Chapter Text
Tommy’s body jolted as he moved along with the stone slab as it made its way through the lava and onto obsidian flooring before retracting and the several layers of lava fell back into place. He turned to face the only prisoner in this insane build.
“You don’t look so good,” Tommy said with a confident smile as blue eyes took in Dream’s miserable sight.
“T-Tommy?” Dream lifted his head from where he was slumped against the hot obsidian wall.
Tommy cringed at the other’s voice. It sounded like glass shards scraping across a chalkboard.
“You don’t use that voice of yours much, big man?” he taunted, trying to make the suffocating atmosphere as light-hearted as he can.
“N..not anymore. I screamed out most of my v-vocal cords.” Dream’s voice cracked.
“Why would you do that? You love hearing yourself talk.” Tommy wandered over to the frame that once held the clock.
“What happened to your clock, Dream?” He asked.
“S-sam took it away from me, as punishment.” He replied.
“Why? What did you do?”
“That’s just it, I don’t know what I did. I was just playing with my clock then he came in here, s-slurring his words and a stick in hand.” Dream absentmindedly placed a hand on his shoulder, fresh whips, and broken skin ached. Dream winced.
Tommy noticed and he stood in silence for a minute.
“Dream, I’m going to ask you something, and I need you to be honest with me.” The boy’s voice lost its usual chipper. Dream didn’t reply other than blink at him with hazy green eyes.
“Does Sam…” he took a breath, trying to ease into the question. “Does he, you know, does he beat you?” Neither males said anything, Dream paused, his hazy eyes focused for a moment before replying.
“He does more than just that.”
Tommy raised an eyebrow, curious but scared to know what exactly Sam has been doing to him.
“He also starves me, as punishment. He sometimes comes in here just to yell at me, at first it was because I kept burning the clocks, but now it’s just to yell at me. He has this weapon, it’s an enchanted sword. He named it something like ‘Will Breaker’ and he uses that to...to punish me.” Dream cleared his throat.
Tommy blinked, that doesn’t sound right. Tommy knows Sam, and Sam wouldn’t do a thing like this. Sam is kind, Sam is protective and he keeps Tommy busy with his hotel.
Tommy scoffed. "You're just trying to manipulate me." He crossed his arms. He wasn't going to let Dream into his head a second time.
"What? No. No, you-you have to believe me! I'm telling the truth!" Dream cried out, he felt like gagging from the friction his dried throat caused.
"Yeah right. I see you're still on your B.S. I'm leaving."
He turned to call for Sam but was stopped by a hand grabbing his wrist. Tommy noticed how it shook and how the skin felt weird. Has Dream's hand always felt so weird with raised patches of skin, has it always felt calloused and boney?
Dream retracted his hand and nearly ripped off the buttons to his prison uniform. He threw it on the ground and peeled off the once white undershirt that's now stained with blood from his sweaty skin. He threw that too.
Tommy was taken aback, he was about to make a joke about how he's stripping in front of the wrong British guy but the joke died on his tongue when Dream turned around and placed his arms on the walls, his skin sizzled and bubbled upon impact.
Blue eyes landed on the multiple gashes that littered Dream's back, not one part of his skin went untouched. Scars overlapped and wounds bled on each other.
"What…?"
Dream turned back around, and Tommy saw how thin he's become, his collarbone sharp and he can see his ribs.
"Look at me, Tommy." He said with his arms thrown out wide.
"Look at me, I don't think I'm going to go on for much longer, Tommy." Dream's voice shook.
Dream looked so small now, a mere echo of the man he used to be. His power and stimulation stripped in this vault of his.
Tommy was lost in his new-found horror. "T-Tommy," Dream started as he placed his hands on his shoulders.
"I-I need to get out of here, I'm going to die. He-Sam- is going to kill me soon. He's getting violent and he starves me most days now," Dream sucked in a breath.
"I can't die without telling you how to revive the dead, right? You need to help me escape," He took another breath "anything helps, even if it's just learning how to get to the cell on your own."
Tommy only stood there, looking at the man dead in the eyes. He noticed this is the first time he's seen him without the mask.
Before Tommy could reply, he heard the sound of clicking the stone slab, and then the sound of heeled boots clicked against the obsidian floor. The boy saw Dream's eyes fill with fear. Tommy turned his head to see Sam, holding a weapon, an enchanted sword.