ℌ𝔬𝔲𝔯𝔤𝔩𝔞𝔰𝔰

| Prologue |

[ Hey, so, quick little note before you begin reading. I just want you all to know that my OC will be introduced in the first little bit, but please be aware that this is NOT, I repeat, NOT an OC x Nightmare Sans fanfic, okay? She's only going to be there for a little bit for the plot and nothing more. I just wanted to clear that up so that no one's confused.
Now, aside from that, please enjoy 'Hourglass'. <: ]

Long ago existed peace and harmony in the small town of Dreamtale. At the top of the hill rested a large tree with colors split in half. One side consisted of dark autumn leaves, its branches decorated with black apples. The other had beautiful green spring leaves, decorated with golden apples.

This beautifully bizarre tree is known as "The Tree of Feelings", the very thing that allows many to feel the proper amount of emotions to live in everyday life. This tree was protected for many years, its original guardian unfortunately wounded by a mere mortal, and was now looked after by a pair of skeletons. Twins, you could say.

One was notably bright and very outgoing, it was almost hard to miss him when the village often kept him busy. His name was 'Dream', earning his name for being the dreamer of one of the two, and he was known for protecting and caring for the bright golden apples that rested on his side of the tree.

The other was more introverted, often labeled as the more mature one of the two. Due to him being the exact opposite of his brother, he was named 'Nightmare'. With his twin gone for the majority of the day, Nightmare often spent his time alongside the tree, a small pile of books he borrowed from the library often became his only friend. He would read to himself, or he would read aloud to his mother, indulging in the number of stories the tiny library had.

However, because of how different he was, Nightmare was known as the outcast in the village, having a bad reputation and a negative image to the public. He was often ridiculed, bullied, and mocked, simply because he was the guardian that nobody wanted.

You see, the golden apples held positive feelings. Feelings like happiness, hope, enthusiasm, all of that fun stuff. They were the apples that everyone wanted. The black apples, however, were the complete opposite.
They possessed negative feelings. Feelings such as depression, hatred, anger, resentment, and feelings that no one wanted to experience. And because Nightmare was the guardian of the dark apples, they shunned him and classified him and his apples as 'evil' despite Nightmare never having done any harm to the village or its people.

This went on for years. No matter how many times his mother scolded him to find help and reach out, Nightmare couldn't bring himself to bother his brother. He feared that if the village saw Dream protecting him, then they would turn on him and treat him just as bad, if not worse. He couldn't do that to Dream, not when Dream has made so many friends with the villagers (even if some only got close to him to receive an apple). That left him with two other options.

Try to reach out to his only friend or stay silent and take the abuse.
He decided he could try reaching out, even if it meant that nothing would change.

And so, hoisting a bag over his shoulder, he bid his brother a temporary goodbye as he started making his way down the hill and into the village.

Nightmare kept his eyes down on the hard ground, avoiding making eye contact with anyone as he did his best to silently squeeze by. Of course, there was always that one being that always managed to spot him.

"Hey, freak!" Just as Nightmare lifted his head, a softball-like object splattered against his head. Nightmare could feel the juices of the tomato leak into his eye socket and internally gagged as he brushed off the fruit. "Where are you going, huh? Last I recall, the orphanage was at the other end of the village." The child and their group of friends cackled as if they made the best joke in the world, leaving Nightmare to mumble under his breath as he tried to scoop out the liquid from his skull as much as possible.

"What was that? Go on, speak up, you little parasite! Tell us what you're thinking!"