For You, I Live

Ch.10 Living Through The Hurt

Previously...

Prognosis:

Five Days

"Holy Shit!" "FUCK!" "Shit!"

Now...

  Everyone in the room was cussing up a storm. Swearing to the deities to bring justice for me, while looking at me like I was already dead. I don't think they processed that Nightmare and I are twins. Feelings of panic and hysteria filled the room. I didn't like it. Still I wasn't going to just keel over this second. I had a plan. A crazy one, but a plan none the less. I stood up on the bed and yelled, "EVERYBODY SHUT UP AND CALM DOWN! I'M NOT GOING TO DIE!"

  Everyone stopped and looked at me in pity. They thought I was in denile. I cross my arms with an irritated look on my face.
Then Core seemed to remember something.
"You mean you want to eat another positivity apple, that would buy you time, but it would only work temporarily." They told me.

  "No. Your right though, that would only be a temporary fix. I need a solution. And, I only have one. The good news is if I do it, it can't break the balance more." I told them.

  Core looked at me in dawning horror. "That's insane! If you do that, you could die faster!" They exclaimed.

  "What are we missing here?" Geno asked.

  "I'm Not Sure, But It Seems Important." Blue answered.

Reaper had been silent. A hard look on his face. "Let the kid do it. If she doesn't she dies anyways. If she wants to take a chance and eat a negativity apple, I say let her." He told Core. As a god he knew about the tree and apples from old stories.

  "What's a negativity apple? I saw positivity apple in her soul type, but it didn't give an explanation." Medic asked.

  "There used to be a tree that balanced the emotions of the multiverse. It had two kinds of apples. Golden positivity on the left and dark negativity on the right. The golden apple gave positive feelings, while the dark apple gave the negative ones. A mortal can only consume one apple, as eating more can cause the body to rupture from the overload of feelings and magic they give." Reaper explained.

  "Dream here, is the conceptual being of positivity. She has also eaten two of the positivity apples. Eating a negativity apple is a death sentence. And, if she dies, then so does positivity." Core explained.

  "But, Five Days Isn't Enough Time For Us To Leave The Multiverse. What Are We Supposed To Do?" Blue asked.

  "We would be lucky if a positivity apple bought me another week or two. I was still fairly healthy when I got out of my stone prison and ate the second apple. Now, it would just take off the edge. The only solution I can think of is trying a negative one in hope I can adapt to the massive negativity." I explained.

  "It sounds crazy, but I don't think we could come up with anything better. There's actually a solid possibly this could work. But if you don't die, we don't know the after effects this could leave you." Medic said.

  "I have an idea, but I am DETERMINED to come out the other end on top. I'll live, for them." I said as I pull a box out of my inventory.

  You could feel the negativity coming from it. I carefully set it down in front of me and open it up inside are three apples that seemed to contain galaxies. "Their prettier than I thought they would be." Geno commented.

  "For something that's supposed to contain the negative emotions from the multiverse, it sure doesn't look like it. If I couldn't feel it, I wouldn't have guessed." Medic said.

  "I always liked the negativity apples better than my positive ones. They remind me of spending nights looking at the stars with my brother." I said with a sad smile. I pulled one out and put the box back in my inventory.

  "Speaking Of Which, What Happened With That." Blue asked.

  "Nightmare ate the negative apples on the tree and became corrupted. Then proceed to go on a rampage through the multiverse. Eventually, he went from that to trying to take over instead." Core stated.

  "And, we're letting Dream eat the very thing that caused this mess, why?" Geno asked.

  "We don't have a choice." Reaper said.

  "Desperation can cause us to take actions we never thought we would." I said, before taking a bite.

  Flavor exploded in my mouth, like a super nova. The taste was the perfect level of sour and tangy. No other could compare. It was incomprehensible. I ravenously finish it, like I hadn't eaten in years. Then, I felt the overwhelming negativity of the multiverse. Emotions of sadness and anger to melancholy and loneliness fill me. It whispered to me like a mother trying to lull me to sleep. I fought to stay awake. Nightmare would find me if I fell asleep. The whispers told me they would hide me where he couldn't reach me, but I REFUSED. They urged me saying that they had the strength to protect me, but I stayed DETERMINED. Then came the pain. Oh, the pure agony as I felt. It was like I was being ripped apart. I felt myself drowning in the multiverse's negativity, but I forced myself to stay afloat. I felt as if my body was being consumed by thick ooze as I choked on it. I could feel myself slipping. But, if I could hold on even through my own all consuming negativity and the torture the villagers put me through, then I could handle this. Then, it suddenly stopped. I realized I was screaming and went quiet. I looked around at everyone, feeling a bit disoriented and fuzzy. They were looking at me in horror. "What's is it?" I ask confused.

  "Well, I Can Definitely See The Resemblance Between The Two Now." Blue said nervously.

  "That's you, right Dream?" Reaper asks.

  "Ya it's me. What's wrong?" I ask, my head starting to clear.

  That snapped everyone out of it. Core hesitantly came closer, pulling a mirror out of thin air. "Have a look." They told me holding the mirror, so I could look.

  What I saw didn't surprise. The person in the reflection was covered in black ooze with a yellow shine. Their left eye light was covered by it, while the right shone yellow through it. I looked down at my body to see them covered in the black stuff. I looked back up at the mirror to see something moving in the background. I looked behind me to see long slender limbs ending in a point, connected to my back. They were tendrils. I sat their in thought.

  I was Shattered Dream. But, not exactly. Shattered was the physical manifestation of Dream's guilt and want for revenge. I definitely felt guilty, but had no want for revenge. Nightmare took care of that. I was more sad, tired, and lonely; with a side of hopelessness. Plus, Shattered was more of a separate personality to Dream, while I felt like just one being. I think. I would need a different name. One that seemed to reflect me better. Shattered was able to absorb negativity and positivity. And when I could switch between passive and corrupted forms, I would be able to stop nightmares. I couldn't really do that before without using a lot of positivity. Nightmare would usually absorb the negativity, while I would give them positive dreams. Or, we did the other way around when the person needed it. That reminds me of dreamcatchers. They are good luck charms that catch nightmares and negativity to protect you. Letting positivity and good dreams through. Then when the day came light would cause what was caught in the web would expire. I feel a connection to them. In my last life I had one above my bed. I really liked them. I would get nightmares on a rare occasion, but they didn't get bad enough that they bothered me, so that meant it was working. Dream Catcher. Has a nice ring too it. I decided. I looked back at everyone.

"Call me Dream Catcher, now."