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A hero. The Star of Hope. A ray of sunshine. The embodiment of kindness. The Guardian of Positivity. The founder of the Star Sanses. The savior of the Multiverse…
Dream Sans.
But behind all those titles and expectations was a monster that had to adapt to a life and fate he never expected. One he never wished for. One he never had a choice but to accept.
After almost five centuries trapped in the stone, the young skeleton had been released to be trained to fight, he had to apologize for letting his brother getting corrupt and his mother being killed a second time as the Tree of Feelings was no more… some held grudges about this, Lanny in particular. The monster had to face all this guilt, pression and expectations of becoming a savior for all the Multiverse without ever faltering. But despite being five hundred years old, the skeleton wasn't conscious more than a few years, still being a child that had to grow suddenly through intense trauma. Most would say he was born to be positive anyway, it was true in a certain way. But reality wasn't sweeter for him, it only made people expect even more from him without taking his feelings within consideration.
He became what they wanted, fighting against Nightmare Sans for the first time. His two friends and fellows Star Sans Ink Sans and Swap Sans supported him, but in the end they had to retreat in front of the embodiment of Negativity and his minions. CORE!Frisk offered them a shelter in the Omega Timeline to rest and band their wounds.
Dream was so tired he couldn't use his magic to heal his camarades, they were all covered in bandages, more or less wounded by the terrible fight they all went through. A bowl of monster candies and a freshly out of oven butterscotch pie were sitting untouched on a nearby table.
“Ouch-”
Swap grimaces as the large wound on his right arm was getting cared for by the brightest skeleton. He never had been one to show weakness but the fight had been particularly difficult as he ended up facing both Dust Sans and Horror Sans as Ink was busy with the second in command Killer Sans and giving support to their leader. Dream gave him an apologetic smile.
“Sorry, I will try to be more careful. I promise you I will heal you with my abilities as soon as my magic restock enough.”
The blue skeleton sight and pat the yellow's shoulder.
“It's alright, it's not the first time I get a few wounds, and without a doubt it won't be the last time either. Take your time to rest, your health is just as important as mine, you know.”
Dream hummed as his focus stayed on the wound until it was cared for as much as he could at the moment. Ink was laying on a bed nearby, bandages around a few of his bones but he was not showing much pain. One of his almost empty vials was moving across his fingers at an impressive speed as his whole focus was on it. Blue ended up laying as well, not feeling so well even if the mortal skeleton was obviously bottling it up. Dream prepared some herbal tea to help him relax without taking much time to rest himself. The sunny monster walked to the door as the artist one frowned slightly, his bust raising from the mattress as he sat down, his hands landing on his bony feet as the vial he had been playing with rolled in between the pangs of his brown pants.
“Eh ? Where are you going ?”
Dream looked back at Ink, a few seconds of silence falling upon them.
“I thought I should report what happened to Lanny. You guys can rest here calmly while I call him outside.”
But before Ink or Swap could protest that the Guardian of Positivity also needed rest, his silhouette disappeared behind the door as it closed. Silence fell again in the room. One minute. Two minutes. Three minutes… probably more than five now.
“Uh, he doesn't know when to rest. We probably should go get him-”
The most weakened monster winced as he tried to get up, pain making it pretty hard to do so. Ink quickly put the vial he had been playing with back on his sash before jumping from his bed to stop him, pushing Swap back in his bed.
“I was thinking the same, but you stay there Swapy. You broke enough bones for today, got it ?”
Swap hesitated, he really wanted to go but he also knew he was the most wounded… and he could trust his friend. He sight before laying back down again under the gaze of the older monster. He knew better than to argue with Ink besides being conscious of his poor physical state.
“Alright… I leave him to you Ink.”
Ink smiled before patting the head of the other just like a parent would to his child.
“Yeah, don't worry and rest now !”
He quickly left the room as well, the smallest skeleton snuggling under a blanket before closing his eyes, the herbal tea nearby his bed leaving a soft scent into the air.
Ink looked around the small house that CORE!Frisk put at disposition of the Star Sanses inside the Omega timeline, trying to look for the other guardian. Surprisingly, Dream was nowhere to be seen even if just calling Lanny shouldn't have needed much space… in fact, he very well could have call him inside the house, Ink really couldn't understand why the other skeleton got out since the three of them knew him.
After a while and a long walk around the familiar universe, he found the young immortal under a tree. He was sitting on the grass, his legs brought to his chest as he held them close. As Ink approached him from behind, he couldn't quite see his face as the other was facing the sunset in front of him. The newcomer put his hands on his hips as he leaned down next to his friend with a pout.
“So here you are ! I have been searching for you for AT LEAST 30 minutes you know.”
Dream blinked in surprise as he looked back at the sudden voice next to him, he didn't hear the skeleton coming… maybe out of tiredness, or maybe because he was too lost in thoughts. Ink blinked as well as he noticed the golden pearls in the other's eyes, almost the same color as the sunset… he definitely had to use that color in his next drawing he thought as the guardian of Positivity quickly whipped his face. He quickly placed a smile on his face but his interlocutor was more than observant so it was already too late to act like everything was fine.
“Ah, yeah I walked for a bit and wanted to appreciate the sunset, you know ? Sorry if I worried you.”
Ink raised his shoulders a little.
“That's alright buddy, just wanted to make sure you didn't hurt yourself more than you already are.”
They stayed there, Dream now avoiding Ink's gaze as the later was slightly frowning. He knew something was wrong. Something else than the physical wounds Dream had which obviously were less carefully bandaged than his own. As an awkward silence fell upon them, Ink sat next to Dream, his gaze turning toward the beautiful sunset as he scratched one of his cheek.
“Did… your call didn't go well ?”
He knew Lanny wasn't soft with Dream. Anyone with eyes could see that their relationship was terrible so it was his first hypothesis. But the skeleton wearing the sun cloth seemed taken aback by the question.
“Ah… hum… yeah, you are right.”
Ink forced himself not to roll his eyes as he cupped his own face, his elbows taking support on his legs. That sounded like bullshit, he was pretty sure the other guardian didn't even call at all at that point… then what could have put him in that state ? He always had been terrible with this kind of thing. After what felt like eternity he spoke again, his gaze daring turning back to meet the uncertain golden eyes of the other.
“Do you wanna talk about what happened or… ?”
He could see multiple expressions quickly replace each other on the face of the most vulnerable one. Surprise. Confusion. Uncertainty…. Even fear at some point. Ink stayed quiet, understanding it wasn't the moment to joke around or tease his companion. He noticed every little change in Dream's body language, not only his expressions but how his whole body seemed tensed, his fingers digging in the bones of his legs.
“It's … nothing you should worry about, really.”
The voice sounded unusually broken. Ink sighed before putting his hands behind him, making himself more comfortable on the grass.
“That's for me to decide, plus Swapy is already worried about you too. If you need to talk I can at least listen to you, you know ? I know I am not the best person for that… but still.”
Dream was silent for a moment, his thoughts fighting each other in his head as he couldn't choose if talking was a good idea or not… yet it's been so long since someone actually allowed him to speak. His hold on himself tightened.
“It's… just been a hard day, you know.”
Ink studied his interlocutor.
“You mean how we got beaten up or… ?”
“Yeah, that of course but also… well…”
It was rare to see Dream so very little confident. Usually he wouldn't let people see him vulnerable after all… that's why he didn't came back on his own. His gaze fell down as Ink let him find his words silently.
“... I didn't expect things… to be that bad. Neil and Lanny warned me about what Nightmare had become but… seeing it… feeling it was really another thing.”
Dream's voice was shaking, the words hard to get out of his throat.
“The negativity… it was even worse than… well… that day.”
The inked one knew what he was referring to : the day were the Tree of Feelings fell down and the current corrupted Nightmare was born.
“Of course it is, he gained power and mastered his abilities through the years.”
It was logic to him, but for the guardian that “slept” for so long the years felt like nothing at all.
“Y-Yeah of course… but i guess I still hoped for something else.”
Ink frowned slightly.
“Something else ?”
Dream was silent a moment, trying to find the right words for both Ink and himself. A part of him couldn't let go his feelings.
“I suppose… despite what Lanny said or what I saw that day… I still hoped I could see my brother. That I could see something being left of him.”
The soulless one didn't expect the golden apple soul one to be so much affected by the past. He knew Dream had been training for this for years, so he thought he was well prepared… but he could only guess that Lanny, with his goal in mind, overlooked the emotional aspect of the situation. Ink looked up to the purplish sky above them in between the leaves of the tree they were sitting under.
“From what I heard… something took control of your twin's body after the corruption, right ? So he is…”
Ink stopped himself to look back at his interlocutor. The painful gaze upon him made him not say the last word.
“... I know. Even though I know, even if it went wrong in the past… a part of me wished I could have my brother back… that I didn't lose everything.”
Ah. The golden tears were back in his eyes. The artist however didn't think of paint at that moment as he straightened, thoughtful about his own past.
“I know what it is like, to lose everything.”
Dream was taken aback by this as he looked more confused than ever. Ink looked back at him, raising his shoulders a little.
“What ? It's not because I have memory issues or no soul that I cannot relate to you.”
They looked at each other a moment before the one with the tearful ond spoke again, his gaze falling upon the other's sash.
“I know your vials help you feel… I am not trying to say your feelings are fake or anything, I know you do feel thanks to them or I wouldn't detect anything from you but…”
“But you know little about me, right ?”
Ink almost looked amused by this as Dream felt ashamed on the other hand.
“I lost my universe long ago, I cannot remember it at all but it doesn't mean I cannot miss it, you know ? I loved it enough to ripe apart my own soul when it disappeared."
The guardian was speechless for a moment. He knew Ink was an independent individual without a AU… but he never saw things this way. This new perspective was somehow… a little comforting in a strange way.
“Maybe… we do have more in common than I thought.” He mumbled.
The paint vials welder chuckled warmly at the thoughtful expression of the other skeleton. His teasing and cheerful nature coming back.
“Yeah, of course we are. Our situations are different for sure, but we both lost our brothers at some points, you know ? I probably had a Papyrus… even if I can't remember him.”
It was a strange perspective to imagine the guardian of AUs and creativity living a “normal” Sans life, with a brother of his own. Dream couldn't take his gaze away from Ink… he did lose his brother too. He held himself even tighter.
“And… how did you manage to bear it ?”
The questioned one shook his left hand dismissingly.
“I assure you, don't follow me on this. I literally ripped myself apart. I didn't have to fight him to death either...”
That last sentence hit harder, he could see it easily as he tried to ease his speech.
“... well not “him”. Your brother is long gone already.”
Dream couldn't face Ink anymore as he looked away. He didn't want to accept that his twin was gone… the child in him, the one that didn't have the time to grow, still longed for his family.
“I wish I could have understood back then… that I realised things were changing… that I could have prevented this from ever happening… but I was too weak.”
The guardian of Positivity couldn't be positive as he felt overwhelmed with guilt and longing for someone he couldn't keep by his side or see anymore. It was almost unbearable, how much guilt he felt for not seeing the signs, for not seeing how his brother was slipping away from him until everything was torn apart… until he lost him forever. Ink raised his hand toward his friend, unsure at first before pulling him completely against him.
“You were a kid, Sunny.”
He could feel the skeleton in his arms trembling and falling apart, his voice shaking as more tears fell down his cheek.
“I still should have done something-”
Ink kept him close, not telling him to stop or saying he wasn't positive enough… he kept holding him gently against his chest.
“You were too young to understand, every kid makes mistakes.”
The most vulnerable held tightly to the fabric of the monster enlacing him with a surprising gentleness. The fabric could almost get ripped as the bony fingers dug into it.
“I couldn't protect the person that was the most important to me-”
Ink was silent a moment before speaking softly.
“Sometimes… you can do your best, it doesn't mean it will be enough. You cannot save everyone… not back then, not today, not in the future. You cannot control everything, but you can grow from the pain you feel.”
He wasn't sure it was the right words… but they seemed the most logical to him. Dream couldn't save everyone they wanted, no one could, not even a being as powerful as Ink. This world is evolving all the time, existences rising and others falling, it was all a matter of cycles and scripts.
Ink couldn't do much, he couldn't heal the wounds left on Dream by his past, just like he couldn't bring back his own universe. All he could do was hold the crying child in his arms, letting him grief for the first time a past he could never come back to.