Chapter Text
There were a lot of things Techno expected to go wrong during prison break.
Having no prison to break into was not on the list.
What remained in place of the prison was a sinkhole diving deep into the centre of the server with only a few chunks of obsidian to indicate where the vault once stood.
“What?” Techno scratched the back of his head, standing by the giant hole that put even L’Manhole to shame. He couldn’t see where it ended with how the darkness greedily absorbed any light that dared to disturb. Even the air seemed to be siphoned right into the gap of the earth.
“Techno,” Phil called, fluttering to a stop beside him. “This is not good. I looked into the odd phenomena around the server as you suggested. This server…it’s off. The link between the server and its admin is…well, for the lack of better words, it’s tangled beyond comprehension.”
“Tangled?” Techno leaned away from the hole, fighting off the sinking dread from staring into the darkness for too long.
“Hmm, it’s hard to explain. A server is supposed to be able to function somewhat independent of its admin…but this server, it’s holding onto its admin, or maybe its admin is holding onto the server. Either way, what’s supposed to be a separate entity to the server has become integrated into the server itself.”
“I’m afraid I don’t quite understand.” Techno frowned. Admin stuff was never his strong suit. “Isn’t it better to have a strong link between the server and its admin?”
“Well, yes, but also no.” Phil sighed. “It’s complicated. The more integrated a server is to its admin, the easier it is for the condition of the admin to affect the server. I don’t know if Dream is already this close to his server from the very beginning or if it is something that occurs only recently, but according to what you have observed from the prison, Dream’s deterioration is bringing this server down with him.”
“Are we too late?”
Phil closed his eyes. “I am not sure.”
“Guys! I found someone!” Ranboo shouted, immediately drawing their attention to the side where a familiar armoured figure laid.
“Sam?” Techno called, recognising the green hair and golden armour. The warden was staring blankly into the distance. His eyes lacked the usual shine and life.
“Is he…alive?”
Phil reached over to feel his pulse. It was steady and upon closer inspection, he could see Sam’s chest moving beneath the armour. There was no visible injury, if anything he was too clean for whatever had occurred here.
“He is alive.” Phil concluded. “But he is in shock.”
“What the f- is going on here? What are you doing to Sam? Where is the prison?” A shriek interrupted their observation. They turned, surprised to see Sapnap snarling at them.
“Are you here to break Dream out? Where did you hide him?” Sapnap continued, already steadying his sword in preparation for a fight. Phil stepped back; his wings spread slightly to shield Ranboo while Techno stood, slowly raising his hands in peace.
“Look, we are as confused as you are. It’s already like this when we arrived.” Techno explained. He didn’t want to have to fight a competent fighter like Sapnap when he had yet to figure out where Dream and his redstone house had disappeared to.
“Liar! I saw you helping Dream back in L’Manburg! You are definitely his accomplice!” Sapnap growled. His nether root was apparent in the form of blazes at the tips of his hair as his emotion rose.
“Are you not his friend also?”
Apparently that was not the right thing to say as Sapnap visibly bristled. His grip on the sword reinforced as he bared his fangs.
“Shut up and tell me where you hid him! I promised I would end him with my own hands should he escape!”
Bruh, Dream really needed better friends. The logic seemed sound but it was a hundred percent off the mark. No wonder Dream ended up the way he was. Techno groaned, resisting the urge to facepalm in exasperation. He might need a therapist too after all this.
“Who’s there?” Sapnap turned abruptly. As if hearing someone, he hollered. “Dream? Come out! Where are you?”
Techno exchanged a confused look with Phil, watching with increasing concern as Sapnap looked around in panic. Was he losing it as well? Techno wanted to step forward but it was too late when Sapnap suddenly leapt, without a single moment of hesitation into the sinkhole.
Was everyone going mad without inviting him? Rude. Techno tried to approach the hole but Phil pulled him back firmly.
“Did you hear what he heard?” Phil asked; his frown deepened as Techno shook his head. Ranboo who had been silent for this whole ordeal raised his hand.
“I heard.” Ranboo gulped, feeling more nervous as they turned to look at him, bewildered. “A voice that sounds like Dream is calling. I heard him call my name. He is inviting m- us… closer. I almost jumped, but Sapnap did it first.”
“Hm, that’s not a positive sign. Do you know what might have triggered it?” Phil asked, digging into his sleeve in search of something.
Ranboo paused, trying to recall what might have happened. It wasn’t the usual enderwalk effect. The voice sounded different; its presence was heavier, not like the airy whispers that suggested but something that pressed almost stubbornly against him.
He remembered being anxious at Sapnap’s appearance, nervous because someone might get hurt. The feeling of wanting to flee seized him like he was the prey. At that intense moment, he heard him. It was like a spotlight refusing to be ignored, not a slow temptation but something demanding to be heard. If Sapnap, at his heightened state, had heard it but not Techno or Phil, could it be?
“It’s emotion?” Fear, anger, desire, panic. Ranboo could feel it just now as if a string was played upon his heart; an involuntary leap of pace, making the feeling much more intense than a panic attack.
“It’s a possibility.” Phil mumbled. “A server processes everything that passes through it. If Dream has such a close link to the server, it’s likely for him to be able to sense our emotions and seek out those that stood out.”
“What’s his goal?” It was the million dollar question. Techno crossed his arms, searching for an answer that no one knew. No one but Dream whose condition at this point was unknown.
“It’s hard to tell. At this point, Dream may not even be Dream anymore. It’s hard to gauge how far the server influences Dream and vice versa. What remains may be a primal instinct to survive…Aha!” Phil exclaimed, finally withdrawing a book from his sleeve. “Good thing Lady Death has offered some counter measures.”
“We have to see how far gone Dream is. Separation of the admin and server is not impossible though it carries its own risk.” Phil noted, flipping through the ancient book.
“So anyways we have to go?” Techno complained yet he had already started fitting on a pair of feather falling boots. “Ranboo, inform Niki of the situation and try to keep people out of the area. Hate to disappoint her but the withers will have to be shelved today.”
“Alright.” Ranboo offered a small smile that tried its best to be reassuring. “Stay safe.”
“Ha, Technoblade never dies.” With a salute, Techno turned and jumped.
.
Little lost ones, you will fall like stars, but fret not, for I will catch you, without a fail, I will receive all of you.
.
“Shh…look at what all these unnecessities have gotten you into?”
This was not Dream. Not his Dream.
“Pandas, come closer! Let me see you!”
Something was wearing the face of his friend, no, not friend. Dream changed. He was supposed to be an enemy, a threat to be fixed. The prison was supposed to help him get better but it didn’t fix him, so Sapnap had to.
“Don’t you want to go back to how it once was?”
“I made a promise, Dream. I intended to keep it.” Sapnap hissed, pointing his blade at his once friend. The space they were confided in was dark, so dark that one misstep would be into a realm of the unknown. In this darkness, Sapnap could only see Dream whose white hair stood out like a sole thumb. Odd, he couldn’t quite recall him having white hair. Wait, what did Dream even look like? His image was blurring rapidly in his mind and Sapnap had to squint to focus on the white. This place was messing with him! “It’s always another trick with you, huh?”
He had to do it. He had to do it fast before this weird realm casted more wacky spells on him. Sapnap rushed forward with his sword, relying solely on his instinct to fight. Even though it was hard, he mustered all his strength to track the white and found the green staring right at him.
There!
His sword made contact with something. Experience told him that it was flesh, from how it gave way to the sharp edge to how warm liquid spurted from the wound. He did it! He finally did it!
“Yet why are you crying?”
Sapnap panted. The warmth drenching his face was of his own tears. His heart dropped; a sense of hollowness locked his limbs in place.
“Why?” He croaked out. He wanted this. He didn’t want this. He didn’t know what he wanted anymore. His vision slowly returned to clarity as the tears fell. He had stabbed Dream through his heart. His eyes hurt. Everything hurt as if he was the one stabbed. “I…I…”
Now he was truly alone. Sapnap cried, trying to let go of his sword to embrace his last friend one more time yet the dark ichor didn’t let him. He glanced down, horrified to find black void seeping out of Dream’s wound. It crawled onto his hands, submerging them into the darkness as if he was slowly being consumed. In a blind panic, Sapnap screamed, gathering his remaining strength to push away.
“Why leave now?” Dream asked. His smile was the same as the one he wore back then, when they completed another challenge and shouted victory for all to hear.
“You are not Dream!” Sapnap shrieked. “You-you are a monster!”
“Ok.” Dream accepted with ease. His hands reached out to hold Sapnap in a tight embrace. The void came forth. It consumed. It devoured. No matter what was offered, he would accept. “Now we can be together…forever.”
The fight left the nether borne almost instantly. Sapnap, through his own eyes, saw Dream. Not the ichor monster cradling him, but his Dream. Dark blonde hair and a cocky smile. Afternoon spars and midnight walks.
“Forever?”
“Yes.”
Sapnap closed his eyes and dreamed of a long dream.
.
The descent was one of the longest that Techno had ever experienced. When the stones gave way to lava then to bedrock, he knew he was in for a ride.
Past the bedrock was where he found Dream. On a platform that looked more like that of the end than any overworld or nether blocks, he sat near the edge of the platform; legs dangling over the darkness as he hummed a song for none to hear. He didn’t look that much different from when they last met, except for the eyes that shone much brighter in the dark void. Maybe he wasn’t too late.
“You are here.” A statement. There was no doubt that Dream already knew he was coming. Techno found his landing gentle. The air from the void created an updraft that slowed his fall.
“Dream?”
“Yes?”
“What are you planning? What is your plan? Why go through all these?” Techno gestured to their surroundings, to everything that went wrong along the way.
“You worry.” Dream said instead. His tone was light, carrying that airy quality Techno had come to know as teasing. He knew he wouldn’t get his answer that easily.
“Come on, Dream, chat will make fun of me if you said that. Not that I judge you or anything, it’s getting real creepy over here and your idea of deco isn’t really as on par as your taste in building.” Techno laughed; casual and unassuming. “But you saved me the trouble of breaking you out of jail. So what do you think? How about we get out of here for a bit?”
Dream just smiled, raising his head to look up to where Techno had come from. Phil, he knew, was always not that far behind.
“The little birdie of death must have told you.”
Techno tensed, but Dream made no move to attack. He just strolled; steps steady despite the gaping wound Techno finally noticed on him.
“You are hurt.” It was an observation, but a genuine one. Dream stared at Techno’s face for a very long time, contemplating before finally casting his glance down to his torso where Sapnap had left his mark, but it wasn’t important anymore.
“It doesn’t hurt.” He had forgotten how it felt to hurt for a while now.
“Still, let’s go, Dream.” Techno reached over, grasping Dream’s wrist. It felt cold under his boiling temperature. “I still owe you a favour. It would be bad manners for me to leave you like this.”
“Techno.” Dream’s voice wavered and began to gain an unearthly echo. “It’s too late for me.”
Then, Techno saw. Beneath the curtain of white hairs were dark tendrils. Eyes of the other world opened within them. Dream’s body seemed to dissolve and reform. Threads of darkness spread across his face; more eyes sprouted from the darkness. Spirals formed within the eyes and faded scars bloomed in crimson. Techno could only stare as his rival seemed to unravel before his very eyes.
“Techno!” A shout and suddenly he was pulled away. He gasped, finally remembering how to breathe as he steadied himself. Phil stood protectively over him; his wings puffed to appear bigger in intimidation.
“Dream! What have you done?” Phil demanded. Dream who was dissipating cackled while the void cooed in response.
“Everything!” A roar but it didn’t sound like it was coming from Dream. It felt further, lower, as if being blasted from all sides. “But it’s never enough!”
Techno was quick to take his place at Phil’s side, blocking a striking tendril that was just mere inches away from hitting his face. Dream’s form was completely covered in ichor at this point, yet he still smiled.
“Do you know what God tastes like?”
“No.” Phil’s eyes widened in horror. “You ate a god?”
“You can do that?” Techno wondered out loud, leaping to cut down more tendrils that were slowly gaining on them.
“We are one and the same. What’s his is mine from the beginning. I lost myself, bending to the will of mortals. Now, we stand at the end of it all. You ask what I want? I hunger, I desire, I will consume all and let them in. They will all be a part of me…till the end of time.” XD, no Dream’s form raised from the void. With each movement, darkness invaded what little spaces they took. The void itself threatened to take over them all.
“Techno, we have to seal him.”
“What? How?”
Phil didn’t answer. Instead he spread his wings wider, catching the chaotic draft of the void. At the right moment, he quickly took Techno by the arm and ascended. Behind them, Dream followed. The darkness raced after them with voracity. It hungered for more.
They broke through to the surface in mere seconds. Phil twisted in the air, flinching when he pulled the damaged muscles in his injured wing. He had to hold on longer. From the sky, he was able to see the darkness spanning outwards, devouring whatever was in its path.
“By the authority lent to me, I prayed to be heard. I prayed for thy aid.” Phil chanted, directing the flow of energy towards Techno’s sword. “Grant thy humble servant the strength of Gods, to seal away the false ones and to right the wrong.”
“Granted.” The voice of a woman echoed in the air. A surge of power enveloped them, ebbing themselves into the sword. Bewildered, Techno shared a look with Phil and understood. In an instant, he let go, allowing himself to free fall towards the sinkhole.
“Death! You dare to interfere! Your aid is a violation to the rules!”
Dark claws spurted from the hole. An inhuman shriek followed. Techno held his breath and plunged his sword downwards. He let gravity carry him, let the blessed sword guide him. His sword sliced through the claws like butter, driving him downwards, closer to the source of it all.
It was over in an instant. His blade pierced through a body, pinning it down with strength beyond his comprehension. The darkness danced in a maddening waltz, futilely trying to grasp onto anything in the surroundings to anchor itself as it was pulled involuntarily towards the body.
“Argh!” It was Dream. Dream who was wild and struggling. Hands, half coated in darkness, tried to pry the sword away only to be burned the very moment they touched the blade. Then he screamed; an unholy shrill.
“It hurts, it hurts, it hurts.” Dream repeated, clawing into his chest as he tried to escape but to no avail. It hadn’t hurt in a long time and now it seemed like his nerves were being reactivated and the pain returned with vigour.
Techno stayed firm until the struggle died down, until all that was left was Dream and the slowly retreating darkness. He looked almost normal in this light when the monstrous deformity didn’t show and his eyes clear for once.
“Your decision…” Dream whispered; his voice hoarse from the screams. His physical form was starting to dissipate too as the first light of the day hit the land. Green eyes grew heavy as a hand lifted, carefully resting against Techno’s cheek. “I will accept it too.”
A crack and Dream’s body shattered, dissolving into the earth. As the sun rose, its rays illuminated the land. Techno rose with a heavy heart, surveying the area to find the sinkhole gone, replaced by the grassland, as if everything that had happened; the prison, the void, was all but a nightmare. Sapnap was found out cold on the floor beside where the sinkhole would be and a little bit further away, he could spot Wilbur’s signature jacket.
It was over.
“What happens now?” He asked, staring into his own reflection in the blade.
Phil who had slumped beside him in exhaustion heaved a long sigh.
“We have to reinforce the seal. I will have Ranboo gather some of the obsidian from what remains of the vault. Dream spent more time in close proximity with the material so it will do.”
“What about Kristin? Will she be in trouble?” If what Dream said was true, then Lady Death might be punished for lending a hand in this mess.
“Nah, based on what Dream said, XD is not in the clear too with the violation of rules. To plant a proxy in the mortal realm is in itself the greatest meddling a God can do.”
“A proxy.” Techno hummed. “So Dream is really XD?”
How much of Dream is actually Dream? Does that mean that all this while, Techno was just playing house with a god?
“Yes and not exactly.” Phil explained, crossing his legs as he stretched leisurely. “You are familiar with the Ship of Theseus paradox, correct? In the beginning, it might be true that Dream is XD, but as time passes, what they experience varied greatly. His thoughts and personality are shaped and replaced by who and what he experienced. So who can really say if they are still the same in the end? I, for one, wouldn’t say that I am here to break XD out of jail.”
True, Techno chuckled. He shouldn’t make it out to be more complicated than it was. The one who fought him in the arena was Dream; the one whom he mocked for being homeless was Dream; the one whom he played therapist for was still Dream. Despite everything, he was simply Dream.
“I still hope that things have ended differently.” Techno looked up into the sky, feeling the sun on his face, realising that just a few moments ago, it was the first time since the prison that Dream had felt the sun against his own skin.
“He made his choice. Plus I doubt that this will be the last time we see him.” It was, after all, difficult to kill a god. In their infinite lifetime, there was more than a chance to see him again.
“Let’s just hope the next time it will be more pleasant.” Techno plopped himself down next to Phil, watching the sun slowly rise from the horizon.
.
It wasn’t supposed to end like this.
Punz crashed into the secret lab, sending papers and folders flying in his haste. Why did no one remember? Why did none of them remember Dream? Even Sapnap and George spared him a look of confusion. Why were they continuing on without Dream?
He flicked open the enderchest. It should be here. It had to be. The proof of his lord should be.
Here.
The copy of the revival book. Punz breathed out in relief; hands trembled to grasp the book and hug it close. It wasn’t a hallucination. Punz stepped back until he hit the wall, sliding down to the floor while cradling the book. All the sacrifices Dream went through, the tortures, they weren’t false.
He had to find Dream.
The revival book would guide him. He would find him. No matter what.
In the darkness, hunger continued to grow.
Till we meet again.