Neon Tears

Chapter 7

- BittyTale #4 -

Fresh 404 nods in satisfaction letting Dream go. "Good job uncle Dream. It is good to know you can get to neutral AU without help."

Dream looks around, confused. "What do you mean neutral? I thought BittyTale was one of the rare AU without resets?"

"There are only twenty copies and there is enough internal balance that neither side ever publicly messed with any BittyTale also most bitty cannot even defend themselves. There are thousands of them so Inky never bothered to try to warn them against my parents. BettyTale was a safe place to shop, hangout, and socialize with other monsters." Fresh 404 look around smiling.

"Oh I hadn't realized there were any AU like that." Dream looked around with more interest realizing they were just outside a park.

"Well they are or should I say were, rare thanks to Inky's copying habit." They opened a panel glanced and then closed it. "We are in Ebott City, home of the first Bitty Center."

"So why are we here? I thought you wanted to work on HorrorTale?" Dream follows as Fresh 404 starts off down the sidewalk.

"Grocery shopping. This is a surface AU that is monster friendly or at least neutral and the currency is g so we don't need to convert it. We are not going to visit two HorrorTale AU empty handed." They look around frowning.

"Have you been here before?" Dream looks at the slightly sketchy looking neighborhood they are walking through.

"Nope that is why we are looking for trouble!" Fresh 404 stops and looks around. "You wouldn't happen to be able to feet a lot of negativity or maybe some twisted positivity we need to rescue a local guide."

"I don't understand, what has a guide got to do with looking for trouble?" Dream looks around feeling uneasy.

"Uncle Dream people have busy lives especially in cities. Some random person approaching them for help could be a threat. You have your positive aura to put them at ease but that is a lot weaker now. So if we find someone in trouble and help them. It proves we can be trusted. How do you think dad and his boys made any peaceful contacts?" They turn their attention to Dream.

Dream thought hard so good deeds to let those who needed trust prove themselves? He had always wondered how his brother and his team got information or contacts. He felt a spike of shame that it had never crossed his mind that they did it by being good people. "I can try but just like my aura is weaker my ability to sense trouble is to."

"That is okay uncle Dream we can look other ways." Fresh 404 rests a hand on Dream's shoulder. "Things will get better. We will look out for you."

"You shouldn't be the ones looking out for me, it should be the other way around." Dream looks down ashamed to admit he really does need someone even after all these years of looking after Inky he was still just as dependent on others as he was before the apple incident.

"No we are older than our age we know that you have been denied the chance to finish growing up just as we have. The difference is we know it and are setting boundaries to keep it from happening you didn't get that chance. Also until your balance is restored you will be weaker than normal and easily exhausted. So we are going to deal with this like a family. We will take care of you and when we need it you will be there for us." Fresh 404 gently shakes Dream by the shoulder forcing him out of his thoughts.

Nodding Dream wipes his sockets on his arm warmer and sniffs. "Thank you, I will do my best."

Fresh 404 quickly checks a code panel closing it after no more than a glance. "Good, we hope you are ready to run. It looks like just what we are looking for is happening four blocks north of here and north is that way." They point in the general direction of Mt. Ebott where it loomed over the city.