so core if all of this does end and nightmares reign ends. Do you think the aus are willing to forgive the mind controlled star sanses epic and cross who have been unwillingly spreading the au and causing destruction under nightmare's orders
Like everything else, they're staying positive. It's both the best and worst way to survive in an infection that targets negative emotions.
I finally decided to do some painting again and drew the Star Sanses before and after they were corrupted by Nightmare, human version.
I like the idea of human Ink being really into body modifications (the piercings, tattoos, dyed hair) as a form of art and expressing himself. He wants to be the person that catches everyone's eye and look unforgettable. Then Nightmare turns it against him by forcing him erase everything about himself and become someone new. Hence why Ribbon's human form is meant to look so fake and lifeless. I tried not to use any warm colors while shading his face unlike the others (also why he has no eye shinies). I've pictured human versions of scenes in I'll Make You Mine where Ink is panicking about Nightmare tearing his piercings out or cutting his rainbow hair off.
Dream is a hot mess that hardly takes care of himself. I always pictured him to have very long hair and while he usually keeps it in a knee-length braid, he doesn't care anymore (and probably internalized Nightmare's misgonyistic comments from standing around him so much, so he's insecure about looking too feminine). He mimics my Nightmare human design, but if Nightmare had no class, along with a poor bathing and sleep schedule. I also redesigned human Dream a bit so he had more tree nymph to him! Hence the branches and leaves around his face and neck.
Blue I had fun trying to adapt his glitch into his design. The glitched side would feel like running your hand down a circuit board. it hurts to touch and can glitch out if pressed too harshly. I liked shading it in. It's a bit pointless to draw what he'd look like as a human after being corrupted since his armor is stuck to his body. The original scar is meant to show he's a dedicated fighter.
Down with the Puppeteer Chapter 5:
Cure to Corruption: Core
<- Previous Chapter || Beginning || Next Chapter ->
(Merry Christmas everyone! Or whatever holiday you celebrate. Here's your present.)
Core’s necklace glowed with light blue light as they and Poppy ran out of the shop. The AU didn’t have many clear paths as corruption buried them. A few of the infected threatened to snap at them, but the guardian held up one of their bombs. The aura tempted them to come closer to eat it, only for their arms and faces to burn and melt. The few that dared to come closer had their faces slashed by Poppy’s blade. She grimaced every time, even when they eventually shifted back to normal.
Their necklace switched from glowing to vibrating. Core slowed down and put their finger up to their mouth. “They’re close. Right around this corner.”
Poppy adjusted the goggles on her forehead. Every sound made her twitch and jump toward the sound. “I know. I’ve been watching your necklace too. Why would they be in this AU of all places?”
“Well, Blue is a wanderer. He and Cross are the only Corrupted who do, and Cross only goes when the rest of the MTT do. Nightmare gave Blue the ability to travel to different AUs to do work for him. Killing and infecting and . . . those other things. He goes around and uses his hammer to behead those who are spreading too many positive emotions. Or the souls who are in stage five melting beyond recognition.”
“At least he’s the least dangerous of them all.”
Eventually, Core ducked behind a dark gray bush, nearly twice as tall as they were. The prickles stabbed into their poncho, but they pulled them out and kept going. Their vacant eyes scanned around the open space. A blue plume and a splatter of pink caught their attention. Core and Poppy stayed still.
Blue walked with Ribbon, holding his hammer over his shoulder. Magic automatically cleaned the heads, but malice and blood still stained the shaft. Ribbon held his open parasol and skipped, dancing with it like a ballerina. They avoided the infected sludge puddles, not that it would have affected Blue anyway. He was depressed enough.
Ribbon leaped onto a log and tiptoed across it like it was a tight rope. “Blue, what do you think this AU was like before Nightmare made it pretty?”
Blue looked up at the stone, gem-embellished ceiling. Most of them were jade, with a diamond or ruby sprinkled around. “Nothing important. It’s another boring AU that looks like all the others and all the zombies are exactly the same. I don’t get why you keep wanting to go places . . .”
“Oh.” Some of Ribbon’s enthusiasm slipped and he leapt off the log. He tapped Blue’s hand until he held it with a sigh. His bright smile returned. Blue hesitated to squeeze it, likely fearing Nightmare’s jealous wrath.
Core Frisk watched them move, following their every step. Then they stuck their hand into their left eye and dug around. Usually, nothing happened when they did this. But the size and weight of the object scraped against the inside of their head. Lucky for them, they couldn’t give themself an accidental lobotomy due to their human brain being nonexistent. It was buried somewhere in the void. And taken fresh out of the void was a giant silver chain connecting two smaller ones. Core pulled the entire length out and unclipped the chains. The ankle cuffs and handcuffs were the same as the ones that captured the infected.
The guardian was impressed with how calm Poppy remained. They caught a flicker of fear in her eye. Poppy glanced at them, then steeled herself with determination. “Are you sure you’re ready to handle this?” Core asked.
“Yeah. I’m not scared.” Poppy gazed down at her knife. “Is the plan that I’m going to fight and you’ll capture them?”
“Just Blue. Nightmare would break all restraints if I took Ribbon,” Core whispered. “I’m still taking a risk by taking Blue. It’s not the same as testing medicines on them while they were still loose.”
“None of them even lasted long, not when I was there. Did any work out? At all?” Poppy spoke out loud. When Core shook their head, she continued. “Okay. They’re stronger than us so . . . what if we separate them, I fight Ribbon and distract him, and then you can use your bombs to defeat Blue?”
“That will work. I have a good feeling about this. I wish I could see better, but it’s all this malice.” Core frowned at the sludge surrounding them.
The Guardian of the Omega held their left hand up as they replayed their plan inside their head. They separated their consciousness into two. While it seemed like it would hurt, splitting your body and brain, it was more like opening a third eye.
Core’s split self stood in front of Blue. Ribbon squeaked and clung to Blue’s arm, followed by Blue blocking him with a hammer.
“You.”
“Hello, Blue PopPrince. Ribbon. How are you?”
“Good! How-” Ribbon paused mid-pulling his string, switching to hiding under Blue’s arm. His high-pitched voice cracked under worry. “What do you want?”
Core smiled. “I’m doing pretty well. Blue, I know I’ve failed to convince you before, but I’m going to ask again for you to join me.”
While focusing on the second body, Core led Poppy up behind them. Each step was slow and careful as not to alert them to the noise. Underluck’s luck was on their side as neither of them noticed. Core’s hands felt slick around the magic metal bands. It wouldn’t be that easy to jump them, as much as they wished it was.
“No. Nightmare is the only decent thing left in the multiverse and Ribbon is the only good. Without him, there’s nothing.” Blue scoffed.
“There is something. People have survived and we gathered somewhere where Nightmare can’t find us. I can’t let you in like this for their safety. I know Nightmare can see through your eyes. But if you agree, my assistant and I can temporarily blind him, and we can help you.”
The second Core body looked over their shoulder and gestured for a Poppy that wasn’t there. Blue’s irritation rose and he pushed Ribbon aside. The doll hid behind his parasol as Blue slammed his hammer into Core’s torso. The second body disappeared, and the first body flew back into the river of gold. It didn’t hurt, but they felt all the force. Both sets of cuffs fell out of their hands. Core’s head missed the heavy metal and landed on a clover field instead. A stroke of good luck? Or bad?
That move shouldn’t have been possible. Their separate bodies never affected their main one like that. They even turned off their nerves.
“Captain!” Poppy snatched the cuffs from Core’s hands and helped them up.
“It’s okay, I’m fine. Thank you, Poppy.” Core regained their balance, but their mind was buzzing with alarm. Not being able to see across the multiverse? Fine, they were used to it. They were used to not being able to jump AUs and see the future either. But their splitting in smaller AUs has never had this issue.
Screaming, Ribbon ducked behind Blue and clung to his shoulders. He trembled in his pink dress. “Who- oh, oh! Core Frisk? Wait, who’s the girl? Blue? Blue, please keep them away!”
Blue pointed his hammer at the two. “Don’t care.”
Poppy’s guard dropped, then returned twice as intense. “My name is Poppy!”
“Blue, I’m not allowed to fight without Nightmare! He’ll get both of us in trouble!” Ribbon bit down on his perfectly polished fingertips. He closed his parasol, opened it, closed it, struggling between running or fighting. “What do we do?”
“You don’t have to fight. Stay there, and I’ll protect you. That’s the stupid job he gave me, like it’s going to work all the time and we’re not going to die.” Blue tightened his grip on his hammer, causing bones to stretch and creak. His eye lights flared as he summoned a ring of Gaster Blasters around the two children. “Wait- no, don’t cry. I meant watching over you, you’re not stupid.”
Core held their hands out and blocked them with a translucent grayish-blue shield. The pressure pounded against their hands. Their carpel bones felt like they were going to smash between their hands and their forearms. Poppy stepped in with her own magic to surround it with a magenta barrier. They timed out the seconds in their head. Gaster Blasters always fired between a period of four and ten seconds. Eight. They disappeared, and Core dropped the shield.
Giant blue exclamation points appeared beneath their feet and Core grabbed Poppy. They teleported to the opposite side of the battlefield. Bones as wide as tree trunks shot up from the dirt. Dust filled the air. Their masks let them breathe fine, but their vision was obscured. Core snapped up first and blocked Blue’s hammer from smashing against their head. The pressure struggled against their magic, so they doubled it. A heavier wave of magic bounced back against Blue and knocked him over. Core ran and jumped onto Blue’s armored back. Handcuffs in hand, they couldn’t do anything as Ribbon kicked them in the face.
“No! You’re hurting him! Leave him alone!” Ribbon stepped back. Poppy raised her knives behind him. Ribbon blocked her strikes with his open parasol.
Core stumbled and leaned against a boulder. They took the chance to prepare a positivity bomb and took a deep breath. Their eyes locked on Poppy’s fight. They didn’t doubt Poppy’s skills, but they still worried about their protege. And the only friend they still had that wasn’t a zombie or hypnotized.
“You’re hurting the entire multiverse!” Poppy snapped. She shoved Ribbon aside, making the doll stumble. He used his parasol to steady himself, then swung it like a baseball bat. Blue teleported him and bashed Poppy over the head. The girl clutched the spot where blood already stained her hair.
Core jumped back up. They teleported to the top of a tree and balanced on a thick branch. Physical violence would get them nowhere, at least not like this. The focus needed to be on defense and capture. Core scanned their surroundings and calculated how to lure Blue into a closed loop. About twelve feet away, a circular passage was tucked behind a series of caves.
In the middle of battle, Ribbon wobbled and nearly fell into a river of liquid gold. Blue seemed to snap out of his scowl for a brief moment and he caught Ribbon before he could fall. The doll clung to him like he was a lifeline. Blue pulled him back up and summoned a line of bones to block off the water. Ribbon smiled at him. He turned his attention to Poppy. He jumped, twirling mid-air with his sharp weapon in hand. His parasol stabbed at her shoulder and she barely dodged it. Poppy fell and crawled backwards.
Core threw a bomb at Blue. He hit it with his hammer like a baseball. Core jumped to the ground and covered their ears as it exploded mid-air. It wouldn’t physically hurt them, but it was still loud and the positivity inside would overwhelm their senses. Despite their attempt, the blast radius still burned the corruption on Blue’s armor. Bones shot out of the ground and they rolled into the sandbank to avoid them. Core hid in an animal burrow. Grass and dirt covered their head in a ledge. Crumbles of soil fell in front of their eyes whenever someone fought above.
“Go away!” Ribbon squeaked, still jumping and trying to stab at Poppy. He dipped into a deep bow and knocked her off balance.
Core lifted their hand from their belt. Two bombs left. If they timed their attacks perfectly, it could be enough to knock him out. The positivity seemed to at least temporarily eat away at the corruption on his body. Core couldn’t help but pump their fist. A Gaster Blaster’s beam fired right on the brink of the ledge. Core cast a spell and surrounded themself with an invislbe shield.
“Are you trying to dance?” Poppy asked Ribbon mid-battle. Ribbon paused in the middle of a bow, part from thinking and part to pull his string again.
“I guess so. That’s how Nightmare trained me to fight! Why? Is that bad?”
“It’s-” Poppy dodged a bone thrown by Blue. “No, it’s pretty! You’re talented.”
“Really? Thank you, miss!” Ribbon squeed at the compliment, pink eyes lighting up. He opened his parasol and used it as a shield against Poppy’s knives.
“You’re welcome!”
Meanwhile, Core stayed in the burrow and pondered how to attack Blue. The corrupted knight was searching for them. He knew they were using some sort of camouflage spell. His hammer slashed through the thick money trees. If he knocked over that large branch, the trajectory would end up blocking their spot.
“Come on out, Core. This is wasting my time. This whole trip is! I told Nightmare we could’ve done something less pointless. Every AU is nothing since you ruined it!”
Core narrowed their empty sockets with a frown. Their hands clenched around the chains. Maybe they could trick Blue into falling into the pit and jump him. Or sneak up from this ledge and jump him. Or find an option that didn’t involve jumping him. Meanwhile, Core listened back in on Poppy and Ribbon’s conversation.
“-you sure you aren’t interested in being in my dollhouse, miss?”
“I’d like to visit it, but I don’t want to be one of the dolls inside.”
Ribbon’s voice wobbled. “Why not? It doesn’t hurt at all, and you’d be adorable as a doll! I take good care of my stuffed animals and you’ll be safe from the scary zombies. Even if I go through and make you a doll doll like me, it only hurts for a week! I’ll take care of you through it. I have a daughter. She’s a lot younger than you are, but she needs a friend. Her name is Aurora. I tried talking to Nightmare about having her meet other girls when she was younger. He has a lot of friends. One of them has to have kids. But he said no. You’d be perfect for her!”
“That’s . . . um . . . thanks? I still don’t want to be a part of your dollhouse. Maybe there’s a different way to get those people you’re missing? Without doing . . . that?”
Missing . . . missing, missing . . . wait.
“Given up, Core? Good, I would’ve done that ten minutes ago. Stop making this difficult, and let’s get this over with.”
That’s it!
Core almost whispered aloud, but Blue was too close by. They snapped their fingers and teleported Poppy from Ribbon to them. The girl’s eyes were wide and dazed.
The guardian wrapped her under the same spell she put on herself, then focused on her condition. “Poppy, are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Captain, why did you teleport me here? I almost talked Ribbon into surrendering!”
Core’s empty eyes glittered. “I think I figured out how to break the spell! Nightmare’s corruption takes away a positive personality trait. They’re all missing something! That’s why it wasn’t in their code; it’s too personal. Or he’s using a magic I’ve never seen before, but that’s impossible. I would’ve known when he first used it because there wasn’t enough magic to mess with my sight.
I thought it was unanimous since he acts almost the exact same as the others and the infected. I don’t know how it targets traits since I wasn’t in the same parts of the labyrinth as them. I didn’t see any of them when I escaped.”
“I don’t mean to doubt you, but . . . are you sure? Your powers are acting weird and you said you were hearing things.”
“If I was infected, that would’ve happened a long time ago. I’ve handled too many parasites and travelled to too many AUs. I might be burnt out. I’ll do research, but we have to get Blue first. Poppy, watch my back. I’m going to do something a little risky.”
Poppy nodded and watched the back of the ledge. Core crawled out from the muddy space and peeked back up to the field. Blue was back with Ribbon and cleaning off the dust left on his body. His hammer lay by his feet.
Core took their second bomb out of their belt. Was it unwise to use teleportation after everything? Yes, but the outcome was worth it. They tossed the bomb up in the air and snapped their fingers to teleport it.
The bomb reappeared above Ribbon and Blue’s heads. It glowed gold and dropped as fast as snow in an avalanche. Blue spotted it first and jumped in to protect Ribbon. He created a shield made out of bones, but that wasn’t enough to protect against the powerful blow. The shield shattered like glass and knocked both of them backwards. Blue’s armor cracked.
Ribbon covered his eyes with his hands, squeaking as the light blinded him. Core teleported in and caught Blue’s arms. In his struggle, they snapped the handcuffs around him. Poppy snapped the cuffs around his ankles. Surprisingly, Blue didn’t fight back against the restraints. He didn’t seem to care. The burns were a whole different story as his armor steamed.
Poppy panted and shuffled away from the fire. Core took her hand and helped her up. Her eyes were wide and shocked, yet she tried to give Ribbon a comforting smile. It didn’t work.
“Blue, we need to talk. Again. Or actually,” Core looked to the right. “Ribbon, we need to talk, and then we can get to Blue.”
Ribbon wrapped his hands around his pull string. “Okay . . . please don’t hurt him.”
“We won’t.” Core chose their words with careful precision. “I know you want to see Blue feel better. You . . . I wouldn’t say your heart is in the right place, but you care about people. He’s different now. You miss the version of him that wasn’t so miserable and making every situation feel like a drag. You want to see him happy again, don’t you? I watched you when Nightmare imprisoned us. You were liking his company when he was himself.”
Ribbon blinked at them like he had nothing going on inside his head. But that didn’t matter. Core wasn’t even looking at him His voice was small. “Blue . . . ? Are you happy like this?”
Blue looked at him with a flat glare. “What kind of stupid question is that?”
“I don’t know. Core said-”
“I don’t care what Core said. They’re a human and all humans are idiots.”
“I was the only one who escaped the labyrinth because I outsmarted Nightmare. Careful who you call an idiot. Also, Blue,” Core pointed at the red, white, and blue flickers around his armor, “you’re glitching. You do care. You don’t like it.”
Blue swatted the glitches away, which only created more melted boxes from his anger. “No I don’t like it! You destroyed my life and you won’t leave me alone!”
“It wasn’t me that destroyed your life! Not me, not Dream, not Epic or Cross, none of us. It was Nightmare! I know he didn’t erase your memory because I forced Epic to talk. You still remember everything that happened before Nightmare. It’s just that he scrambled your memories or darkened them. Here, I’ll prove there’s still something worth living.”
Core snapped their fingers and created an illusion of the base. They ignored the darker sides, like the small tents and the infected trapped in the lab. They also hid all the failed attempts for cures and vaccines. Instead, they flashed scenes of the work that did lead to successes on their board. Then they flickered through the instances of bringing in sick and injured souls. The cases that would’ve been fatal healing up and thriving with others across the multiverse. The camp still kept the traditions of the Omega Timeline to make the situation feel less dire.
Core shut the illusions off. “So? Interested now?”
“Eh . . .”
Poppy paced in a circle around Blue. “No catch! The people there are nice, Nightmare can’t get in, we’re safe from all the infected! Basically, no worrying, no life-or-death fights, the weather is always nice, and a lot of hope!”
“It . . . fine it sounds nice. Really nice actually . . .” Blue spoke with wistfulness in his voice. “It’s better than whatever Nightmare is doing.”
“Do you want to take a shot at a better life?” Core offered their hand to Blue. It would’ve been shaking with anticipation if they didn’t have a guardian’s control. “Move your shoulder to my hand if yes.
Blue’s eye lights sparkled. His soul sparked with light, flickering past his corruption. He twitched violently. His soul flew out of his chest and throbbed with negativity and past the blue strings. Then the covering exploded.
Core Frisk shielded their eyes from the light. It only lasted about five seconds, though they still needed to rest in the dark after this, before fading. In its wake, it left Blue, unconscious and without armor. His body was covered in cuts, scars, and engravings from the metal. Glitches flickered in and out of the air. The cuffs broke into tiny pieces.
He opened his eye sockets with a groan, shaking his glitching head. His eye lights no longer swirled and returned to their regular light blue color. The moon mark melted off his cheek.
“What happened?” The realization dawned upon him. His eye lights flickered out as he turned and saw Ribbon’s horrified face. “Oh.”
Core beamed and hugged him. “Thank the stars you’re back to normal. How do you feel?”
“My soul hurts, but I think I’m fine.” Blue hovered his glitching soul out of his chest. It returned to its natural white color with a faint blue glow. The skeleton examined his arms where the scars lay from the heavy knight armor. He winced at how ugly they looked on his bones. He doubled over and clenched his stomach. “No- I’m starving. I couldn’t take that helmet off and I haven’t drank or eaten in years!”
Alarmed, Core pushed themself under Blue’s arm and helped him up. “We have plenty of medicial supplies and food at camp. It’s one of the only places in the multiverse you can find them anymore. We’ll get you there ASAP. Everyone will be thrilled to see you’re back and we have something that works!”
Blue managed to steady himself, still wobbly from hunger. “Why did you go with a camp of all things and not a direct copy of the Omega Timeline?”
“Too dangerous. It’s to replace the Omega Timeline because-”
“Dream is acting like Nightmare and created an oppressive government?”
“Yes.”
Blue was about to make another comment as he looked back at the terrified doll. Ribbon stomped his Mary Jane shoe. “What did you do to him? Blue! Blue! Come back! Go back to normal! I mean, you are kinda normal now. I think. I forgot. But- but . . .” Ribbon panicked and held his parasol, hiding behind himself. “Please? Go- go back . . .”
His face softened with sympathy. He reached a hand out to Ribbon. “Hey, come here. It’s still me. The me you were friends with when I was stuck in the dungeon! Remember?”
“No, it’s not! I thought you would just be happier! I didn’t think you’d wanna leave us,” Ribbon said. “Come back to me and Nighty! What do I do, what do I do? What would Nightmare do here?”
Core slowly stood up as Ribbon went from talking to them to talking to himself. “You can come with us. You don’t have to go back to Nightmare.”
“Wait, Blue. We can’t take him with.” Core whispered. “Nightmare would send war if we took Ribbon. We’re not ready for that yet.”
Ribbon didn’t hear them and continued with his cries. “You’re going to hurt me! I’d never, ever betray him!” He looked down at the wedding ring on his finger. He pressed the hand with the ring against his face.
Poppy glanced over at him. An idea popped into Core’s head as they reached back into their eye socket and pulled out a light pink blanket. They handed it to Ribbon, who flinched back at first, then snatched it from Core’s hands.
Blue tried again, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck. Red, yellow, blue, and white glitches took over most of his body. “Ribbon, I don’t want to leave you here. I can’t stay, and I can’t bring you, but is there anything you want?”
Ribbon hugged Blue and buried his face against his chest. His smile tugged, like he was trying to frown even if he physically couldn’t. Core could read the conflict in his eyes. He wanted to go with. But his loyalty toward the Guardian of Negativity was too strong. “No! No, no, no, no! Blue! All I want is you! They’re taking you away from me and Nightmare! Whatever I did to be bad and make you not want me, I’ll fix it! I promise! Please!”
Falling to his knees and clutching his hands, Ribbon blinked his best puppy dog eyes. He whimpered for Blue to walk over to him. Blue shook his head, a look of regret crossing his face before he joined Core and Poppy.
“Let’s go back to your camp.” Blue didn’t meet their eyes. “I want to see who survived the apocalypse and get away from here.”
Poppy looked back at Ribbon. He was shaking and staring at the ground, bundled in his blanket. “I’m in trouble . . . we’re in so much trouble . . .”
Core shut the portal right as a second one opened. It was a miracle that Nightmare hadn’t intervened while they were fighting. They never would’ve survived.
“Wowie . . .” Blue’s glitchy eye lights turned into stars. “You made all this? I know I saw a bit, but Core, this is huge!”
“I know! It took some work but- don’t you dare pass out!” Core ducked back to grab Blue. Poppy held onto his other side. Now that they were up close to his side like this, they realized how malnourished he was. His armor covered up how tiny his ribs were. It reminded them of when they saved Ink, or Ribbon, and they found out about how much corset-damage their ribs had.
Whispers broke out among the people as they dragged Blue inside. Blue? Back from Nightmare’s side? How was it possible? Was Core alright? Were things going to get better? Was the apocalypse going to end? Was it?
Lightly waving to people, mostly to avoid attention, they made it inside Core’s tent. They sat on the rugs on the floor of the tent. Core made sure the canvas tent was shut behind them. They reached into their eye socket and tossed Poppy a water bottle. She helped prop Blue up and allowed him to drink. Core took a deep breath. “That . . . was a very lucky mission, no pun intended. I was so sure Nightmare was going to attack us. I haven’t seen you with Ribbon in a while either, that was a bit of a surprise.”
Blue’s body glitched as he looked drank the water. He wiped the excess off his chin. “Nightmare calmed down over the years. He still doesn’t let Ribbon go anywhere by himself, but he lets him when he’s with me. Sometimes.”
“What about you?” Poppy asked.
“Oh, I can go just about anywhere as long as Cross, Epic, or Dream aren’t there. I mean, I can it’s just I can’t be close to them because . . .” He sighed.
“You’d kill each other.” Core finished for him. “Have you seen Dream? I sense you in the Omega Timeline all the time.”
“I have. But I’m always with Ribbon or Nightmare holds him back. Dream barely leaves the castle and I’ve never seen him leave Main Street. I haven’t seen Cross and Epic. And I still sleep and live in the clubhouse, or it’s Ribbon’s dollhouse now.”
“I’ve seen it. There’s souls in there I’m still trying to make a plan to save them.”
Poppy shuddered at the mention and curled against the sofa. “Does he actually treat them okay like he said?”
“Uh . . . kind of? They’re all prisoners Nightmare doesn’t want to deal with. He kills or infects most of them, but he gives the cute ones to Ribbon to make into stuffed animals. He uses this magic tea most of the time. He has a whole room and a display system for them. It’s . . . mmm . . .” Blue struggled to find the words. “I don’t want to say cute, but it’s . . . better than anything else outside? There’s a lot of blankets, he has tea parties with them, and Ribbon cuddles them.”
Just as I suspected . . .
Core thought to themself. “How many souls does Ribbon have trapped in there?”
“Eighty-something. Ribbon doesn’t know and I don’t like being in there long enough to count.”
Core noted that for later. They wanted to send a mission over there and help those people out. Maybe they could even find something to make a cure. But that was the last place Nightmare would store it. Or the first? Only issue with that was that Dream was so close and he didn’t want him breaking free of his spell.
“Poppy, can you help Blue get some food so he doesn’t starve to death?”
“Yes, captain!” Poppy took Blue’s gloved hand and guided him up. Core lingered before going anywhere.
“One more thing. You did amazing, and I wanted to thank you for helping me. If you weren’t there . . . I don’t know if I would’ve found out how to save him the way I did.”
“You would’ve eventually,” Blue said. “It kinda makes sense that the emotion spell is fixed by emotions, right?
“It does, and I figured that out and positivity had something to do with it. But I didn’t know the how very well, and Dream isn’t here to help.”
Poppy’s hand drifted to her chest in confusion. She did a terrible job at repressing the smile on her face as she glanced between them. Her face grew warm. “I was the one who did it? Wow that’s . . . thank you! What did I do?
“It was your talk with Ribbon. I was listening in. Anyways, I’ll be back!”
Core left them alone so they could think. They actually did it, with Poppy. They rescued one of their corrupted friends! After seven years! It was possible without killing Nightmare first! Not that they believed it was impossible, but the thought crossed their mind semi-frequently. They had so much they needed to write down now. As soon as they rested and made a proper plan, they could reprepare and go find Epic, Cross, and Dream! Then they could finally put an end to Nightmare and the apocalypse.
Seemed simple! It wasn’t going to be. They didn’t need their divination to see that.
But that could wait until tomorrow.
Core teleported to the top of the bordering wall and sat down. It wasn’t that necessary. The AU’s secrecy and massive shield around the place kept any attackers out. But it made Core and the citizens feel better, so they added it. The guardian scanned the terrain, wind blowing cold against their gray skin. Nothing. Nothing but the guards they ordered to watch over the entrances. Nightmare was fine.
They removed their necklace off their neck and fiddled with the blue glitching heart. Core coughed as they unbound the charm from their rope. They clenched it and their palm and the magic dimmed out.
“I don’t really need you anymore . . . but thanks for helping me out,” Core mumbled to the charm. They leaned back with their arm as a balance, and struggled not to fall asleep right there and now.
(On today’s episode of “Abhainn tries to look up something for this story and finds something sexual instead”, ankle cuffs. I was picturing the ones from one of the Thor movies; Google had other ideas. And I was in public too!)
(I was struggling in this chapter, so I asked a friend for help and her solution was to kill every character. I said no, I’m not killing the main characters in chapter five of thirty-two. Then she suggested having Blue get hit by a car and concussion his way out of corruption. I almost went with that.)
