E-404 | Dreamnotfound

Chapter Eighteen

A/N: I heavily suggest listening to the song above, "As the World Caves In" by Matt Maltese as you read because it kind of sets the tone. Enjoy >:)

Dream quickly rushed over to the unmoving brunette, watching as tears sprang from his panicked eyes. His face was still and his body motionless with the only thing showing any emotion being his rapidly moving eyes that were stricken with fear.

Reaching towards the boy's hair, Dream loosely raked his hand through it, brushing against his forehead just as George had done in a comforting way when the blonde was falling asleep. Even if he could only do it for a few short moments, Dream needed a way to signal to the other that everything would be okay.

With his other hand, he gently wiped the tears away, "Don't worry George, everything's going alright. Hang in there for me, okay?"

Without any real bodily response, Dream had to assume that the brunette had heard him.

Bringing him back to the reality of the issue, the blonde could hear the violent chuckling that rose from the bane's throat.

"⟒-404, ⟟⌇ ⏁⊑⏃⏁ ⏁⊑⟒ ⏚⟒⌇⏁ ⊬⍜⎍ ☊⏃⋏ ⎅⍜?"

Dream had to think. He needed a plan. With the creature approaching, he had to be quick on his feet. George was probably paralyzed. Dream wasn't sure what caused it, but he had to assume that when the brunette looked forward, he'd made contact with something that had brought on the paralyzation. And with the creature laughing, Dream was sure that his friend was motionless because of it. He didn't know how long he'd be paralyzed, which meant he'd have to either escape or fight it.

"⍙⊑⏃⏁ ⏃ ⍙⟒⏃☍ ⌇⎍⏚⟊⟒☊⏁, ⟟⌇ ⏁⊑⟟⌇ ⍀⟒⏃⌰⌰⊬ ⏁⊑⟒ ⍜⋏⟒ ⏁⏃⌇☍⟒⎅ ⍙⟟⏁⊑ ☍⟟⌰⌰⟟⋏☌ ⋔⟒?"

Dream swiftly reached for his max enchanted netherite axe almost on reflex. He couldn't look at the monster. He couldn't risk also getting paralyzed. Without him, George would be defenseless. If needed, Dream was willing to risk his life in the action of protecting him. It had become an unspoken promise as if George was the princess with a knight in shining armor. But this narrative was different. The brunette wasn't in need of defending, for the most part, only relying on the defense when understandable human errors were made.

And within those few seconds, as the blonde gave a final stand against the creature in order to protect what he deeply cherished, he realized that everything he'd been trying to suppress was slowly crumbling to an end. The emotions, feelings that he felt about George were thriving, growing, and expanding to the point where he couldn't contain them any longer. He could only reminiscence of the training experiences, the comfortable evenings shared in the treehouse, the sunsets they'd watched together, the horse ride together, and his beginning promise to George that he'd always be safe. At this point, his enemies would already target George and anything else he cared about, so there was no longer a reason to deny it.

He loved George.

But he couldn't love someone if they were both dead.

Finishing off one of the two golden apples he had left, he charged at the creature approaching him. He didn't care about the mocking whispers that echoed off the cave walls. He could only think back to his training. With the fog having somewhat receded, it would be much easier to attack. The monster's weapon was still unknown.

Attack with the sharp edge, the other sides are vulnerable and prone to break.

Be quick on your feet and aware.

Don't let them past you, protect the wounded.

Watch out for any incoming attacks.

And now, predict where the monster will go so you don't directly look at it.