It was getting close to the meeting time and Sunny had already closed up for the night. "Alright, I'm all ready for the meeting. Are you coming with me Meredith?" Sunny asked her friend.

“Uh… Well I don’t want to leave my bestie in a dangerous situation alone, but I also don’t wanna get caught between you and lover boy.” She stated. 

"Pfffffffttttt. Okay. I'll call you on the comms if things go south. You remember how to hack into the streets cams where I'm meeting him at?"

“Oh please, a toddler could hack those things.” She said with a dismissive wave. “Don’t dis my skill, girl.” She grinned. 

She chuckled. "I don't. It's just a serious situation and I don't want you to get distracted." Sunny retorted as she fixed the voice modulator on her mask. She hardly had to use it. But it was just in case.

She organized her things and had the book snug in her knapsack. "Okay, I'm going. Be sure to be on that laptop!" She yelled out as she got in the driver's seat of the black van and drove off. Seeing Meredith with a thumbs up in the rearview mirror.

She was early but she wanted it that way. She parked the van in an close by alleyway. And secretly made her way towards the meeting spot. She extended her senses to see if she could sense the King or his boys waiting. Turns out, he was indeed there, hiding, along with the Murder Time Trio. The auras gave her chills down her spine but was comforted by her boyfriend's aura even though he didn't know who she was. Now, hiding in the shadows they waited for the Mafia member to show up. 

After about almost an hour goes by and no one shows up. 'They're either testing me or just trying to irritate the crap out of me.' she thought bitterly. She was about to turn back but then a fancy looking car pulled up. And there was the target. Dressed in an sharp dark suit with The Venom Fists logo tattooed on his neck.

'Show time…'

Nightmares pov

“error, watch things one and two while we are out.” I didn’t look at the glitchy skeleton as I clipped on my cloak, hiding my other appendages. 

“b-but i-i-nk-s ann-noy-ing a-an-d b-lu-e is t-too!” Error denied.

“are you telling me no? look, error, i don’t have time for this. take them out to do good deeds or something, we’ll be back.”

“w-w-h-y ca-n-n-t i co-me wi-ith?” Error asked.

“you are to easy to spot.”

“y-ou are too!” 

“no i’m not. not like this.” Behold the reason why I chose the Murder Time Trio. I was going in my passive form as to be more… discreet. I oozed negativity (literally) in my other form so this was my best way to hide… even if I didn’t like it. Plus it was only until the mafia informant was gone. Then I could go back to my more… dominant… form.

Error sputtered, not expecting me to go passive.

“watch them.” I said one more time before leading the other three equally shocked skeletons out.

We teleported to the location, scoping it out before going into hiding.

“boss, you going to be ok in that form?” Dust asked.

“i’m not completely defenseless in this form. i’ll be fine.” I assured him before disappearing into the shadows. 

It was three hours later when Lux Furem showed up. Yes, we’d come three hours early. We wanted to make sure it wasn’t a trap. It wasn’t. It took longer for the Mafia lackey to show, but seeing him made me want to switch forms and make him beg for mercy. Force him to tell me the location of their lair so I COULD TEAR THEM ALL APART. But I held back on that urge. That’s what former me would have done. Not present me.

The guy stopped in the middle of the alley.

"Oi! You here for the trade off or naw?" He spoke roughly into the shadows. It took a few seconds then Lux Furem stepped out holding the knapsack around them.

*"Well, the rumors didn't lie when they said that you guys have a thing of "quiet" discretion."* They clipped in response as they crossed their arms and tapped their foot like a mother scolding a child.

*"....Do you have the money?"*

"Yeah yeah I have your money in the back of the car. Book first."

They took their knapsack and plopped it in front of them. The guy carefully walked up to it and opened it carefully as to see if it was a trap. When he realized that he just saw the book, his crooked smile curled up in greed.

"Pleasure doing business with ya Lux." He handed them the keys to unlock the car. "No funny business. Got it? Expensive ass car."

They gave the finger gun signal at him. To which he was confused about but didn't say anything. And made their way seemingly towards the back of the car. But before the guy could say anything about it. They got in the back and left the door open so it'll seem like they're trying to find the money. Meanwhile...

“horror… fetch.” I called from his hiding spot as he switched forms.

The cannibal’s red eye glowed as he lunged at his prey, the mafia goon.

“dust, killer make sure he doesn’t actually kill or eat him..”

The guy tried to run, but one couldn’t just escape a beast when he was let loose. Horror was on him in an instant, raising his ax to kill. Killer held him back though as Dust turned the guy's soul blue. I came out, watching Lux.

“i believe you have something that belongs to me.” I called to them.

They held their hands in mock surrender and pointed to where the book laid on the ground. 

I picked it up with a tentacle, checking that it was the book. With a sigh, I turned back to my boys. It was a relief that they weren’t stabbing me in the back too.

“a pleasure doing business with you, lux, i assume i will hear from you again in the news..” 

*"Likewise, and for the last part… mmmm, more than likely~"* they teased at the end of their sentence. I was about to retort on their comment when I smelled a familiar scent. Sunshine and vanilla. When I went to ask them about it, they were gone. Like a freaking shadow!

“huh…” I turned back to the boys. “tag him and bag him, this will be a gift for my assassin friend.” They ought to enjoy it. Dream won’t let me torture in the castle, so next best thing I suppose. 

“yes boss.” Killer replied as he and Dust traded places and he started hog tying the guy.

“horror, down. i’ll feed you when we return.”

“grrrrr… fine..” Dust sighed in relief, not having to hold the skeleton back for long. 

3rd pov

Sunny of course stole the money from the back. It was a check in a small case protected by a code so she was able to get away with. With any luck, Meredith will have it open before tomorrow morning. Sunny watched from a distance of where they weren't looking.

 'I guess a little parting gift wouldn't hurt.' she thought mischievously. As she sent her strong hormonal vibes from afar to him and then disappearing when he looked in her direction. 

A few weeks have gone by and on the Positive Side of the kingdom. Raven had gotten in touch with Nightmare about the new hostage. You see, after her mission, she was able to get the money from the Mafia group before they realized that they were duped. Now she had to pull out information from them. She had instructed him to leave him in the barrens in the back of the kingdom and she would collect and then tell in any information she had found.

Which so far went smoothly after she had collected him from their meeting spot. She currently had him chained up in her shop's basement. All she had to do was turn off the lights and let her spirits that serve under her do their thing in scaring the crap out of him. 

So far they learned that the Mafia group has almost completely taken over the underground black market and was making their power evident in new business plans such as renting out buildings and screwing the owners and the tenants of everything they had. Some of it was protection fees for themselves on market stalls, stores, and apartments. Didn't pay up, they would destroy or kill. And the majority of it was loaning money and human and monster trafficking to outside of the kingdom to other nations.

When Dream found out about how Nightmare was getting information, he demanded to know what it was so he could fix it. Nightmare was hesitant but relented and showed him. Dream was devastated. But he still didn't back down from the challenge. 

Dream had figuratively and literally pulled up his sleeves and started working out a battle plan to put an end to his people's fears. But there comes a point where even Nightmare thinks that he should get a break.

“brother, you need to relax, you’re still recovering.” Nightmare urged.

“i’ll relax when i’m done.” Dream retorted. 

“your working yourself to death, dream. at least take a walk, you might find something interesting.” Nightmare offered. 

“...... a walk, then i’m coming straight back here..” Dream agreed reluctantly. He felt that Nightmare had been working more than he has since the incident, allying himself with thieves and assassins and getting the Book of AUs back. He felt he NEEDED to do his part.

Nightmare suggested that he go inconspicuously through town so as to not draw attention to himself. He wanted to argue his point. But he was right. With how Dream is being targeted by the Mafia and how they were at risk. He couldn't afford to be spotted out in the open.

As Dream traveled in town, he went from shop to shop getting little trinkets and eating some treats. Until he heard some gossiping housewives whispering about a haunted store?

“excuse me, i couldn’t help but overhear. could you tell me more about this haunted store?” Dream asked politely. They.... were not so polite. 

“Well that’s a little rude, don’t you think?” One of the housewives commented hautily. 

“o-oh.. i’m sorry, i really didn’t mean too, could you tell me about the store?” When did his people get so… this? Was everyone like this?

“I suppose… well it’s this little dark shop with a dark haired witch as the owner. They say she curses every item you buy from there. Some say that people go missing in there and never return, then she summons their spirits to haunt the little shop and make more people disappear.” Another explained. Dream frowned. It was one thing to be snot nosed to him. It was another to speak about others behind their backs.

“i’ll bet she’s a kind young woman, just looking for a friend. she likely has her own unique interests, and i’m quite curious to see this quaint little place, so if you would be so kind as to point me in it’s direction, i’ll be on my way.” He crossed his arms as the ladies paled. 

“You’re crazy to want to go in there.” The one rude lady muttered.

“so i am, where is it?” He was losing patience with these women, which was a bit strange for Dream, but he WAS still recovering. 

“Just down there and to the left, you can’t miss it.” The other replied.

“That poor soul..” A third finally murmured as Dream walked down the street.

He finally found the shop. As the housewives said. It was a dark looking shop but not entirely unpleasant. Creative and fancy font that spelled out "The Raven's Nest" and had a picture of a Raven sitting in a nest with a collection of different items. Dream looked at the display windows which showed arranged items and mannequins. Some of it was clothes that were designed in a mix of varying lights and darks. While there were assorted candles and dolls along with other unique antiques that Dream had recognized in some of the AUs that were either destroyed or just wiped from existence from. 

“oh… wow how’d she get her hands on things like these?” Dream couldn’t help but wonder. He decided to go in and ask.

As he entered, he saw how dark but enchanted it looked with all the sorts of lights that were lit up around the room. Their were assorted clothes, aisles of books about magic, meditation, medical herbs and natural resources, your zodiac signs and their meanings, incense galore of various enchanting smells, and of course antique items from small dolls to music boxes. The room itself was something that looked like it came from a Lewis Clark novel. Enchanting, strange, and overall mysterious. 

He finally found the front desk, but no one was there. He saw the service bell and decided to make use of it.

RRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNGGGGGGG!

Oh! He liked that sound so he let his inner Blue go a bit. 

RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING

"Can I help you? Or would you like to take the bell home?" A dark and beautiful voice spoke. Dream looked up and saw the Dark blue and black Arabian dancer dressed woman entered. And even though she had a dark mask covering on, he could see the beautifully dark detailed makeup on her face.

He gave an apologetic smile. “i’m sorry, i got carried away. it sounds beautiful, like your voice-” He covered his mouth.

She looked taken aback by his comment. She giggled. "You think my voice is pretty~? And who do I have the pleasure~ to have this said by." She teased.

A yellow blush crept along his cheekbones. At least she wasn’t mad. “um… dream.” 

She froze. She looked more closely at him and her eyes widened and took a step back. "Pardon me your majesty. I just have to get something from the back. Take your time and browse my collections in the front casings here. I'll be right back." Before Dream could say anything she left to the back room.

Raven's pov

'Shitshitshitshitshit!!!! The king himself is here in my shop! What the Hell is happening?!?! I thought I was being discreet enough to not be caught?! Ok, just calm down Raven. He's probably here just to shop, yeah, to shop. But why in Hell's name is he in MY shop?!' 

Raven would've freaked out more if it weren't for the whispers of the shadows trying to coax her. They also warned that their "guest" is aware that someone is here now. 

"Okay! Just… Gag him or something to keep him quiet. I can't afford to screw this up!" She whispered to them. You see, with collecting antiques and being a practitioner of magic she always had the gift of also having unexpected guests and roommates come and go from her shop. The ones that stay help her out in her business and side business. While the guests are shown to the afterlife so that they can either rest in peace or be reborn. Luckily she's never had any "unpleasant" guests or residents. So far. 

But now there's her current problem. The one right out front looking through the jewelry and tarot cards in the display casing. 'Alright. I can do this… I can do this…' 

She grabbed a handheld mirror and placed it in a small box. The mirror was supposedly from before Dreamtale went up in flames. One of the only few in existence. She doesn't remember how she got it. She had it for as long as she could remember. Ever since her time in the streets, scavenging for food. She found it one day in an alley where a strange old man had given it to her. He told her to keep it till she found the one for her. He said it was a gift from his deceased wife from the previous Dreamtale. He said that she should have it to give it to her special someone when she was old enough. 

She didn't really seem to care but she took it anyways and kept it for all this time. She brought it with her back out in the front and put it on a random shelf to look like she was getting something. To make her lie believable.

“i’m sorry, i didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. i should have given a fake name..” Dream had felt her negativity dampen his positivity a tad. He felt bad, he was supposed to be discrete, not go around telling people his name. He looked at her, spotting the box. “what’s that?”

Her attention was drawn to where he was pointing. "You want to see it? There's nothing interesting in it."

“if i’ve learned anything in the ten minutes i have been in this shop, everything is interesting. everything has a story to it. so what’s in the box?” 

She smiled gently. Happy to know that he feels the same way for antiques like she does. She brought the box over and opened it for him. In it was an eclipse gold colored metal grafted hand mirror that had an ancient looking language carved on it.

Dream’s sockets went wide. “the sun soul mirror..” He approached slowly, knowing the mirror all too well.

Raven raised a brow in confusion. "The what…?"

“the sun soul mirror, it is the other half of the moon soul mirror. they are a set that my mother and father had when we were boys… i can’t believe it survived as well..” Dream was in awe. How’d she get her hands on such an item? That was well before the rebirth of Dreamtale.

"Soooooo, in a way, they're like a wedding ring?" She asked curiously while picking it up and looking at it.

“yes! exactly! the mirror is supposed to help the owner find his or her soulmate, that’s how my parents found each other, and i think it’s how my brother found his girlfriend since he has the moon soul mirror.” Dream realized. 

"Pfffffffttttt!!! Your brother. The king of darkness. Has a girlfriend?" She chuckled. 

His sockets widened again as he realized he said that out loud. “shit.”

Raven realized he didn't mean to say that. "Pfffffffttttt, Hahahahaha!!! You're a hoot and a holler, you know that bellboy~"

He blushed again at her laughter, and blushed brighter at her comment. “b-bellboy!?”

"Pfffftttt! Well. You do like this bell and from the way you're looking right now, you're like a cute little bell~." She cooed.

He externally cringed at the flirtation. He never knew what to do in situations like these. ‘Maybe distract her? Yeah, that’ll work!’ He thought. “w-wanna s-see how i-it works..?”

She shrugged giggling at his discomfort. "Sure. I've had it since I was small, so why not?"

“ok!” He walked over, peeking over her shoulder at the pretty object. “so since it gives hints about your soulmate, all you really have to do is think about the ideal person for you. what would you want him or her to be like, appearances, etc.” He explained. 

"Hmmmm, I want him to be strong, kind, funny to mess with, open minded, strong stomach when it comes to my antics, a good soul, forgiving, loving, creative, and just…. A good person in general…." She trailed off thinking about snippets of her past.

“he sounds like a good person…” Dream thought about what the people of his side of the kingdom had become. He certainly hoped there were still people like that in his kingdom. “what do you see in the mirror?” Since it was her mirror, he couldn’t see what she saw. 

She started to see that the mirror was morphing into one of light. She had to look away since it was so bright. But she saw something else in it. She squinted in the light. She saw a raven in a large nest with several little chicks wanting food from their mother. And then came a large white bird. She couldn't tell what sort of bird it was since it looked to be a mix between a dove and a hawk. But she could see that they were mates as they nuzzled their beaks together. Finally the nest was surrounded by what appeared to be a crown. It looked familiar. But she didn't know from where. It then returned to normal. She was a bit dazed but she told Dream of what she saw. 

“o-oh.. wow. That was surprisingly more detailed than i expected the mirror to be. i always figured the hints would be vague or something…” He commented as he pondered the vision.

"Would it help if I draw or describe the crown or some other details?" Raven offered.

“sure, maybe it’s someone i know?” What other royalty did he know again? There were the Toriel’s and Asgore’s of the aus, an occasional Sans or Papyrus, also from the aus, his brother, was Ink or Error considered royalty? Error 404? 

"Well the crown had a thin but solid band of gold. No jewels on it. It honestly looked more like a subtle but fancy headband like those Elves from the story books would wear. But at the front, on each end it curled on upwards and the other end, downwards. It kind of reminded me of golden vines? If that makes any sense?" 

Dream’s sockets had went wide.

“c-can i see that mirror a moment..”

"Hmmm? Yeah sure. What for?"

“confirmation.” He replied quietly. She handed the mirror carefully to him as he shakily held it in his phalanges.

He nearly dropped it at what he saw. They were trees. A bright oak and a dark pine, standing tall beside each other. The oak seemed to protect the pine as the pine also protected the oak. Below the two trees were hybrid saplings, children of the oak and pine. Dream turned luminescent yellow. “o-oh my…”

"Well…? What'd you do? Do you see something else in it?" Raven asked, confused.

He nodded, trying to process what this all meant. Him and Raven, Raven and him… 

Together.

"Well…? Who's my soulmate! Don't leave me in suspense, bellboy!" She said impatiently. Raven never thought that soulmates existed and even if they did, she wouldn't have one. Mainly because of how everyone treated her like a scavenger. And in a way, she was. But she at least deserved to be treated as a person with an identity. She bounced in place subtly like a child excited for Christmas. Dream could see the hint of excitement and happiness. Especially in her eyes. Even if they were covered by a dark veil.

“well… ok… i guess you’re my little blackbird now.” He replied with hints of nervousness, excitement, and joy.

Raven was confused at first but after a few seconds, it clicked. She raised her veil over her head and stared at him in wonder and curiosity. It was only now that Dream could make out the intricacies of her painted face and makeup. There were swirls and strips that looked like vines of plants and whiskers of an animal. Some dots here and there in assorted patterns. And the makeup for her face was well done. Especially the almost black lipstick that was prominently showing and accentuated how plump and seductive her lips were. And he couldn't help but stare at dark midnight blue eyes that seemed to reflect the lights in the room like stars. 

"Are you serious…? You're not pulling my leg now are you…? Cuz if you are…" she said in a warning tone.

“i’m not very good with jokes…” Dream replied. “the crown you described is mine.” He continued with complete honesty. “it was given to me by my father, it was his sun crown. nightmare has our mother’s moon crown.”

Raven couldn't form the proper words. On one hand she was ecstatic that she found her mate but on the other she tried to kill him. 'Shit!'

She felt guilty but didn't show it on her features. But she did show shyness that was unlike her personality.

“um… are you ok..?” Did he say something wrong? Did he screw up already? “blackbird..?”

She snapped out of it with a blush. "S-sorry! It's just all very sudden and just a little overwhelmed. Do you really want to be together with… someone like me…?" She said softly. "I mean I know we barely know each other, but… usually people don't take well to me or my appearance because I'm one of the few Negatives' that were mixed up during the registration process. So can you blame me if I was told that the King of Positivity was my mate?" She said as she felt ashamed of herself. "I mean, I don't care what people say about me, but what if they turn on you BECAUSE of me? I-I don't want you to sacrifice your love for your people over someone like… me." She said darkly as she stared absently to the mirror.

“raven… i don’t care what anyone else thinks. we should give us a shot.” He took one of her hands, placing a kiss on her knuckles. “you, raven winchester, are the most beautiful girl in the world, and i’d like nothing else but for you to be yourself around me and i’ll be myself around you.” 

Raven looked shocked. Not only did he want to be with someone like her but he knew her full name?! She hasn't said anything to him about her name.

"How do you know my full name… and do you really think that?" She said with a blush when he kissed her hand. 

He beamed, happy to get such a satisfying reaction out of her. A blush was a great start! “well the ability is called check! i can learn basic information about a person with a glance! all sanses have this ability, and some papyrus aus too!” He explained cheerily. “and yes… i really, truly do think you are the most beautiful woman in the world. your beauty outshines even outertale, which is considered the most beautiful au in the multiverse!” 

She blushed harder as she tries to hide her face in embarrassment. "You're a real smooth talker you know that bellboy?" She said through her hands peeked her one eye open through her fingers. A real cute move if Dream ever saw one.

Dream blushed himself. “i am..?” He wouldn’t know, he never flirted with anyone but her. He’d never actually been interested in anyone but her. 

She huffed in frustration while still having that blush on her face. "Just like a bell. You ring loud and clear, and easy to listen to, but you're as thick headed as one too…" she said as her hand intertwined with his.

At first, he drooped when she called him thick headed. It was true though.. When her fingers intertwined with his phalanges, his eyelights darted from their hands to her eyes to her lips. The question came out before he could fully process what he wanted it. 

“can i kiss you?”

Raven's head snapped up to where he was and blushed heavily. Seeming flustered at his request.

He blushed heavily too. “i-i’m sorry! w-we don’t have t-to if y-you don’t want t-to, i just…” He trailed off. He did want it, he’d been wanting since she unveiled herself. He didn’t want to scare her off with any rash decisions though..

Raven gathered her courage and pulled him down to her level and gave him a passionate but chaste kiss.

His hands planted themselves on her hips as they kissed, it just felt right. He wanted to give in to desire, but he wasn’t sure she was ready yet. Besides, sometimes it was ok to take it slow. 

She blushed as leaned more into him once she felt how good his soul's power was. She loved the feel of his teeth on her lips and wanted more.

He felt her pleasure and took it as a sign to deepen the kiss. He brought one hand to her neck, cupping it as a way to pull her closer. 

Her lips smoothed over and ran across his teeth. She broke the kiss only to lick his teeth and run her fingers across his collarbone. Her being turned on and having love shine in her eyes as she stared at him longingly with a heavy blush on her face.

He opened his mouth to let her explore while his hands started to wander her body, doing some exploring of his own. It was quite the… adventure… for him. 

She moaned as she explored his mouth as he fondled her body sensually. She stopped only to look in his eyes and whisper seductively to him. "Wanna see stars tonight~? My house is just a few blocks from the store. What do you say~? Bellboy~?" She purred.

“with you~? definitely~. my pretty little blackbird~.” He agreed quickly, letting her lead him out. 

They continued their "fun time" at her house all the way till morning. By then, the spirits at her shop locked up for the night and Nightmare was losing his cool about where his brother could be.

As Dream wandered into his room and plopped on his bed, it finally hit him that he just got laid. He turned bright yellow. He just got laid with the most beautiful girl he’d ever laid eyes on! His soulmate! He squealed happily, flopping backwards. 

He felt a buzz in his pants. He looked at his phone and noticed how many missed calls and texts from Nightmare and cringed. How was he going to explain this?! But he checked his recent message and he could've sworn his soul did flips. 

 Blackbird Babe: "Hey. Took the opportunity to put my number in your phone. Had a great time last night. Wanna get together again for a date and fun time next week? Love you bellboy. Goodnight~ <3"

Bellboy: “Sounds like a plan, little blackbird~ I love you too, good night~ 💛❤️💞❤️💞💛”

As soon as he saw her message, the problem with Nightmare was temporarily forgotten. He’d deal with it tomorrow.