Chapter Text
Something was off, and it had been for a few days. Dream didn’t know what that something was, but he knew it couldn’t be good.
First, he had not been left unattended for four days. There was always someone in the cell with him, just watching. Sometimes Bad or Sapnap, sometimes Puffy or Punz, and oddly enough even George occasionally.
Second, his food was changed from potatoes to a more varied diet. He was hesitant to eat the new food at first, worried that it might be poisoned. He was only willing after Puffy offered to split a meal with him and prove it wasn’t.
After that incident he didn’t hesitate to eat everything he was given. Admittedly he was getting sick of the potatoes.
Still, something had changed. While that would usually be a good thing, it left him uneasy. People were being nice. People were never just ‘nice’ for no reason, especially after what happened.
He knew they had a reason, a very important reason. They didn’t even deny that, they just refused to tell him. Even when he asked.
“Don’t worry muffin! We’ll be able to explain as soon as this all is over!” Bad said sweetly, though Dream could tell he was nervous.
“Sorry. Promised I wouldn’t tell you.” Sapnap narrowed angrily, though he didn’t seem angry at Dream oddly enough.
“I can’t tell you now Duckling, but as soon as I can I will. We’ve already made a little cabin for you to stay in as soon as you’re allowed out.” Puffy explained sweetly, with traces of guilt in her voice. This left him even more confused.
“What do you mean? When I’m allowed out? You and I both know that's never going to happen.” Dream hissed back. Puffy looked pained, but didn’t say anything more.
Even Punz was acting odd. One day Dream asked him how much he was being paid to babysit. Punz just watched him for a long time, before finally responding.
“Nothing.”
Dream scoffed “nothing? Then why are you here?”
“I need to make right by a friend” he admitted, but didn’t look Dream in the eye.
“Which friend?”
“A very old one” was all Punz told him, refusing to say more.
And George…
He didn’t ask George. He just couldn’t, he knew exactly why George was here. George cared for him, and he cared about George. He was the only one Dream cared about anymore. Yet they didn’t share a single word.
Well, that’s not entirely true. One day ago, the last time he saw George, they spoke. But the conversation was odd and Dream still can’t wrap his head around it.
“I have something for you” George spoke softly, pulling out Dream’s ceramic mask, offering it to the green eyed man. “Sam said you can have it back.”
He looked hesitantly at the smiling facade of a face. It used to bring him comfort, made him feel safe and strong. It was like armour he never had to take off. Not anymore. Sam took it on the first day he was here, and Dream didn’t fight. By then he stopped caring about fake armour, the only thing that mattered was real armour. Something that could actually protect him.
Not a piece of porcelain.
“I don’t want it.” Dream hissed “I don’t give a shit about the stupid thing anymore.”
George looked pained, but unsurprised. He nodded before tucking it away. “I’ll just keep it until you change your mind, you might need some comfort after we manage to fix this mess tomorrow.”
That left Dream thinking. What was going to happen? What mess needed to be fixed?
Dream was left unattended for the night, but didn’t get any sleep. His mind raced as he tried to connect the dots. At first he thought he was going to be executed, but that didn’t seem right. Everyone expected some sort of ‘after’ for him, they expected him to leave somewhere, to go somewhere, to be set free.
Why would they ever let him go?
Then Puffy came into his room, wearing leather armour, leaving him even more confused. Her long white and brown hair was also tied back in a thick braid, her sunglasses gone. She looked oddly serious, but her eyes softened when she saw Dream.
“Oh duckling, did you not get any sleep last night?” She said, looking at the dark circles under his eyes.
Dream didn’t care about her worry or her kindness. “What’s going on? What is going to happen today?” He demanded.
Puffy sighed, before reaching up to touch his hair. Dream flinched away, and Puffy froze, before putting her hand down. “Well, I can’t say yet, ok? But don’t worry, we’ll take care of it. Things might be a little odd and you might be a little scared, but you’ll be ok, I promise. Then when it’s all over we’ll take you to that nice cabin I mentioned. Doesn’t that sound nice?” Puffy smiled reassuringly, but it did nothing to make Dream feel more at ease.
“Puffy, I still have no idea what that means.” He admits, a little fed up with the vagueness of what everyone was saying.
Puffy sighed “I know, but I can’t tell you more or it won’t work. I’m sorry.”
Dream wanted to scream, but he kept his composure as he glared. Why was she here? Why did she insist on being so friendly? Dream hated her, hated all of them.
Why won’t they let him rot like he knows they want to. They hate him, so why do they pretend? Are they mocking him? He won’t fall for it, won’t be taken as a fool.
Sam came in, not dressed in his warden gear, but leather armour that was quite similar to Puffy’s. That surprised Dream, as Sam was never not in full netherite around him.
He looked at the prisoner, serious, but with compassion in his eyes. “Dream, I need you to stand up” he commanded. Dream obeyed, standing straight up from his spot on the bed.
Sam walked over “don’t move” he commanded softly, before lifting up a piece of cloth and wrapping it around Dream’s eyes, leaving him in darkness.
Alright, now he was freaking out. “Sam?” He asked, feeling a little dizzy. “What’s going on?”
Sam didn’t respond as he tied the blindfold. “It’s not too tight, is it?” He asked softly.
“No, what are you doing?” Dream demanded “Why am I being blindfolded! Why has everyone been so cryptic? I want to know what the bloody Hell is going on!”
Puffy shushed softly, and placed a hand on his shoulder to ground him. “It’s ok Dream, we’ll tell you as soon as this is over. I understand you're scared, but you’ll be ok, I’ll make sure of it.”
Dream tried to run in his panic, but was stopped by Sam, who grabbed his arms tightly. “Dream, stop” he commanded. Dream tried to pull away, but Sam held tightly. “Dream, there’s lava! You are going to hurt yourself!”
Oh. Dream forgot about the lava.
He stopped resisting, and Sam loosened his grip ever so slightly. “We are trying to help you. I understand you don’t know what's going on, and you are scared. We are going to help you, and that’s all I can say. Even if you try to fight, we will help. However if you put yourself in danger again we will be forced to sedate you. Do you understand?” The creeper hybrid explained calmly.
Ok, something was definitely going on and he was either going to be killed or sacrificed, but he didn’t exactly have a way to fight back. Plus Sam wasn’t really one to bluff. “Fine” Dream grunted, “but I want an explanation.”
Sam linked his arm in Dream’s right one, while Puffy took his left, making running significantly harder. “We’ll explain it all happily, after we’re finished.” Sam said as he led Dream forward. Dream frowned, but didn’t resist as he was guided down the bridge and into the hallway. They made a right, and while Dream tried to map the prison out in his mind, he wasn’t actually very familiar with the layout. It had been awhile since he’d seen anything except his lonely cell.
However as he was led forward he started hearing other people, familiar voices. Fundy, George, and Bad, but he heard a few soft murmurs he couldn’t quite place.
“Who’s here?” Dream demanded, about three seconds away from tearing himself away from Sam and Puffy’s grip. It wouldn’t work, but it was at least something.
“Oh, you wouldn’t know, right,” he heard Fundy laugh nervously. “Well besides Puffy and Sam there’s me, George, Punz, Sapnap, and Bad.” Dream lifted his eyebrows in surprise. That was a lot of people, most of them not exactly getting along. “I mean seven’s the magic number, right? Tubbo would have probably been a bit more qualified, but if something goes wrong he’s the most susceptible to, well, I can’t exactly tell you.” He rattled on nervously.
Dream glared, though the effect was lost with his blindfold on. “And why not?” He demanded.
This time Bad spoke up “There is a very good reason, don’t you worry muffin! We’ll take care of everything!” His cheeriness sounded false to Dream’s ears, who bit back a scoff.
“Still, it might be a little unpleasant. We can’t risk knocking you fully unconscious, but if you’d like I can sedate you. We have the right potions, and it might make this whole thing a bit more comfortable.” Sapnap offered casually, though there was something tense in his tone.
“I’d be a lot more comfortable if you told me what ‘this whole thing’ actually was.” Dream snapped back.
Puffy sighed “I’m sorry duckling, we can’t do that.”
“Then I don’t want to be drugged.”
Puffy nodded, before guiding Dream into a new room and gently pushing him on a bed. “I’ll talk you through everything as long as I can.” Puffy said softly. “You need to lay on the bed.” Thinking it was just to reset his respawn, Dream complied. But when he tried to sit back up Puffy held him down, and someone grabbed his arm.
“Puffy?” He asked in fear, feeling something tied around his wrist.
“I’m sorry Duckling, but we need to tie you down.” Dream tried to sit up again, but Puffy didn’t even move an inch. Was she on strength potions?
“Let me go!” Dream yelled. He tried to flail, but people grabbed his limbs and tied him down. He wasn’t sure who, but they held him down with ease, not giving him a chance to resist.
“Hey, it’s ok. They’re not going to hurt you, I won’t let them.” Puffy reassures gently, brushing her fingers through Dream’s hair in a comforting motion. “Those are mainly for your safety, you’ll see soon enough. Don’t worry.”
Despite her comforting words Dream kept trying to get loose for a few more minutes, before finding it was a lost cause and giving up. Though he did growl a little, making his displeasure known.
“Don’t worry! We’ll get you out in a few minutes!” Bad told him cheerfully. Dream strained his ears, hearing the seven of them gather around him.
“Does everyone know the words?” Punz asked softly. There were soft murmurs of confirmation all around him. “Well then I suggest Fundy starts us off then.”
“What? Why me?” Fundy stuttered in confusion.
“Because you’ve done this before” Punz explained, a slight bit of annoyance in his voice.
“Well, clearly not very well!” Fundy shot back, and Dream could almost imagine him throwing his hands up in frustration.
“I’ll start” Sam finally spoke up, quieting the two arguing men. The room went quiet for a few seconds, before Sam finally spoke up.
“He is one” Sam’s voice rang out, strong and sure. Dream didn’t have time to question what the fuck was going on, when everyone else spoke in unison.
“He is one.”
“A soul” Sam called, which was then repeated by the six others around him.
“A soul.”
They were chanting. There were people chanting around him, and he was tied to a bed.
This was going to end poorly. Despite Dream becoming less and less certain that he’d be alive to see how it ends at all.
“A higher power.”
“A higher power”
Wait, this felt familiar. Why was this so familiar? He tried to remember, but his memory was buried deep. He tried to focus, but his head started to feel fuzzy.
“He wishes for this no more!” Sam yelled, his voice filled with passionate conviction.
“He wishes it for no more!” The crowd repeated, and a sudden sense of wrongness hit Dream. It was more than chanting, more than the blindfold, more than just being tied down. His skin felt like it was on fire as he started twitching violently. He pulled and yanked, but couldn’t get free. He opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out.
“He will be fixed!” The group yelled in unison, passion and panic blended together as Dream felt himself flung into the air, held down only by the ropes tied to his arms and legs.
Finally he screamed, his own voice tore out of him, sounding too harsh and too deep. He couldn’t stop screaming as he felt something else, something foreign, ripped out of his mind.
He couldn’t breath, couldn’t think, couldn’t do anything but scream as his lungs started to burn. Finally he ran out of air, falling unconscious and collapsing on the bed, free of the dreamon he didn’t even know was possessing him.