Chapter Text
Grian felt sick as he jerks his hand away from the apparent demon in front of him. He had felt…something when he shook Dream's hand and he coudln't tell what it was. He could feel the sudden increase in Dream's anger when he jerked his hand away. The lights flickered again around him.
"Where's Scar? What did you do with him? How did you even get here?"
"Turns out this house is a portal to hell. She casts us down there and forgets about us."
"'She'? You mean Kristin?"
"Whatever. She's a bitch anyway," Dream huffs, crossing his arms.
"So you keep saying."
Dream grabs at his shirt, but he moves away before he can, and the demon mutters a string of curses and obscene insults under his breath. He takes a moment to calm down before turning back to Grian. "Why do you even care about that guy anyway? He's a little wimp." Dream seems to sigh, and somehow Grian can tell he's rolling his eyes. "I had him take my place in hell. The bitch god would've come running if I hadn't. This way, she never has to know. Dragged him down and clawed my way out, you know how it is."
Grian swallows hard. "Y- y'know I think I need to leave-"
"NO!" Dream shouts, the lights flickering again. The sheer volume of his voice rattles Grian's bones. He's left trembling. "You're going to stay right here and give me what I want." He grabs Grian by the front of his sweater and starts tugging on something inside of him. Slowly, he can feel what he can only guess is his soul detaching from his body. He manages to shove him off, and his soul slips back into place.
"What- what the hell was that?" He gasps, patting his body down to make sure he still had control. He scrambles to his feet, keeping the demon at a distance. He didn't even think about his broken laptop. He abandons it in favour of booking it to the door, but Dream appears right in front of him. He trips Grian, and grabs him by the back, pulling his soul from his body. He easily slips right back into where Grian's soul was before his body even hits the ground.
Grian watches in horror as the demon in his body makes it stand up. Dream reaches up to touch his face, then slowly runs his hands over the new body, starting to laugh. Grian is frozen in place. A demon was in his body. He watches Dream walk his body towards the door, and snaps out of it before he can touch the handle. He rushes towards him, trying to stop him, but he just goes right through.
"See you never, mother fucker," Dream sneers before slamming the door shut. It was weird to hear his own voice coming from the body he wasn't in. It was even weirder to hear his own voice swear.
Grian wants to follow him, but he wants to find Scar just as much. He decides to poke around the house, searching every closet and cupboard. Finally, when he walks through the doorway to the backyard, he finds himself transported to a hellish wasteland. Lava rivers and volcanoes, rugged, rocky terrain. He could hear the faint screams of the damned in the distance. He looks around, feeling the heat in the air. It barely takes five minutes for Kristen to check in.
"Grian? What are you doing in hell?" Kristin asks, confusion flicking across her gaze.
Grian quickly catches her up on the events, hoping she'll be able to help him, but to his dismay, she says she can't.
"He's in a body now. There's not much I can do except get you and Scar back to Earth," she says. She leads the way towards the city in the middle of the wasteland. Every demon Grian saw had something over their face that they couldn't seem to take off.
"Why do they all have masks on?" He asks in a hushed whisper as they walk.
"It's a sign of shame. They're here because they committed some unforgivable sin. I want them to feel the shame they should."
Grian nods, and they keep walking until finally, he spots the maskless face of Scar.
"Scar!" Grian calls eagerly, sticking his hand in the air and waving frantically to get his attention.
"Grian?" His head perks up and he looks over to him. He runs over and comes to a stop in front of him. "What are you doing here?" He gasps after a moment, hands coming to cover his mouth. "Did you die?" He whispers, seemingly scared of the answer.
"No! No, I didn't die, I promise," Grian says, reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder. A warm feeling bubbles up inside him when it actually connects. He then wraps him in a hug.
"Where are we?" Scar asks, hugging him back.
"Hell," Kristin tells him simply. "I'm taking you back to Earth." She takes their hands and pulls, and suddenly, they were back in Scar's house. "Now, I can't do anything about Dream," she tells Grian. "But I'll help you get it back. I can grant you and Scar free rein of Earth to get it back. I can show you the ritual to summon me first. I can't let him roam around once you get your body back."
She rests a hand on each of their heads, and closes her eyes for a moment, departing the knowledge of the ritual into their minds, and granting them freedom from the property in the same moment.