My Friend Over the Phone

Chapter 19

    Nightmare dialled Dream's phone number and waited for him to pick up. He held it to his ear duct with his shoulder as he continued looking for a book he had for ages. He was sure it was in the miscellaneous section, as the book was written in an old language that only those of Dreamtale spoke. "Hello?" "Hello, brother. I know this may seem sudden, but would you like to come over today?" He cheered silently as his phalanges brushed against the book he wanted. The cover was purple and the title was yellow, and all of the pages inside were a brownish-gold. "I have something I'd like for us to do today." "Is that so? That's nice of you, brother. What were you thinking?" Nightmare smiled and put a phalange up to his mouth, making a shushing noise. "It's a surprise!" He heard Dream laugh from the other side. "Yeah, I have time, you caught me on a good day. When do you want me there?"

    "As soon as you can."

Dream didn't take his time walking through the lifeless forest today, afraid that what his brother wanted him to come over for was urgent. Nightmare was always one to under exaggerate things. Then again, he himself always did the polar opposite.

He knocked on the large, gigantic door, announcing his arrival. To his surprise, Nightmare opened it right away, almost as if he was waiting there for him. He was in his passive form once again, and looked rather happy today. He smiled brightly at him and greeted him excitedly with a "hello brother! We have no time to waste, come on!" He grabbed his wrist and pulled him the way he came, through the wide forest. Before Dream could ask, Nightmare engulfed them both in magic, teleporting to their old village. He finally let him go, and broke into a run towards the hill where their now dead Tree sat. It was then that Dream noticed the book tucked under his brother's arm. He followed him up the hill, wondering what's got his brother so excited.

"Brother, what's gotten into you? I mean, I haven't seen you this happy in ages, and I'm glad your spirits are higher than usual, but what's going on?" Nightmare put the book he was holding on the ground in front of the tree stump, and responded with telling him to close his eye sockets. He sighed, shaking his head in amusement and did as he was told. Nightmare leaded him to the right a little bit, directly in front of the stump. He told him to summon his soul. Dream's face twisted into one of uncertainty d discomfort. Standing here, on this very hill, the smell of rotten flesh filling his senses and the inability to see was bringing back some horrible memories. He took a deep breath through his mouth, and exhaled. He trusted his brother. What happened is all in the past. He wouldn't hurt him again, right? Besides, he looked so excited. He couldn't let him down again. He took out his soul, keeping his sockets shut tight. No matter how much he tried to calm himself, he couldn't stop shaking. He could sense Nightmare's good mood falter and be replaced by hurt from his lack of trust towards him. But he said nothing and instead got the memo, not letting his brother wait any longer.

He summoned his own soul, which had changed over the years. It was half black and half white, signifying his true self beginning to heal the corruption that had once overtaken him. He told Dream he was going to handle his soul with blue magic. He nodded. He took both of their souls and held them above the tree stump with the magic. "Now Dream, I need you to say something for me." "Okay?" "We have to say together: enod neeb sah egamad tahw odnu etatilibaher worger." Dream flinched at the gibberish, recognizing it as an incantation of sorts. His brother wanted him to do a spell with him? What did this spell even do? "Okay. Three, two, one."

"enod neeb sah egamad tahw odnu etatilibaher worger!"

Dream heard a loud, creaking noise, then ruffling. He felt the ground shake and shift under his feet and a calming warmth emit on his back. What happened? "Can I open my sockets now, brother?" Nightmare nodded. "Yep!" Dream's sockets opened, and stared at the sight before him in wonder.

The Tree. Their Tree had grown back.

    Everything was just like how Dream remembered it. The green grass, the bright sun on his back, the smell of fresh flowers growing in the surrounding field, even the buildings were restored. The dead bodies were gone, but the village's people were not brought back to life. Perhaps that was for the better.

    Growing on the Tree's branches were tiny apples, golden and black, an even amount on each side. Dream brought his hand up to his forehead in wonder, only to feel like something was missing. He patted around his skull, but he couldn't feel his circlet. He looked to Nightmare as he began to panic, who's crown was gone as well. "Where have our crowns gone?" He asked the other. Nightmare patted his own forehead, just now realizing they had disappeared. His gaze wandered to the book. He picked it up again as his deep violet orbits made a trail to the Tree. "Brother, look!" Nightmare exclaimed, pointing to the trunk of their Tree.

    There sat two crowns, but something was different about them. First of all, they were platinum and not gold. They both looked like Dream's circlet that ended in the front and curled in on itself, except there was a space in between the two curled ends that had a sun on one and a waning crescent moon on the other. The Apple brothers walked over to the crowns together. "Are they supposed to be for us?" Dream asked. "I don't know. Maybe?" Nightmare responded. "Well, if they are for us, I want the one with the sun." The other laughed. "Well, duh. I wanted the moon one anyway."

    They stepped up to them, but before they took them, they both kneeled in front of the Tree they respected and had sworn to protect and bowed. "We are so sorry for not protecting you, dear Mother." They said in unison. Nightmare took a deep breath, deepening his bow. "I hope you can forgive me for betraying you in such a horrible way," he pleaded, "and we swear we will do whatever we can for you for being so incompetent..." Dream added. They simultaneously looked up at the leaves of their Mother, swaying in the wind. They kneeled there in silence, listening intently. They heard a soft, barely audible whisper. "Nightmare, you were not entirely at fault for what had happened. I never felt betrayed by you, my dear child..." Nightmare smiled softly as he felt magic come up from below the ground, from the Tree's roots, and up into his bones, swirling in him and calming him. "and Dream, all that i ask of you; that i ask of both of you, is please, stay together this time. no matter how tough things will get, i wish for you two to love each other, and let nothing get in the way of that." Dream nodded and wore the same smile as his brother to the right of him. "I promise, Mother."

    They both a little more empty when they felt the warmth of their Mother go away once more. They sighed. They wished she could be truly with them, but she was happy, watching her sons grow from deep inside the Tree of Feelings. They picked up the circlets and put them atop their skulls.

    Dream's smile grew wider, the excitement of having his home and his Mother back had finally settled in. Even better, now that the Apples had been extracted out of their bodies from the spell, and there was an even amount of each of them, they no longer had to work constantly to keep balance. Their Mother would do that for them, as long as they kept each and every apple safe and sound on the Tree.

    He screamed in pure joy, doing a happy dance on the spot shortly before jumping up and down, and sprinting towards the village. Nightmare smiled, a memory of when they were very young popping up in his mind about when Dream ran around town and Nightmare was chasing him, trying to catch him, but the other was always too fast. "Oh, you're not getting away this time, brother!"

    They both laughed as they ran around. They really did feel like kids again.