Book 2: The First Fallen Human

Final Fruition

Night was unsure. Would his brother pass up an opportunity to off him? He had to, right? The Multiverse was in danger.

Something prickled through the air and Night bolted up. Next to him, Dream was wide-eyed. "What's wrong?" He asked quickly, standing next to Night. Night glanced at him and gulped.

They were in a common area. Glitch was asleep on another couch as Dream, X and Night sat on another. Nightmare and his gang had distanced themselves to the other side of the room. X glanced between the alternate brothers, wondering what it was they sensed.

"MY brother is here." Night said, his voice shaking. The doors rattled and they all tensed. X quickly stood up, his blade coming into existence as he pushed Night behind him. For once, the scrappy skeleton prince didn't argue.

Dream blinked. "We have a much bigger issue at hand, surely he can't just be here for you." He said, his eyes wide. Despite his words, his bow had already formed in his hands. Dream tensed as Nightmare came slithering over.

"NIGHTMARE!" A powerful voice boomed as the doors cracked open. Nightmare hissed and flinched away from the light. DS settled in front of them, scanning them over. He noticed Dream and narrowed his eyes, seeming less than impressed with his counterpart.

Dream blinked as Paint drifted down next to DS. He felt X stiffen next to him and glanced over at the other. For a moment, the other's grip on the handle of the blade had loosened, but now it was back. He noted Paint's similar reaction, though the other showed it only for a split second. DS huffed before blinking as he noticed Night.

"Nightmare! Why are you hiding?" His question was soft, but scorning. DS stood up straight, his hands clasped neatly behind his back. Night quickly turned his head away. "Do not be a coward, Nightmare." At every mention of his name, Nightmare's tentacles would twitch in annoyance.

Dream blinked. He slowly nocked an arrow, unfortunately catching DS' attention. He scoffed. "What are you going to do? Shoot me?" He stated flatly. "The holder of positivity?" Dream stared at him before furrowing his brow.

"I also am the holder of positivity. Why are you starting a fight?" His voice was desperate. "We're already fighting one, we do not need another! You don't have to be hunting your brother lik-"

At the mention of the word brother, DS' wings flapped violently, causing a gust of wind. He growled. "He... is NOT any brother I would call my own." He stated coldly. Dream stared at himself in shock. Night flinched from behind Dream.

Night jumped as tentacles suddenly wrapped around him, guiding him over to stand behind Nightmare. Nightmare cast a glance back at him and Night was momentarily startled. The other was helping him. "How revolting. Your attitude. For someone who holds positivity." Nightmare's voice grumbled.

DS' gaze moved over to him and he glared. Nightmare stared back. "You heard me. You can't even admit to him being your brother? Pathetic. Even I accept that Dream is my brother." Nightmare's tentacles lashed around. "Or is that just what you tell yourself so it's easier when you finally catch him and have to kill him?"

DS was clearly shaken by the words and his wings were ruffled as he scowled. Nightmare tipped his head. He snapped his fingers and there was shuffling as the remaining three skeletons who'd been avoiding the confrontation slowly came up next to him. "Now tell me." Killer came up on one side, while Dust and Horror flanked Nightmare in the other. "Do you think you'll win?"

Dust glared at DS with a violent, twitching, glowing gaze. Horror gave him an eerie grin as his axe scraped across the floor. Killer had already summoned knives. Nightmare tipped his head. DS seemed thrown off by all of them.

Dream took a deep breath. He raised his bow, aiming an arrow and DS noticed. He scoffed in disbelief. "You'd protect him?! You'd protect NEGATIVITY?!" He snapped, losing his temper for a moment.

Dream stared evenly at him. "There is a BALANCE. It must be held. Dark and light. Good and bad." He stated firmly. "Only then, do we have a chance at peace. There is no perfect world."

"There is no perfect world." Nightmare echoed, his voice bubbling and low as he stood next to his brother for the first time in eons. DS seemed taken back. He scowled.

Next to him, Paint whipped out a long brush and glanced at DS. "You don't want to do this." X warned, his eyes wide. "He's leading you into a death trap." For a moment, Paint stared at him before giving a tiny shiver and lowering his gaze immediately.

Night was wide-eyed. They were really all about to fight for him? In a way, he was touched, but at the same time, he was horrified. He crouched behind his alternate self, being hidden by the other's goopy body.

"What about the red human? Aren't they more important than this?" Dream was desperately trying to reason, his voice now shaking. DS turned to him with a cold look.

"It is no longer my problem. The Reaper has found it." He stated coldly. They all jumped as a sudden coldness swept out from Dream, blasting them all back as his bow clattered to the ground. His eyes had gone dark. He blinked and slowly, his eyes lit back up. He was shaking. He stumbled and X propped him up.

"Th-The Reaper has found the red human?" Dream stammered out in shock. Despite being wary from Dream's sudden burst, DS scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Yes, are you DEAF?" He hissed. Dream stared at him with such a look of horror and dismay that it stopped DS for a moment. Nightmare was visibly shocked too.

"That isn't good. He knew her when she was here." He said quickly, glancing at Dream, who nodded shakily. "He took care of her when she was here." Dream nodded, getting visibly more and more distressed.

"Who?!" DS snapped and he immediately jumped as a tentacle cracked into the ground in front of him. Nightmare's visible eye was bright and dangerous.

"The red human is the physical form of DETERMINATION. We knew the human it came from. The human it currently looks like. The problem. The problem is that Reaper took care of that human. He will see it. He will recognize it." Nightmare's voice was shaking and quiet. "What will the Reaper do, faced with something that holds the appearance of someone he'd failed to SAVE?"