God of Lost Stories

#5 Shattered Bonds

When Alloy finally gets around to Dreamtale, he yelps and throws himself to the ground to avoid a barrage of stray attacks. He was actually expecting this outcome, though.

Nightmare and 'Shattered' Dream are going at it, doing whatever they can to injure the other while dancing around the remains of the Tree of Feelings. What Alloy did not account for is the morose teenager sitting a hundred yards away and simply watching. They only glance at Alloy in curiosity before looking back to the battle. Huh. Alloy mentally shrugs before walking over and sitting down to join them. He's got some time to kill.

"Either of them getting tired yet?" Alloy asks nonchalantly.

"Hmm? Nightmare's slowed down a little, but Mo-.......... Shattered won't quit." The teen pulls in his legs and hugs them to his chest.

"Sore topic? Sorry, I didn't realize you'd have to watch 'em. My name's Alloy."

"You're the one who trapped us here?", he's a little less willing to talk after hearing that, "....... My name is Pallet." Pallet is usually much, louder, energetic, and friendlier, but he's not feeling it right now. He's wearing what looks like a white sailor's outfit that's splattered by paint. A large paint roller is also strapped to his back. It's not hard for Alloy to guess who his parents are with that one yellow, stary eyelight.

"I'm sorry if I'm overstepping here, but I'm just trying to understand. You're Ink and Dream's son, right? Ink can't actually do it the proper way without a soul, of course, but it seems to be a recurring theme-", Alloy begins to nervously ramble until he's interrupted.

"Hey! Ink tries hard, he really does!" Pallete protests, "Just because he doesn't have a soul, doesn't mean he can't care! He-He has these moments where he just looks at Mom or and I and actually sees-" Pallet's agitated rant is cut off when Alloy starts to giggle, and the young becomes confused by the response.

"You don't have to explain it to me, of all people! Between us, I do know what soulless-ness can do to a person. It actually makes me glad to hear you speak up for him." Alloy then abruptly stands up and brushes off his pants. "Now, I should probably go do my job. I've been dreading fighting Nightmare all day...." He unconsciously rubs the side of his skull and winces.

Pallet gapes at the stranger. What did Alloy mean when he said he knew what soulless-ness was like? Pallet can clearly sense emotions from him. Moreover, now that he's paying attention, Pallet can feel an intense magical presence that radiates off of Alloy. Who is this strange Monster? He must be an outcode for sure, but Alloy's not acting like he's just been created. Surely someone would have noticed him before? The more Pallet tries to get a better feel for the other's soul, the more he feels something....... ancient. Something off. He was poking too far. Alloy's aura abruptly snaps back at Pallet's own curious magic. The young teen sees a flash of a massive skull and gaping maw full of teeth before his magic comes shrieking back from the other's soul. Pallet yelps and falls over in surprise at the overwhelming blast of pure energy he had felt in that brief moment.

Alloy pauses in his stretching and looks over at the other in concern, oblivious to what had happened, but then he turns back to the situation at hand. Nightmare has, in fact, slowed down since being trapped here with Shattered. Alloy has never dealt with something like this before. Dream is completely out of his mind. Something has really tipped him over the edge to such a degree that he's done this terrible thing to himself. Dream has eaten a black apple from the Tree of Feelings. It clashes with his own positive aura to such a degree that its deteriorating his mind and slowly killing him. How could a Deity do this?

Alloy won't let it continue. He yanks on his collar nervously before squaring his shoulders and marching towards the two brothers. Neither of them have noticed him yet. Nightmare and Shattered are practically nose to nose, their arms and tentacles locked as they try to force the other to the ground. Nightmare's feet are starting to slip backwards. He's breathing hard with punctures and scratches all over his goopy body. Theoretically, Nightmare should be stronger than Shattered since he ate more apples. The problem is the clash of Shattered's magic creates a surge of energy that's fueling and destroying him.