{ Erlebnisse } - { Kingdom!Dreamtale }

Onus

Onus - a burdensome or difficult concern

A reassuring presence was next to me. I couldn't see it, but I could feel it. Dream. It had to be him, no one else in the world let off a positive glow like this one, even when he was sad. I took a deep breath, wanting to let him know that I was okay. My eyes fluttered open and I saw a white ceiling, monitors were beeping beside me.

"Brother!" I heard Dream say, it sounded like he was crying, "You're okay!" I turned my head to look at him, his eyes were brimming with tears, he was crying, "I thought you were going to die..."

I was confused, die? Why would I die?, then I remembered. Hearing about my medical problem, Mom's worrying voice, me collapsing. Yeah, that would get your twin brother pretty upset, "I won't, Dream, I promise I'll never leave you."

I saw his doubtful eyes blink at me, wiping away tears. He grabbed my hand and held it tightly, "I believe you won't," I looked him straight in the eyes and he looked back with confidence, "There will always be ways to save those we care about, as long as we believe."

"I believe in you too Dream, you'll always be the hero in my story," I watched him smile, rubbing away his tears with his other hand. I smiled back, it felt weak, "You're always the good guy."

I watched as Dream's cheeks flush with a pale pink-red color, and I laughed, he seemed embarrassed. Dream pulled his cape around his face, obviously trying to hide his embarrassment at the praise I was giving him. My soul beat faster, steadier, like a crack was healing. It burned at first, but gradually grew soothing, like applying an ointment to a cut. It would sting first, but then have a nice cold sensation.

"You're too kind, Night," Dream had released his cape from his face, the flushed cheeks were normal but still had a tint of red on them. I watched as Dream's eyes sparkled, "I brought you something when I heard you were sick," I watched as he pulled out two crowns, one looked like a laurel crown without the leaf patterns and the other had a moon cut out on a rectangular plate. These two crowns were made of solid gold, priceless in any way.

Dream handed me the moon crown, "Pa said he found us with these crowns near the tree when we were made, they were both next to us. He remembered which one belonged to who because of the name engraved on the back."

I inspected the crown Dream had handed me, running my finger through the moon on the crown. I took a look at the inside of the crown, right there on the rectangular plate, under the moon shape was the name 'Nightmare'. I glanced up at Dream, he must've seen my disturb face because he quickly said, "Dad said he called you 'Night' so your name didn't raise any alarming flags, but I guess since our names are supposed to opposites that they've already suspected it."

I nodded nonchalantly, made sense alright. We were twins, always referred to as opposites in personality, and our auras were different. A positive aura and a negative one, no one seemed to notice or get it when I explained though, it gave me a lot of weird looks, only Dream got it because he could feel it too.

I stopped moving the crown around in my hands and put it on, it felt warm against my skin for some reason, like it was meant to be there all along. I watched as Dream put his own, it fit him perfectly, he smiled at me, obviously feeling the same way. I smiled back, even if I was sick and confined to a hospital bed for the time being, we could still have fun and communicate with each other normally. Life wouldn't be that unfair to keep us apart forever.

Dream shifted his crown a tiny bit, it was uneven when he put it on but I didn't want to say anything. He must've picked it up from my aura's shift or the gleam in my eye, or it was just some weird twin sense-ability of sharing a mind, I know many people expect twins to be able to read each other's minds. I laughed a tiny bit and saw Dream glare at me, not in a mean or pissed off way, "Come on Nighty, why didn't you tell me!"

"Because it was funny seeing it lop-sided and messing up your hair!" I couldn't keep myself together, kept on getting a mental image of it. I felt Dream's hands move my crown, I grumbled a tiny bit and fixed mine. When I went to meet Dream in the eyes, they were glistening with amusement and laughter. Okay, I guess it was kind of funny. We both burst out laughing, laughing at each other, I eventually stopped when I ran out of air and started wheezing.

Dream calmed his laughter down too until he was taking shaky breaths, his eyes sparked with tears of joy. I hit my chest a couple of times and coughed, trying to get it out of my system. Dream reached out his hand and rubbed my back, trying to help in any way he possibly could. I stopped having my wheezing attack and laid back on the hospital bed, the fun was great while it lasted.

"When do you think you'll get out of here?" Dream asked, he was fidgeting in his seat next to me, most likely anxious from the way his aura tasted. I thought for a few moments and then came up with the most logical answer I could.

"Probably when they get me in a stable condition," I answered, "I hope that's soon, I don't know why I collapsed or what my condition is in right now." I watched Dream's eyes flicker with multiple emotions, varying from discomfort, concern, and excitement. If I knew him well enough he was planning various things to do once I wasn't confined to the hospital bed anymore, like a party or another 'tour' around town to do things both he and I liked.

I heard Ma's voice call from outside the room and Dream's face fell into a lonely despair, that must mean he has to leave. I sighed, it was fun having him in here but when Mom called it wasn't nice to keep her waiting. I bid Dream farewell and watched him walk out of the room, his head held low. I smiled, trying to cheer myself up, at least he'd get to see me tomorrow, we were never apart for more than a day.

The next few days went by fast, Dream kept visiting to check on my condition, keep me company, and bring gifts or tell me what was going on around downtown. He kept telling me how much the other people missed me, which I knew from experience was not true, and what the doctors said my condition was.

I wanted to get out of this hospital, it was suffocating being confined in a room for 24 hours each day. Dream was only able to visit for about 8 to 10 hours a day during visiting hours, sometimes he snuck in at night and slept with me but always got caught when morning came and scolded by the doctors. I didn't like the doctors here very much, they were either too emotionless, stern, concerned, or friendly and getting up in my personal space and life. There was only one doctor I kind of liked, he wasn't too friendly, always minding my space and not asking too many questions. He never stayed too long and always kept away when I was having quality time with my brother, never scolding him too harshly. He seemed like a nice decent guy, if he wasn't a doctor he might've been my friend if circumstances were different.

Maybe I was going to beat this life threatening illness after all.