Self-indulgent DreamSwap fanfic
General CW for fic: swearing, blood, death, alcohol, injury, mental health crises, cringe
Prologue
Dream watched the village below from his castle. It was sickening to watch everyone fawn over his brother, Nightmare. Dream had cast Nightmare out of the castle as soon as he took the throne, but it seems that it only made Nightmare more appealing to his people. Of course, that wasn’t the only sickening thing about Nightmare that Dream absolutely hated.
Dream’s wings twitched and his golden feathers, which made his wings seem to glow, ruffled. The skeleton glared down at his brother and his brother’s friends as they engaged in general shenanigans and tomfoolery.
“He’s an idiot. A useless idiot.”
Dream, as karma would have it, was stuck in the castle until someone came to free him. Funnily enough, true love had to enter Dream’s life before the barrier keeping only him at bay would break and set him free. As he watched from up high in his castle, Dream began going stir crazy. He’d been observing the townspeople for the last two years, hoping to find someone that catches his eye.
And someone he did see.
Just then, Ink entered the room, carrying the drinks that Dream had ordered him to make. Ink had one mug of paint, for himself, and one glass of wine for Dream.
“Have you found anyone interesting yet?” Ink asked in a mostly monotone voice.
Ink was another skeleton like Dream. He had no soul, so he was essentially emotionless. He always wore a small smile despite this, as his ability and desire to cause problems on purpose was not affected by his lack of soul.
Dream took his wine and sipped it. “It is possible I’ve found what I’m looking for.” Dream points through the window to a girl on the street. Ink’s gaze follows Dream’s finger to the girl Dream saw.
The girl in question called herself Sky. Her true name was Dawn Grey, but she had changed it after a terrible accident that led to the death of her sister, Dusk, and the absorption of Dusk’s soul by Dawn, who promptly became Sky. Sky’s hair was golden with a few streaks of purple through it, and yes, it became natural once Sky absorbed her sister’s soul. Sky also wore a yellow tunic and dark purple pants, brown boots, and an amulet with an interlocked sun and crescent moon. Sky’s skin was as white as the snow that was currently falling, and her eyes were black voids like a skeleton monster’s. Her eye lights were heterochromia. Her left eye light was golden, like it always has been. Her right eye light turned a deep purple, just like her sister’s used to be.
Sky was often observed to be mumbling things to herself from time to time. After Sky absorbed Dusk’s soul, Dusk became a ghost that would usually only appear to Sky to remind her of necessities and generally keep her company. Very rarely, Dusk would appear to others.
Sky was returning from the market with food for her home. She lived in a nice little house in the village. She dropped her food off at home before wandering the town, and that’s the last thing she remembered before someone’s bicycle crashed into her.
She had heard the warning too late, and three skeletal bodies went flying when the bicycle suddenly stopped. One skeleton with black bones crashed on top of Sky. Another white-boned one in a fluffy white outfit flipped over the handlebars and landed on his face. The third one, also white-boned and in a purple outfit fit for a prince, went flying into the fountain, which was somehow still flowing with warm water despite the winter chill. That third skeleton made a huge splash.
Sky groaned and attempted to sit up, but was still burdened by the skeleton that had crashed down onto her. “What the hell…?”
The skeleton on top of her was immediately recognizable to her. Poor Error, with his fear of girls and being touched, had landed (quite literally) in a predicament that was both of his fears in one. Before he could wake up, Sky courteously put Error elsewhere and stepped away.
The other skeleton, the one in a fluffy white outfit, was also one Sky knew.
“Cross, what the hell were y’all thinking?!”
Cross sat up. “Don’t look at me, it’s Nightmare you wanna question!”
Sky then turned to Nightmare, who was simply sitting in the fountain, looking as if he’d rather be anywhere else now that he had incurred the wrath of Sky. He sheepishly grinned.
“For the… meme?”
Sky glared and huffed at Nightmare.
“I should have known you’d be behind this immediately after I came to. I’ll ask you what I asked Cross… WHAT THE H E L L WERE YOU THINKING?!” Sky grabbed Nightmare by the sleeve and dragged him out of the fountain. The townspeople gathered to watch the spectacle. Many girls were giggling at Nightmare.
Nightmare yelped. “W-We didn’t mean to crash into you! I swear!”
Sky dropped Nightmare on the ground. “All of you could have gotten hurt! If it were anyone but me, you would have injured someone severely! You idiot, you could have gotten yourselves KILLED!”
Dream could hear the yelling from his castle. The window was open, after all. There was just an impassable (to him) barrier. He was intrigued by Sky’s focus not on her own well-being, but others’ well-being.
Nightmare looked away sheepishly. “Sorry…”
Sky took a deep breath and sighed.
“Just… don’t do that again.”
Sky’s voice was softer and more understanding. She knew why Nightmare was acting out, and all she wanted was to make sure the people were safe, including Nightmare and his friends.
“I’m going to go before Error wakes up.”
Too late. Error was awake and slightly afraid before he knew how many girls were there. Then he saw all of them and immediately hid in his hoodie.
Sky left the scene and went back home to tend to her injuries. By this time, the adrenaline was wearing off and she began to notice how badly she was hurt. Her knees and forehead were bleeding and she was bruised from her hip to her shoulder blade. She had a couple of cracked ribs and her lip was bleeding too, now.
“Damn… that hurts-! That really hurts!”
Sky collapsed onto the floor of her kitchen just before she reached the first aid.
“I guess I’ll lay here for a while.”
Dusk’s ghost floated casually above Sky.
“You’re not invulnerable, y’know,” Dusk’s ghost whispered.
Sky glared up at the specter.
“I know.”
Dusk’s ghost glanced at the door.
“Someone is coming soon. He likes to drink paint and he has no soul.”
Sky groaned.
“Shi-“
The door busted open and Dusk disappeared. Sky lay quietly on the floor despite the difficulty of not screaming.
Ink looked around the foyer first.
“Skyyyy, oh Skyyyy, where are you hiding~”
Sky facepalms and makes no sound. It hurts too much to do that now. Ink would just have to find her himself.
Sky remembered Ink as the horniest of her old friends, despite his lack of a soul. Someone else she knew came in close second…
Ink poked his head into the kitchen and saw Sky lying on the floor, bleeding, bruised, and slightly broken.
“Oh! There you are. King Dream wants to see youuu~”
Sky glared.
“Fuck off, Ink. I just got a vibe check by a bicycle and three whole skeletons.”
Ink’s face rests on his usual small, mischievous smile.
“Huh. That’s too bad. Guess I’ll have to drag you.”
Sky growls. “Don’t you McFuckin DARE.”
Ink chuckles. “That must be Dusk speaking. If you insist. I suppose I’ll heal you so you can walk on your own.”
Sky lays there while Ink heals her. He’s finished pretty quickly, and Sky is soon able to stand.
“Okay. Fine. I’ll go to meet with King Dream.”
Ink smiles mischievously. “Good.”
Ink offers his hand and Sky reluctantly takes it. Suddenly, Ink and Sky are standing at the entrance to the castle. Ink ushers Sky inside, and the doors close and lock. No turning back. Sky was trapped.
Sky had not spoken to Dream since he’d cast Nightmare out and since she’d absorbed her sister’s soul. Sky was not exactly thrilled to speak to Dream again, but a small part of her hoped he’d at least be happy to see her.
Ink suddenly pushed Sky into a dressing room.
“No sense in reuniting with our king dressed like that-“ Ink gestures to Sky’s torn, bloody, and dirty clothes, “so you’ll have to change. Don’t worry, you have plenty of time before your meeting with him.”
Sky slammed the door in Ink’s face and began searching through the dresses. She liked two identical dresses, one gold and one dark purple, but she wanted to include both colors in her outfit. Sky searched until she found a sewing box and began altering the dresses. She stitched the dark purple skirt onto the golden bodice, and just like that, her dress was perfect. She also stitched the dark purple bodice onto the golden skirt.
A gleam caught Sky’s eye. She turned to a shelf nearby. It held two gold circlets. Sky fell to her knees once she remembered whose they were.
Those circlets, one with a yellow diamond and one with an amethyst, once belonged to Dawn and Dusk. Now that Dawn was Sky and Dusk was a part of her soul, Sky resolved to fix the circlets as well. She got to work, and it took hours, but she used her magic to combine the gems into one and set it into Dawn’s circlet.
Sky got dressed in her golden-bodice dress, altered circlet, and some dark purple flats. She fastened her amulet around her neck again and put her golden and purple hair into an elegant bun. Sky looked in the mirror and had flashbacks of when she lived in the castle as Dawn, alongside Nightmare, Dream, and Dusk. A tear rolled down Sky’s face before she wiped it away, took a breath, and resolved to be strong for her past self and her sister. Dusk’s spirit appeared once more.
“You look wonderful, Dawn.”
Sky smiles slightly.
“Call me by our name. We are one and the same, Dusk.”
Dusk smiles and disappears just as Ink knocks on the door.
Sky exits the dressing room. Her back is straight, and her every movement is elegant and regal, as if she never left the castle.
Ink leads Sky to the throne room, where Dream waits upon his throne, glass of wine in hand.
Sky steps into the room and into the light. Her dress shimmers as she slowly looks up at Dream. Sky takes a deep breath before she speaks.
“It has been a long time, Dream.”
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Chapter 1 will be posted soon :)
