face. He shook his head, not wanting to get too wrapped up in reminiscing and thinking about him. He had to go and save his mother. He turned around and unlocked his door, leaving his room without a second thought.

Ink watched as Dream disappeared and closed the door to his bedroom. He stayed in his place, continuing to soothingly stroke the black fur of his feline companion. He blinked slowly, his pupils changing their shapes and colors once more. He continued to stare at the closed door, even as the fox that was previously fast asleep began to stir in its bed, not paying any attention to it. He closed his eyes, his hand resting on his cat's head.

"My, my..." He murmured, smirking slightly. "Perhaps he can't understand their suffering yet..."

Outside of the bedroom, Dream had started to make his way to his mother's laboratory, just as he had intended to earlier. He stopped shortly before the path of bloodied footprints and the handprints that were slapped onto the wall, taking note that neither of the mangled corpses were there. He took a few steps forward and, when nothing jumped out at him, he continued out to the entrance hall of the mansion.

He gave a quick glance at the grandfather clock that was at the top of the staircase. The clock was stopped directly at midnight, the same chime coming from the object repeatedly. He paused for a moment, uneasy about the sight, before continuing down the wide staircase that descended to the ground floor. The wall-mounted candles in the entrance hall were still lit, but the chandeliers were out. He grabbed onto the post at the end of the staircase and swung around it, going into the central hallway.

He would have kept going, heading for the staircase that would lead down into the basement, had it not been for his toes hitting something soft. He looked down and saw a lonesome doll, dressed in pink clothes, laying on the floor. He was surprised to see a doll just carelessly left on the ground like that. His mother took great pride in the dolls around the mansion, part of the reason why they had an entire room dedicated to them. She surely would've gotten upset to see such a beautiful doll being mistreated like this.

If I kept walking, I might've stepped on it, Dream thought as he crouched down, picking up the doll. Mommy wouldn't have been happy then...

Dream looked around for somewhere to place the doll, so it wouldn't be at risk of getting stepped on again. He settled for placing it on the base of the giant statue in the central hall, directly across from the staircase that led to the basement. He brushed the doll's dress off just in case and, once he was satisfied, turned away from it. The doll was very similar to the one he had in his bedroom, only its hair was styled different and its clothes were pink. But his doll was better because it had been a gift from his mother.

Dream held a hand against the wall to keep himself steady as he hurried down the steps, entering the small passage that would let him get to his mother's lab. He followed along the slight turn in the passage, coming to a stop in front of a large pile of discarded dolls. All of the dolls that were making up the large mountain were sized as though they were real people, a size that he didn't see very often in the mansion. It was a shame, too, because all of these dolls were damaged in some way.

This wasn't here when I came down here earlier...

Dream stood on his toes, trying to determine if he'd be able to climb over them or not. He ultimately decided that he couldn't and that he needed to think of some alternative. He briefly recalled a part from one of his books, The Flame Egg, where the main character had burned everything in their path. It gave him the idea to burn the pile of dolls, but he'd need some kind of torch or some other fire source to go through with that idea. He would have to check the book and see if there was a guide on how the protagonist had made their torch, but his mother had Neil lock some of the rooms up after a certain hour. One of those rooms was the library. The book had been on Dream's bookshelf, but his mother moved it to the library because she didn't think the story was suitable for him.

Mommy always keeps the keys with her and Neil, Dream thought as he started to go up the stairs. If I remember correctly, there's a spare key to the library in Nighty's room...

As Dream made it to the top of the steps, he noticed that the doll was no longer sitting by the statue. He looked to the side as he heard what sounded like footsteps, his head turning just in time to see the skirt of a pink dress disappear behind the wall. The footsteps halted for a moment before a small giggle came out, then they continued.

Why was that doll moving? Is that part of the curse, too...?

Dream crept over towards the wall that the doll had disappeared behind, sticking his head out cautiously. He couldn't see any trace of the pink dress anywhere in sight. He stepped out from his hiding spot, gulping nervously. His attention was snagged as he heard a clinking sound, walking out into the entrance hall to see something roll down the wide staircase and over to the front doors. Like a moth drawn to a flame, he was drawn to that lovely little glow coming from it. He crouched down once he got to it, picking it up to see it better.

Another one of those weird gems, he thought as he stood up. Maybe there are more of them...

He turned around to head back to the staircase when that eerie laughter rang again. From each of the doorways to the sides of the entrance hall, the same shambling figures he had first encountered staggered through. He tightened his grip around the gem, dashing back up the staircase to go back to the hallway with their bedrooms. Nightmare's bedroom was the first door on the left, right next to Dream's bedroom. They used to share a bedroom, which was now just Dream's room.

Dream came to a stop in front of the door to his brother's bedroom, an uneasy feeling in his chest. The room had, for the most part, been abandoned ever since its occupant had died. His mother still had servants go inside and clean it, but other than that no one went inside of it. It just felt wrong to. Dream had been quite attached to the room for a whole week after Nightmare died. Some days he would go in there and just... sit on the floor or stand in the middle of the room. He fought back his restrictions in regards to the bedroom and opened the door, slipping inside.

The bedroom still looked the same as it had before. Nightmare's bedroom looked a lot fancier and nicer than Dream's room because he had that kind of taste. The canopy bed was made with the curtains pulled back, tied to the bed posts with large golden-colored tassel ropes, with the doll that was given to Nightmare by their mother sitting in between the pillows. Next to the bed was Nightmare's desk, which had a purple shaded lamp and a bottle of medicine on it, in addition to the cup full of pencils and the papers and books that were neatly put away. Nightmare had a bookshelf of his own, but the books that were in it were too advanced for Dream to read on his own. There was also a tall dial-lock safe where Nightmare had kept a lot of his belongings.

Everything in the room was fine... except for her.

There was a tall woman standing in front of the bedroom's window, her back turned to Dream. The child took a step forward and the lady turned around at an alarmingly quick rate, letting out a hideous screech. Her skin was a sickly pale and her eyes were wide, bloodshot, and had irises and pupils that were too small to be normal. Her eyes had blood streaming down from them, her mouth stretched abnormally wide.

"GIVE HER BACK!!" She wailed, rushing towards Dream. "GIVE ME BACK MY DAUGHTER!!!!"

Dream's body froze, but thankfully she did not reach him. Before she could do that she had faded away, her screeching disappearing with her. He blinked, rubbing his eyes. She must have been another one of the corpses that woke up because of the curse on the mansion, but hopefully she wasn't as hostile as she seemed. He ventured further into the bedroom, keeping an eye out for a silver key. He saw something glint over by the windowsill and there it was, Nightmare's copy of the library key.

When Dream got closer to the windowsill, however, that screeching woman appeared before him. She was no longer yelling in his face and her blood trails had gotten smeared a bit. Her facial expression was an unforgiving stare that chilled Dream's bones and very soul.

"Give me back my daughter..." Was all she said before she faded away again.

Dream stepped forward again, reaching out and swiping the spare key off of the windowsill. He turned around and headed for the door, entering the hallway again. He headed towards the hallway opposite of this one, where he could access the library. He didn't even glance at the doll room as he passed by, too focused on finding a way to get to his mother's lab. He stopped in front of the door, which had a metal plate on it that read 'ARCHIVES'. He inserted the key into the lock, turning it until he heard the clicking sound. He opened up the door to the library and stepped inside, leaving the key in the knob.

The library had sixteen wide, towering bookcases that were all crammed with books of different colors, genres, and sizes. A large desk was in the middle of the room and had a typewriter on it, along with four books and a telephone. Next to the desk was a filing cabinet, the shaded lamp that once stood on top of it now broken on the floor. There were papers scattered everywhere along the floor, some of them probably too ruined to save. Dream scooped up some of the papers closest to the desk, placing them back on top. If Nightmare was watching from Heaven, then surely that made him happy. One of the books he picked up seemed to be a diary, which Dream eagerly read.

He turned to a random page. The month and the date were mostly scratched out, unable to be read. All he could read of the date of origin was -uary -th. Not much to go off of there, but the handwriting was definitely his mother's. He'd recognize this handwriting anywhere. He continued to read the diary entry, even if it was only a few lines of writing.

-uary -th,

This is a nightmare... how could this have happened?

... Killed a bird... just like...

Dream's eyes scanned over the rest of the page and he flipped through some of the others. However, the rest of the diary was unreadable due to smudges in the penwork or some other reason. He let out a small sigh, disappointed that he couldn't read more of the diary's entries, and sat the book down on the desk. He turned around and started to read the titles of some of the books lining the shelves, looking for a certain book in particular. There were old books on the occult, which both Nightmare and his mother told him to not read, and books that held data about live experimentation. One of the books he found, however, was another diary.

He eagerly grabbed onto it and pulled it off the shelf. It was clearly much older than the one he'd picked up off of the floor, given the slightly faded pen ink and the yellowish tinge to the pages. However, unlike the other diary, there was actually stuff to read in this one. There was no date of origin that he could see, so he began to read it.

Humans. Monsters. Mortals are beautiful. But that beauty soon fades.
That is the law of this world.
But I have overturned it.
After years of research, I have found "eternal beauty".

A body that will never fade even in death.
A body as fresh as it was in life.
They have eternal beauty within their grasp.

Dream turned his eyes over to the following page, where the writing continued.

As we lose believers year by year,
our group stands on the brink of extinction.

My body, too, is nearing its limit.
I must find a successor as soon as possible...

Dream closed the diary, setting it back onto the shelf. Based off of the context of the writing, whoever wrote the diary entry must have been talking about a cult or something. His family had told him to stay away from that stuff and he couldn't just ignore their warnings and venture into that territory. Still, he wondered what they were talking about. What did they mean by mortals? What did they mean by "eternal beauty"?

... Thinking about it was only gonna make his head hurt.

He kept checking the shelves until he found the book he was looking for. He pulled it down with a smile, recalling some fond memories of the book. The main character was a girl who had been born with a strange power to control fire, able to bend even the most uncontrollable of flames to her will. She got separated from her family and the story was about her journey to reunite with them. She used her fire-bending power to burn all of her enemies, but her power grew out of control and eventually destroyed the world. She never met her family in the end and she was all alone.

If I lose mommy, I'll be all alone too... Dream thought as he flipped through the pages. I don't want that... I have to save mommy quick!

Dream finally found the page he was looking for. The one where the main character made her torch. He read the passage, taking mental note of what materials she used. He would need some cloth, a piece of wood that he could hold, and something to keep the torch held together. In the story, the girl cut her dress skirt with a knife to get the cloth she needed. Dream didn't have any dresses or a knife that would cut through the fabric, and he wasn't going to use his cape. It was a special thing, since he and Nightmare had worked on it together.

Wait, there's a special dressing room where all the outfits for the dolls are kept! Dream remembered. I can get cloth from there! Where did I find the knife I need, though?

Dream wondered about this. He could try his luck with the kitchen, but the knives in there were for food, not for cutting up dresses. He didn't know where he would get wire, either. There was a storehouse that was accessible through the kitchen, so maybe he could try his luck there. His thoughts were interrupted by a loud and sudden bang, making him drop the book he was holding. He looked around the library with wide eyes, alert and on the lookout. He saw nothing unusual in the library, but there was now a book that had fallen in the area of the floor he'd already cleaned up.

Dream stopped shortly before the book that had fallen from one of the many shelves. When it landed, it had opened up to pages with rather grotesque images on them. Judging by the pictures the book had, it was one of many books about live experimentation. He crouched down and picked the book up, about to close it to put it away, when he noticed the piece of paper that was stuck between the two pages. He pulled the paper out, looking over it. It seemed to be a code memo of some kind. He slid the folded up paper into one of his pockets, closing the book and sliding it into the empty space on the shelf.

He whipped around as he felt something cold touch his arm, coming face-to-face with a corpse.

Chapter Text

The corpse was the same height as him, but a completely different species.

She was a little human girl, definitely not one that was alive. Her skin was the same sickly pale as the other corpses, tinged with a pale blue color. Her eye sockets were empty, pitch black voids as though she were a skeleton. Her mouth was stretched wide, no teeth or tongue visible inside of it. Tears were coming down from her unblinking eye sockets, a thin trail of drool coming from her mouth, a bit dry. She had latched onto one of Dream's arms, but he didn't know what her intentions were.

"MAMA... MAMA..." The little girl croaked out, her voice hoarse. "IT HURTS... HELP ME... H E L P..."

The girl's grip around Dream's arm tightened, sending a sharp pain through his body. He yelped out from the pain, his vision going white. When he opened his eyes, he found himself inside of a very dimly lit room. He looked down at himself and saw that he was transparent. He heard a sound that sounded like someone was struggling, looking at what was in front of him. There, the same little girl was strapped down to a wooden table that was rather unclean, wearing a thin cotton dress. Neil was standing next to the table, staring down at the human girl with an indifferent, apathetic expression.

This... this is mommy's lab...

"I wanna go hooome!" The little girl cried, struggling to move on the table. "I wanna see mamaa!!"

"Don't worry, I'll take you to her," Neil said, as though he were trying to comfort the young child. "Once this is all over."

"Nooo! I wanna go now!" She cried, tears streaming down her face as she thrashed about. "Mama! MAMAA!!"

Neil's lips parted as though he was going to say something, but he took a few steps to the side as they closed. Dream's mother walked up to the table, a white surgical mask covering the lower half of her face. In one of her gloved hands she was holding a syringe that was filled with an unfamiliar red liquid. Dream squinted his eyes at the needle, thinking it looked a bit crooked. Dream shivered at how... sinister she looked here. That wasn't like his mother at all.

"Don't fret. Everything will be fine," she said, but her tone was the opposite of comforting. It was.. like she felt nothing at all in regards to the situation. "We just wish to test this medicine."

Medicine?

"It may hurt a bit, but not to worry," she continued. "You'll soon feel such relief."

"NOOOOOOOOO!!" The child shrieked. "MAMAAAAA!!!"

"Neil, hold her still," she instructed her assistant. "The needle might break with her moving like this."

"Yes ma'am."

The child's eyes widened in terror as Neil gripped her arms, holding her still. Nim placed one of her own hands on the little girl's collarbone, inserting the needle into her upper arm. She pushed down on the bottom of the syringe, pushing the so-called medicine into the human's body. Dream looked down, trying to not stare at the horrifying scene before him.

"Stop..." He frowned, balling his hands into fists.

His vision was starting to slip in and out of focus, sometimes going entirely black. His mother finished injecting the substance she was testing into the little girl, pulling the needle out. She handed the now empty syringe to Neil, who took it over to a tray filled with tools. Nim's eyes stayed on the little girl the entire time, watching her body's response to the substance. The little girl's body, however, was not taking it very well.

"Stop!" Dream cried out, but no one could hear him. He wasn't truly there. "I don't want this!!"

Her body was starting to twitch, then broke out in spasmodic movements. The belts that were strapped over her body kept her pinned to the table, but if they weren't there she most likely would've fallen off by how rapidly she was moving. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Mucus was dripping down from her nose, some of it slipping into her mouth. Her mouth was agape, filling with a white foamy substance. Her screams died out, twisted into mangled and struggling gurgles. And the whole time his mother watched with apathetic, glowering eyes.

"STOOOOOOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Dream's hands flew up to the sides of his head as though he were covering his ears, even though he didn't have ears. He squeezed his eyes to a close, not wanting to see the rest of the little girl's suffering. He didn't want to see his mother in such a sinister way anymore. A moment later, he felt something cold against his body, prompting him to open his eyes slowly. He was staring back at the eyeless face of the little girl. In a moment of panic, he gave the girl a harsh shove. She fell onto her back, hitting the hard floor of the library with a disgusting squish.

"Mama... ma... ma..."

The little girl made no attempt to get up from the floor. Dream took in a shaky breath, calming himself down. He wasn't in his mother's lab, he was in the library. The little girl wasn't lying on the table being injected with an unknown substance, she was laying on the floor... already dead. He gently nudged the girl's leg with his foot, looking down at her. A feeling of guilt washed over him, one that was slightly similar to his guilt in regards to Nightmare's condition. His mother had done something horrible to this poor girl and didn't show even the slightest sign of guilt or concern, and Dream couldn't even help her recover either.

The little girl's body began to dissipate, fading away much like the woman in his brother's bedroom had done. Something clinked to the ground and Dream crouched down to pick it up. It was a lovely little pendant. Had this belonged to the little girl? Maybe... maybe that little girl was the daughter that woman had been looking for. Would having the pendant given to her satisfy her? Probably not, but it was better than nothing.

He tucked the pendant into one of his pockets, heading back into the hallway. As soon as he stepped outside he heard a strange noise. It sounded like something was rolling across the floor, but he couldn't see anything. He started to head back out to the entrance hall, but stopped shortly. There was something coming this way. He looked around, trying to find a place where he could hide, and settled with cowering behind one of the statues in the hallway. He poked his head out a little bit, just enough so that he would be able to see what was happening.

The sound got louder and louder... until finally he found out what the source of it was. A little brown cart was being pushed along by a life-sized doll, one that was wearing a maid uniform. The doll's fingers were tightly coiled around the handle of the cart, their head tipped forward and eyes covered by their square-cut bangs. On the cart was a single item, one of the unfamiliar gems that Dream had found earlier. The doll didn't behave any differently as they passed by Dream's hiding spot, though the boy did duck fully behind it as they passed. He looked out when he heard a slam and saw that the doll had pushed the cart into the railings that blocked off the end of the hallway, and the cart was now seemingly abandoned.

Dream slowly crept out from his hiding place, keeping his eyes focused in the direction of the cart. He couldn't see the doll anywhere and, given the circumstances of the night, that didn't make him very comfortable. He approached the cart slowly, narrowing his eyes as he got closer to it. This end of the hallway had been blocked off due to renovations that were supposed to happen, but his mother could never find time to schedule them. In the meantime, it had been functioning as a storage space. There were barrels, sacks, and boxes filling up the space. There was also a staircase that he could barely see with all of the clutter, but he didn't remember where it went to. The only staircases he ever saw both ends of were the two that connected the first and second floors and the one that led down into the basement.

He reached out and grabbed onto the gem, slipping it into his pocket with the other two he had found. He turned around to head towards his brother's bedroom, to see if the pendant belonged to that woman's daughter, but flinched as something whisked by him. Standing ahead of him was the doll that was dressed like a maid, hunched over and their face completely covered with shadows. In one of the doll's hands was a knife, the other arm outstretched and the hand open. Dream glanced behind him and saw a second knife lodged into one of the barrels, then down at his arm, where there was a cut in his sleeve.

Dream looked back at the doll, only to see that it was now moving towards him. Faster than he liked. He would've preferred the doll to not be moving at all, definitely not holding a knife, but the curse was not working in his favor. It was working in theirs. He moved behind the cart, kicking it into the doll's torso. It stunned the doll for a moment and, by the time they recovered from the impact, Dream had already run past them.

He didn't look behind him as he ran into the opposite hallway, slamming his brother's bedroom door shut once he was inside. He turned to face the window, where the woman's spirit was still hovering, watching him intently. He cautiously approached her, slipping his hand into his pocket and pulling out the pendant. He held it up, the pendant swaying slightly as he did so.

"Um, excuse me," he began, unsure if the ghost could actually hear him. "Is this... er... was this your daughter's?"

The woman's spirit leaned forward a bit, eyeing the pendant. The cold look on her face softened a bit, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. When she spoke, her voice was no longer filled with anger or a hideous screech. Instead, it was gentle. He wondered if that was what she had sounded like when she was alive.

"This is her pendant..." She confirmed morbidly. Her eyes flickered to meet Dream's. "Where did you find this?"

"I... it was in the library..." Dream answered, shifting on his feet uneasily. "I-I can take you there--"

Dream cut himself off as the bedroom door opened up, the hinges creaking slightly. The woman stood up straight, eyes moving to look behind Dream. The small boy turned around as well. For a moment, he feared that the doll that had cut his sleeve had followed him to the bedroom, but was relieved to see that they were not the one to open the door. The little girl that he encountered in the library walked into the room, most likely drawn by her missing pendant. Dream stepped off to the side so he would not get in the way of their reunion.

"MAMA..." The little girl sobbed, arms outstretched.

"Collina!" The woman gasped, joy filling her voice.

"MAMA..."

The two relatives moved closer to each other, the little girl-- who was named Collina-- running to meet her mother. The woman crouched down to embrace her daughter in a hug, which they both eagerly participated in. The woman's eyes opened, now brimming with tears, but she was smiling. Her eyes flicked over to Dream again and she mouthed her gratitude to Dream for returning her daughter to her. The two girls then disappeared, fading away. In their place was one of those peculiar gems, which Dream added to his growing collection.

What was I doing? Ah, right! I need to make my torch! Dream thought. Okay... cloth, wood, wire... I can get the cloth from the dresses in the changing room, I think we have some firewood in the kitchen, annnnd I'll check the storehouse for the wire...

Dream thought the plan was a pretty good one, but there was just one problem with it. The storehouse. He knew how to get there, but the problem was actually going down there. Chances are the storehouse was going to be pitch black and Dream was very afraid of the dark, and tonight he had a real reason to justify his fears. The last thing he needed was to fumble around in the storehouse in complete darkness and get attacked by a corpse or a possessed doll. He would need some source of light first.

He turned his head, looking at the large safe next to him. Nightmare had always kept a lot of things in there. Dream vaguely recalled his brother being in possession of a portable electric lamp, but he hadn't been able to find it anywhere in the bedroom. He turned his body towards the safe. He grabbed onto the door and tried to pull it open, but it was locked. He had assumed it would be, but he thought it was at least worth a try.

I don't know the code to unlock it... Dream thought as his hand dropped back to his side. Maybe that note I found has a hint or something?

Dream knew it was a far-fetched idea, that a hint to opening his brother's safe would be written on a piece of paper that was hidden in a book in the library, but this night was going to be filled with surprises. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the slip of paper, unfolding it to read its contents. He was surprised to see that the handwriting on it wasn't his mother's or Neil's, but Nightmare's.

1: Chandeliers in entrance hall

2: Chang. room hats - bathroom planters =

3: Red dolls in doll room

4: Barrels in cafeteria

There was lots of open space at the bottom of the slip of paper, enough for Dream to write the corresponding numbers down on. If only he had a pen or pencil... he glanced over at his brother's desk. He really, really hoped his brother didn't mind him doing this stuff. He picked a pen at random, scratching it along the bottom corner of the paper slip to test it out. Once he found a suitable pen, he set out the answer the little hints his brother had written down.

He knew how many chandeliers were in the entrance hall, but he wanted to make sure he got the number right. He believed there were four and, glancing at the ceiling as he made his way to the doll room, he was right. He took the cap off of the pen and wrote down the number. He turned towards the doll room, gulping nervously as he did so. He had seen at least two dolls be possessed and move on their own, one of which tried to kill him, and this entire room would be filled with dolls. Even so, the doll room had to be one of his favorite rooms in the whole mansion.

It was a spacious and long room, with a tiled floor and wallpaper on the walls. In the back of the room, there were polished wooden panels that had intricate geometric patterns on them, as well as two large bay windows with wine red curtains. A long red rug with golden-colored trim ran down the center of the room, stopping at the grand, gorgeous throne-like chair in the very back of the room. The gorgeous chair was elevated off of the floor by a small dais, which was square and red. Above the chair was an elaborate setup of a golden arch that had thick red curtains draped down from it, pulled back and tied back by golden-colored rope. Dream liked that chair very much and had asked his mother what it was for, to which she had told him that it was for a very, very special doll. Her most favorite doll out of all of the ones they had in the mansion. Dream couldn't wait to figure out which doll that was.

The room had twenty-four dolls that were evenly distributed among six long tables. The dolls were all wearing similar outfits that varied between red, green, and blue. He thought that the red dresses were more of a pinkish color, but that easily could've been because a lighting issue. In the back of the doll room, in front of each of the bay windows, was a single life-sized doll. The one on the left was dressed as though it was a princess or noblewoman, wearing a beautiful green and white dress with an elegant tiara resting on her brown hair. The doll on the right was dressed in light purple clothes, though he couldn't recognize the style of the dress or think of what the doll was supposed to be dressed as. They were both decorative, which his mother had emphasized to him, and were highly detailed.

He was pleasantly relieved to see that none of the dolls were out of place or moving, especially the two life-sized ones in the back. His last, and first, encounter with a possessed life-sized doll hadn't gone very well. He checked the code memo again and began to count the dolls that were dressed in red clothes. He counted six of them, but that number didn't seem right to him. He could've swore that there were eight dolls wearing red the other day. He went over to the window on the left of the decorative chair, pulling the curtains open. To his horror, there was a rope suspended from the curtain rod, a doll's head attached to the rope. The doll's mouth was wide open and its eyes were missing, a red hat on top of it.

Dream stepped away from the window, nearly backing up into the elegant doll. He made his way over to the other window, wondering if the two missing dolls were in this window. Sure enough, they were. One doll was sitting upright and the other was on its side, its head missing. At least he knew which doll was missing its head. He took the pen out and wrote down the number of dolls. He decided that the next closest room was the cafeteria, or the dining room, or whatever anyone wanted to call it. Before he left, however, he swiped the unguarded gem off of the gorgeous chair.

He cautiously moved down the staircase, keeping his eyes out for the two shambling corpses he had first encountered. There were two doors in the central hallway. The one on the left lead to the cafeteria and the one on the right lead to the kitchen, though the rooms themselves were also accessible via each other. He went through the one on the left.

The cafeteria was one of the largest rooms in the mansion, from what he knew. It had the same tiled flooring and wallpaper as the doll room had, but unlike the doll room, it had no polished wooden panels. Instead, the cafeteria had a large fireplace that would be lit on days when it was cold. There was a large table in the middle of the room, on top of the red rug, where the small family would eat. It had a long white cloth going down the center of it and a small vase of pretty flowers in the center of the table. There were five chairs set at the table, two on each of the sides and one at the back, in front of the fireplace. That was where his mother would sit. Above the fireplace there was a painting of a human with short brown hair and blood red eyes, wearing a green and yellow striped shirt and holding a bouquet of yellow flowers. The room also had a long table with decorative ornaments, such as a golden candlestick and two vases of purple flowers.

Dream looked around, but he couldn't see any barrels in the cafeteria. He did, however, see a glow coming from behind one of the curtains. He took the gem and added it to the rest. The gems were surprisingly light, even in the small quantity he had. He would check the kitchen for some firewood, since he could use it for his torch, while he was down here. He headed through the small conjoinment of the two rooms, stopping when he saw the messy sight.

The kitchen looked as though a tornado had gone through it. A tall vase that had been placed on the floor by the door was broken, several of the shelves torn down and the cupboards thrown open. There was even a dog inside, munching down on the raw meats that had been pulled out in the mess. However, he could easily tell that the dog was a reanimated corpse because of the very visible wounds on it. Dream tensed when his eyes landed on the dog. He had never had a dog before and, though he once had a puppy, the puppy didn't live for very long. Still, he knew that dogs loved to chew on bones, and his entire body was made of bone.

He carefully maneuvered to the other side of the kitchen, making as little sound as possible so he didn't draw attention to himself. He passed by one of the cabinets that was filled with glass dishes, a cup falling out and breaking on the floor. The dog whipped around, growling at him dangerously. Dream was quick to dive into the pantry area and, a moment later, the dog's growling stopped. He poked his head out to see if the dog was still looking in his direction, instead finding that it had turned back to the ruined food.

Dream looked around the pantry area, searching for the desired firewood. The mansion was always stocked well with ingredients, there being crates and barrels filled with fresh produce. A lone potato fell from a barrel and rolled over to the tan linen tarp that covered the hatch that would lead to the storehouse, reminding Dream of why he was solving this code memo's riddles. Just in case, Dream flipped the tarp off of the hatch and opened it. Like he thought, it was pitch black down there. He let out a disappointed sigh as he closed the hatch.

However, he did find his desired firewood, taking a piece of it. It would be bothersome to haul this log around with him as he finished the safe's riddle and gathered the rest of his materials, but at least he could use it as a weapon if he really needed to. He scratched down the number of barrels he'd found in the cafeteria. All that left was the second hint, which involved the changing room and the bathroom. They weren't too far from the kitchen.

The changing room was rather small, around the same size as Dream's room. It had a red carpet instead of tiled flooring, with many shelves that were filled with shoes or other accessories. There were five mannequin stands that had elaborate outfits decorating them. One of them was in the back of the changing room, in front of the window. It was a very lovely dress. His mother said that the outfits in the changing room were meant for the dolls, but he didn't see why they couldn't wear some of them too. Especially the outfits that were meant for the life-sized dolls.

Neil said he's thinking about throwing this dress away because it's too raggedy, Dream thought as he reached out, feeling the fabric of it. Seems like a waste to me...

An idea clicked in Dream's head. If he could find a suitable knife or some other sharp tool, he could get the cloth he needed from this dress. It was big enough to provide plenty of cloth. Since the dress was going to get thrown out anyway, he didn't think anyone would be upset at him for tearing off some pieces for his torch. He would just need a knife.

Ah! I think mommy hid a knife away somewhere in the living room!

He counted the hats in the changing room, coming to a total of five. He just needed to know how many plants were in the bathroom and then do some simple math. Easy enough. The bathroom was the next room over, past three life-sized marching band dolls. The bathroom didn't have much use for their small family, so it was mostly used by Neil and other servants. Not to say that Dream and Nightmare never used it, since they did still need to have baths. But their mother never needed to use it. However, the bathroom had to be one of the worst rooms he'd come across during the night.

There was a long trail of blood that went from one end of the bathroom to the other, going from the toilet to the tub. There was one plant by the door, so he checked the other side. His face scrunched up in disgust as he saw the bathtub was filled to the brim with crimson liquid, the strong metallic scent telling him that it was all blood. A doll floated up to the surface of the tub, but it was far too ruined by now. Not everything could be saved. However, he did find two more planters and another gem.

As he started to head towards the door to leave, he heard the toilet lid slam against the back of the toilet. He looked over and saw a legless corpse crawling out of it, much to his horror and disgust. Things that were in the toilet should definitely not be coming out of it. Despite having only its arms to move it forward, the corpse was quick. In his panic, Dream took the piece of firewood that he'd grabbed from the kitchen and whacked it across the corpse's face. The corpse slammed into the tall cabinet, giving Dream enough time to flee from the bathroom.

He stopped, facepalming when he realized he'd left the firewood in the bathroom. But he told himself that it was alright, since there had been a whole stack of it in the kitchen. He wrote down the final answer-- two-- on the slip of paper. He headed towards the staircase at the end of the hallway. Not the one out in the central hall, but the one that would lead directly to the hallway with their bedrooms. He glanced at the last door in the hallway as he headed over to the staircase. That door was always locked and he never knew what was on the other.

He didn't have much time to focus on that right now, though. He headed up the staircase, finding that it was the same one that the mysterious boy had been trying to take him down. He wondered where the boy had disappeared to. He glanced at the red couch, which now had a life-sized doll sitting on it. That hadn't been there before, had it? If the doll had been there earlier, he'd been too panic-stricken to notice it. Dream stared at it for a moment, but walked by it anyway.

His face hit the floor. He hadn't even realized he'd fallen at first, but pushed himself up regardless. He glanced around before he looked back at the doll, narrowing his eyes at it. A few seconds later, he turned his back to it and started to head down the hall. He flinched as he heard laughing, whirling around to see if the doll was moving. However, he found a gruesome sight.

The doll's head was crooked, mouth open slightly. A nasty gash was ripped across its neck, blood coming out of it. The doll's hands were no longer neatly folded in its lap, but laying limply at its sides. The doll's feet had been cut off, leaving a pool of blood to grow on the floor. It was disturbing, to say the least, how realistic it looked. Almost like an actual human corpse, which he had seen enough of already. Sitting next to the life-sized doll was a normal-sized one, wearing red clothes, seemingly harmless.

... That doll hadn't been there before.

Dream turned his back to the two dolls uneasily, hastening his footsteps as he went back to Nightmare's bedroom. He went up to the dial-lock safe and pulled out the piece of paper, putting the numbers in with the proper order. The lock clicked and he pulled the door open, looking at everything that was inside. Just as he had recalled, there was an electric lamp among the belongings in the safe. Not only would it help him get to the storehouse, but it would be nice to have a light in general with how dark it was everywhere else. He picked up the lamp, taking a moment to admire its stylish antique design, before latching it onto his belt.

Just borrowing this, Nighty... you don't mind, right?

Something fell out of the safe when he took the lamp out, prompting Dream to look at what it was. He crouched down, keeping a hand on the lamp so it didn't hit the floor, and picked up the fallen object. Upon looking at it up close, he realized that it was his brother's perfume. That's what their mother had called it, anyway. They had both gotten their own bottle for one of their birthdays. It was still pretty full, since Nightmare had...

~~~~

It had to be around midday, but Dream was down in the basement as though it were late at night.

His footsteps echoed off of the floor as he stood at the top of the small staircase, eyes fixed on the wooden door at the end of the hallway. Their mother had told them that today she wouldn't spend as much time in her lab and would come out to spend time with them, but she had yet to keep her end of that promise. He was coming down to see if she was still working, though he hadn't told Nightmare that. As he went down the steps, he noticed that the door to the lab was cracked open a slight bit. It was just enough for him to be able to look inside.

He could see his mother and Neil standing close together, and it looked like they were hugging. He could hear a few snippets of their conversation, ones that greatly confused him.

"...ve you, Neil..."

"Doctor..."

Dream backed away from the cracked open door, confusion clear on his face. He didn't understand what they were talking about. He jumped as he heard a voice to his left, looking over in a hurry. His brother was standing at the top of the steps, looking at him with his arms crossed. There was clear disappointment on his face and Dream knew why.

"Dream, there you are!" Nightmare began, heading down the steps. "Mother tells us-- specifically you-- time and time again to not come down here."

"N-Nighty..." Dream started, eyeing the door. He pointed at it, unsure. "What are they talking about in there...?"

Nightmare raised a brow at Dream's behavior, glancing at the door. Whether it was curiosity that made him do it or the fact that Dream wouldn't leave him alone about it, he went over to the door and listened in himself. Nightmare's shoulders stiffened, his face taking on an expression that Dream was not used to him having. When he spoke, his voice was angry. This... was not like him at all.

"She... I knew it! They're in a relationship!" He scowled, backing away from the door. "Unbelievable... some person she picked up off the street! And yet she's the one who said that...!"

Nightmare trailed off on his words, biting down on his tongue. He shook his head, turning his back to Dream and storming off. It was like he didn't care if the two adults inside of the lab heard them or not, which was very unlike him. Dream started to follow behind him, wanting to ensure that he wouldn't do anything rash, but stopped dead in his tracks when his brother looked back at him. He was... glaring at him. Nightmare never glared at anyone. Upon seeing the slightly intimidated look on Dream's face, his own expression softened slightly.

"I... I'm sorry, Dream, I didn't mean to frighten you," Nightmare apologized. "I just... I need some time alone."

Dream nodded his head with a small murmur of acknowledgement. He watched helplessly as his brother disappeared from view, heading back upstairs to cool down. He glanced between the way back upstairs and the door to the lab, unsure of what to do. He would eventually head back up the stairs, heading to his room to get Phoenix so they could play together. As he entered the hallway with their bedrooms, something was chucked out of Nightmare's room. It hit the wall with a loud clang, rolling a bit away from it after it hit the ground. Dream picked it up, looking at what it was.

A bottle of perfume.

~~~~

Dream shuddered at the memory. It wasn't necessarily a bad memory or something he wished he'd forgotten, but it was one of the more unpleasant ones.

Nightmare had always been a very nice person. He hardly ever got mad and was gentle. If Dream made a mistake in his schoolwork or when doing chores, Nightmare never got mad at him unless it was a really big mistake. He would always gently remind him of what he had to do. That was the first time he had ever seen Nightmare get upset with their mother, too, which was something he'd thought was impossible. On that day, after they'd found out that Neil and their mother were in a relationship with each other, it was like he had become someone else entirely.

Some time after Nightmare had chucked the perfume bottle into the hallway, Dream had put it back in his room. He knew his brother may not have wanted to see it, but it was still his bottle of perfume. It had taken a while, but he waited for when Nightmare headed to the library to do it. Nightmare didn't say anything about the perfume being returned, but Dream had a feeling that he knew he was the one to put it back. Even so, he could tell that his brother had taken care of it after that day, even after he'd gotten upset at their mother. That made Dream happy. It had been a gift from mother for their birthday, after all.

"I'll take it as a good luck charm..." Dream said aloud, slipping the tiny bottle into his pocket. "Okay, Nighty?"

... He really hoped Nightmare didn't mind.