Chapter Text
11:00 AM.
12:00 AM.
1:00 AM.
Tree still wasn't asleep. He was too afraid of yet another nightmare. He knew this was such a cowardly thing to be frightened of, but yet the fear consumed him, keeping his eyes wide open as they darted across the room, terrified of anything that was a sign that his dreams were entering his reality. He was more tired than he had ever felt before. His pupils burnt with fatigue, but he had to keep fighting. His eyelids slowly shut, and he knew it was too late.
He awoke in someplace different, with an overwhelming feeling of guilt coursing through him for reasons he couldn't place his finger on.
He was in a void of some sorts? Everything was a familiar shade of green, and pain seared through his arms. He looked down in horror.
Blood. Everywhere. Drifting away, sticking to his forearms, and there were wounds carved in his upper arm. They were arranged to form words.
"You failed."
What? Tree hadn't failed. He didn't even know what he was failing at, but even then he was dreading discovery.
He glanced back up. Still nothing but an endless void, but this time there was a dot.
The dot grew.
And grew.
And grew.
It seemed to have no control over what it was doing.
That was because it was dead. It was a dead body.
But who's body was it?
Tree looked closer, only to regret it.
Of course it had to be Fanny. Another dot was getting closer, a black glowing circle.
Black Hole. Was this all of Death P.A.C.T?
Black Hole began to speak. "Tree. Look what you've done. You've failed us all. You've killed everything."
Tree froze up. "What? What did I do? I didn't kill anything, I didn't fail, I didn't-"
Some more pain. It was so much worse now, almost to the point where he couldn't deal with it anymore.
"BLACK HOLE! Please! PLEASE!" He couldn't do anything but beg for it all to be over.
So he did. He begged, he sobbed, he stayed stock still in this void until it would all end, as Black Hole just levitated there, watching, savoring every second of Tree's suffering.
And it would. He felt something around his neck area, getting tighter, tighter, tighter, tighter...until he really woke up.
Tree screamed as he jolted out of bed again, crashing onto the tiled floor. Everything was still stinging. What had he done? Did he really fail everybody? Was it real?
Or was he just delusional?
Tears welled up in his eyes, his breathing growing unsteady as he grappled for the clock on his bedside table, peering at the blurred numbers.
4:20 AM.
He couldn't do anything but stumble out of the door again, searching for the comforting light of Black Hole.
He found it outside the hotel window, and rushed towards it, still being careful to maintain a safe distance.
"H-hi Black Hole. Doing well?"
"As well as ever," Black Hole replied. "You?"
Tree felt a rush of affection course through his veins, but of course he didn't realize what the feeling was. He simply labeled it as happiness to see his good friend.
"Had another nightmare. I'm alright though, just a bit troubled."
"Oh. Sorry about that. Can't sleep?"
Tree shook his head. A few leaves fell onto the ground, most of them getting sucked up by Black Hole.
"Can I stay here? Sorry to bother."
"Of course, as long as you don't mind the chilly weather!" Black Hole chirped.
The other contestant smiled, appreciating the hospitality of his best friend.
As he thought of Black Hole being nothing but a friend, he felt another ache in his heart.
That damned nightmare.