Their Story ❤💚💖

Secrets... [ Part Two ]

TW : Swears, Blood, Temp Death

Secrets... everyone has some. They can range from protective or harmless to dangerous. Hiding some piece of information from others, for some reason or another. Protection seems to be high on the list of common reasons.

Protection is a kind and worthy motivation, so it's unsurprising it ranks high for reasons to keep secrets. However, what happens when a Secret coming from a place of protection is revealed unwillingly?

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Dream had a secret. One that he severely disliked, and would get rid of if he could. He knew it was dangerous, and wanted to protect those around him by keeping it secret. However as he comes to find, keeping it hidden doesn't always work.
The secret itself showed itself randomly. A trigger, perhaps, but even now those who know cannot find the cause of it.
A glitch in Dream's code is the most likely suspicion at the moment.
It resulted in a very violent "alter-ego" of Dream, who had been "affectionately" given the title Nightmare
The signature features of Dream himself turned dark. His white smiley-face mask turned completely black with red markings for a frown. His bright, green hoodie turned a deep red.... blood red.
Nightmare took it upon himself to find and eliminate anyone nearby, no matter the relationship to him, to Dream.
It resulted in many deaths, considering Dream has made a name for himself with being great at PVP.
The first time it happened was during a manhunt, Two Hunters vs One Speedrunner.
Sapnap and George had been in for a real shock that day. Between the three of them present that day, they've kept Nightmare a secret from everyone else.

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The day had started out fine, normal, even. Grian had logged on to the server, and after some time of helping around with what he could, he had decided to go see Dream. He would go to Techno as well, but Techno's base was hidden, and despite him telling Grian where it was at several times, he always seemed to forget.
Dream was with George, planning to head to the nether to get some netherite materials so they could upgrade some more gear. And if they had a good run have some extra left over. It wasn't necessarily needed, but it was a good idea and passed the time as well.
"So I think beds will be an easy way to get lots of ancient debris, and its much easier than grinding sand and gravel for TNT." Dream commented to George as he dug through one of his chests for his golden helmet. He always seemed to misplace it just when he needed it. Not that he couldn't face piglins, but he'd rather not bother when he was doing something.
"That's a good idea. But they can't stack, so if we want a lot of them we'd have very little room in our inventory." George added, across the room as he sat on a chest, watching Dream.
"We could always empty a shulker box and bring that alo-" Dream began before being interrupted by a specific small hermit flying into him.
Grian blinked a few times as he laid against Dreams chest, from where they crashed on the ground. That was a dizzying crash. He perked up afterwards, though. "Hi Dream!"
George was laughing at the situation, and Dream couldn't help a smile (-and a blush) at Grians usual chaotic antics.
"Hello Grian, what brings you to my base today?"
Grian looked away with a small, embarrassed look. "I couldn't find Techno's base when he invited me over."
Dream laughed, ruffling Grians hair as they got up. "I don't understand how you always forget where it's at. He constantly is streaming the location."
Grian shoved him over again, playfully standing over him. "Shut up!" He insisted, with a small laugh. "We should invite him over here, then all three of us can do something together!"
George cleared his throat and Grian gave him an apologetic smile. "The four of us."

So that's how the four players ended up in the nether, Grian sitting up on a raised platform that was only accessible by flying or building up to it. He was hiding from piglins, since he conviently forgot his golden boots back at his temporary starter base.
Techno and Dream were slaying the piglins while George was mining some gold for Grian, commenting on the fact that if he was going to wear a elytra instead of a chestplate then he really should have gold on him when he went to the nether.
"Oh shut up, George!" Grian commented playfully, sticking his tongue out.
Dream laughed at the interaction as George took mock offense. As he slain another pick in however a sharp pain shot through his skull.
"Dream? Something the matter?" Techno asked, seeing him wince.
This drew the attention of the other two, who looked over curiously.
Dream waved off the concern. "I must have gotten a scrape from a piglin. No big deal."
They continued on for a few more minutes, idly chatting before it happened again, this time stronger and made Dream drop to his knees, holding his head.
Grian, who was the closest, paused and knelt down beside him. "Dream, is everything alright?"
Dream opened his mouth to reply, to brush off the concern again when the pain happened again. This time followed by a flicker in his form, his hoodie becoming crimson and his mask turning black, for a split second.
George rushed forward and set a hand on Dreams shoulder. "Hey, calm down. It's okay, it's probably a headache, right?" he asked, trying to calm Dream down without being too suspicious.
"What's going on?" Techno asked as Dream's colors flashed dark again.
George cursed and grabbed Grians wrist, realizing that there was no time to stop it now. If he had realized earlier, then time might have been on his side, but not now. "Back up, Grian. Techno, keep your sword out."
Grian frowned, completely at a loss. "Why, what's happening to Dream?!"
Techno was also lost, but knew that George obviously had more information then either him or Grian and was putting his trust in him.
Dreams colors finally settled, although on the wrong scheme. His crimson hoodie stood out against the blue warped Forest surroundings, and his mask sent a shiver of fear down Grian and Techno's spines. The dark black frown mask seemed far too threatening.
"Oh Geooorge~" Dream called out, his usual cheery voice unnormally deep. It almost sounded like two people trying to speak over each other as well.
As Dream swung his axe at George, who blocked with obvious experience, Techno held his sword in a fighting stance. "George, what the fuck is going on?!"
"Techno, Grian, this isn't Dream. This is Nightmare." George said, deflecting yet another blow, however not without a nasty cut on his forearm. The crimson blood covered the blade of Nightmares axe, and splattered a little onto his hoodie, which unsettlingly enough, matched the color of the hoodie rather well.
"What?!" The other two exclaimed, Grian flying up into the air with his elytra to avoid an arrow shot at him.
As they fought, George roughly explained what was going on, and that the only way he knew how to make it stop was to kill Dream.
Grian had froze at that, every muscle stiff. He got a bad cut on his shoulder due to that moment of hesitation.
Techno swore, and knocked Nightmare away from Grian. "Grian? Grian listen to me, Dream will respawn, okay? This isn't Evo. The world hasn't been changed to Hardcore."
George was too busy with Nightmare to really understand the conversation, but he did hear snippets and wondered what had happened to Grian to make Techno mention Hardcore mode.
It took a while of convincing in order to calm Grian, and George had been met with a axe in the head and promptly had died. He had sent out a message in chat to Sapnap, "Sapnap, code Red." shortly after he respawned.
Techno had gotten to low health and Grian was trying to help, but he couldn't bring himself to attack Dream. He was mainly playing defensive.
When Techno had dropped to one heart, and Dream was still at half health, something in Grian snapped. Much like the day he had met these two, but stronger.
His eyes began to glow the deep purple that was signature Watcher magic. His sword alit with purple flames before the diamond changed to bedrock.
Techno stood in shock, holding his injury with one hand and eating a cooked potato to heal with the other, as Grian swung the bedrock sword at Nightmare.
It had enough damage, and it killed Nightmare in one hit, barely even having time for blood before he disappeared in the smoke that represented death.
Grian has slain Dream with Magic

Several players online had seen the death message, a unique one they hadn't seen before. It would result in a lot of questions sent in chat that never got answers.

Grian dropped his sword and took deep breaths, calming himself down from the intense moment. Tears streamed down his face, as the bedrock sword laid discarded, no longer alit with the purple flames but also not returning to its normal Diamond.
Techno rushed up to Grian and gave him a hug. "Grian, Grian, its okay, Dream respawns, remember? I bet he's on his way back right now with George!"

Dream and George returned roughly four minutes later. The fast pace due to many enderpearls and constant running.
Grian had sent away his sword, since he couldn't return it to diamond. Claimed he dropped it in the lava after killing Dream.
"Killing Nightmare." Techno responded to that firmly.

The day had been cut short after that. George left to do his own thing and Dream, Techno, and Grian had found a flower field to rest in, which helped Grian calm himself a lot.

That expirence had really opened their eyes. All three of them. They realized they'd do anything to protect the other two. They realized for the first time.... that they loved these two dorks.

Will they confess? Keep it to themselves? Well, only time will tell.

1714 words, wow. That's a new record for this book. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Also, thank you for all the reads, votes, and comments! Means a lot!