When the game becomes reality (OLD WORK)

Chapter 7

It felt like the stairs went on forever. Dream couldn't even fully see the bottom from the entrance area. Torches were placed in the walls, always roughly the same distance between them to keep the entire place lit up. Can't risk having monsters spawn down here and make their way up right into Phil's base. Especially Creepers.

The deeper they got, the lower the temperature became. Suddenly the masked man was glad he had his hoodie as he pulled the sleeves down a bit more to cover his hands. Phil was walking in front of him, half humming some melody the other didn't recognize. He seemed much calmer about all of this. Then again, he did spend quite a while down here, so it's understandable why he isn't as nervous as Dream was right now.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, he was met with the sight of a decent sized room, also fully lit up and a few chests pushed against one wall. The other three walls each held a tunnel that went on for quite a bit before stopping. The sheer strength he would need to mine all of this in the two days they had been here... before they found him, of course. There's no way he did all of this in the short time that had passed since their spawn.

"Wow... how did you make all of this in a few days?" Phil turned to face him, obviously confused. "Days? Nah mate, I spent at least two weeks on this. Maybe a bit shorter... kinda hard to keep track of time." Now it was Dream's turn to be confused. Did he just... "Hold on... did you just say two weeks?" "I think so? Could be wrong but-" He grabbed him by the shoulders, cutting him off from saying anything else. "Phil, George and I have been here for two DAYS! What do you mean you've been here for weeks!?"

The blonde just stared up at him, confusion written all over his face. "Wait... so you're meaning to tell me... we all have been here for different amounts of time?" "I... how... you were live! You were back home and did lore streams with Techno! And now you're saying you've been here this whole time?!" Phil winced and tried to pry Dream's hands away from his shoulders, where the other was tightening his grip with every new sentence.

"I don't know what's going on. I can only tell you what I've seen. Can you please let go of me? This is really starting to hurt." It's only then that he realized how tightly he was gripping him and backed off, leaning against the opposite wall while Phil rubbed his shoulder. "I don't get why this makes you panic so much... so what, I've been here a bit longer than you guys. What's the problem with that? I think the time difference from Minecraft days to real life days could-" Dream groaned and buried his masked face in his hands. "The problem is, that this could mean we can be trapped here for years! Maybe we won't even get to go home! That this is some parallel universe shit or a nightmare we won't wake up from!"

This seemed to move something in Phil. He stared at the floor, his iconic hat covering his eyes from Dream. Never going home... never seeing his family again... never see Kristin again... he doesn't want to imagine that. He always thought that if he manages to survive this for however long he has to, then he can go back home. It's what made him continue to farm and gather resources and not just hide away in a small hole and not move.

"We'll find a way out..." His voice was quiet and suddenly he didn't feel like mining anymore, his arms feeling weak and heavy. The thought of never seeing his wife again draining the fight out of him, even if just for a little bit. "There's no way we are trapped here... there has to be a way."

Dream regretted ever bringing up that subject, but he knew they had to talk about it at some point. He missed his family and friends just as much and was scared to never see them again too. But the pained look in the older's eyes did make his heart break a little. He had the same things that Dream has back home... plus a life partner that he loves more than anything. Of course the younger wouldn't fully understand how it feels to be separated from them like this. At least not yet.