Ch. 2 Friends or Foes?

Sam was watching the gate to make sure no one tried to help Dream escape, when suddenly two figures formed in the Nether Portal. He immediately got into an offensive stance and was nearly about to stab the intruders when he realized who it was.

Sapnap and George. Sapnap wore a full suite of diamond armor, underneath it was what looked to be his black and white shirt with a flame logo on the front, but the armor blocked the logo so Sam couldn't see whether his deduction was correct. Instead of his normal dark blue skinny jeans, he wore a lighter pair that was also hidden from view. His raven black hair appeared to be messily brushed and his trademark white head band stood proudly above his brow, poking out from under his helmet.

George however, wasn't wearing his normal blue shirt with bold white 909 numbers on it incased in a solid red rectangle, but instead wore a green over-sized hoodie. Considering Dream used to live with them, it probably belonged to the prisoner. His chocolate brown hair was messy, as if he'd just gotten out of bed, and knowing George, he did. His round, tinted goggles covered his red, puffy eyes. If they didn't, people would noticed he'd been crying earlier. He could already assume why they were here, so instead of killing them he decided just to give them a warning.

"You two can't be here. Didn't you hear? No one is allowed to visit Dream anymore."

"What? Why? Quackity came here last week! We were his best friends! Doesn't that count for something?" Sapnap yelled, he noticed George looked uncomfortable. When did this happen? Sam questioned silently. Last he checked, the Dream Team broke up with Sapnap threatening to kill Dream and George heartbroken over not getting to be king of the server. Sam thought the whole thing was immature, but ultimately decided not to get involved with the whole ordeal as it was none of his business.

"Sorry, no can do. No one goes in or out unless I permit them." He started, still holding his sword. I have to keep Dream safe from them just in case; or vise versa.

Sapnap and George looked down, disappointment clear on their faces. Sapnap had been hoping to rekindle what relationship they had left; both George and him had been remembering better days. Days where Dream was kind, caring, honest, and happy. They wanted to know what happened? Maybe he wasn't evil, just misunderstood? Maybe he was manipulating them the entire time? It angered them to think about it, but it consumed their every thought lately.

"Look, when Dream is more sta-" Sam was interrupted by a scream. A scream that just so happened to come from his prisoner.

"Shut up!" Dream scream out in what sounded like pain and agony. Shut up? Either he's insane... or someone is there with him! How did they break through?! Is it Techno? Sam instinctively turned to go run to his cell to make sure he wasn't trying to escape, when he remembered Sapnap and George were there.

"Stay here," He comanded as he quickly made his way towards the cell entrance, pushing buttons and such to get there. It didn't take him long to realize the two best ex-friends were following him. Well, Sapnap was dragging George along but none the less they were still there.

"Stop! You're not allowed to see the prisoner. Go. Back. Now." Sam demanded more fiercely as he turned around, ready to attack either that decided to defy him. He didn't want to, but he had a duty to take care of Dream. He wouldn't fail here. When he got a better look at both of them however, he realized they both had full enchanted netherite armor and swords on.

"We don't want to set him free, but I think we can all agree that didn't sound like normal Dream. Something is wrong and as his friends, we deserve to know." Sapnap said, holding an offensive stance while George was begrudgingly on defense; he clearly didn't want to be here.

There was a sound of shattering glass in the distance.

I don't have time to fight them, Dream might be gone by now! ...I can't hesitate now I'll just have to trust them.

Instead of answering them, he continued to run towards the captured man's cell. He couldn't waste any more time and knowing Dream, Sam very well could already be out of time.

Only a few moments later, he finally got to the lever; aggressively, he yanked the lever down hastily. It felt like years before the lava sank.  Slowly but surely, he could make out the shape of a red figure-hugging a green one. I knew it! Before any of them could even step on the bridge however, the red one disintegrated.

George had a deep gut feeling something was wrong, he could only make out a faint shape of a yellow blob on the floor which he assumed was Dream. "Sam..." George said as he walked towards Dream.

Sam sighed hinting that he knew what he had to do. "Go on, make sure he is ok, but first give me your armor and weapons." Sam walked towards them, his hand extended towards them. The two boys didn't hesitate, throwing their armor and the rest of their belongings at the guard as they prepared to go to the other side. They both stood on the small platform, prepared for the worst, yet never prepared enough.

Time froze for the two men as they slowly approached his cell. They smelled him before they saw him. George almost threw up from the smell of blood and rotten food that flooded his senses the closer they got. As they wearily looked at the small box, they saw a pile of bread and smashed rotten potatoes right under a dispenser. How long has that been there? Sapnap wondered. George was focused on the fact that the dispenser meant no one had been visiting Dream to feed him. Did Sam even bother to check on him? Sapnap was the first one off of the small platform, with tears in his eyes, he stared at the corpse of his former enemy, his former friend.

George and he were in a similar state, both were too shocked to say anything as tears silently slipped down their cheeks, crying for the obviously deceased man. "D-Dream!" George finally cried out as he stumbled over to his dead friend.

Sapnap tried to grab George's arm but he couldn't bring himself to move. It felt like he was in the middle of an endless sea. nothing around him yet he was suffocating on his thoughts. He managed to hook on to the bottom of Dream's hoodie, effectively stopping the brit from getting blood on him. It dawned on both of them at the same time, they are never going to be able to make things right. With Dream gone, so is the revive book. They can't make it right. They can't bring him back.

"How?!? W-Why!?!? Why di-did this hap-happen?" George screamed, clutching to the green hoodie Dream once wore. George sobbed as he held his friend's hoodie close to him while Sapnap simply stood to the side, tears streaming down his face as he stared blankly at Dream's body.

They couldn't see past their agony to notice a small figure sitting in the cauldron a few feet away, staring at them in a mix of curiosity, horror, and panic.

Finally, Sapnap had snapped out of it enough to grab George's shoulder gently, pulling him away from the body and towards the small platform they were once on. Once they got home, Sapnap planned to make a grave for their friend, and vowed to find out what happened. George retaliated, shoving his hand away forcefully as he continued sobbing, now next to the corpse of his ex-best friend.

"He's dead Sapnap! DEAD! How- how could we let this happen!?! We- we... He was supposed to be SAFE! He was supposed to be alive..." George shouted, slowly getting quieter over time. Sapnap stayed quiet. They both knew that the other was going through an equal, if not worse time currently. They both knew that neither of them blamed the other for what they did and would probably apologize afterward for their actions, so instead of yelling, Sapnap simply stood there and let George have his moment.

Sapnap sighed before running his sweaty hand through his hair. They'd been there less 10 minutes yet it felt like an oven. Is this what Dream had to go through? What was it like when the lava streamed next to him? He wondered, looking back towards Sam, whom looked like an ant from where they stood. He frowned before looking back to George, who was starting to collect himself.

"How long has he been here? How long has he been alone?" George asked, his voice pitchy due to him screaming earlier. Sapnap was hesitant to answer. George was probably the second most clueless on the server, first is Technoblade, due to him being asleep eighty-five percent of the time. It only got worse when Dream betrayed him, taking his crown away. After the big break up of the Dream team, he'd only wake up long enough to understand main events, like starting Kinoko.

As George waited for an answer, and Sapnap searched for a way to tell him, a certain spirit sat in the oversized metal bucket behind them, wondering what to do.

Where am I? What am I doing here? Who is that over there? Oh! They are coming closer! Dream, who'd been casually floating in the air, slightly bounced in fright as he saw two tiny figures come towards him on a small platform. They looked strangely familiar,  but he didn't have time to think about it as an overwhelming surge of fear coursed through him.

His only thought was to hide, so he instinctively dove into the cauldron a few feet away from him. As he calmed himself, he took a better look around the place, carefully peaking over the edge of the metal nest. He noticed a chest and book stand next to him, one on the right and one on the left, a broken clock next to him, much higher on the wall, shards of glass on the floor, and a severely injured man lying down on the floor with- Ymxvb2QgcG9vbGluZyBhcm91bmQgaGlzIGJvZHkuIEhpcyBuZWNrIHNlZW1lZCB0byBiZSBzbGljZWQgb3BlbiBieSBhIHNoYXJwIG9iamVjdC4=. and a man asleep on the floor.

He felt some kind of invisible force to go to the clock, but opted to ignore it so he could help the man.

As he slowly stood up to check on the man, he heard a small gasp and immediately dove back into the safety of the cauldron. After a little bit, he heard a british male scream, "Dream!" and sobs right after.

This scared the, now young, ghost as he still had no idea what or who anyone was. He spent a while debating with his anxiety as the poor boy fought with asking them for help. As he did that, he also watched the two men have a breakdown in front of the other man that was sleeping. Finally, after about ten to twenty minutes of the grown adults crying, he decided to confront them.

How does a child talk to a crying adult again? He never cried... I didn't know adults could cry... Dream wondered silently as he tried to hype himself up. He quickly shook his head, attempting to literally shake off the nerves that held his body glued to the cauldron's floor.

C'mon Dream, you gotta pull yourself together and get back home. Dream heard-TmlnaHRtYXJl. Dream heard an unfamiliar voice. Wait, what home? Dream shook his head again, this time trying to clear his mind like an Etch and Sketch. He slowly lifted himself from the cauldron, floating above it. Slowly making his way towards the three. The adults had turned their backs to him, attempting to leave, that's when he made his move.

"Um h-hey, wait please!" He quietly exclaimed as he floated to them, the two in turn did a 180, shocked morphed into their expressions. Both were rendered speechless, causing an awkward, long silence to settle between the three. Finally George managed to speak.

"Dream?.."

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