Chapter Text
“What do you mean you don’t remember what happened?” Ink was saying.
Dream sighed. “I already told you. I just don’t remember, and those memories aren’t gonna magically come back the more you ask me that question!”
His headache, combined with the concern over two weeks worth of memories being gone and annoyance at Ink, made for a very short temper. Dream had woken up in front of his house, and upon finding him, Ink had brought him inside to their very small medical bay. According to the guardian of AUs, he’d been straight up missing for those two weeks that he just couldn’t seem to remember for the life of him.
“Did you get hit on the head or something?” Ink asked, squinting. “No, doesn’t look like it…but…oh, you know what? Nightmare did stab you.”
Dream’s expression changed from a death glare to one of confusion. “He did?”
“What, you don’t remember that one either? Pfft, don’t worry, I was there for that one. He definitely stabbed you.”
“Woww, you remembered something for once.”
“...hey…what’s that supposed to mean…?”
Dream raised an eyebrow, and Ink huffed in frustration and turned away. “I didn’t come here to be nagged,” he muttered. “Look, do you want help or not?”
“Yeah…sorry, Ink.”
“Hmph. Don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll just forget about the whole thing in a few minutes anyway.”
Dream watched as Ink grabbed a few small potions from the cabinet and began getting everything set up. The substance looked like liquid moonlight, but they both knew better--it was the “stuff of dreams”, or in better terms, the essence of dreams and memories. It was a near miracle they had so much--ever since the death of the tree of feelings, this sort of magic was hard to come by. There was a third guardian meant to protect it, yet he’d been missing for so long, Dream doubted he was even still alive.
He could still remember when everything was as simple as it could get, 700 years ago. The three guardians had all gotten along with one another, and though they had their quarrels, all was well. Sure the villagers were…a lot…and Nightmare was distant, but Daydream was sweet and innocent and he understood. Even if Dream had never actually told him anything.
It pained him to think that Day could’ve dusted somewhere, alone, with no one to collect his dust and mourn him. But it wasn’t a good idea to dwell on those memories, not with everything else Dream had going on. All he could do was commit to his regular searching and hope that somewhere, someday, Daydream--or evidence of Daydream’s presence--would be there.
Ink interrupted these thoughts by guiding Dream to lay down back on the cot and began getting everything set up. “Everything” consisted of pouring the potions into small dishes and dimming the lights, which came as a relief to the pounding in his skull.
“Ok, close your eyes…what’s the last thing you remember?”
Dream closed his eyes and let the surrounding magic pull him into hidden memories.
…
The battlefield was chaos. A dark fog had been laid over the plain, and all around them were the sounds of various explosions. Dream was hard at work trying to survive. Ever since Blue had left them for Nightmare’s team, managing the balance of the multiverse had been extra hard.
There was a flash of dark, a sharp pain in his ribcage, and Dream crumpled with the yank of Nightmare’s retreating tentacle.
His enemy--...his “enemy”...--had said something then in that taunting voice of his, but as a dark red substance pooled around Dream, he found he couldn’t focus on his words. Then the world grew quiet, and it was just him and the hard ground beneath him that was barely enough to keep him from falling further.
Just when he’d grown at peace with the fact that this might be his final resting place, he was heaved up and over someone’s shoulder, and then they were running. Leaving behind Ink to deal with the rest of the bad guys by himself, and leaving poor Blue, who didn’t know what he was doing and had more likely than not been brainwashed. Dream could taste the tanginess of his own blood in his mouth, and it wasn’t too long before the darkness that’d been crawling at the edges of his vision enveloped his world entirely.
…
He woke up in a large, yet empty, medical bay with a sore chest and a dry mouth. Now this was one place he definitely didn’t recognize, and he was finding it hard to remember how he’d gotten there. If they as the Star Sanses had a place this big, he certainly would be putting it to good use by now.
Dream struggled to get up, leaning on the bed for support, and made for the exit, bypassing a row of beds and cabinets. He had to figure out what was going on. Besides, judging from how well he was walking, he probably didn’t need any more rest.
“Hey, woah!”
Unfortunately for him, he was stopped right in the hall.
“Look buddy, you should be laying down,” a complete stranger told him, a hand on each of his shoulders. He couldn’t see their features clearly, save for a small golden earring, but they sure seemed to care a lot about him for some reason.
“That tentacle monster did quite a number on you. Go back to bed!”
“Where am I…” Dream mumbled in response.
“Are you listening to me?”
“Who brought me here?”
“Look, much as I’d love to give you a tour, you’re not supposed to be up right now. So let’s take you back to bed, and we’ll figure it out tomorrow. How does that sound?”
“...”
When Dream didn’t say anything, the stranger led him back to the bed and guided him to sit down. Yet he was up and out again as soon as they left.
He soon found that this unfamiliar place was like a maze with too many hallways and too many doors. The halls were made from a rich reddish brown wood, and rather than ceiling lights, the place was illuminated by small cones embedded in the walls. It was all the same everywhere he looked--there were no landmarks, except for maybe a small stain he spotted in the carpet at one point. Any of the doors he tried were locked, and so he was left to wander the halls.
He had to assume that this gigantic place was underground for some reason, because he didn’t see any windows or exit doors, either.
He avoided more strangers where he could, as he didn’t want to be stopped and led back to bed, but sooner or later he’d have to ask someone for answers. Right?
Dream rounded a corner and paused as he spotted two more strangers talking with one another. Both of them were in cloaks, but one of them sounded awfully familiar.
“...take the supplies one level down,” the familiar voice was saying, “and give it to the person you find there. Now these boxes are pretty big, so why don’t you find a few people to help you?”
“The elevator’s out of order,” came the response.
“Please, just use the stairs. I’m sure you’ll find it works just as well.”
The other sighed softly and opened their mouth to say something else, but stopped as they finally noticed Dream slowly inching over. The familiar-sounding person turned to them, and he caught sight of a smile before they lowered their hood. Dream’s breath hitched. This person looked almost exactly like he remembered, even though 700 years had passed.
“...Daydream?” he whispered.
“It’s been a while, brother...”