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we laid our names to rest
along the dotted line.
we left our date of birth
and our history behind.
Elaina raced down the core doors, the sun glaring at her through every grand window she passed. Her steps were light as her feet practically flew from tile to tile. People slide to the side as quickly as she ran in order to prevent being knocked down. Every couple, there’d be a lone person unaware of their surroundings who would receive a rushed “watch out!” and narrowly avoid a crash.
“You cannot keep allowing these wild goose chases.” Eret was pacing the length of the desk that sat behind them, arms crossed and brows scrunched above their blank eyes. This wasn’t a new discussion. It’s one that has been brought up a couple of times in the last month or so and has yet to find a solution. The difficulty lies in the fact that both sides have valid concerns that either party knows. “It’s draining on our already limited resources and the energy it uses-”
“Eret, you know as well as I do if we do not prepare ourselves, we will be caught with our pants down,” Foolish counters. He gets a loud sigh at the crude metaphor. The totem god has his back against the bookshelf cabinet, his eyes following his old friend’s movements.
“We have lived in peace for decades, away from it all,” Eret argued, flinging their arms out and to their side aggressively. “I don’t understand why we can’t remain as we are.”
“We’re a threat as we stand to anyone craving power because here, in the Inbetween, we have more. You alone have more capabilities than any leader who we’ve come in contact with.” Eret looked down at one of their palms as black particles fluttered up and then to the floor, gracefully. It’s funny, really. What they used to think of as a curse became a blessing when they learned to no longer live in horror of it. “I’m a god of death. With us in the picture, with our society, people will always be afraid because they fear what they can’t understand. We’ll always be-”
The conversation seized as the attentions of both people were directed to the door that had burst open. “I’m sorry to interrupt. But it’s important,” Elaina said, looking up at the two. She always hated barging in, though growing close with Eret, in particular, made her feel less guilty.
“Go on, Elaina,” Eret urged.
“Dream. He’s back.” Both beings stood up straight at the mention of a man who’d come looking for powers once before. He’d managed to injure and even kill some when he broke in, only to be stopped when Eret and Foolish stepped in. No matter how strong he was, a mortal with a sword and an axe will never be more than that.
Foolish smirked. He always found a bit of amusement in humans and their ambitions. They may be feeble. But they can be quite persistent when they want. Eret didn’t share the same sentiment, maybe because they were much closer related than Foolish was. “Let’s go see what the green boy wants now.” Boy , Eret couldn’t hold back a chuckle. They gave Foolish a moment to grab and secure his shark inspired helmet.
“This should be good,” they replied.
The masked man in green was surrounded by guards, who all seemed to be unharmed. He had his hands up to mimic a surrender. But was quite casual despite the fact weapons were pointed from all sides. His eyes seemed to brighten when he saw the two leaders approaching, like they were the main event. “Eret. Foolish. Long time no see?”
Eret scoffed. He speaks as if they’re on friendly terms, or even acquaintances. Last time Dream had come, he was looking to become a god. Now he’s back and while he may just be human, he always had something up his sleeve and that made him dangerous, someone they were weary of. “Why are you here.”
“Vacation. I simply love admiring architecture in my free time and what you have here in this cute little place, while maybe a bit bland, is exquisite.” Dream was stalling. But why was the question at hand. Eret could not read him.
Foolish seemed to be thinking the same, uninterested in keeping the conversation going. “You are not welcomed here.”
“Pity. If you so rudely want to push aside pleasantries, who am I to complain.” It was like a flip switched. Before anyone could blink, battle had commenced, initiated by none other than the masked man. A handful of glass potions were thrown onto the ground and right off the bat, people crumpled to the ground. Arrows were then shot into a few others and Eret watched the lives they'd grown to care deeply about perish. Once he’d whittled down enough of the troops without breaking a sweat, he pulled out his axe and engaged in hand to hand combat, which was unfortunate because Dream was probably the most skilled in the room.
“Go! Get to safety and secure the premise,” Eret shouted to the soldiers. “Me and Foolish can hold him off.” They could tell people wanted to argue, to stay and fight. But reluctantly, everyone agreed and scattered, leaving just the masked man and his two adversaries.
Foolish pulled his trident out from where it rested attached to a strap on his back and slammed it onto the ground, causing the building to shake and thunder to roar. “This ends today, Dream. You have harmed enough of my people for what? Greed? Selfish desire? You are too dangerous to leave alive, you’ve shown me.”
Dream sneered, pointing his sword at Foolish. “It’s funny. You think that just because you’re some god, you are untouchable. Your fatal flaw will always be your pride. And you-” Dream turns his body so that he was now aiming at Eret. “you are just his little pet. Slightly better than these ants that run around. But never at the same level as your master.”
Eret rolls their wrists in a circle, a small haze of black now hovering above their palms once they face upwards to the ceiling. “He’s not my master. Unlike you, we don’t dictate based on brute. Explaining this to you, a man driven by nothing but power, is useless.” With that, Eret shoots their hand out and the black particles that had been collecting now fired out towards Dream. The magic hit Dream’s shield, which was used to block his face, and ate away at it quickly. The force from the attack sent him back a few steps. But he recovered quickly, barely rattled. Eret shot out more withering spells, which Dream swiftly dodged.
Eret and Foolish proceeded to lessen the distance between them and their opponents, sword and trident raised, respectively. Foolish was the first to strike, thrusting his trident forwards, only for Dream to dodge. Eret then swung their sword above and clashed with the upper handle of the axe. While blocking Eret’s attack, Dream kicked to the side and Foolish was knocked to the ground from the weight of the armoured kick.
Once Foolish was back, Dream took the chance to deflect Eret’s sword, shoving them back as well to give him space for what he would do next. He quickly pulled out a glowing book from hidden inside his cloak and swung it open to where a bookmark was located. Eret aimed another particle shot at the book, as they feared what could be the contents. But, before their very eyes, Dream read off a spell and the blast just stopped. He’d clearly prepared, bringing black magic to the battle in order to even the playing field. “What the fuck,” Eret muttered before deciding to swing their sword again. If range attacks weren’t going to work, they’d just have to improvise.
Eret jumped up into the air and prepared to crash their sword down onto their opponents head, only for a blast to knock them and Foolish, who’d charged as well, to the ground. Before they could get back up, Dream had grabbed their chin roughly, a sinister grin on his face. He began to read off a chant. “Say goodnight, Eret. So long for now.”
Foolish watched as his old friend went limp, eyelids falling shut. He screamed Eret’s name and got no response. “What have you done to him?” Foolish questioned, eyes glaring daggers. A bolt of lightning flew from Foolish’s fingers. But it had the same effect as Eret’s magic had. Movement seized and it simply hoovered for a few seconds before exploding right back in his face.
While Foolish was recovering from the stun, Dream skipped a few pages and began rapidly reading it out. He wanted to move, to grab his trident and attack or summon a storm cloud and strike Dream where he stood. But he found himself completely drained of all energy and as the spell was read, he just continued to weaken.
Seeing no other option, Foolish stumbled to his feet and ran, an aching feeling racing through his body as it attempted to fight off whatever curse had been bestowed upon him. It was only a matter of time, he knew. He raced into his office, breathing heavy, and he felt like he was about to pass out.
Elaina was in there, in the process of removing various important texts and maps from the office like Eret had told her to do if they were to ever be attacked. There were secrets no one could find. “Foolish!” Elaina cried as she rushed over to help support the god’s weight.
He looked pale, sickly, almost human like and that terrified her. “It’s begun, Elaina. I thought we had more time.” His voice was raspy and she was doing her best to drag his limping body to a chair. He let out a sigh as he finally sat.
“What do you mean? We were supposed to!” The Inbetween was destined to fall eventually, everyone knew that. The goal was to set things up so that once they did fall, the powers this land held would not be abused by people with fowl intentions. “The Egg hasn’t even shown its roots yet-“
“Dream’s interference wasn’t foreseen. There’s barely any of us left as it is. Elaina-” Foolish called out, wanting the attention of the girl who was still running around the room to get things in order. “Ela, look at me!” His command got her to stop. She approached. “You’ve got to go.”
The color drained from her face. “Me? I can’t! It was supposed to be Illumina or Ranboo. I can’t-”
“They’re gone.” He was right. She couldn’t feel anyone else but them two and the one coming to kill. “You’re all that’s left.”
“No- no-” Elaina was shaking her head aggressively. Her eyes were beginning to tear up. God, she wished she could push down the anxieties riddling her mind, be the hero they needed. But she wasn’t ready to say goodbye to it all.
“I trust you.” Foolish was genuine, Elaina could tell. He’s putting his faith in her. He traced his thumb along her cheek, wiping away the only teardrop she let fall. “Go to the tree and you will have the ability to seal off this land, cast out Dream to anywhere but the here and now, and transfer the key to someone else. Make sure you do not go too far. The Egg must not have grown enough that it can sense your presence or you’ll put in danger whoever you choose.”
“You won’t have much time before the tree take’s its tax from you. Pick whoever the first person you see that you trust. Read them fast and make a decision that I would- that Eret would.” Foolish let out a pained cry and clenched his stomach, crumpling inwards. “Go now, Elaina!”
“I’ll see you again,” Elaina promised. Her voice had more confidence than before and while some of it might have been fabricated, she knew what she must do. Foolish met her eyes and nodded, giving her a small smile. He seemed to give in and after a look of relief washed across his face, he began to shrink down until he was no bigger than her hand and still. Elaina lifted the totem from the chair and placed it on the ground, half under the desk. “The Inbetween was never meant to be. We may have fallen. But we will not be lost. I won’t let us.”
Elaina could hear the footsteps growing closer as threw one of the many books at the window, glass shattering onto the grass on the other side of the wall. She climbed through, adrenaline rushing so fast through her veins that she barely noticed as the shards sliced the skin passing by.
Dream had smashed through the door with his axe, which was coated with blood. His eyes scanned the room, falling upon the small, golden totem. He approached, slowly. As he bent down to lift up the totem, he pushed the white mask up towards the top of his head so that he may get a better view of his handy work. “Rest well, Foolish. Know that your Eret will be safe, even if he will not remember.”
Elaina ran across the grass, past the swingset she’d often found herself sat upon, her head tilted to the sky. Infront of her stood the tree, an aura of life coming from it. Placing her hand on the white bark, she knew what she had to do. It was her sacrifice to be made.
Her senses went fuzzy and once her eyes had refocused, she was somewhere else. The only person in sight was a young man, hoodie of multiple colors on. He was currently standing on a very aggressively colorful flooring and building up a structure around it. He would have to do. She was on a strict time limit.
He seemed to notice her as she staggered, rushing to catch her right before she could fall. “Oh my god. What the- where did you come from- wait, are you alright? I should’ve asked that first,” the boy stuttered, bewildered by the fact this girl appeared out of nowhere. But more importantly, why was she here and not at spawn? That is where people are normally dropped in by Dream.
The girl gathered herself and stood up straight, waiting for the dizziness to pass before she spoke. “I don’t have much time. My name is Elaina. I need your help.”
“I- I’m Karl- Karl Jacobs,” the boy answered. “What’s wrong? What do you-”
“I don’t have the time to explain it all. Your world will be destroyed like mine unless you can stop it. I was almost too late. But you still have time. You need to trust me. Do you?” Karl hesitated for a moment before giving a slow nod. He had no idea who she was, what was happening, and frankly, he was just praying she wasn’t about to stab him through the stomach, to be honest.
Elaina cupped his face with her hands and felt the energy that flowed through her veins transfer, a glow encompassing the two. Karl, poor kid, looked a mix between confused and terrified. He didn’t have the same knowledge she grew up with. He had no idea what he just signed up for. “The fate of it all is now in your hands. The Inbetween is no longer what it once was. It will try to control you. You must not listen. Do not tell anyone of this, as they will not be trustable, and whatever you do, don’t believe the egg. I wish I could say more. My time is up. Goodbye, Karl Jacobs. But remember, don't forget-” In his arms, the mysterious girl faded away.
Do not forget? Forget what? Karl wondered desperately. He had next to no idea what just happened and only had about a second to comprehend everything because he felt his head begin to ache. The migraine worsened and slowly his vision began to fade.
“Hello there!” a man greeted as Karl came to, wearing a fisherman hat and copper goggles rested on top. They were in a cabin by the dock, where they all lived. Bejmanin , something in the back of Karl’s head identified the fisherman as. Stick to the script it echoed. His name was Issac and like his three friends, he was a fisherman about to go on an adventure. Elaina's words of warning played through his mind. Don't forget.
. . .
“Boys, I found another one!” Tommy shouted as he entered the spawn. He had intended to trap it because he thought it would be a funny way to welcome new members. Convincing Tubbo and Fundy to help wasn’t difficult. They were a chaotic group. But this one seemed to have been dropped in before he had gotten the chance. Bit unfortunate timing.
Fundy let out a long sigh, giving Tommy a look. He opened his mouth, about to say something, before Tommy quickly interrupted. “Wait- wait- wait. Before you say anything, I swear it wasn’t my fault. I found him like this.”
The body on the ground began to shift and let out a groan. “He’s not dead,” Tubbo remarked. Tommy was so tempted to call him “Captain Obvious”. But decided against it. He was supposed to be working on being nicer to Tubbo. Apparently he was “too mean” to his best friend. “Who are you?” the shortest of the bunch bluntly asked. “I’m Tubbo!”
The stranger took a moment to adjust to their surroundings before acknowledging the overly excited kid holding a hand out for them to take. “Eret…” they respond, accepting the gesture. They looked around at the unfamiliar location before looking back to the three. “Where am I?”
“I’m Fundy and this idiot’s Tommy. You’re in the Dream SMP now, dude. Do you not remember being invited?” Fundy questioned. Normally, when Dream brought people, he’d send them an invitation and let them come on their own. It was a bit strange that Eret is so confused.
“No.” Eret scrunched their face, taking a moment to dust off their pants. “I can’t remember anything, actually. Like, my memory is blank aside from my name.”
“That’s… different. Come. We-” Fundy paused quickly, looking at the devilish eyes of both Tommy and Tubbo, and corrected himself. “I can give you a tour of this place.”