Good Things Never Last

Chapter 76

At that moment, I was chugging a large mug of coffee after being up for 24 hours straight. I was attempting to return to a normal sleeping schedule in order to be awake for Technoblade's trial, but it proved to be far more difficult than I anticipated.

Technoblade. A word that was so close to unlocking something in my brain, yet it was just out of reach. I knew him before, I definitely did.

It was the early hours of the morning when the green blob dashed up the stairs, clearly in a hurry. He paid no mind to me as he snatched up his dark green travel cloak and flung it over his shoulders, drawing attention to the piece of paper stuffed inside his hoodie pocket.

"Where are you going?"
My eyes remained fixed on the paper as he jumped a little, finally acknowledging my existence.
"Out"
"Out where?"
A sigh escaped his lips as he turned away from me.
"I'm going to catch up with Bad"
"Okay, have fun"
As he walked out the door, I furrowed my brows in confusion. Unbeknownst to the masked man, I'd run into Bad on my last outing, and we'd had a pleasant conversation. But it was mentioned that no one had seen Dream in the area within the last month, spiking my suspicions.

He'd tell me he was meeting with someone every time he left the house, but he wasn't. He'd been lying to me. But, for the time being, I pushed that thought aside as I put on my mask and prepared to go on patrol in broad daylight for the first time ever. The woods seemed a lot brighter as I walked through it. The leaves shone and the birds chirped as I hummed to an imaginary melody that played in my head.

Something caught my eye from afar, a bright burst of colour that contrasted with the surrounding vegetation. It was there again, slightly to the right of where I first saw it. I found myself straying from the path as I waded through the bushes towards the now still colourful object.

I noticed a sheep contentedly eating on some lush grass after moving the tree branches away. But this was no ordinary sheep. Oh god no. It was bright blue. It also wore a red collar with something engraved upon it. I approached it, only to discover that it didn't give a damn about my proximity for some strange reason. Peering down at the collar tag, I could make out the word...

"Oh there you are Friend!"
My head shot up and I took a step back in surprise. There was a beanie on top of his greyish-brown fluffy hair. He was dressed in a bright yellow sweater paired with black slacks and clutched a lead tightly in his hand.  His skin was so grey it almost looked transparent, as if he'd been sick for a long time.

"Oh hello there! I haven't seen you around before"
I just waved shyly as the man skipped over to the sheep and attached its lead.
"I'm Ghostbur! What's your name?"
I just stood there, wide-eyed, staring at the beanie on his head for a second. It was identical to mine.

I shook off the strange coincidence and returned my gaze to the boy, who was now waving his hand in front of my masked face.
"Oh sorry, I must have zoned out for a sec there. My name's Nightmare"
I reached out to shake his hand, and the next thing I knew, I was being pulled into an embrace. It wasn't warm in the least, in fact, it was quite the opposite. Everything about him was cold, his flesh, his eyes, his touch, everything apart from his seemingly bubbly personality. And I just couldn't quite work out why.
I pulled away as I saw his grip tighten on the lead, his smile never leaving his face.
"Well Ms. Nightmare, I would love to stay and get to know you, but I have to go see my brother in exile"

He turned to leave but I quickly grabbed his hand.
"Who's in exile?"
He turned around and greeted me once more with his contagious smile.
"My brother Tommy! I'm surprised you don't know him. You should meet him one day. He's really funny. I think he'd like your cool mask. His friend has one too!"
He then turned and walked away, but as I looked down at the ground, I saw he wasn't walking away at all. He was suspended in mid-air. What was it with floating people around this place?

I shook the image from my mind and continued on my way to L'manburg, only to come across a platform hovering in the skies above it. As the sun beamed down on the new construction, a big waterfall cascaded down one of its sides. I could've sworn it wasn't there the day before. I sighed as I approached the new land and began my ascent, concluding that I really needed to work out or something as I did so.

I arrived at the top panting for dear life, attracting the attention of the two males who were nearby. They both abruptly turned in my direction before approaching me in a fairly menacing manner. They were both dressed in full netherite, but only one had a weapon, a netherite axe to be precise. He sat with a confident look on his face, taller than the boy next to him. His white t-shirt stood out from behind his dark netherite armour and a matching bandana was tied tightly around his forehead, keeping his black hair out of his dark brown eyes.

The other boy was shorter than the other, but he was still taller than me.  He wore a bright blue t-shirt that could be seen from under his armour. With a sheepish look on his lips, his hazelnut eyes took in every inch of my stance. Gleaming white clout goggles sat upon his tuft of brown hair, which seemed to blend wonderfully with his clothing. He just sat there and twiddled his thumbs, clearly not as confident as his partner and seemed agitated.

"Well well well, what do we have here?"
I just stared at the ground, wishing I'd brought some armour with me.
"A passerby"
"You don't look much like a traveller"
This time, the goggles boy spoke, his voice softer and gentler than the other.
"What's it to you?"
The pair of boys paused, both mouths open at my sudden rush of confidence as the one wearing a bandana stepped forward.

"Y/N?"
I just stared up at the boy, my face flushed with confusion.
"And you are?"
Both boys stood there, speechless, staring at each other and at me.
"You don't remember?"
I furrowed my eyebrows as I gazed at the strangers and I automatically backed up a little.

"Remember what exactly?"
"Us"
As he came forward, narrowing the distance between us, I took another step back. I was becoming increasingly uneasy as I avoided making eye contact at all costs.
"I don't have a clue what you're talking about, but if you don't mind, I have somewhere to be"
And with that, I bolted back down the way I came, a sudden burst of energy coming out of nowhere.

"What has he done to her"