948 words. TW near death experience. psycho-chair you wanted this Chaotic_GayBitch for you (at the end)
Celia yawned, hopping off the last step of the stairs. She walked to the kitchen, throwing some toaster waffles she picked up into the toaster. "Morning." She walked into the living room where her parents were.
"Morning, sweetie." Dream smiled. Killer didn't respond, dozing off with his head on Dream's shoulder. "There's an extra pancake on the table."
"I already put toaster waffles in the toaster."
"Then put the pancake in the fridge, I'll see what I can do about it later."
"Okay." Celia did just that. She was startled at the alarm that blared from the tv and their phones. "What's that?"
"It's a weather report." Dream hummed. "There's an extremely dangerous storm and the winds are swinging it around."
"Oh." Celia jumped when the toaster was finished.
...
"Kid?" Killer asked. "Something wrong?"
"Incubux won't answer." Celia huffed, putting her phone down.
He chuckled. "I'm sure the power went out where he lives."
"Oh yeah."
...
"Sunshine?" Killer hugged Dream from behind with one arm around his waist, the other reached up to Dream's shoulder. "Something wrong?"
Dream sighed. "Both Nightmare and Cross won't answer. . ."
"Maybe the power went out over there."
"No, not anymore."
"I'm sure they're fine, Dreamy."
"I hope so. . ."
...
"Who's that?" Killer asked, looking over at Dream's ringing phone. Celia did, too.
"Nightmare." Dream answered it on speaker. "Brother! How're-"
"Hello, is this Dream Joku?"
...
Celia sat crisscrossed, rocking back and forth on the car seat. The moment the car stopped, she threw the door open and ran over the hill that sat in front of the maison her uncles owned, her shoes staining from mud because of the storm. The storm which now was a drizzle. She jolted, nearly falling forward as her feet felt stiff when she reached the top.
She couldn't even recognize the area anymore. The roof had obviously caved in. Everything looked like it was covered in mud. The estate she visited so regularly was nothing but rubble. Hugging her coat closer, she tried to control her breathing. Red and blue lights flashed in her empty eyesockets.
"Celia! Wait-!" Dream's voice died when he shared the sight with her. He dropped the umbrella he held. Killer followed soon after, having a similar reaction when he arrived. Dream was the first to react, running down the hill.
Celia was the last to do so. She immediately approached an adult next to a police car. "Did you find anyone?"
"Only two." The woman looked over at another vehicle, and ambulance.
Celia turned around, recognizing her uncles. Her parents were with them. "No-no one else?"
"No, unfortunately."
Celia ran to the edge of the rubble, right in front of the safety tape. "I can help!" She called out to the rescue team. "I-I know where his favourite rooms are, he should've been there!"
One of the rescue team members walked up to her. "Where are they?"
"The library. You should see a red couch nearby and a fireplace then you might find him. The second is his room, it's at the back of the mansion, near the left corner."
"Noted. Thanks for the help. We'll find him as soon as possible."
...
Celia sat inside an ambulance, right at the edge, sipping on some hot chocolate a nurse gave her. She asked to keep the door open, so she could see if Incubux was found yet.
...
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry-"
"It wasn't your fault."
"But if I-!"
Cross placed a finger over his husbands 'lips' to shut him up, wincing at the sudden movement. "You couldn't have predicted that."
"Rest your arm, Cross. You're injured there." Nightmare took the hand over his 'lips' and gently set it down at Cross' side. He felt extremely guilty. He wasn't able to help look for his son, because he wasn't professionally trained like the rescuers, so he spent this time with his husband. His tendrils lashed and twiched heavily with nervousness, he had to restrain them or he'd get asked to leave the ambulance.
Obviously, having no physical form, Nightmare hadn't gotten injured. He only wished it was the same case for Cross and Incubux.
...
"I found something! Over here!"
Celia looked over at the shouting workers, eyesockets going empty again when she saw the unmistakable black and white scarf. She jumped out of the ambulance. "That's his!" She yelled. The team nodded and continued to search through a pile of books.
Eventually, they hauled something out from under something (Celia wasn't paying attention to what). It was Incubux. She watched as his limp form was pulled out of rubble. The rescuer carried him out. The only way she knew he was alive was the face he hadn't dusted.
Cross' cries, the ambulances sirens, the nurses and doctors yelling orders, it was all buzzed out background noise to her.
...
Down, up, down, flattened, then down again.
Celia has basically memorised a soulbeat pattern after starting at the monitor Incubux was attached to. Her leg bounced, nervous. She glanced at her unconscious cousin. Then across the room to the other hospital bed in the room, where her uncles and parents were.
"Celia?"
Said girl jumped at her own name. "Yeah dad?" She replied.
Dream sighed, feeling sympathetic. "Are you feeling alright?"
"No."
"I figured. . ." Dream sat beside her. "I can't promise you anything."
"I know that."
...
"What'd you do if I don't make it out?"
"Leak your search history."
Incubux chuckled at that. "Wow, how scary."
Celia let a smile come to her face. "Your Ao3 and-"
"That's enough-!"
...
"And that's how I almost died as a teenager." Incubux concluded.
Paperjam scoffed a little. "Dumbass."
"You still love me."
"I do, and I hate it."
