Chapter Text
Nightmare barely had time to react before the sounds of blasters charging filled the air around him.
His tentacles lashed instinctively as he glanced around. Sanses, too many of them, while most of them were only copies he could pin point a handful that were originals, all with Gaster Blasters trained directly at him. Of course, he should have known that the moment he'd realized he was alone, separated from the others, he had already expected this outcome.
An ambush.
A pathetic attempt to eliminate him while he was isolated, his expression darkened. "How predictable."
Then a familiar voice shattered through the tension.
"No... No!"
Nightmare froze, his eyesocket widened as he turned toward the source.
Dream.
His brother was rushing toward him.
Why?
Before he could process it, several Sanses and even Papyrus grabbed hold of the Guardian of Positivity, physically restraining him.
"Wh— Dream!"
Nightmare stared as Dream struggled violently against them, golden magic crackling around him as he fought to break free.
"Hold Dream back!" one of the Sanses shouted. "We can't allow him to get to Nightmare!"
"Get off me!"
Nightmare's eyelights flickered.
What...?
Dream continued fighting against their grip, desperately trying to reach him, not trying to stop him, but to reach him.
"Brother!" Dream cried, tears already forming. "You have to escape! Please!"
The words hit Nightmare harder than any attack ever could, for a moment, he simply stared, as confusion washed over him, then disbelief, then something else he couldn't quite name.
Why was Dream— Why was he warning him? Why was he crying?
Nightmare's frown deepened, his tentacles slowly stilled.
"Why are you all doing this?!" Dream shouted. The assembled Sanses visibly tensed as Dream's voice cracked. "Me, Ink and Blue specifically ordered not to do an ambush on any of the Bad Sanses!"
Nightmare's entire body went rigid.
What?
"You’re going against the council if you continue this!" Fresh tears spilled down Dream's face as he continued struggling against those restraining him.
Nightmare could only stare. The anger he'd been holding onto since arriving began to evaporate. The rage, the certainty, the expectation of betrayal, all of it. Gone as his mind replayed Dream's words over and over.
His eyesockets widened slightly.
They... They never approved this?
For the first time since the trap had sprung around him, Nightmare looked away from Dream and toward the gathered Sanses, and suddenly, their guilty expressions told him everything he needed to know.
This hadn't been Dream's plan, this hadn't been sanctioned, this was a group of idiots deciding they knew better, and judging by the look on Dream's face, his brother was just as horrified as he was. Nightmare's eyesocket narrowed.
"We have to do this, Dream!" the apparent leader of the group shouted, the original Mobtale Sans. "The Bad Sanses must no longer reign terror across the Multiverse!"
Dream immediately frowned.
"Do you have any idea what you're going to end up doing?!" he demanded. "Killing my brother is a sin!"
Nightmare froze as something twisted painfully in his SOUL.
"AND HIM KILLING THE REST OF THE MULTIVERSE ISN'T?!" the Mobtale Sans yelled back. "FACE IT, DREAM! THEY'RE THE BAD GUYS AND WE HAVE TO ELIMINATE THEM!"
Dream flinched, hard, while the movement was brief and most wouldn't have noticed as evident that the leader certainly didn't. But Nightmare did, he always noticed. For a moment, the battlefield disappeared, and all Nightmare could see was Dream instinctively shrinking back from the yelling and the fear flashing across his face for a split second.
Something snapped.
A surge of rage unlike anything he'd felt moments before erupted inside him, not because they were trying to kill him, no, but because they made Dream look afraid.
"DON'T YOU FUCKING YELL AT HIM LIKE THAT!" The words tore from Nightmare's throat as he lunged forward.
Before anyone could react, one of his tentacles shot through the leader's chest making the Sans gasped, his eyesockets widened in shock.
Nightmare barely noticed, as his focus remained on Dream, who looked equally stunned, whose tears hadn't stopped falling, who had been trying to save him this entire time.
However apparently the leader manage to spoke his last word before finally dusting.
"Attack..."
Nightmare's eyesockets widened.
No.
Across the battlefield, Dream's eyelights shrank into pinpricks.
"NO!"
The scream ripped from his brother's throat. Too late, far too late as every Gaster Blaster fired simultaneously.
The world vanished in white for Nightmare filled with pain and agony.
He screamed as the blasts tore through his bones and magic alike, every inch of him felt like it was being ripped apart all at once. His tentacles dissolved into ash, cracks raced across his bones, his magic spiraled violently out of control.
He could hear Dream screaming, however the sound was distant, drowned beneath the roar of the blasters and the unbearable agony consuming him.
It hurt.
Stars.
It hurt.
As his vision blurred, Nightmare's gaze found Dream one last time who's still struggling, crying, trying to reach him.
The realization hurt more than the blasters ever could, that Dream had never betrayed him and had come for him. And now he had to watch this happen because nobody listened, because a group of self-righteous idiots had decided they knew better.
Nightmare's scream finally broke into a choked gasp as the blasts continued to tear him apart, the last thing he saw was Dream reaching for him.
The last thing he heard was his brother's voice.
And then there was nothing but pain as Nightmare screamed. The sound barely registered through the agony.
Pain tore through every part of his being as the concentrated magic burned through bone, soul, and magic alike. Cracks spread rapidly across his body, pieces of him beginning to dissolve into dust under the relentless assault.
It hurt.
Stars, it hurt.
For the first time in a very long time, Nightmare was afraid, not for himself, no he was afraid for them, his boys, his family. For Error, the idiot who pretended not to care while secretly caring far too much, the one who loved chocolate despite constantly denying it, the one who recoiled from touch but never pushed them away when they truly needed him. For Killer, who had used what remains of his emotions and somehow managed to build love from them, who laughed too loudly, who smiled too brightly, who deserved so much more than the life he'd been given. For Horror, the one who always made sure everyone ate before he did, who quietly carried burdens nobody asked him to bear, who looked after all of them without expecting anything in return. For Dust, the observant one, the one who somehow always knew when something was wrong, who would notice his absence immediately, who would blame himself for not being there. And finally for Cross. His thoughts lingered on him the longest. Cross, the youngest, the baby of the family, the one who still had so much ahead of him.
So many reasons to keep living, so many things left unfinished. Nightmare's SOUL twisted painfully. They weren't ready, none of them were, not without him. Fear gripped him tighter than the blasters ever could. Because they depended on him, and in return he depended on them. They were a family, his family, and he was about to leave them behind.
The realization that he will not survive this hurt more than the attacks.
Another scream tore from his throat as the blasters continued firing. His vision blurred as his body felt lighter, pieces of him were already turning to dust.
No.
No, no, no—
Not yet. He wasn't ready, he hadn't said goodbye, he hadn't told them—
His thoughts shattered beneath another wave of pain.
Anguish flooded through him. Not because he was dying, but because he was dying alone, without one final conversation, without one last argument, without one last family dinner, without one last chance to tell them how proud he was, how much he cared, how much they meant to him, he wouldn't get to say goodbye to Error, or Killer, or Horror, or Dust, or Cross.
And at this point... Maybe not even Dream.
His eyes searched desperately through the haze of magic and light. Dream. He could still see him, still could hear him screaming, still struggling trying to reach him, trying to save him.
The thought nearly broke him. They had only just found each other again, only just begun to understand one another, and now this was how it ended.
Nightmare's magic flickered violently as his distress deepened, not only because of his family or only because of Dream, but because of what came after. The balance, the burden that for countless years he had carried half of it.
Whether Dream knew the full extent of it or not didn't matter.
If Nightmare died here then Dream would be left alone to shoulder everything. The thought filled Nightmare with guilt.
He never wanted that for his baby brother.
Never.
The blasters continued to roar, his body was rapidly coming apart now, dust drifting from his bones, his magic unraveling, his consciousness slipping, and through it all, one final thought echoed through his mind.
I'm sorry.
To his boys, to Dream, to everyone he was about to leave behind.
I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough.
The darkness began creeping into the edges of his vision and for the first time in years, Nightmare truly felt helpless.
Time stopped, or at least, that's what it felt like. The blasters continued firing, the agony continued consuming him and his body continued breaking apart. Yet somehow, everything felt impossibly slow, each second stretched into eternity, every scream that tore from his throat seemed to linger endlessly in the air.
Nightmare could feel himself fading, and through it all he could see Dream. The Guardian stood frozen, eyesockets wide, his body is motionless while look horrified.
Nightmare hated it.
Stars, he hated it, Dream was seeing everything, there would be no sparing him from this, no protecting him from the memory that would undoubtedly haunt him for the rest of his existence.
Nightmare wanted to look away, wanted Dream to look away, wanted anything except this, but neither of them could because the connection between them felt stronger than ever like the universe itself was forcing them to share this moment. Forcing Dream to witness every ounce of fear, every fragment of anguish, every desperate thought racing through Nightmare's mind as he died, and forcing Nightmare to witness Dream's horror in return.
His brother looked broken, completely broken.
A part of Nightmare wanted to laugh bitterly.
What a cruel joke.
The thought hurt almost as much as the blasters, almost.
Nightmare's vision flickered as the battlefield blurred, the screams around him faded, and everything was becoming distant. When suddenly something changed.
A sound tore through the battlefield. Dream screamed, contrary not in fear or horror, but in rage. Pure, unrestrained rage.
Nightmare's eyesockets widened.
Dream moved.
The Guardian lunged one of the Sanses who barely had time to react before Dream seized the arm holding him back.
For a brief moment, everyone froze, even Nightmare, because the amount of raw power radiating from Dream was staggering, the next second, Dream moved.
The Sans was ripped off his feet and thrown, a sickening crack echoed across the battlefield at the same time, said skeleton screamed, his arm bending at an angle it was never meant to.
Gasps erupted from the surrounding crowd, but nobody dared to move or spoke.
Because finally they truly understood something, currently Dream wasn't fighting to protect the Multiverse, or acting as a Guardian, or acting as a member of the council. Dream was currently acting as a brother, and right now his brother was dying.
Nightmare felt something tighten painfully inside his SOUL, not fear or anger, but omething far worse, because despite the pain, one thought echoed louder than all the rest. Dream had come for him. Dream had chosen him.
Then the smoke began clearing, and Nightmare saw gold.
Dream.
His brother was running toward him, panic briefly flared inside Nightmare.
No. Don't look. Please don't look.
Not like this. Not—
Dream reached him, and stopped, Nightmare watched the horror spread across his face, watched the color drain from it, a small, broken sound escaped Dream's throat.
"N-No..."
Nightmare's SOUL twisted painfully as Dream's hands trembled.
"N-No... No. Nononononono..."
The words came apart into panicked hiccups and sobs.
Stars.
Nightmare hated this. Seeing Dream like this.
Dream dropped to his knees, then carefully, so carefully, lifted him as though he were made of glass, as though the slightest wrong movement would make him fall apart completely.
Maybe it would Nightmare honestly wasn't sure anymore.
The world shifted as Dream pulled him into his lap, arms wrapped around him, holding him close, protecting him, just like what Nightmare would do to Dream in their youth.
"N-No... Nighty..."
Nightmare froze, the nickname hit him harder than the blasters ever had, how long had it been since he'd heard that? Years? Centuries? It felt like another lifetime.
"Nighty, pl-please..." Dream's voice broke, "No..."
Tears dripped onto Nightmare's skull, Nightmare wanted to tell him to stop crying, wanted to tell him he was being ridiculous, wanted to make some sarcastic comment.
Anything.
Anything to make that devastated expression disappear, but his jaw wouldn't cooperate, his body felt heavier with every passing second, the darkness creeping into his vision grew stronger.
Dream's golden magic was gone, completely gone, the brilliant warmth that usually surrounded him had vanished, leaving behind nothing but fear. Nightmare felt something wet land against his cheekbone, another tear, and another.
Dream was trying.
Stars, he was trying so hard.
The black goop shifted weakly around Nightmare's broken frame as Dream desperately attempted to keep him together, to preserve what little remained, as if refusing to accept reality would somehow stop the dusting process.
Nightmare almost laughed.
Almost.
The sound never came.
Around them, voices shouted, someone was talking about the Sans Dream had thrown, someone else was yelling for healing magic, others were whispering and arguing, trying to justify what had happened.
Nightmare couldn't bring himself to care, for once, none of them mattered, only Dream, who was holding him like he could somehow keep him from slipping away, who looked more terrified than Nightmare had ever seen him, and that including when the Apple Incident happened.
Nightmare's remaining hand twitched weakly, he wanted to reach up, wanted to wipe away the tears, wanted to tell his brother that none of this was his fault, that he didn't blame him, that he never would.
But his arm refused to move, he knows his body was failing, and judging by the way more dust drifted from his ribs... It's failing fast.
Nightmare was so tired.
The pain was still there, burning through what remained of his body, but it felt distant now. Fading. Numb. Like his SOUL had finally decided it could no longer process that much agony all at once. Every breath felt weaker than the last. Every second that passed seemed to take another piece of him with it. Dust continued drifting from his frame, carried away by forces he could no longer feel. Yet despite everything, despite the darkness steadily creeping into the edges of his vision and the frightening lightness spreading throughout his body, he could still feel Dream holding him. Holding him so tightly, as though letting go would somehow cause Nightmare to disappear entirely. Maybe it would. Maybe Dream already knew that.
"Br-Brother plea-ease..." Dream's voice cracked so badly it barely sounded like him anymore. "Don't... Don't l-leave me..."
Nightmare's SOUL clenched.
Stars.
That hurt, because there was nothing he could do. Dream was the Guardian of Positivity. His magic is always more attune to healing, yet here, now, when he needed it most, Dream couldn't use any of it.
Positivity and Negativity.
Light and Dark.
Their magic rejected one another by their very nature, if Dream tried to heal him, it would only make things worse. Nightmare knew that. Dream knew that, and judging by the way his brother trembled with helplessness, Dream hated it.
He hated being unable to fix this, unable to save him, unable to do anything except watch. Nightmare wanted to tell him it wasn't his fault, wanted to tell him that some things couldn't be fixed, but even speaking felt impossible now, his jaw was heavy, his thoughts sluggish, his magic flickering like a dying candle, still, he forced himself to focus, to stay awake, just a little longer for Dream.
"Dr... Ea... M..."
The effort nearly exhausted him, immediately, Dream's attention snapped toward him, the desperation in his brother's expression made Nightmare's chest ache.
"Y-Yes— Yes brother?"
More tears spilled down Dream's face, Nightmare couldn't remember ever seeing him cry this much, not even when they were children, not even after everything that had happened between them.
Dream looked shattered.
Nightmare hated it, he hated being the reason for it.
"It's... O... Kay..." The words came out barely above a whisper.
Yet Dream heard them and immediately shook his skull.
"N-No..." Another sob escaped him. "No... It's not— It's— n-not okay..."
Nightmare watched as Dream lowered his head as if he couldn't bear to look at him anymore, as if seeing what remained of him was too painful, the sight broke something inside Nightmare.
Because Dream was right, this wasn't okay, there was nothing okay about dying, nothing okay about being ripped away from the people you loved, nothing okay about leaving family behind, nothing okay about watching your brother fall apart while you sat helplessly in his arms.
But Nightmare wasn't saying it for himself, he was saying it for Dream, because he knows that Dream had spent so long carrying the weight of everyone else's happiness, spent so long trying to save everyone, trying to fix everything, trying to shoulder burdens that were never meant to belong to one person, and now he was trying to do it again.
Trying to save Nightmare.
Nightmare wanted him to stop, just for a moment long enough to understand that none of this was his fault, that he hadn't failed, that Nightmare didn't blame him and would never blame him.
Dream's tears continued falling onto his bones, for the first time in centuries, Nightmare wished things had been different, wished they had more time, more opportunities to be brothers instead of enemies, because now that he finally had his brother back, now that he finally knew Dream still cared...
Nightmare could feel himself slipping.
The darkness at the edge of his vision had grown thicker, heavier, swallowing more and more of the world with every passing second. His body barely felt like his anymore. Large portions of it were already gone, reduced to drifting dust that escaped into the air no matter how tightly Dream held him. Every breath felt shallow. Every thought required effort. Even remaining conscious was becoming a struggle.
Slowly, with far more effort than it should have taken, Nightmare lifted what remained of his arm, the movement felt sluggish, like he was trying to move through wet cement, still, he managed it.
"He... ey..."
Dream golden eyelights immediately looked down at him, those red-rimmed eyesockets somehow looked even worse up close. Nightmare forced his hand higher, then gently brushed his thumb against Dream's cheekbone wiping away a tear.
Dream immediately leaned into the touch, the action was so instinctive that it made something ache deep inside Nightmare's SOUL.
Stars.
He really had missed this, he missed his brother, missed being allowed to care, missed moments like this.
"What...?" Dream's voice broke around the single word while another sob escaped him.
Nightmare wanted to answer, instead, all that came out was silence as his strength was fading too quickly. Dream carefully pulled him closer as if trying to shield him from the world. Nightmare felt Dream bury his face near his skull and immediately understood why, Dream couldn't watch, he couldn't bear to see the dust falling from him, but Dream would never do that.
Dream had always been stubborn.
His thoughts had started to drifted when something else caught his attention, a familiar feeling, lots of them from regret, fear, shock, to guilt. The battlefield practically reeked of them, yet buried underneath was something else that immediately made Nightmare's remaining eyelight darken.
The satisfaction, the triumph, the relief, while not from all of them it's enough to notice, and to make his stomach twist.
Because some of them were happy at watching him die, watching Dream break apart, watching a family lose someone they loved. Nightmare had spent centuries feeding on negativity, he knew what those emotions felt like, and these idiots weren't even trying to hide it. Some genuinely believed they had done the right thing, some were relieved, some felt vindicated, and a few were enjoying it.
The realization filled him with disgust, especially for Dream, because he could practically feel the fury beginning to simmer beneath Dream's grief that slowly replacing the despair. Dream wasn't noticing it consciously yet, but Nightmare could.
The feeling of outrage, betrayal, and most importantly the anger.
How dare they.
How dare they stand there after this.
How dare they feel proud.
How dare they act as though they had accomplished something noble.
Nightmare wanted to laugh, the sound never came because suddenly, another sensation cut through the battlefield as a familiar sound echoed nearby, someone had trying to open a portal.
Nightmare's remaining eyelight flickered weakly, Dream felt it too, he could tell immediately with the way his body tensed, with the way the grief momentarily gave way to something colder into something dangerous.
Nightmare couldn't see Dream's expression from this angle, but he didn't need to because the emotions rolling off his brother told him everything.
These idiots thought they could leave, thought they could walk away from this, and they thought could escape the consequences. For the first time since the attack began, Nightmare felt the faintest spark of concern for everyone else present. Because Dream was angry now, and an angry Guardian was far more frightening than a grieving one.
Nightmare had witnessed countless deaths throughout his existence, he had watched entire timelines collapse into nothingness, watched worlds burn, eatched civilizations disappear. Death itself had long since stopped surprising him.
But this? This was different.
The dust left behind by the first Sans still drifted through the air.
Yellow residue stained the ground where he had stood only moments ago, and Nightmare couldn't stop staring at it. Slowly, he lifted his gaze toward Dream. His brother had turned his attention toward the spot where the skeleton had dusted.
The tears hadn't stopped, yet something in his expression had changed.
Dream looked... distant, like part of his mind was somewhere else entirely, the sight sent unease crawling through Nightmare's SOUL.
Around them, the battlefield erupted into confusion.
"What the fuck?!" one of the Sanses shouted, the panic in his voice was immediate. Nightmare honestly couldn't even blame him, nobody knew what they had just witnessed after all.
"Okay— what the hell happened?!"
More shouting, more panic, the emotions flooding the area were becoming overwhelming from the most common being fear, then confusion, then disbelief, and finally regret. Nightmare could taste all of it, and buried beneath everything else was the first spark of true terror.
The realization that they were no longer in control.
"Quick! Open a portal to Sci—"
The sentence never finished and Nightmare felt it happen. A wave of positivity so dense it practically distorted the air itself. His remaining eyelight widened.
No.
Dream hadn't even moved, he had only need to looked and the unfortunate skeleton jerked violently.
"—hrk—"
His body trembled, then came the laughter.
"Aha..."
The skeleton's hands flew to his skull as if trying to hold himself together, instinctively understood something was terribly wrong.
"AHAHA..."
The laughter grew louder and more desperate.
"AHAHAHAHAHA!"
Another skeleton beside him immediately stumbled backward, then another.
Then another.
The effect quickly spread like wildfire.
Nightmare watched in stunned silence as determination flooded their SOULs, not normal quiet strength that allowed someone to persevere, this was determination stripped of restraint and amplified beyond reason, forced to impossible levels, it mixed with excitement, with hope, joy, and ambition until none of them could distinguish where one emotion ended and another began.
Their minds simply drowned beneath it all.
The first skeleton collapsed to his knees still laughing as yellow liquid began dripping from his eyesockets.
Nightmare felt his SOUL sink.
Stars.
Determination really was a positive emotion and Dream was flooding them with enough positivity to break them apart from the inside.
Another skeleton suddenly burst into manic laughter, then another.
Then another.
The battlefield descended into chaos as some attempted to run by trying to open portal, some screamed warnings, others simply stared in horror as their companions began losing control.
None of it mattered.
Because every time Dream's gaze shifted someone else began laughing.
Nightmare's grip on consciousness slipped further, yet he couldn't look away, couldn't stop watching because despite the horror unfolding around them Dream wasn't smiling, if anything, he looked utterly devastated, as though he hated every second of what he was doing.
But another part... A much larger part... No longer cared, someone had murdered his brother, had forced him to watch it happen, had taken away his chance to save him, and now the Guardian of Positivity had stopped holding back.
Nightmare felt a chill run through his SOUL, not because he feared Dream, but because he suddenly understood something horrifying. For centuries, everyone had worried about what would happen if the Guardian of Negativity lost control, nobody had ever stopped to consider what would happen if the Guardian of Positivity did.
The battlefield was becoming distant, it all sounded muffled now, as though Nightmare were hearing it from the bottom of a lake, he vaguely registered more shouting as the remaining skeletons finally began understanding the danger.
"Okay! Don't open a portal! You'll risk dusting!"
Nightmare couldn't find it in himself to care, only one thing did.
Dream.
His brother was still holding him, still refusing to let go, still trying to keep him together despite knowing it was impossible.
Nightmare could feel his own body dying, more dust drifted from his ribs, from his arms, from fractures that no longer had enough magic left to maintain their shape. He was running out of time.
Fast.
"Broth... Er...?" The word barely escaped him, even speaking felt difficult now.
Dream immediately looked down, as though nothing else in existence could have pulled his attention away faster.
Stars.
"I'm sorry..."
The whisper was so quiet Nightmare almost missed it.
"I'm so, so sorry..."
His SOUL clenched.
No.
No, no, no.
Not this.
Anything but this.
Dream lowered his gaze, unable to meet his eye lights.
"I- I'm sorry... for being such a b-bad brother..."
The words shattered something inside Nightmare, because all this time Dream had been carrying that? Even after everything? Even now? Dream still thought he'd failed him.
Nightmare wanted to sit up, he wanted to grab him by the shoulders, wanted to yell at him, wanted to tell him how stupid that was, instead, all he could do was listen.
"I'm... sorry... for- for everything..." Dream's voice cracked completely.
The sound hurt, far more than his body slowly dusting, more than dying ever had.
Nightmare stared up at him, at the brother who had crossed a battlefield for him, who had still cried for him, who had fought for him, who had held him together as he fell apart, and somehow still believed he wasn't enough.
A small smile tugged at Nightmare's face, weak but genuine.
"N-No..." The words caught painfully in his throat, dust scattered from his mandible.
"I'm... I'm sorry t-too..." And he meant it.
For everything, for the bitterness, for the hatred, for the years they'd wasted, for every opportunity he'd thrown away, for every time he'd convinced himself Dream didn't care, for every wall he'd built between them. The regret would probably follow him into death.
"Can... C-Can you do me... a favor...?"
Dream immediately nodded without hesitation.
"What— What is it brother?"
Nightmare closed his eye sockets for a moment, gathering what little strength remained, trying to find the right words. Dream had spent his entire life carrying responsibilities, the last thing Nightmare wanted was to leave him with more.
"Take... Ta-ake care of... of yourself..."
Dream froze.
Nightmare could almost see the realization trying to form, could almost see the protest building.
Then another wave of pain hit.
"F-Fuck..." His body jerked as fresh dust drifted from his chest.
The sensation made even Nightmare realize how little time remained and judging by the look on Dream's face his brother realized it too.
"B-Brother?!" Panic exploded through Dream's voice, his grip tightened instantly. "Brother please...!" The desperation nearly broke Nightmare's SOUL. "You have to— you can't die! No!"
Stars.
Dream sounded terrified, like a child, like the little brother Nightmare clearly remembered, the one who used to follow him everywhere, the one who used to believe they would always have each other.
Nightmare wished he could stay. More than anything, for Dream, for his boys, for all the things left unfinished. But wishes weren't enough, not this time.
So instead he smiled gently, the best smile he could manage. Then leaned upward slightly, just enough one last effort for one final request.
"G-Go... find my... my boys..."
The people he loved, the people who deserved to know what happened, the people who would need someone after he was gone. Nightmare trusted Dream with them. The realization brought him more peace than he expected.
His vision faded further as the world grew darker, the sounds around him disappeared, the pain finally began fading away, and the last thing Nightmare saw was Dream still holding him looking at him like he mattered, like he was loved.
And Nightmare was gone.