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Chapter Thirty Eight: Broken

(I've finally found the source of my lack of motivation that I'm sure you're familiar with by now. It's been a life long road but a few months ago I found out I have Autism and that the ADHD I mentioned a long time ago was a misdiagnosis of it. The reason I can only work on a few chapters for a period of time is due to hyper fixations. The times I do work on this story is when I hyper-fixate on it, otherwise I have no motivation or interest in writing. This is why my schedule is all over the place and I deeply apologize for it. There's not much I can do about it other than I can attempt to try and inspire myself more often, but I can't promise anything. I hope you can understand and forgive any poor writing that I may of forced myself to do. It sometimes feels like a chore to start writing.)

I'm also 17 now and I'm starting to outgrow the demographic on wattpad. I want my stories to contain mature elements but seeing as the demographic seems to be younger teens, I feel I have to be responsible. I dislike some of my old chapters for this reason. It was not ok for me to write about the things I did and I apologize. With that out of the way, onto this overdue chapter.)

~Y/n's POV~

It wasn't too long after I woke up that I was sick once more. Except this time, I had Ink with me. He assisted me out of bed as soon as he noticed I was about to be unwell and ran me to the bathroom that was connected to our bedroom. He made sure my hair was out of the way and kept giving me reassurances.

I was feeling a lot better now thanks to his help and now we were making breakfast together. I wasn't lying when I said I was craving sunny side up eggs. I guess we had gotten up early since none of the others were awake yet, or at least were keeping to their rooms. 

Ink still looked tired which didn't surprise me. I can't believe he didn't sleep hardly at all since I was gone. Despite the drowsiness he was still humming a small tune to himself and he looked happier than ever. He was doing most of the cooking work by frying the eggs. All I had done was put two pieces of bread into a toaster. I was still contributing! 

As we were finishing up (I had taken the toast out of the toaster and Ink was placing the eggs on a plate), I heard footsteps come down the stairs and Dream entered the kitchen. He must've just woken up because he was moving slower than normal and he was rubbing the sleep away from his eyes. I think this is the only time I've seen him not wearing his cloak. 

"Morning, Dream! We have some extra eggs if you want some." I greeted as I got my own plate of eggs and toast.

"I'm good for now, thank you though." His voice was groggy and didn't have the chirp it usually had. He sat down at the dining table with his skull in one hand. Something was off about him.

I sat down with my food across from him and Ink sat down next to me, even scooting his chair to be closer. "Is something wrong, Dream?" I asked him while grabbing a fork to begin eating.

"A little... Did Night contact you last night? I've been worried about him ever since he walked out and said he needed some space." Concern laced his voice that sounded downright exhausted. 

"He did, actually. I'm not sure if he'd want me talking about what happened but what I can say is..." I took a pause to think about what I actually could say, "is that he's not hurt, if that was a concern. He's just a bit..." I paused again to think of the word that best described him without worrying Dream.

"Was just that he was just a bit head over heels for Cross, I'm sure." Blade's version of Ink's voice said next to me. I turned my head quickly to look at her in shock. Her red eyes weren't looking at either of us as she picked at the food on Ink's plate.

"What do you mean, Ink?" Dream was almost wide awake now, his hand no longer supporting his skull. 

"It's Blade. And what I mean is that-" I cut her off quickly.

"That's not your right to reveal, Blade. It's Night's." I scolded but I already knew the damage had been done.

"So what? It's my information I have on him. That is my right." She slightly growled at me but I could tell there was no real bite behind it.

"But it's about hi- oh never mind. How do you even know?" I decided to give up on the lecture I was going to give her. It wasn't worth the time. I was a little ashamed to admit that I did want to know what she knew about it. While Night hadn't outright admitted it to me, I knew the signs. I was too familiar with them at this point. 

"How do I know? Isn't it obvious? I was there when the relationship started in the first place." She said like it was the most clear thing in the world. I guess I hadn't thought of that.

"Ok hang on just a moment. This is all a lot to process. I'm not even gonna question how you're in control of Ink's body right now, Blade. Night is in a relationship with Cross?" Dream spoke up, his hand returning to his skull to rub at his temple. 

"Currently? Probably not. But they were in a sort of relationship in the past. Nothing official but they didn't hesitate to get handsy with each other in front of everybody. It was disgusting, honestly." Blade rolled her eyelights as she remembered back.

"And if Night is getting his memories back... he must be remembering all those times together. No wonder he's upset." I thought aloud.

"Night is regaining his memories??" Dream's voice pitched.

"'THaT's nOT yOur RiGhT tO reVeaL, BLadE'" Blade mocked me while throwing up air quotes.

"Oh hush, it was an accident unlike yours. But yes he is. Don't tell him I mentioned that, I don't think he wants anyone else to know yet."

Dream hung his head low and muttered, "Why hasn't he told me himself? When we were young we used to tell each other everything..."

"Well you guys are hundreds of years old now, no shit things are going to change from when you were kids." Blade said annoyedly.

"Well, yeah, but that doesn't mean it still doesn't sting." Dream scratched the back of his neck nervously under Blade's stare. I shot Blade a glare for making him upset but she just rolled her eyes.

"Did he say where he went? What if- What if he went to see Cross or something??" Dream was suddenly in distress, he began to wring his hands together and was looking between us expectantly.

"When I last spoke to Cross he told me to tell Night that he missed 'the Malus'. I didn't see any harm in it so I told Night and then he disappeared." I relayed to Dream, my concern also now growing.

Dream's bone-brows furrowed in confusion, "'The Malus'? That kind of rings a bell but I'm not sure from where." He was still wringing his hands but at a slower pace now as he tried to remember.

"Malus is the genus for an apple tree, if that helps." Blade seemed to say without thinking. She only seemed to realize that she'd said anything when both our eyes were on her in disbelief. "What? I liked to read encyclopedias."

"Apple trees? But-" Dream's eyes suddenly went wide with a realization, "There's no way."

"What? What is it, Dream?" I asked as he shot out of his chair and towards the wall behind him.

"I know where he has to be but I can't believe he told Cross about it. Take my hand, Y/n. I want you to see this place even if they aren't here." I was taken a bit aback at his request but did as he said anyway. I took ahold of his hand and he grasped it tightly.

"Hey! I was the one who gave you the idea in the first place, I deserve to go too." Blade got out of her chair as well but Dream put his other hand up. "This is a very private location for me and Night. I hope you can understand."

Blade huffed and slumped back into her chair, crossing her arms. She didn't say anything else so Dream took his free hand and made a circular motion on the wall ahead. A soft golden glow became etched into it, before expanding to be wide enough for us to fit through. Dream's grip tightened on mine and I gave him a squeeze back.

We began to step through and I gave Blade a quick glance. It wasn't Blade that I saw though. Ink was giving me an extremely worried expression, but I could only give him a reassuring smile before I was consumed by the golden light.

As soon as I passed through, everything was dark. It was like an unnatural pressure was sinking down on me in the air. I blinked a few times as my eyes adjusted from being in brightness to this darkness.

It was cold around here too, and I wrapped my arms around me as I examined where we were. It seemed to be a forest filled with dead or dying trees, their blackened bark sending chills down my spine. Some of them looked like they hadn't died by natural means, they had gashes that didn't seem to be by claws. My heart rate increased, what was this place?

As if reading my mind, Dream answered. "Welcome to Dreamtale, my old universe. It's... seen better days." He looked somber as he examined the trees as well. His universe? I hadn't heard him talk about it much. All I knew was the attack that had happened and Dream being a stone statue for a century. I always forget just how ancient him and Nightmare are.

That massacre must've been what happened to these trees then.. poor things. Dream shook his head to clear his thoughts and lead me through a path in the forest. Through the tangles of branches I could see an opening approaching, but couldn't make much out about it until we got closer.

We paused as we finally reached the edge, I could finally see that there was a giant stump in the center with roots spread all across the ground. Sitting on the root looked to be Nightmare. He was hunched over, arms crossed on his legs with his skull pressed in them. He hadn't seen us arrive.

Dream looked conflicted on what to do, shuffling between his feet. I could only scan our surroundings to make sure Cross wasn't here. I didn't see anything so I was hoping we had beaten him to the chase.

"Y/n.. could you maybe talk to Night? He... trusts you more than he does me. It hurts to say but it's the truth." Dream was tearing up and his voice was quivering. It's rare to see Dream be so upset..

"We go together. He needs both of us. He's scared, that's why he hasn't told you anything. I'm just more familiar to him after spending all that time together. I promise it isn't anything you've done, Dream." I put a hand on his shoulder to reassure him further. He took a deep breath in and nodded softly.

We approached Night carefully but not stealthy. I went out of my way to step on some crunchy dead leaves to let him know we were approaching. I didn't want to startle him.

My efforts were slightly in vain because when I stepped on a twig that snapped, his head shot up and he flinched. Seeing us coming up to him only seemed to freak him out more.

"W-What are you two doing here?" He sputtered and desperately tried to wipe his eyes. It was still clear he had been sobbing before we arrived. His face was glistening with tears and his voice sounded blocked up.

"We were worried.. we put together that you and Cross were going to meet up." I explained carefully, trying to use a gentle voice.

Night sighed and pressed his eyes back into his palms, "Don't remind me.."

Had they already met? Where was Cross? I scanned through the trees once more. Night must've felt my anxiety, "He's long gone. We only talked for a little while." Tears started welling up in his eyes again- "It was a mistake."

Dream sat down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder, me following right behind him on the opposite side. Night started to sob into his hands again, it sounded so anguished... just what had happened? Me and Dream shared concerned looks.

Dream was about to say something but Nightmare suddenly shouted, "It's not fair! Why can't things just be easy for once? Why can't I catch a fucking break?! The bullies, that damn apple, being that monster... and when I'm finally myself again I'm trapped in the fucking VOID! And when I'm finally out of that, what do I get!?" He ranted and progressively louder with his sobs. Something else was happening too... from where he was covering his eye a neon blue hue was leaking through. Something black was starting to spread from his back...

Oh fuck.

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