New Reality: A Dream x George Fanfic

Chapter 12: A Nightmare Come True

A/N: Thanks so much everyone for the support on this story! Your comments and votes have really helped inspire me to keep writing. And it now has 550 views... That's absolutely insane. Thank you all! Also, TW: this chapter has a lot of blood, so be prepared for that. Hehe ;)

Dream continued through the fortress, although he didn't find much worth taking. Some rotten flesh, bones, and a few gold ingots comprised the loot in the majority of the chests, but he did manage to find two diamonds and some obsidian blocks. He'd also found two more endermen, which brought his total number of pearls to 7. Just a few more. I can do this.

    His eyes kept slipping shut every time he stopped walking, so Dream forced himself to just keep moving. Come on, he told himself over and over again, you're almost done. You can do this. Just a little longer and then you can go back.

He trudged past countless blaze spawners, pushed through groups of wandering pigmen, and avoided the wither skeletons stalking the walls of the fortress, heading ever deeper into it. Finally, he spotted an enderman standing at the end of a darkened hallway.

The enderman appeared not to notice Dream, so he quietly slid out his sword and crept up behind it. As he walked toward the enderman, the hair on the back of Dream's neck stood up. He couldn't shake the subtle feeling of being watched. He glanced behind him, eyes narrowed, but didn't see anything. Cautiously, he made his way forward. With one swift motion, Dream stabbed the enderman through the heart. It exploded into dust without a sound.

Dream took one last look around and, seeing nothing but hallways filled with shadows, he knelt on the floor to pick up the pearl. He dropped it into his pack, but stayed crouched on the ground, trying to summon the will to stand up and keep walking.

Come on. I'm nearly done. I can probably start heading back now and just look for more endermen on the way. I can do this.

Drawing in a deep breath, he rose unsteadily to his feet. He looked up.

Dream's vision was obscured by a wall of gray bones. He had just enough time to register this fact before the wither skeleton sent a blow crashing into his side with enough force to knock him to the ground. If it weren't for his armor, he would've been killed instantly. As it was, he had the wind knocked out of him, and gasped for air as the pain of the blow registered a second later.

He raised his shield just in time to block the next strike. Normally, Dream's adrenaline would've kicked in by that point, but his body was simply too exhausted. His movements felt sluggish and frustratingly weak; he barely had enough strength to lift his sword as the skeleton launched another attack.

Drawn by the noise, two more wither skeletons approached as they fought. Even in the state he was in, Dream was still able to hold his own against one skeleton, but three? He wasn't sure he'd be able to beat them. He was running out of options.

He backed away from the wither skeletons, desperately trying to figure out what to do. He was battered, bruised, in no state to run, and in no state to fight. Suddenly he remembered the regeneration potion he'd saved in his pack. Swinging his sword to knock the skeletons away for a second, he quickly opened his backpack and dug around inside until he felt the cool glass surface of the potion bottle. A spark of hope flared in his chest, and he uncorked the bottle and raised it to his lips.

There was a high-pitched shrieking noise, followed by a deafening flash of light and noise.

The ground in front of Dream exploded, blasting the lead skeleton to pieces, throwing him back against the wall and knocking the bottle out of his hands. "No!" He shouted, but he couldn't hear his own voice over the ringing in his ears, and he watched helplessly as the bottle soared into the air. It was as if the world slowed down; the bottle revolved as it arched away from his outstretched hand, the pinkish liquid inside sploshing around. It reached the top of its arc and descended, impossibly slow, until it hit the ground and shattered.

Dream stared at the fragments of broken glass littered across the ground. No... With no way to heal, he would never get out alive.

The two remaining skeletons converged on him as he watched helplessly. With a halfhearted swing, he managed to catch one in the ribs, shattering the bones and killing the skeleton, but he knew it was over as the other one raised its sword. His mind flooded with emotions and thoughts that he didn't have the energy to process.

Guilt. An image of George, laughing as they chased each other across the beach. Hopelessness. The sound of George's laugh. Fear. George leaning on him as they watched the sunset together...

Dream felt the impact of the sword shoved into his chest, straight through his armor, but it didn't hurt. Instead, a strange warmth bloomed from the spot, a numbness which spread through his veins like poison. Looking down, he saw the sword protruding from his body, soaking his side in red death. He sank to his knees, lightheaded at the sight.

The ghast fired at him again, blasting the wall behind him to pieces. The impact tossed the last skeleton skyward, and it landed with a bone-shattering impact, killing it. But it didn't matter. The damage was done.

Dream gripped the sword's handle in both hands, and with a pained yell, managed to pull it out. He clutched his side and waited for death, or whatever came next.

What came next just happened to be a portal.

Dream saw the portal materialize a few feet in front of him, and for a second he was sure it was just a hallucination caused by blood loss. However, reaching out a shaking, bloodstained hand, he felt the solid obsidian of the portal frame. He didn't pause to consider where the portal had come from, or where it might lead. He stood up, using his sword to support his weight, and stumbled toward the portal. Just the motion of standing caused black dots to fill his vision and a buzzing to fill his ears, but he forced himself to keep moving forward until, after an eternity, he stepped through.

-----

In the cave outside of the stronghold, George was just about to walk into the portal when Dream appeared. George had built the portal out of the lava pool, lit it, and pulled his pack over his shoulder in preparation to go find Dream, but Dream saved him the trouble by coming through first.

"Dream!" He's alive! George felt a grin stretch across his face as Dream looked up at him.

His grin faltered as Dream swayed for a second, mumbled, "George," and promptly collapsed.