#marvul

Moon groaned a little as he straightens up a little, trying to figure out where the hell he was. The last thing he remembered was… Was-

Horrible, burning pain as Dream watches from above, the scientists strapping him down to some awful device. He screams and pleads for Dream’s mercy, tears in his eye lights that he didn’t know that he still had. The soul-shattering p a i n that wracked through his body until darkness claimed his vision, Dream’s name the last thing he remembered screaming for.

He had woken up in a grassy field, and looked up. There was a dark, starlight sky that stretched overhead, which lead towards the beginning of a dawn - or perhaps sunset? Moon couldn’t tell whether the sun was just beginning to rise, or if it was going to set. Despite the horrific amount of pain he should be in, he’s feeling pretty good, actually. He just would like to know where the hell he is.

A voice that sounds strikingly similar to his own called out “I’d wait to head in that direction, if I were you…” the other’s voice was much softer and gentler than his ever was.

Moon twists around and stares in utter confusion at… Himself? The other was wearing the golden circlet and the purple clothes - except for his awesome cape… Violet eye lights and the other certainly did seem to have a negative aura, too “Wh...Who the fuck are you?” That’s… This shouldn’t be possible. There was only one set of emotive guardians per multiverse.

“Call me Night. I’m an alternate version of you, of course. Uhm… I and the others were summoned here after… After you died.” Night explained, looking awkward, uncomfortable and guilty.

“That shitty fucking Dream of yours accidentally killed the both of you.” A warped and strangely layered voice hissed from the other side of the clearing. A tall, tar-covered… 

“Oh my stars! What the fuck happened to you?!” Moon yelps, staring in horror at the sheer menace that version of himself exuded.

“I consumed almost all of the apples - after changing most of the positive apples negative. I’ve gained an incredible amount of power and influence. There are a few who try to oppose me, but-” Mare began, having teleported close enough to talk without needing to shout.

“They can’t possibly resist you for long, yadda, yadda, yadda.” A second, goopy version of himself wearing a pirate’s outfit responded, rolling his visible eye light with a huff. “We call him Mare. He’s goopy and cranky. I’m Void! The villagers forced the negative apples into my mouth, while pinning down Sunny - my Dream - so that neither of us could escape them. Bastard. Anyways, you’re probably wondering why you’re here.”

“Yeah, what the fuck does he mean by I’m dead?! Are all of you dead too? Is this the afterlife for beings like us?” Moon growled, glaring at both of the corrupted Nightmares, folding his arms over his chest.

“No, we’re alive. You’re the only one who’s dead right now - your multiverse is resetting, and you’ll be reborn. You’re the first of us to die, so none of us will know how long you’ll be in here. This is a meeting space for all of us to meet.” A timid and tired sounding voice called out, another version of himself apparently. He was wearing a long purple coat with silver polka-dots “Please call me Illusion.”

“What? But… But… I’ve… I’ve seen other Nightmares die before… Not very often, and we do all we can to save them before that happens… But I haven’t been pulled into this space, and certainly with none of you…” Another version of himself calls out. He seems… Very young and terribly confused. “I-I’m Fides, by the way…”

The tallest and scariest of all of them groaned and huffed “That’s likely because they weren’t from prime multiverses. Or another group of Nightmares was pulled together to speak with them as their multiverse resets more slowly. Or… They chose to truly die, and go onwards, rather than return to their potentially reset multiverse.” Mare continued to glare at each of them, as if daring them to disagree.

“Don’t be rude, Mare! These things don’t really make sense.” A short, goopy version of himself huffed, pouting adorably up at their taller counterpart “I’m Halluciv! But you can call me Halli or Lucy for short, if you like! Uhm… I can offer you some advice about dealing with an aggressive Dream… Marvul… Err, the Dream of my multiverse can be kind of… Uhm...” Halluciv winced a little and went quiet, fidgeting with his sleeves, his eye light downward cast “You’ve gotta challenge him, but only on things that really matter to you.”

“A-Also, i-isolating yourself… E-Even if you think it would help, d-doesn’t.” Illusion spoke up, stuttering a little bit as he took a hesitant step forwards “You need to find allies, friends who will help you… Even if your goal is just to live and survive… Also… Even if he says otherwise, your Dream does care for you… You’ve gotta… You’ve gotta figure out how to remind him of this, and I’ve found that hugging my Dream… Or at least, speaking quietly to the other, radiating care for him, is often enough to get him to stop whatever he’s doing, at least for a while. He’ll probably cuddle you though.”

“As much as I hate to agree with the walking doormat he’s got several good points.” Mare hummed “the fastest way to stop any Dream is to remind them that you love them, despite any bullshit that’s been going on between the two of you. And let it show in your aura, as it tends to stop the Dream dead in their tracks, which is very useful in a number of ways.”

“I am not a d-doormat, you asshole! Just because I no longer go around terrorizing the multiverse I live in, doesn’t make me meek.” Illusion growled at Mare, his violet eye lights flashing cyan for a couple of moments, his voice getting deeper - close to that strange, echoing quality that Mare’s, Void’s and Halluciv’s did.

Fides sneaks over to Moon and gently taps him on one shoulder as Mare and Illusion start yelling at each other, murmuring quietly “The two of theirs timelines don’t differ all that much, so they see a lot of themselves in one another, which causes them to clash. I’ve seen Dreams and Nightmares clash with one another in different ways, and there’s no one way that is sure to try to prevent yours from causing trouble… But I would hope that he has his share of regrets, as I’ve… I have spoken to DS Dreams who have successfully broken the soul bond and killed their Nightmares… I haven’t met one yet who hasn’t deeply regretted their actions. I can only hope that when you reincarnate, you’ll remember enough of this to know that despite the difficulties that you might face, there are those who care for you, and will support you. My Dream - Cordian - is caring and loving and fiercely so. Both Nightmares and Dreams have the capacity for a great deal of love and care and compassion… As well as the ability to inspire terror, pain and cause destruction. You both have a second chance, and I hope that things go better… But if things start going not so good, Cordian and I will find you, and we’ll take you to safety.”

Moon nods a little, a small smile appearing on his face as he responds “Thank you, Fides. I think that helps. Do you really think that I won’t remember much?”

“I don’t know - I’ve never been here, and this whole reincarnation thing is very new to me. Maybe you’ll remember everything, maybe you’ll only remember bits and pieces. But I hope that you’re not doomed to repeat the same story over again. That would.. That would be awful.” Fides responded, gently squeezing Moon’s shoulder gently.

“I… I have a suggestion!” Halluciv piped up, having appeared close behind the two uncorrupted Nightmares and startling the holy hell out of him “If you tell your Dream what you’re going through with the villagers - that they go after you, no matter how nice you are, or how hard you try to make them happy like he does - and have him hide and see that you’re doing what you can to be nice and they just… They’re cruel and mean to you, it should get through to him that it’s not just you, but the villagers, too.” 

“I… I can try. Dream tried to make me befriend some of them, but he’d never listened when I said that it wouldn’t work. And I wouldn’t let them fuck me over - if they fucked with me, I’d prank them right the hell back, os that they’d have a reason to hate me… But if I remember that, I’ll keep that suggestion in mind.”

Halluciv nodded, beaming happily at that. “Good, I hope that you remember the good things in your past life, and the advice we’ve given you…” Night, Illusion and Mare are still arguing rather vehemently with one another, and look as if they’re going to start a Fight.

But that’s not Moon’s concern, especially as green magic that is… Strangely familiar, wraps him up, and a voice that he only remembers distantly calls him forth “Come to me, please… I-I need your help.”

His memory of a body vanishes, and he’s in his very first form - a violet ball of pure emotive magic, as his distress, feelings of hurt and betrayal and everything else melts away as he rushes to the side of the Guardian of the Tree of Feelings, chirping a little and gently nuzzling their face, startled and worried, as he can sense that they are injured and possibly dying. His other half is glowing softly on their other side and is nuzzling as well.

Moon chirps curiously at Light, who floats over and nuzzles into him for a moment as the two of them try to pulse magic into The Guardian, to try to help them heal.

They cough a little and smile “Oh, young ones… I am dying, and the tree is damaged. I will merge with the tree, in order to save it, but before I do, I will make you both bodies so that you can protect the tree when I am gone."

~

Light blinked in confusion as he looked around the space that he was in. The sky was a beautiful dawn, the rising sun painting the sky and clouds in a stunning riot of oranges and pinks and yellows. The shadows on the opposite side of the clouds were strikingly dark, and the far end of the sky was still dark and speckled with stars. He started to move towards that darker potion of the forest he was in, curious and wishing to explore.

He pauses for a moment as he hears… Six? Beings growl at him, having apparently surrounded him on all sides. Curiously enough, all he senses is Positivity magic and he calls out "I do not know why you are growling at me, but I assure you that I mean you no harm."

"Except that you fucking murdered you other half, you miserable waste of magic!" Hissed one of them, stepping into the dawn light… A version of himself? The other had a blue spot or hole on his head and radiated power and fury.

"I don't… I don't know what you're talking about." Light snapped back, glaring at the other, though he was trying to be sure that he kept a wary eye light out for his alternate selves who all seemed to be quite hostile.

"Do you not remember murdering your Nightmare after attempting to break the fate bond between the two of you? Or the fact that, given what you look like, you've likely been hunting him down for decades and experimenting on him when he's captured in order to figure out thow to break that very bond." A version of himself who also had wings growled.

“Considering the fact that you have wings as well I suppose that you consumed the apples in order to-” Light began, though he was abruptly cut off.

“I ate the apples as I’ve seen the pain and suffering of others, including version of NIghtmare and Dream, and I wished to end the torment they’ve gone through! I only wish that I’d have seen a vision of your Nightmare, so that I would have been able to rescue him from you.” The other winged Dream interrupted with a hiss.

“Leave it, Cordian. He’s not the type to back down from his decision, even if it’s a shit one. He’s offended that we’d dare to scold him.” A strangely warped voice called out from directly behind Light, sounding amused. As the voice had spoken, something slimy wrapped around Light’s neck, wrists and ankles before yanking him down to the forest floor. He sputtered and flailed, trying to get free “LET ME GO!” But he’s unable to struggle free.

“Why should I? You tormented your Nightmare! The least you should get is a stern lecture from alternate versions of yourself.” The warped voice hissed.

“Y-You guys are being a bit… H-Harsh…” A rather young sounding voice called out. He was short, wearing a blue and yellow guardian outfit and a yellow cape “B-But, i-if he really has been so m-mean to his Nighty…. I hope this gets through to him! Nightlight is the center of my world, and he should be the center of yours! The mortals come and go, no matter how nice they are to you… Night… If you’re not awful to him… Night will always be there, if you love and cherish him, and you should care for and love him.”

A slightly taller Dream wearing black pants and shirt, along with a gold colored hood with two striped and tapered ends that draped over his shoulders, nodded in agreement “Yes… Hopefully being killed because you failed to break the fate bond will encourage you to be better in your next reincarnation.”

“If I could… If I could reincarnate then…” A Dream in an orange hoodie and black and brown pants murmured quietly “I might be able to protect Void better…”

It’s not as if you could have predicted what those shitheads did to the both of you.” The goop-covered Dream murmured, gently patting hoodie-Dream on one shoulder with a tentacle lightly “You did what you could, Sunny.”

“Thanks, Shattered” Sunny responded before focusing on Light for a couple of moments, saying “Let him go - It’s starting.”

What was starting? Light wondered, the breath being knocked out of his metaphorical lungs as green magic wrapped around him and he was forced into the shape of a golden sphere, his memories blurring before fading away almost entirely.

~

Guilt tugged at him as his eyes opened and he found himself in front of the Guardian of Emotions and Moon, and he zips over to Moon, letting out a soft purr, hoping that the other would forgive him for whatever weighed so heavily on his soul.