World Reign of Theseus [Discontinued]

The Reason Behind it All

"Uncle, are you actually okay?" Fundy asked, leaning onto Tommy's shoulders with an upset look.
Tommy didn't bother putting up a strong face in front of Fundy. His eyes were slightly dull, and he didn't really know how long he could last.
"Haha..I'm just a little sick. I'll get better in no time," Tommy whispered, feeling a little light headed to say the least.
"Oh. I'll get you a doctor!" Fundy tried to help.
"No, it's alright. A doctors already coming to come check up on me tomorrow," Tommy reassured him.
"But..there's going to be a small fight or something tomorrow," Fundy murmured out, confused.
"Oh no worries! They'll come later on after. And Fundy...are you staying with me in my room? I'll keep you safe. Ranboo might be here with us too! It'll get quite bad out there," Tommy softly said, knowing it was going to end up as a huge war.
"Yup! I'll play games with you two in here then!" Fundy cheerfully chirped.
Tommy just smiled. It must be so confusing for a little child.

Dream sat peacefully on the roof of his own chamber. He wanted to go visit Tommy again after doing his own affairs, but he didn't want to bother much. The sky was bright blue with no clouds in sight. It was going to be a bright hot day tomorrow, yet the turn of events on that day wasn't.
Dream stared at his own hands, inspecting each veins and scar. Closing his eyes, he imagined Karl next to him, a cheerful grin on his face. Dream chuckled
"You know...your power was more of a curse than a gift. I have to bear the weight of my own memories against the fake image past we've changed. But..it's all worth it if it means I get to save Tommy just one time," Dream said out loud, knowing the skies above will hear his cry.

••••••

"I...I don't know! My home is all burnt! When we went back into the past..something changed. We changed the outcome of the future," Karl murmured, his own hands trembling in fear.
"Then let's go back a reverse things!" Dream yelled, running up to Karl and holding on his hands tightly.
Silence.
"I cant." Karl admitted. "I'm scared."
"What do you mean you're scared? Just go back and reverse things? Hurry up!!" Dream shouted, shaking Karl.
"I JUST CANT, DREAM. MY POWERS ARENT WORKING!" Karl yelled, his own voice rumbling into the forest leaves.
Dream stared at Karl, his eyes big and scared.
"You're traumatized of your own powers.." Dream whispered.
Karl's eyes lowered as tears flooded his vision.
"I'm sorry..just wait," Karl stammered, taking a turn and sprinting far away from Dream.
"KARL! Wait!" Dream yelled, running to catch up.
Dream's legs pounded against the fresh dirt underneath. His ankles slightly twisted when he tripped over some branches. No matter how hard he tried to keep up, Karl was just too fast. He weaved between trees and bushes.

Dream dashed faster and faster, but Karl was no where to be seen. Without focusing on the ground underneath, he didn't realized there was a very steep cliff right behind the huge bushes he pushed past. With the fast momentum and speed, Dream skidded to a stop. His heart pounded as he stood just right in front of the huge cave in the ground. A tiny step can cause Dream right to his demise.
Then the ground cracked and fell.

Dreams foot plummeted down as the ground continued to crack. Dream tried to scramble up, but he lost footing and his whole body fell down. The ground continued to crack while Dream held onto the edge with his two hands. His grip felt weak and tired, but he kept trying to grab on.
"H-HELP!" Dream yelled, panic rising into his entire chest while thoughts of death flashed across his mind.
The panic caused Dream to kick his feet making the cracks deepen more. His breath hitched while his heart pounded faster and faster. He was going to die.
"DREAM!" Karl's voice sounded.
"K-KARL! HELP!" Dream yelled, desperately trying to grip up the edge.
Karl's face peeked out the edge as he used bud hands to try and grip onto Dream's hands.
"Dream! Hold on!" Karl yelled.

Yes, in this situation, Karl would have stopped the time or even rewind back to the past, but as the time continued to tick on, Karl's own time powers diminished. It felt weak and non-existent. Karl did try to stop the time, but his own will to use his powers went against it.
"I-I can't stop the time," Karl huffed, his eyes widening with fear.
Desperately, Karl tried hard to pull Dream up, but with the fear of himself and the anxiety of Dream falling piled up inside him.
With his last ounce of strength, Karl tugged and pulled.
The ground heaved underneath them.
"Y-yeah! It's working!" Dream shouted, kicking his feet so his legs can hit solid grounding.
And with that, Dream pulled himself up, rolling onto the ground, and very much away from the edge.
Karl was huffing loudly, trying to regain breath. As Dream's eyes met with Karl's for a split second, the ground cracked beneath them. All the struggle had caused even more cracks spreading from the dry earth.
"KARL HURRY!" Dream yelled, reaching out a hand to grab onto Karl.
Karl confusingly looked at Dream, feeling tired from all the stress so far.
And the ground split. The part closest to the edge broke off, and the rocks and rubble all went crashing down..along with Karl.
"KARL!" Dream screamed, unable to move, and confused whether to go forward towards the cracks or backwards away from his best friend.
There was a loud thump with a bunch of little cracking sounds from rocks.
And Dream sat there on the ground frozen in shock.