Work Text:
This is a massive multiversal au that was originally a passion project with a friend of mine but they don't want anything to do with it anymore. I'm reworking the entire thing to be my own cause this has become my comfort au. Some things are subject to change but right now I need to write everything down.
This all started with Dreamtale, for me at least. I altered the story greatly for this multiverse so bear with me as I retell the long winded story.
Okay so it all starts with the tree, obviously, the tree attracted attention to there was a beautiful warrior goddess who protected it and its fruit. However the greed of the people in the nearby kingdoms became too much and they went to the tree to force her to give up its fruits. She rightly refused and an epic battle ensued ending with her death as it was one vs an army. As she laid there bleeding out against the tree she passed her magic directly into he tree itself in hopes of still being able to protect it even when she was gone. The prince who brought the army picked one of the golden apples and it turned dark as he was a wicked man and his own intentions corrupted the apple. Furious he pick another and another each one turning black then rotting in his hands. So he ordered the tree to be burned to the ground. As it burned the magic the goddess had left panicked and sent out bursts of powerful creation magic in several directions and creating the 4 Guardians of feelings.
I know what you're thinking "isn't there only 2??" Yep but me and my friend took in a fan made sister of dream and nm and I made another to be her counterpart. We have positivity, love, negativity, and hate.
Anywho they were born each one with a specific purpose, one protected positivity and held the gold apple, one protected negativity and held the black apple, one regulated love and held a single apple seed, and one regulated hate and held another apple seed. Being born in a literal forest fire surrounded by barbaric soldiers they all ran in different directions not even aware they weren't the only ones born from such a tragedy.
Now I'm a sentimental idiot that allowed myself to be convinced the 2 weren't brothers and became obsessed with dreammare. Like I remember getting into an argument and my point was "when they say brother they mean in arms". However even though I know better I was missing the dynamic and made my version of the au so that they weren't brothers, never seen each other as brothers, and went as far as changing their personalities and names so the only real thing I based off of the original dreamtale was the concept and some parts of the story. Hate me if you want but I like what I did.
Dream, known furthermore as Sybarite, found himself in a village where he lived happily on the streets, playing with the other kids and getting doted on my random strangers who thought him kind and cute.
Nightmare, furthermore known as Ório, hid in the woods. He became self-sufficient and was afraid of people. (You would be too if you came to in a forest fire surrounded by gruff mean soldiers)
Starlight, furthermore known as twilight, ended up in a a different village where thy were all but worshipped.
And the hate Guardian, Daybreak or Db for short, also ended up in a village where they were constantly roughed up and mistreated.
For a few years everyone was on their own. Living their own lives doing their own thing. Then ório stumbled upon sybarite, they bonded over their shared powers and slowly fell in love. After years of being together they married, buch to the villagers dismay. The villagers wanted sybarite, they adored him was addicted to his aura, so they hated ório for 'stealing' him away. They harassed orio and beat him down emotionally hoping he'd divorce sybarite. But he kept quiet and dealt with their torment in private. It was somewhere in this time twilight came along. Both Ório and Sybarite were enamored by the beautiful and kind bean that they unofficially brought them into the relationship too and for a time they were all happy. However Órios abuse had escalated to physical and he was not having it anymore, he fought back. The people ran to sybarite spinning some lie that he bought hook line and sinker before scolding ório.
This cause ório to get emotional and corrupt. As there was only 1 black apple left and it was acting as his 'soul' his influx of negative thoughts and feelings corrupted his form. He rampages through the village till sybarite stopped him by letting all the magic he had out in a destructive explosion equal to a small nuke wiping out the village and some of the surrounding forest. Ório was half uncorrupted, and half dead. Twilight rushed in and healed him while sybarite panicked.
Ório was cared for by both a guilt ridden sybarite, and a sorrowful Twilight. It was somewhere in this time period that Daybreak made themselves known. Daybreak after almost a century of abuse has become cold and ruthless with their words and takes pleasure in talking down to the other 3. They pin the blame for what happened to orio solely at the feet of the 2 positivity Guardians and called them worthless and pathetic for letting it get this far. They have a razor tongue cutting everyone down a peg or 5 then leaving. Twilight followed them to their displeasure and thy continued to spit verbal venom at them till they ran out of steam. The 2 lived in tentative peace for a while till db grows soft for them and shows their inner softie to the guardian of love and opting to be their friend rather than bully
Needless to say orio and sybarite divorced after like 150 years of marriage due to the fight that nearly killed ório. Ório moved away to build his own home and sybarite focused on making himself feel better by spreading positivity.
After a few decades sybarite wants orio back and they start fighting each other as their problems from before never got worked through so orio is rightfully pissed at him. They eventually enlist the help of friends they have made In their fighting.