Two Halves | Book One of The Judgement series

Chapter 2

~~Dream~~

I held Raven's hand as we looked out at a village. We were here often, though we never knew the name of this place. I call it Ebott. Just like before, the young generation of the village came to marvel at the Tree of Feelings, though they often stuck to the golden side. It made me feel sad for the darker side. Even though it was equally as it's counterpart, the light often outshone the dark. Jealousy rolled off of my side in waves. When night rolled around, two skeleton's emerged from the base of the tree. 

The older one was always clad in purple and often wearing a frown when he was alone, but he always smiled for his younger brother. Sometimes I wonder if Raven did that. Smiled only when I was around. The younger brother wore yellow and often preferred bright colors. They were as opposite as my sister and I. Positive, negative. Light, dark. 

"There were lots of visitors today, brother!" The younger one skipped merrily to his family member. 

"I heard that you had your hands full with the positivity you gathered. I bet you're feeling super hyper now, huh," the older skeleton rubbed the younger's skull. The bright skeleton nodded. "Well, how about using that energy to help me put this up?" The skeleton picked up a large, folded, yellow cloth. 

"What is it?" The older brother simply smiled and unfolded the cloth carefully. I could hear the younger brother's gasp and I understood why. What the skeleton held in his hands was a delicately weaved yellow banner that displayed a large, golden sun. "Oh my dear stars. This is beautiful, Nightmare!" 

The older brother blushed light purple, "It took a bit of time but I finally finished it today. It was nothing, Dream."  Raven mumbled something about the skeleton's names while they continued talking. 

"Nothing!? Brother, this is absolutely marvelous." Nightmare laughed gently at his twin's enthusiasm. 

"Well then, let's hang this up so we can share its beauty with the villagers." Dream nodded animatedly. 

"Let's."

~~Reality~~

I awoke to the distant sound of ringing bells. Judging from the sun's position, I'd say it was about 8 o'clock in the morning. Carefully, I climbed down the tree and looked out at the city beneath the hill. There was a thump behind me and I felt a weight on my shoulders. 

"Don't tell me you're thinking about going into town again." I laughed gently, since we have this conversation every day. 

"Of course I am. We need to eat." 

"Well, haven't you considered eating the apples?" I glanced back at my sister. She looked like she was seriously thinking about eating the apples on her side of the tree. 

"I have thought about it but," my gaze went to the tree, our home, "my gut tells me we shouldn't. Those apples are special just like this tree is. It's called the Tree of Feelings after all. We don't know what will happen if we bite into that fruit." 

Raven sighed, "You're right, as always. I'm sorry. I'm just worried about your safety." 

"I understand that but," I took her hand in mine, "I'll be alright as long as I have my big, strong sister by my side." 

"Big? Are you calling me fat!?" A laugh bubbled in my chest and I poked at her stomach. 

"So what if I am," I teased. "What are you going to do about it?" 

"Oh, I'll show you what I'm gonna do. Come here you!" I dashed out of her reached and ran down the hill. Feeling my platinum hair whip in the wind and hearing my sister's shouts, I couldn't help but feel incredibly happy. It was moments like this that made life worth while. Even if life is hard, there's always good. There's always happiness. There's always hope. 

I tripped over my feet about half way down the hill and rolled the rest of the way. I guess Raven noticed this because a few moments later she was rolling down with me. Her bright smile and laughter made getting a scraped knee worth it. If there was anything we needed, it was more moments like these. Raven's been so serious lately. It's good for her to kick back and relax for awhile. I worry about her. 

"So, I'm guessing you saw the same thing I did last night?" Raven folded her hands behind her head and stared up at the blue sky. I did the same and looked up at the passing clouds. 

"Yup. What do you think it means?" 

"I'm not sure. If it's the history of this place, then what happened to those two monsters? And what happened to the banner that was wrapped around the base?" 

"Well, assuming the legend is true, do you think they got locked in Mount Ebott with the other monsters?" 

Raven shook her head. "I don't think so. I get the feeling that those two are a lot different from other monsters. It's like their being at the tree has meaning, kind of like us. Don't you ever get that feeling?" 

"Yeah, I do. I just don't know why. What purpose can two, 16 year old, orphans have?" 

"Now look at who's being a negative Nancy," Raven punched my arm lightly. "Don't let that negativity get to you. It's my job to worry. It's your job to keep our moral up." For awhile, we just stared up at the sky in silence. 

"Hey, Raven?" 

"Hm?"

"Don't you think it's sad that one brother got all of the love and attention while the other was pushed into the background?" She was silent for a few seconds. 

"I think it's unfair but, that's life. No two people will have the same level of appreciation." 

"You're right but, could you sense it? Nightmare's jealousy." The air chilled as soon as the name left my lips. It felt like we were now being watched. Stares from two individuals, it feels like.

"I could but like I said, that's life. It's not fair." Raven sat up, "When I look at those two, I think of the sun and moon." 

"What do you mean?" 

"Well everyone appreciates and celebrate the sun right?" I nodded in response to the question. "Don't you think the moon would get jealous since people sleep throughout the night and don't praise it the same?" I nodded again. 

"But still, we aren't talking about the sun and moon here. We're talking about monsters." 

"Monsters that reside in the past."

"I know but.. I just can't help the feeling I get when I see them. The feeling that we know them." 

Raven stood and pulled me up with her. "Look at our tree, Dove." I did as she said. "We've always talked about how that tree represents both good and bad in life." 

"Where is this going, sis?" 

"Hush up and let me speak." I laughed softly at my sister's tone. "We've learned first hand that you can't have good without bad and we can't have bad without good. The two balance each other out in the best ways possible, just like we do. Yet, people always ignore the bad until it breaks out of the cage it's kept in. That's because people don't understand it. They avoid what they don't understand or fear. That's what happened to Nightmare. He was ignored by everyone, including his brother, because he wasn't understood." 

"I think Dream chose not to see," I stared at the golden side of the tree, "because if he did, then he'd have to acknowledge that he was hurting the person closest to him. The only one that saw him for who he really was." 

"You may be right about that." Raven patted me on the head and turned away from the tree. I know she didn't see them for that one second, but I did. I saw the two skeletons, staring at us from the branches we often resided in.