Dreamtale: Origins

Chapter 8: Suffer in Silence

"They distracted Dream, taking him to another place far away to play, while others took advantage of that to throw things to [at] Nightmare and tell him that he was weird and that nobody liked him."
~Dreamtale AU (Joku) Pg 10

Heads up, this is a long, long chapter to make up for my time away. Probably the longest chapter yet. Be sure to comment any suggestions!

Vote, Comment, and Enjoy!

TW: A bit of violence near the end.

Edited

:):

Nightmare knew people would usually not like him. At all.

His very aura was one that reeked of harshness and fear, of sadness and anxiety. Sometimes even hate.

Nightmare knew that there would be rumors about him as soon as Aubrey came up to the tree, with her hazel eyes on the golden apples. He knew there would be whispers about him as soon as she had looked at him. He may have been reading a book, but he knew, he knew about her. He had gathered as much as he could from the strange, distorted voice before it disappeared, but he still didn't know how to break it to Dream that Aubrey was not as good as she seemed.

Nightmare's aura flickered violently around him to mirror his feelings.

The population around the tree had grown. They were even making houses now. They really were going to stay, weren't they? What if they liked Dream a lot? What if they liked him so much, they'll try to steal from him? What if they neglected the brother on the other side of the tree? What if they forgot him? What if they hurt Dream just to get a golden apple? What if—? What if—?

Nightmare tried harder to get absorbed in his book, something that should have come naturally after so many years of doing so.

It didn't. His very soul throbbed with unreleased negative feelings, and before he knew it, Nightmare was relieving the nightmare from the previous night.

The flaming buildings, the empty stump.

The blood-red sky, the smell of death in the thin air.

The coldness that enveloped his soul.

The statue— which he now actually couldn't remember what it looked like, but it was bad.

Aubrey, cowering before him.

Him casually talking to Aubrey, taunting her, in that sickeningly distorted voice. His voice.

Aubrey's life draining from her eyes.

Aubrey's blood on the dead grass, mingling with tens of hundreds of others'.

Him laughing.

Him enjoying it.

He enjoyed it.

Oh stars, he enjoyed it.

Nightmare curled his digits in on themselves, trying not to scream with pain. His small figure shook with stored negative energy, ready to burst. But he held it in, he held it in, he held it in—

He enjoyed watching Aubrey's life drain.

He enjoyed watching her blood spurt on the ground. He enjoyed watching it mingle with countless others' blood, enjoyed watching the ones that were still alive try to run from the sickly black tentacles coming from him.