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Sapnap never liked being in the prison. He’d been here twice. Once to make sure that Dream was locked soundly behind lava and obsidian and then again to visit him when the guilt and fear became too much.
They were the Dream Team. They were basically inseparable before everything fell apart. He wasn’t used to not having Dream there. Even when they were barely speaking to each other Sapnap knew Dream was there. That if things ever got really bad he’d be able to go to him. Even if he thought Dream didn’t care. Even if he thought it was all for nothing.
There was still a chance. There was still hope. With him in the prison there was none of that. Part of him was guilty for leaving his best friend. Part of him wanted to see him and hear out his side of the story. But a larger part of him was angry. It was furious and hurt and scared and Sapnap thought leaving it with a small assurance would be fine.
He’d promised Dream that he’d kill him if he ever left the cell.
He’d gone home to Karl and cried.
Now he was following Sam through the dark hallways again but this time not because he chose to be there. He followed because Sam had called him there. Had told him the prisoner was being unruly and he thought Sapnap would be able to get through to him. He would have scoffed if Sam hadn’t told him the only thing Dream would say was Sapnap’s name.
It was unsettling this time. It wasn’t like the prison was ever comforting to begin with but there was something off about it now. Like it was drowning in a sense of unease. It made him uncomfortable but he didn’t dare to say a word. Not unless Sam was telling him to. The world outside the prison was dark and gloomy. It had been since the day Dream was put into the prison. It was terrible. More recently than not the world was storming and grumbling.
Angry with the turmoil of its Admin that had been put behind bars.
Sapnap was the only one that knew Dream was the Admin of the world. Not even George knew. The only reason Sapnap knew was because he was there when Dream found out himself. He was there when his friend discovered his powers. He had stood beside him when Dream learned that he held the power to make worlds.
But Admins were hunted and sought for. They were used and people looked at them with greed in their eyes. So Dream had asked him not to tell anyone. He asked him to keep the secret and Sapnap had.
He thought going inside would be a welcome shelter from the storm but the feelings only got worse inside the obsidian and blackstone walls. Dream must be furious. To get the world to make everything as suffocating as this he would have to be. Sapnap could already imagine him. He could picture his brother sitting in the cell spitting curses and fuming with the world rolling around him. He could imagine him scribbling plans and revenge plots in the books in his chest.
“What’s going on, Sam? Why does he want me?”
There was always a risk of falling into any of Dream’s plots. He was insanely smart. He was calculating and careful and meticulous. He was dangerous for that reason and many more. Part of him wanted to see his brother. Longed to see Dream and be with him again. He missed him. He’d told Tina that he thought about him every day and he’d meant it. But on the other hand Sapnap was one of the people that put him there. If Dream was planning to escape then it was likely Sapnap would be the only one who could figure it out and stop him.
But on the other hand Sam didn’t really have any checks on his power here. There was no one in the prison other than him and Dream. And as much as Sam was his friend as well he had heard the way he talked about Dream. He’d heard how he said that Dream deserved everything that came to him. How he’d agreed with crueler and crueler forms of punishment. But surely Sam wasn’t doing anything like that. He wouldn’t starve Dream or beat him.
Sam was good. He was the Warden for a reason. Sapnap just couldn’t stop the seed of doubt that burrowed in his chest.
“I told you. The prisoner was being unruly and yours was the only name he’d say.”
“Unruly how?”
Sam sighed. His shoulders slumping slightly under his armor before straightening and tensing again.
“He was throwing himself into the lava repeatedly. He wouldn’t stop when I told him to, so I had to restrain him at the back of the cell so he couldn’t do it anymore.”
The thought of Dream killing himself over and over made him sick to his stomach. Dream was a prideful man. He wouldn’t do something like that. Not unless things were dire and they couldn’t be in the cell. Right?
“Why was he doing it?”
“I don’t know. He won’t speak to me. Just says your name every time I try. I finally called you when he decided to act sick.”
Sam practically spat the word out. Disgust layering every part of his voice as they walked closer and closer to the vault. It made Sapnap’s skin crawl.
“It’s fake. Don’t worry. I grabbed his arm to take his temperature, no fever. His pulse was fine too. Not elevated or anything. I just wanted you to try to get through to him. He won’t listen to me. But he’ll listen to you.”
Sapnap stayed quiet. He didn’t like this. He felt like something was horribly wrong. But part of him felt ease when he heard that Sam checked by his arm. It meant Dream still had his mask. He still had his protection.
When Dream had learned he was an Admin he also learned that he was awful at hiding his expressions when the world talked to him. He hid his expressions to protect himself. The mask also helped to make sure nothing overwhelmed him. It lightened the load. Sapnap had helped him figure out the enchantments for it. He’d helped Dream figure out how to talk to the world.
It was Dream’s favorite part of being an Admin. His connection to the world and everything around him.
They made the rest of the walk in silence. Neither of them speaking until Sam was giving him the instructions on how to walk with the bridge over to the cell. Sapnap barely heard him. He could see the chains hanging off the wall. He could see the wrists they bound and the arms that hung from them. Dream was on the ground in the back of the cell. His head was angled down. Hair curtaining over his face and shielding him from being seen even though the strap for the mask was clearly still around his head.
The closer he got to the cell the less he liked what he saw. Dream looked small. Too small. Like he’d lost the muscle that had always been on him. He didn’t even lift his head to look at him despite Sapnap knowing he was the first visitor in a while. The crack of an enderpearl landed on the ground behind him and he didn’t need to look to know that Sam had joined him in the cell.
“Prisoner.”
Sam’s voice was cold. It made Sapnap flinch and he hadn’t missed that Dream did too.
“Sa..Sapnap…Need Sap..”
Sapnap moved forward. Standing before his best friend and kneeling down to be closer to his height. He’d grown up with Bad. He knew how to read when someone was faking and when they weren’t. Sam had to have been wrong. Because what he was seeing in Dream wasn’t fake. Something was wrong.
“I’m here. Sam brought me here. What’s going on? Why are you throwing yourself in-”
“M-mask. Take the mask…please..off…need it off..”
His voice sounded raw. Like he’d been coughing and gagging and heaving in hot dry air for ages. How long had this been going on before Sam decided to call for him? How long had Dream been ill and only getting worse? If Dream was asking for the mask to come off then something was horribly wrong. He looked over at Sam before trying to get a better look at Dream.
“Sam’s still here.”
“Don’t care..Sapnap…please..mask..”
He couldn’t stop the fear filling his heart when he unclasped the mask and pulled it from his face. Bending down to look at him he could see the cause immediately. Dream’s eyes were shifting between sparks of colors and such a dull green they looked empty. His eyes had always been bright. Every Admin had bright eyes. It was part of their powers. They were fueled by the world itself. Their connection gave them access to their abilities. If they were cut from it it would kill them. The Admin needed the world and the world needed its Admin.
He pressed a hand to Dream’s forehead and felt how cold his skin was. There wasn’t a fever, he was hollowing out. His pulse wasn’t elevated, it was dropping. Dream looked on the verge of fainting just sitting there and Sapnap couldn’t stop himself from reaching out to support him.
“Sam. How long have you made this cell hybrid proof?”
“About a month. Why-?”
Sapnap cut him off with a curse. Getting more violent by the second.
“Get the chains off. We need to get him outside. He’ll die if we don’t.”
He turned his attention back to Dream and cupped his face. Doing his best to get Dream responsive to him but it wasn’t working. His eyes were rolling in their sockets and he was barely giving any sign that he was still in there. He must have been respawning to keep his connection with the world going. He was trying to keep everything stable. Sam chaining him was going to kill him.
Dream was supposed to be taken out to a courtyard daily. He was supposed to be getting good treatment in here. He was supposed to be learning and healing in the prison. Not suffering, ill, and dying.
Time felt weird. He couldn’t focus on the tick of a clock. All he could focus on was the shallow rise and fall of Dream’s chest. How light his body was against his chest when he carried him from the cell. All he cared about was the way Dream gasped when they reached the courtyard of the prison. Dark rage welling in the bottom of is stomach when he saw the cobwebs forming around the door.
Dream had never been taken here. His size made it seem like he’d been starved. Sam hadn’t even listened when he said he was sick. He kept Dream stable as he came to. As he realized he could feel the world again and the sky above him rumbled again.
Sapnap understood now. It was worse not because Dream was angry. It was storming and raging because its Admin had been stolen. He was hurting. So the SMP cried for his pain.
He shouldn’t have left for so long. If Sam hadn’t caved Dream would have been dead by the morning and the world would have followed. He couldn’t let this slide. Even if Dream had done bad he couldn’t let this go. Dream deserved to heal. He deserved to be safe still.
Sapnap would take him. Kinoko would be better than a cell. Dream would heal, he’d learn. And this time Sapnap would be at his side to help. He wouldn’t leave his brother again.
He’d let the world have a sun again.