Tears Come From Cracks in Her Weak Skin

Chapter Ten

Dream was dead.

Schlatt was dead.

Fundy was dead.

George was dead.

Ponk was dead.

Quackity was dead.

She fell back from Dream's corpse, breathing heavily. She stared at him, eyes still open, his smile still spread across his face. His neck was almost completely severed, the small knife still plunged deeply into the flesh.

She looked around at the room full of her dead former friends.

And Wilbur.

Wilbur was still curled inwards, his hands still around his neck. Niki crawled over to him, the rush of adrenaline she felt slowly leaving her as each second passed. As she approached him, she saw that his hands were grey, and no longer twitching with the longing of his guitar. She lifted his overly stiff body into her arms, softly stroking his mop of brown hair. It seemed too strange, like petting a doll. As she snuck a peek at his eyes, she found no life, no soul, no spirit. All of what drove him to fight back against Schlatt was gone, reduced to the corpse of what held them.

She was alone.

Truly, and utterly alone.

How long she held him in her arms is immeasurable, but as she felt her eyes weigh heavier and heavier as she felt blood seep from her wound in her side, the door behind her cautiously screeched open, "Niki?" Jack whispered, testing the waters.

She turned to face him, displaying the tears running down her face, choking on her words, she affirmed what he and Karl had speculated, "I killed them. I killed them all."

"Oh, Niki," Karl rushed forward, wrapping the grieving woman in his arms, "It's okay. You did what you had to do."

She continued to sob as Jack joined the hug, "They killed Wilbur, and Tommy, and Tubbo, and Techno. They're all dead."

"What happened here?" A new, much deeper voice questioned, Eret had discovered them. Then his eyes landed on the three, immediately realizing the events that had taken place, and who was responsible for them, "Niki."

"Eret?" She spoke softly.

"Niki, you're alive! Thank god, I was looking everywhere for you," he looked at Jack and Karl, inquisitively.

"I'm here. I'm okay. I'll be okay."

Jack then noticed the spreading blood on her shirt, "We should get out of here, we need to patch you up."

Niki looked back down at Wilbur, hesitant to leave him behind, Eret placed a calm hand on hers, "He'll be here when we get back, we'll bury him with the others." He smiled sadly. He lost friends too. He lost family. "We can go to my castle, there's a room for you prepared anyways."

Her eyes were already closing as he lifted her into his arms, covering her exhausted body in his cape. As he stood, he motioned to Jack and Karl to take Wilbur's body with them.

"So, what actually happened?" He asked Jack as they walked out of the base.

"I don't know, but I'm assuming Schlatt and Dream did something they shouldn't have. The rest were just because they fought back against her."

"Whatever they did to her, I hope she got her revenge. I've seen her angry first hand, and she's never gone this far. She's never had to kill anyone."

"I never saw what they did to her. But look at the scars on her, on her face, on her legs," Karl interjected, "What she went through wasn't humane."

"Damn," Eret sighed, "I doubt she's ever going to recover from this. I know I wouldn't."

"Agreed," Karl admitted.

They walked in silence as they trekked across the SMP, slowly approaching the looming castle. Then, Jack broke the still air, "She didn't even have armor on," He muttered, "All she had was a gold knife. And she killed six people. She didn't even have the advantage of potions or physical strength." Jack looked at Niki's sleeping body, confused, "How did she even do it?"

"She's no Dream, so I can't imagine she bested them using her combat knowledge, but she's smart, maybe she used her opponent's size and skill against them. But I don't know. She's never been one to show off her combat skills like," Eret paused, "like Tommy. Maybe she can tell us when she wakes up."

"Yeah, maybe. I'd love to learn a thing or two from her." Jack chuckled, clearly trying to lighten the somber mood.

"Let's get her patched up first. She's going to have a long recovery, even if this is a fairly simple wound."

"We should hurry," Karl said as he glanced at the slowly darkening horizon, "it's going to be night soon and mobs are only going to make this more difficult." Eret and Jack nodded and quickened their pace. Eret made sure to keep Niki covered with his cape, despite the increasingly cooler temperature slicing through his thin tunic. Every so often, she would whimper in pain, or try to move in Eret's arms. But the king held her close, careful as to not wake her. Something deep inside him felt like he was helping the enemy, she had killed his former friends. He knew no one had ever trusted him after the first war, but he trusted them, he wanted to repair his relationship and reputation with L'Manburg. But they were all dead.

But Niki was his friend. They had known each other since the beginning. She was like his sister. And she did what she had to do. She had always fought for L'Manburg. Fought for Wilbur. For Tommy. For Tubbo. And she likely would have fought for Techno as well if she knew of his position in the war. She did what she had to do. He continued to reassure himself as the small group reached the large castle doors. Eret led Jack and Karl to a side room where they laid Wilbur's body down and covered it with a white sheet. He then carried Niki to a room that he had always kept empty, its purpose never appearing until now. He laid her on a spare bed and brushed back her hair. She seemed so calm, so serene. If he was honest, he could never believe that she had been the one to defeat Dream and Schlatt. He could only hope she would recover from this battle.